This is true both in terms of physical capability but also in a built-in limit in the system's memory controllers on how much RAM it can recognize.

These days all of Apple's Macs are 64-bit machines, which means that theoretically they can access terabytes upon terabytes of memory however, despite this there is a physical hardware limit on the amount of RAM a system can contain. The Mac's model number can be found by checking this section of the System Profiler (System Information in OS X Lion), which is available in the Apple menu if you press the Option key.īecause of the increasing requirement for larger RAM capacities, it may help to know exactly how much RAM you can put in your system.

These days 4GB of RAM is a standard configuration, but soon that will jump to 8GB or higher as programs and operating systems get more complex. Even if you don't need it now, increasing the amount of RAM in your system will prepare your system for when it eventually will be used. If you use programs that take up a lot of RAM, you may see the system slow down while the system makes use of the slow hard drive to manage memory contents, to the point where it may sometimes crawl to a near standstill while tasks are running.Īs a result, having ample RAM is great for system performance, so I always recommend to go with as much RAM as you can afford to put in your system. RAM is a high-speed memory workspace that the system uses for running programs, loading operating system components, and performing most of its computing tasks.

8gb vs 16gb ram macbook pro retina