How Much Memory Do I Need on My iMac?

A computer relies on its resources to perform properly. The storage space, CPU, and GPU are some examples of these
resources. Though they are all important, the memory, also known as the RAM, is perhaps the most impactful out of these.

That’s because if your storage space, CPU, or GPU is too low, you can fix it by buying an external hard drive to increase the
storage space or video card to increase the CPU and GPU. However, if the RAM capacity of your computer is too low, there’s
not much you can do to increase it. And if that’s the case, you won’t be able to open most of the apps on your computer.

For that reason, when purchasing an iMac, it’s important to check that the one you’re currently interested in has a high enough
RAM for your purposes. That’s why you might be asking, “How much memory do I need on my iMac?” Read on to find out.

How Much Memory Do I Need on my iMac?

Different operations require different amounts of memory. If you only need to use word processing software like Pages, for
example, then even 2GB would be enough. But if you want to play video games with incredibly high graphics, then 16GB might
not even be sufficient. Put simply, the answer to your question ultimately depends on what you need to do on your iMac.

Nevertheless, for your reference, here’s a look at the estimated RAM necessary for specific operations:

 8GB for word processing, spreadsheet management, streaming, editing videos and photos, and using the internet.
 16GB for the above operations in addition to more advanced photo and video editing and playing video games.
 32GB for the above operations in addition to 3D-rendering, running virtual engines, and working with big data files.
 64GB for most operations you will ever need to do.

How Much Should You Expect to Spend?

Each device typically has different prices according to its specifications. The RAM capacity, is one of the specs that would affect
a device’s price. So, naturally, the greater the memory of the iMac you intend to buy, the more money you’d have to spend.

While we can’t set a specific cost for computers according to their RAM, we can at the very least estimate the difference.

Usually, if you want to upgrade from an iMac with 8GB of RAM to an iMac with 16GB of RAM, you should expect to spend an
extra $200. If you want to upgrade from 16GB to 32GB, you’d have to spend an extra $500. And if you want to upgrade from
32GB to 64GB, you must spend an extra $1,000. Keep in mind that this is a particularly good deal. Once you actually shop for an
iMac, you’ll most likely find worse deals. At worst, you may have to spend an extra $1,000 to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB.

So, considering the risk, you must first confirm that you truly need extra memory. After all, you wouldn’t want to spend money
on more memory when in reality, you didn’t actually need it. Thankfully, there’s a way to check if you have enough memory.

How to Check If Your Computer Has Enough

Memory
One of the best things about macOS computers is that you can practically check all the specs of your computer with its built-in
features. And as one might expect, macOS has a built-in feature to check the current memory capacity of your computer.

Here’s how you can do that:

 1. Open the Finder app on your computer.

Note: Finder is the file management app on macOS computers, similar to File Explorer from Windows PCs.

2. Click Applications from the left sidebar of Finder.

3. Find and open the Utilities folder.
4. In the Utilities folder, find and double-click Activity Monitor.

5. On the Activity Monitor window, you’ll find a list of applications, and at the top, there should be five tabs. Go to the
Memory tab since your goal is to check how much memory your macOS computer currently has.

On the Memory tab, you’ll find a box on the bottom of the window. There, you’ll find terms like Physical Memory, Memory
Used, Cached Files, and Swap Used. The Physical Memory indicates the maximum RAM or memory capacity of your computer.

Meanwhile, the Memory Used is the amount of memory currently being used by your computer.

To determine whether you have sufficient memory, simply compare the Physical Memory and Memory Used. If Memory Used is
more than 75% of Physical Memory, that means you probably don’t have enough memory capacity for basic operations.

However, if it’s far from being 75% of Physical Memory, then you most likely have sufficient memory.

How to Free Up Memory

Though it’s not easy, it’s possible to free up memory on your computer. By doing so, you’re making it less urgent to buy an iMac
with high memory capacity right from the get go. Here are several things you can try to free up memory on your macOS:
  Close unnecessary apps: Every app consumes a certain amount of RAM or memory. Therefore, by quitting or closing
some of them, you’re basically freeing up RAM that you can then use for other purposes
 Close tabs: Just like apps, tabs on browsers like Google Chrome and Safari consume a certain amount of RAM.
 Restart: There are cases where closing apps and tabs don’t completely free up RAM. In that case, you can try
restarting the computer. It’s a quick and easy fix, though you shouldn’t expect it to work every time.

BONUS: Free Up Memory Easily With Umate Mac

Cleaner
Though the aforementioned methods should work to some extent, they’re not going to be the best way to free up memory on
your computer. For one, they take up too much time. Secondly, some of them may not even work, especially if the memory
problem is more complex than you may think. If you want a more efficient method, use Umate Mac Cleaner.

Umate Mac Cleaner is a cleanup software designed to eliminate unnecessary files from your computer. However, though it’s
primarily a cleanup software, it also has optimization tools that allow you to free up CPU, GPU, and most importantly, RAM.

Here’s how you can free up memory easily on your Mac using this software:

Step #1: Download, Install, And Start Umate Mac Cleaner

The success of this process falls on whether you can use the software in the first place, So, to start with, you must go to the
download page of the software, and you can find it in this link. There, click the button that says Download Now. That should
download a DMG file, which corresponds to the installer. After that, open the DMG file to start the installer. There will be
instructions on the installer, so simply follow them from that point onwards.

Step #2: Select Speed Up Your Mac

On the left side of the window, you’ll find a total of six options. These options are the modules that Umate Mac Cleaner has to
offer. Each one has different functionalities, and therefore, uses. For this step, you must choose the module you want to use.

In that regard, let’s take a look at each of the six modules:

 Clean Up Junk
 Delete Large Files
 Delete Duplicate Files
 Erase Private Data
 Speed Up Your Mac
 Manage Apps & Extensions

To proceed to the next step, you must click your chosen module from the left sidebar of the window. In your case, what you
need to choose is Speed Up Your Mac since it’s the module that would allow you to free up memory on your iMac.

Step #3: Click Start Now

Upon selecting the module, the software will display blocks of texts at the center of the interface. The text should explain how
Speed Up Your Mac work. You can read it if you want to learn more about the module. To proceed, you must click Start Now.

Step #4: Pick Item/s

The software will take you to the next page, where you’ll be met with a list that consists of a number of items. These items
correspond to the actions you can take using the module. There will always be four items, including (1) Disable Login Items, (2)
Deactivate Heavy Consumers, (3) Remove Launch Agents, and (4) Free Up RAM. What you need to do is select an option.

For your purposes, you must select Free Up RAM, since your goal is to free up memory.

That should then prompt the software to show you another list from the right side of the software this time. That list will
contain apps or programs. Select items from that list by clicking their checkboxes. You can also click the Select All box.

Step #5: Deactivate the Apps

To finalize the process, you just have to click the button at the top-right corner of the window. It should say something along
the lines of Deactivate. It may take a while to execute the command, so you have to wait for a few seconds or minutes.

Takeaways
As eager as you might be to buy an iMac as soon as possible, it would still be to your best interest if you tried to look up the
necessary specs first. After all, you wouldn’t want to waste your money on an iMac that’s essentially going to hold you back.
This software should be of great help in that regard.