Jun 05, 2018 Apple has said that any Mac introduced in mid-2012 or later will support macOS Mojave, along with the 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro models if they have a Metal capable GPU. That’s fairly descriptive, but if you want a specific list of supported Mac hardware for macOS Mojave 10.14 then the following should be helpful to you: MacBook Pro (mid 2012.
- How Many Gigs Of Ram For Mac Macos Mojave 2017
- How Many Gb Of Ram In Macbook Pro
- How Many Gigs Of Ram For Mac Macos Mojave 2017
- How Many Gigs Of Ram In Macbook Pro
One of the most common problems that Mac users encounter is low computer memory. Over time, even the most powerful computer will get cluttered with apps, files, extensions , and processes that are too much to handle. To get everything back to normal (because every byte matters), you need to declutter your Mac by cleaning up the mess and removing unnecessary stuff that consumes your computer’s memory.
So when your computer is slowing down, you are likely to notice a “Your system has run out of application memory” message, many of your apps are crashing, or you keep on seeing a lot of spinning rainbow wheels. All these mean your computer is probably low on memory or RAM.
![Mac ram Mac ram](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126871996/122004502.jpg)
This article will show you how to free up memory on a Mac and other tips to optimize your machine.
MacOS Mojave (/ m oʊ ˈ h ɑː v i, m ə-/ mo-HAH-vee) (version 10.14) is the fifteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.' S desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. Mojave was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, and was released to the public on September 24, 2018. Updated to Mojave yesterday. So far so good. Did not notice any worse performance. RAM memory is 2,33 GB used when almost nothing running on background on my system (but no clean reinstall of MacOS). So enough free for use for casual usage (Safari, photo edit/browsing, movies, some little games (recently discovered WoT Blitz run on MacOS and it is great!).
What Is RAM?
RAM stands for Random Access Memory and it is one of the most important components of computers and laptops. It is where the computer stores data before being processed. It is a form of volatile memory, where the data is available only when the device is powered on, and everything gets deleted when it is shut down.
Most Macs are equipped with 8GB RAM, but older versions only have 4GB RAM. This is enough if you’re not using RAM-hungry apps, but even then, you’ll still most probably run into memory-related problems in the long run. If you notice that your Mac is taking ages to load or your applications are often crashing, you need to do something to manage your computer’s memory and give it some breathing space.
However, upgrading your Mac’s RAM is more complicated than it sounds. Not all Macs have upgradeable RAM , so you need to check first whether your Mac model has a removable RAM or not. In some models, particularly MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the RAM is soldered to the board and cannot be replaced.
Before you think about installing more RAM, you should first try the tips listed below to free up your Mac memory.
How to Free Up RAM on macOS Mojave
There are several things you can do to manage your Mac memory usage and fix any RAM-related problems you are experiencing.
Reboot Your Mac
The first thing you should do when you free up RAM is to restart your Mac. Refreshing the system solves the problem most of the time, especially if the issue was caused by a minor glitch or an app that crashed. Restarting your Mac will delete the data on your RAM and any disk cache, so things should run smoother and faster after rebooting.
However, if you’re in the middle of something and you’re afraid of losing whatever you’re working on, restarting your computer might not be a good idea. If your macOS has hung because you ran out of memory but you don’t want to lose any unsaved information, you might want to try the other solutions below.
Update Your macOS
It is also possible that your memory problem is being caused by a macOS bug or issue. If this is the case, it is important to check whether you are running the latest version of macOS and install any necessary updates.
To check whether there’s an update you need to install, follow the steps below:
- Click the Apple logo and choose App Store under System Preferences.
- Click the Updates tab.
- Install all updates, if there are any.
After installing all the updates, restart your Mac and check whether your RAM problem has been resolved.
Check Memory Usage via Activity Monitor
When your app freezes or your Mac seems to be slower than usual, the first thing you need to check is the Activity Monitor. This is a built-in tool that shows you how much memory is being used, which apps are using it, and how much memory each app or process is hogging. The Activity Monitor will also help you determine if a particular process or app is consuming memory resources more than it should.
When you access the Activity Monitor app, you’ll see complete information regarding each running process or app. You can also add extra data by adding columns on the window.
To launch Activity Monitor, go to Finder > Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor or type in activity monitor in Spotlight. In the Activity Monitor Window, you’ll see a list of processes along with tabs of information regarding those processes, namely CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network.
Click on the Memory tab to understand how your memory is actually being used by your apps and processes. At the bottom of the window, you’ll see a graph on Memory Pressure and information regarding Physical Memory, Memory Used, Cached Files , and Swap Used. On the rightmost side of the graph, you’ll see data for App Memory, Wired Memory, and Compressed.
The Memory Pressure graph shows how much pressure your computer’s RAM is currently under. Ideally, the graph should be green, which indicates low pressure for your memory. A yellow graph means that you are short of memory while a red graph indicates a critical situation for your RAM, at which point you need to free up some space as soon as possible.
How Many Gigs Of Ram For Mac Macos Mojave 2017
Follow the instructions below to free up some of your RAM using Activity Monitor:
- Launch Activity Monitor and click on the Memory tab.
- Click on the Memory column to arrange the processes according to their memory usage. Make sure that the processes are sorted out from the highest to the lowest.
- If you think that an app is consuming more than its share of memory resources, you can easily kill the process by clicking on the Quit button. Take note, however, that this does not necessarily kill the app. If the process you killed is a webpage, it will just close and reload that page without closing the browser. But if you closed a specific app, you’ll usually see a “closed unexpectedly” warning.
Warning: Don’t close processes that you are not familiar with because they may be related to other important processes on your computer.
Close Unnecessary Apps
Some Mac users are guilty of clicking the close button and thinking that the app is already close d. Note, though, that clicking the close button only closes the window, not the app itself. More often than not, you’re left with several apps still open without you even knowing about it.
Even without looking at the Activity Monitor, you can see which apps are running just by looking at the Dock. If you see a dot below the icon of the app, it means that these apps are still open.
Here’s how to properly close an application and free up some of your memory:
- Right-click the app icon on the Dock.
- Select Quit from the right-click menu.
- Alternatively, you can also choose Quit from the app’s top menu.
Tidy Up Your Files
If you have the habit of saving everything on your Desktop and just leaving them there, then you might want to organize your stuff to lessen the stress on your computer. macOS treats every icon on the Desktop as an active window, so the more items you have on it, the bigger your memory consumption will be.
Delete all unnecessary files and get rid of your junk files using an app such as Tweakbit MacRepair. You can also drag all of them into one folder to make your Desktop neat and tidy.
Delete Cache Files
Deleting cache files will help free up some of your memory, but this is not something a beginner should do. The Cache folder contains some system files that are important for your Mac to run properly, so you should know which files to delete and which ones to keep.
If you’re confident that you know what you’re doing, you can delete cache files by following these steps:
- Click Finder > Go > Go to Folder.
- Type in ~/Library/Caches/ in the dialog box.
- Delete the cache files that you don’t need in the folder, but make sure that you know what files you are deleting.
Clear Inactive Memory via Terminal
Another way to free up your computer’s memory is by purging it using the Terminal. To do this, open the Terminal and type in sudo purge. Hit Enter and type in the admin password. Next, wait as your Mac’s inactive memory is being deleted.
- Edit Your Finder Settings.
If you launch the Finder app and you see either All My Files or Recents, then you might want to change how your Finder app is configured because all the locations of the files shown in that window will be stored in RAM, therefore using up more resources. What you can do is show a specific folder so that only one location will appear.
To do this:
- Launch Finder and go to Preferences.
- Click the General tab.
- Under New Finder windows show , choose a specific folder such as Documents or Desktop.
- Close Finder and relaunch the app.
If you have multiple Finder windows open, you can either close those that you don’t need or merge them all together. To merge all open window, click Window from the top menu and click Merge All Windows. This may not save you a huge chunk of memory space, but it helps.
Summary
A computer’s memory is a precious commodity that needs to be managed strategically. Since upgrading RAM on Mac computers can be difficult, and sometimes not possible, you can try the methods above to gain back some breathing room for your memory. The trick here is to quit all that you don’t need, delete your junk files, and streamline your processes. Once you do, you’ll definitely notice a huge improvement in your Mac’s performance.
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If you’re running into errors and your system is suspiciously slow, your computer needs some maintenance work. Download Outbyte PC Repair for Windows, Outbyte Antivirus for Windows, or Outbyte MacRepair for macOS to resolve common computer performance issues. Fix computer troubles by downloading the compatible tool for your device.A year ago, it took me two days to update my Mac to the latest macOS, High Sierra, and I wrote this post to document the performance issues I encountered.
This year? Less than two hours!
Yes — I mean from preparing my Mac for Mojave update, downloading the Mojave pack from App Store and installing the new OS, to finally being able to experience the new elegant Dark Mode — the whole process took less than two hours to complete.
First impression — macOS Mojave is much better than High Sierra, both in performance and UI experience.
However, I did come across a few performance issues with macOS Mojave. For example, it randomly froze up for a few seconds, the new App Store was slow to launch until I force quit it, and there were several other small issues.
I’ll share those issues here. Hopefully, you can find some hints to solve the problems you are facing, or speed-up tips to increase your Mac’s performance.
First Things First: If you’ve decided to update your Mac to macOS Mojave but have yet to do so, here are a few things to check before you upgrade. I highly recommend you take a minute to go over the checklist to avoid potential data loss and other issues.
Also, if you are using your Mac for work, do not update the machine right away as it may take more time than you thought. Instead, do it at home if possible.
Ready to go? Great. Now go ahead and update your Mac. If you encounter a problem (hopefully you won’t), here are a list of issues and solutions you may want to look over
Note: It’s very unlikely that you’ll face all the performance issues below. Just navigate through the Table of Contents below; it’ll jump to the right issue and provide more details.
During macOS Mojave Installation
Issue 1: Mac gets stuck during installation and won’t install
More details: Normally, once you download macOS Mojave installer, all you need to do is follow the instructions (e.g. agree to software license agreement, input login password, etc.) and the new macOS installs on your Macintosh HD automatically. But you may see one of the following pop-up errors, or something similar:
- “This version of macOS 10.14 cannot be installed on this computer.”
- “Installation of macOS could not continue”
![Memory for mac Memory for mac](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126871996/123144700.jpg)
Possible Reason: Your Mac isn’t eligible for the Mojave update. Not every Mac machine can be upgraded to the latest macOS. It must meet these basic hardware and software requirements. For example, If you’re using a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, it must be Mid-2012 or newer and have at least 4 GB of RAM (preferably 8 GB), as well as 15-20 GB of free disk space.. For example, If you’re using a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, it must be Mid-2012 or newer and has at least 4 GB of RAM (preferably 8 GB) and 15-20 GB of free disk space.
How to Fix:
- Check your Mac model. Click on the Apple menu on the top left of your screen, then select “About This Mac”. You’ll see your model specifications. For example, I’m on a 15-inch 2017 model (as seen in the screenshot above).
- Check RAM (memory). On the same “Overview” tab, you’ll also be able to see how many GBs in memory your Mac has. If you have less than 4 GB, you’ll have to add more RAM in order to run macOS Mojave.
- Check available storage. On the same window, click on the “Storage” tab. You’ll see a color bar that displays how much storage has been used and how much is available. Make sure you have at least 20 GB available. CleanMyMac is a good tool to help you reclaim storage quickly.
Issue 2: Installation is Stuck at “About a Minute Remaining”
More Details: The Mojave installation stops at 99% and won’t move forward; it’s stuck at “About a minute remaining”. Note: personally, I haven’t encountered this issue but last year I did while upgrading to the macOS High Sierra.
Possible Reason: Your Mac is running an older macOS version–for example, macOS Sierra 10.12.4 (the newest Sierra version is 10.12.6), or macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (the newest High Sierra version is 10.13.6).
How to Fix: Update your Mac to the newest version first, then install macOS Mojave. For example, if you are on Sierra 10.12.4, first open Mac App Store, click the Update button under “Updates” tab, upgrade your Mac to 10.12.6 first, and then install the latest macOS Mojave.
Note: My MacBook Pro was running High Sierra 10.13.2 and I had no problem directly updating to Mojave without updating to 10.13.6. Your mileage may vary, especially if your Mac runs Sierra, El Capitan, or an older version.
After macOS Mojave is Installed
Issue 3: Mac Running Slow on Startup
Possible Reasons:
- Your Mac has too many auto-run programs (programs that automatically run when your machine boots) and launch agents (third-party helper or service apps).
- The startup disk on your Mac is almost full, leading to slow boot speed and other performance issues.
- You are using an older Mac that’s equipped with a mechanical hard drive (HDD) or Fusion drives (for some iMac models).
How to Fix:
First, check how many Login Items you have and disable those unnecessary ones. Click on the Apple menu on the top-left corner and select System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items. Once you’re there, highlight the apps you don’t want to auto-start and hit the minus “-” option.
Next, check if you have got some “hidden” launch agents on your Mac. To do so, the easiest way is to use CleanMyMac, under Speed module, go to Optimization > Launch Agents, there you may see a list of helper/service applications, feel free to disable or remove them. This will help speed up your Mac’s startup speed as well.
If the startup disk on your Mac is almost full, you need to free up as much disk space as possible. Check out this article that shows 10 useful techniques to gain more storage, as well as tips to prevent your hard disk from filling up.
Lastly, if you are on an old Mac with a spinning hard drive or Fusion Drive rather than solid-state flash storage, chances are it will take much longer to start up. There’s no fix for this except swapping out your old hard drive with a new SSD.
Issue 4: Mac App Store is Slow to Load and Shows Blank Page
More Details: Excited to see how the brand new Mac App Store looks in Mojave, I tried to open the app immediately after macOS Mojave was installed. However, I ran into this error: a blank page?! I waited for at least a minute hoping to see the new interface, but it didn’t work.
This screenshot was taken before adjusting my MacBook Pro to Dark Mode, yours may look like a black page
Possible Reason: Unknown (perhaps a macOS Mojave bug?)
How to Fix: I tried to quit App Store, only to find that option was greyed out.
So I went to Force Quit (click Apple icon and select “Force Quit” option) and it worked.
Then I re-opened the app, and the brand new UI in Mac App Store worked perfectly.
Issue 5: Web Browser Freezes
More Details: I mainly use Chrome on my Mac. While I was writing this article, my Mac froze up a bit–that spinning rainbow wheel showed up and I couldn’t move the cursor for five seconds or so.
Possible Reason: Chrome is probably the culprit (that’s my hunch at least).
How to Fix: In my case, the random freeze only last for a few seconds and everything went back to normal. Out of curiosity, I opened Activity Monitor and noticed that Chrome was “abusing” the CPU and Memory. So I think it’s the culprit.
My first suggestion to those of you who are facing Safari, Chrome, Firefox (or any other Mac web browser) issues on macOS Mojave is this: update your browser to the latest version. Meanwhile, try to open as few tabs as possible while you are surfing the Internet. Some web pages can “abuse” your Internet browser and system resources in the form of annoying display ads and video ads.
If the issue still persists, check if your Mac has Adware or malware. You can do this with MalwareBytes for Mac or Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac.
Issue 6: Third-party Apps Running Slowly or Unable to Open
Possible Reason: The apps may not be compatible with macOS Mojave thus are unable to run smoothly.
How to Fix: First of all, open Mac App Store and go to the “Updates” tab. Here you’ll likely see a list of apps available for updates. For example, I found Ulysses (the best writing app for Mac), Airmail (the best email client for Mac), along with a few other Apple apps waiting to be updated. Simply hit “Update All” and you are good to go.
For those third-party apps not downloaded from App Store, you’ll have to visit their official websites to see if there are new versions optimized for macOS Mojave. If that’s the case, download the new version and install it. If the app developer has yet to release a Mojave-compatible version, your last option is to find an alternate program.
Issue 7: iCloud Sign-in Slow
More Details: While macOS Mojave was still in beta, I heard about some iCloud bugs from the App community. I tested it myself and found the sign-in process was surprisingly slow. It took me about 15 seconds. At first, I thought I put in the wrong password, or that my Internet connection was weak (turns out it wasn’t the case).
Possible Reason: Unknown.
How to Fix: Wait a few more seconds. That’s what worked for me. I then was able to access the data stored I have stored in iCloud.
Finally, the “Next” button is clickable
Final Thoughts
This is the first time I ever immediately updated my Mac to a major new macOS. Previously, I always waited for those brave early birds to test the water. If the new OS is good, I’ll update one day; If it’s not, forget it. Remember the security bug that popped up shortly after macOS High Sierra’s public release? Apple had to push out a new version, 10.13.1, to fix that and the incident generated a lot of criticism in the Mac community.
How Many Gb Of Ram In Macbook Pro
I didn’t hesitate to update this time. Maybe I was too impressed by the new features in Mojave, I don’t know. I’m glad that I chose to upgrade, and quite happy about the performance of Apple’s macOS Mojave overall–even though there are some performance issues related to the new OS or the apps I’ve installed.
How Many Gigs Of Ram For Mac Macos Mojave 2017
My advice to you is this: If you’re using a brand new (or relatively new) Mac computer, updating to Mojave is a wise decision. It won’t take you much time, and it’ll save you the hassle of being bothered by Apple’s annoying update notifications. Plus, Mojave is really awesome. Do make sure to back up your Mac data before you upgrade just in case.
If you are on an old Mac with a mechanical hard drive, has limited RAM, or is running short of storage, you should rethink updating. Sure, Mojave looks elegant, but it demands more hardware resources too.
How Many Gigs Of Ram In Macbook Pro
If you’ve chosen to update to macOS Mojave, I hope you won’t encounter any of the performance issues listed above. If you do, I hope the fixes I listed above help you solve those problems. Have any new issues related to macOS Mojave? Leave a comment and let me know.