Hi, I have really high ram usage on my M1 iMac which has 8 gigabytes of ram. When I close all the apps on my Mac, the ram usage shows that 50% of the ram has been taken up. Is there any fix to this or is this normal, this doesn't seem normal to me.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iMac M1 high ram usage
- Thread starter horyzen1
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That's normal. The operating system is designed to use RAM in the most efficient manner, even though it's not always obvious to users like us. Some of that use you see is cached data. When you quit an app, if the memory it used isn't needed right away there is no reason to clear it, so that data might remain for awhile. Suppose you quit the app and then decide you weren't done with it. It will open quicker if some of the data is retained. But if that memory is needed for something else, the operating system will free it. I'm sure there are other things going on at the same time.
Bottom line...don't second guess the operating system. Just let it work for you.
Bottom line...don't second guess the operating system. Just let it work for you.
The metric to observe is memory pressure.
Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor
Use Activity Monitor on your Mac to see if memory is being used efficiently and if you need more memory (RAM).
support.apple.com
The OS always tries to take advantage of whatever RAM you might have. In this case it is using RAM as a file cache. It costs nothing to keep the data in RAM, just in case it is needed again.
No matter how much RAM you have, the OS will try its best to put it to productive use. So the usage will always seem "high". This is a good thing.
Is the iMac actually slow? Do you feel any lags?
Keep an eye on the Memory Pressure graph, rather than the numbers, as they don't represent the real picture. If your Memory Pressure is green or yellow, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
Don’t look at memory useage, look at the memory pressure. It’s a better metric for how much your computer is actually using that RAM.
If you want, I created a video talking more about RAM on Mac’s:
If you want, I created a video talking more about RAM on Mac’s:
Apple never said or implied that their RAM was like magical Pixie dust.
You also did the classic "content creator" bit of ignoring so much of the real world out there.
It's not just Apple that sells entry machines with 8GB. Lenovo, Microsoft, etc. all do it too.
It's because, unlike what you imply in your video, a great many people won't need more than 8GB.
You, like many commenters here, are not the typical user worldwide.
I appreciate your comments. Apple is a premium brand and charge high prices for their machines. This is why I think they should move away from 8GB as base.
In my video I also give users a way to see exactly what their needs are - using activity monitor. If they find that 8GB holds well for them, then I agree they will be fine with 8. However like I mention in the video, users may also want to future-proof their Mac’s due to apps utilizing more ram. What may work on 8 now may benefit from more later.
I thank you for the feedback though and I’m sorry you didn’t find the video useful. I try to aim the videos at all levels of users, which include casual all the way to heavy users. Again that’s why I suggest using activity monitor as it’s a way that scaled based on workflow.
I can pull up examples from Lenovo, HP, and Dell that show equivalent pricing to Apple's, for laptops especially but also desktops.
I get that you want to make YouTube an income for yourself, and I think it is great that people want to be entrepreneurs. But if you really want to set yourself apart from the masses of YouTube "content creators", then jumping on a well-worn bandwagon may get you a few extra hits (because YouTube will feed similar videos to people who have watched a video on a specific top, and many YouTubers have done the 8GB-thing), but those few extra views will not make you the next Brownlee.
Plow new ground.