How much RAM for using VoiceOver on a Macbook Pro, 4GB or 8GB?

As a general rule for computers, including Macs, buy as much RAM as you can afford.

Even with 8GB, when I'm running Windows in a VM my Mac can get somewhat laggy. If you're planning on doing any virtualizing, I'd say absolutely no less than 8 GB. Side note - I'm ludicrously happy with my Mac's performance in all other regards.

I'm running a 2012 MacBook pro. I got it 5 months ago. Has a 500gb hdd and 4gb ram. I run voiceover, edit video's with imovie and do the general things a moderate computer user would do and have no issues. It takes a couple minutes to startup and restart, but i dont see that as an issue. Its just something you need to be patient for. If you want startup at the click of your fingers, then get more ram. Otherwise you just need to be patient.

Adding to the above comment - a solid-state drive versus a spinning hard drive will also dramatically increase start up times. Which do you have - SSD or HDD?

Easy way to tell what drive you have - when you start up, do you hear it spinning and clicking, or is it virtually silent? If the former, it's HDD. If the latter, it's SSD.

If you have a hard disk drive (HDD), I don't know how much that would affect app start-up time. So I can't say whether your experience is typical, or if there's something wrong. I can say with relative certainty that with either 4 or 8 GB of RAM, a MacBook with a solid-state hard drive should be pretty snappy when opening apps unless there's a ton of stuff already open.

If you can afford it, get 8 GB of RAM. It will be faster in the long run, and you will probably find your MacBook Pro will last longer. Also, you are saying that your Mac is sluggish with 4 GB. This will almost certainly be resolved if you choose to get 8 GB of RAM.

If your 2013 MacBook Pro is the non-retina 13 inch model with an internal DVD drive (which Apple calls a Super Drive), then it has a standard hard drive unless it was customized when it was ordered. All other 2013 MacBook Pros come with SSDs.

4 gigs is fine for running standard Mac applications with VoiceOver. VoiceOver is not memory intensive. You will benefit from the memory upgrade if you are running Windows in a virtual machine, running your browser with more than 5 open tabs (especially tabs running media), or compiling audio or video files in programs such as Audacity, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Garage Band or Logic.

Hi Becca
regarding to your question
4 GB Ram or 8 GB with Voiceover on Mackbook
the answer definitely will be 8GB
however only think about over the time all machine is getting less responsible with updates and became slower
one advice from my part is more ram is equal to more performance of course come to help more details as processor and solid/ state drive
you can check what kind of storage drive your Mac has
open apple menu
VO M
select about this Mac
press fn VO left arrow to go at the top
interact with the toolbar
do VO right arrow and
press VO spacebar on storage
stop interact
and do VO right arrow
you will see what kind of storage drive you Mac include.

I recommend replacing your spinning HDD with SSD. I replaced friend's HDD with SSD and here're some actual differences:
The startup time decreased from one minute to 15 seconds.
No heat whatsoever, opposite to what has been there with the HDD.
Less weight, of course not more than 70G but it is actually there.
Longer battery.
Much much much faster copying and pasting and even installation of OS.
Quieter, as SSD's do not have mechanical parts inside the enclosure.
Overall, I think replacing HDD with SSD is better than upgrading RAM. I read that in many forums where they compared the performance of Macs upgraded to higher RAM with other Macs of the same specs but with lower RAM, the results were not that noticeable.

Hi Becca,

Based on what I've read thus far, I'm guessing your computer is the MacBook Pro from 2012 with a conventional hard drive. To know for sure, the MacBook Pro's from 2012 have a CD drive on the right side of the computer...it's a long slot on the right side where you can fit a compact disc into.

If you're able to upgrade to 8gb of ram, that might improve performance. Another option you could try is to reinstall the operating system and start over from scratch...but that would mean you would lose all of your data, apps, etc. and need to reinstall/reconfigure everything. (Contacts, etc. stored in iCloud would not be affected, to the best of my knowledge.)

As far as upgrading your computer's hard drive...unless you're familiar with how to do that or can find someone to do it for you, it isn't anything I would recommend doing.

Hi Becca,

If you have tried reinstalling the OS and are still having performance issues, upgrading the ram would probably be the next step to try.

Hello,

I’m glad you found a solution to your problem. But be aware you will encounter this issue again as you accumulate more apps and files on the hard drive.

Personally, I suggest you stay with 4GB and upgrade to a SSD. What a lot of folks do not talk about is cache. Whether you have 4GB or 8GB of RAM, your Mac will need to write data to the hard drive when there is no more RAM to write to. This is called cache. With the standard hard drive, reading and writing to the cache slow things down. The platters in the drive spins faster or slower to access the much needed data. These are also the same platters you hear when you turn on your mac or launch an app. A SSD works about 8 to 10 times faster than a standard hard drive. Reading or writing to a cache on a SSD is much faster thus there is less latency. This is also why starting your Mac or launching an app is much faster.

If your mac is out of warranty or Apple care, you can either pay a computer shop familiar with macs to do it for you or have a friend handy with tools do it for you. If you’re curious, go to macsales.com and check out their videos on SSD vs. hard drives as well as videos on how to replace the drive or add more RAM. With my wife coaching and the video playing in the background, I replaced the drive on my MBP in about 30 mins. A local shop wanted to charge me 100 to install the drive and the OS plus the cost of the drive.

HTH and good luck.