I don’t get why Android phones have so much ram.

They often have more ram than my wife’s MacBook and the same or my as my desktop.

How much ram is needed if you’re not gaming or video editing?

In my case, it’s a very occasional picture or video recorded and then just social media apps and web. Do I need to get a phone with 12gb? Or is that just thrown in there for marketing?

  • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    They often have more ram than my wife’s MacBook

    Entry-level MacBooks come with a pathetic amount of RAM.

    How much ram is needed if you’re not gaming or video editing?

    Web browsing needs RAM everywhere. High resolution displays need video memory which isn’t dedicated memory in phones but comes from overall RAM.

    Do I need to get a phone with 12gb?

    You need notebooks and desktop PCs with at least 16GB.

    • henfredemars
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      6 months ago

      As an owner of a second hand entry level Macbook, it’s constantly swapping. You don’t notice it that much because today’s SSDs are very fast, but undoubtedly this will affect the lifetime of the device and reflects a poor choice in memory specifications.

      • Falcon@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        One would notice if you they were doing dev work or analytics that’s for sure.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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      6 months ago

      16gb is fine if you can afford it and you are doing lots of thinks on your computer but isn’t necessary if you just have a few tabs on a budget machine.

      • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        I would never spec a Windows machine with less than 16.

        Even for a casual user. The problems it causes aren’t worth saving $50.

      • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        If I was able to upgrade a 4GB notebook to 16GB ten years ago for little money, it’s not a budget matter (unless it’s Apple who charge insane amounts of money for 16GB).