New Macbook Pro 16": Advice for amount of RAM 16 GB or 32 GB?

The 32GB RAM option would be better. The reason 12GB RAM is recommended for Lightroom Classic is that it can cache more previews and other data for faster image-to-image display if you have the RAM to cache them. A 16GB RAM computer might not have much left over for Lightroom Classic after accounting for the RAM needed for the system and other applications you always run. Other factors are that you might need more RAM if you often need to process images with a lot of megapixels, like from full frame sensors, or merging HDR or panorama images where Lightroom Classic needs to hold multiple images in RAM simultaneously. It’s probably safe to assume that you won’t need 64GB RAM.

The i9 was not cost effective on the 2018 15" because the cooling system held it back, but reviews are indicating that the improved cooling on the 2019 16" makes the i9 a reasonable upgrade on the current model.

The GPU VRAM upgrade to 8GB may be worthwhile. It isn’t necessary just based on your non-Retina 2560 x 1440 pixel display (same as my external display), but it should help in the Develop module with larger images, and should help future-proof it if you’re going to keep the laptop for 6 years. Especially if you later upgrade to a 4K+ external display.

You mentioned wanting the machine to be quiet. Reviews suggest that it will be relatively quiet, even under a fair load, because Apple tends to avoid ramping up the fan speed until it has to. Under load this allows internal temperatures to stay hotter longer, which may impact the life span of components.

I see that the 16inch MacBook Pro Retina also has an option for more VRAM. For $100 more, you can bump up from 4GB GDR6 memory on the GPU to 8GB. That is another non post buy upgrade you should consider.

Actualy, I would not hesitate one nano second on that one.

Take into account that you may decide one day to use a post processing program that is more RAM greedy,

Take into consideration that one day you may want to use post processing software that can take good advantage of more RAM

Consider, that Adobe may just up the RAM requirements for Lightroom Classic, or perhaps improve it's capability to leverage more RAM. Nothing to base this on, just what if.

Be RAM greedy, go for the RAM

https://www.breathingcolor.com/blog/computer-for-image-editing/

Hi there,

Welcome to the Adobe Community!

16 GB RAM should be enough for using Lightroom Classic for photo editing and printing, as the recommended RAM is 12 GB. However, just to be safe and be future ready I would go for higher RAM and a good processor like i9 2.4 GHz.
Please check this article to learn more about Lightroom's recommended system requirements: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Sahil