Mac memory requirements

[Guido Belli]

In his article about the denoise Lr feature, Eric Chan writes: On macOS, prefer an Apple silicon machine with lots of memory. 

Would it be possible to have more precise information about memory requirements?

Thank you!

Guido

[Ranjisha Sengupta]

Hi @Guido Belli 

Thanks for reaching out. 

We don't have any additional requirements for storage. However, you can have a look at these relevant articles;

You can check the system requirements here: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/system-requirements.html.

For denoise-related info, please check https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/using/whats-new/2023-3.html.

Let us know if there's anything else we can help you with.

Best,

Ranjisha

[Guido Belli]

Hi @Ranjisha Sengupta 

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately the articles you suggest don't clarify the problem.

My question is the following.

For what graphic card is concerned, Lr minimum requirement is 2 GB of VRAM, and for optimal performance Adobe suggests from 4 to 8 GB of VRAM.

Talking of Mac VRAM requirements, Eric Chan suggests Apple silicon machine but doesn't specify any size of its memory.

Apple silicon machines have a unified memory whose size can vary from 8 to 128 GB (considering Mac mini and Mac Studio). 

Apparently, there is no way to understand the criteria Mac OS and/or Lr assign the shared memory to VRAM. My understanding of these technical aspects is not deep enough and I couldn't find any documentation on this subject to help me.

All this being said, since I need to upgrade my Mac mini, which machine should I buy to take advantage of the new AI based Lr features?

Should I use the rule of thumb: buy the most powerful machine you can afford, which is the criteria Eric seems to suggest saying "lots of memory"?

Or can you suggest a more conscious criteria not to throw my money, or, the other way round, not to buy an undersized machine?

Hope this can help you to help me.

Best,

Guido

[Conrad_C]

The amount of memory does not have to be excessive. My midrange MacBook Pro has 32GB of unified memory and can complete AI Denoise in 20 to 40 seconds per image depending on how many megapixels it is. Having an Apple Silicon (M1/M2) Mac is a lot more important than the amount of memory, because Intel Macs, especially older ones, can take several minutes to run AI Denoise.

If you do a lot of work in Lightroom Classic and keep other applications open, your Mac should probably have no less than 16GB unified memory, but it is probably not necessary to order more than 64GB. For me, 32GB has been a good amount.

[Guido Belli]

Thank you Conrad for sharing your experience and thoughts.

Anyway, I'd like a word from Adobe engineers to clarify Eric Chan's words.