How much memory (RAM) do I currently have?
To check how much memory your Mac currently has installed, go to the Apple menu in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Select "About This Mac" from the Apple menu. That screen will show the total amount of memory (RAM) your computer has installed.
Next click on the "More Info" button on the "About This Mac" screen. The System Profiler will appear. Select "Memory" from the options on the left column. This screen will show how many memory slots you have in your computer to install memory (RAM) and what they currently contain. Keep in mind that if your slots are full, we'll have to take out some of the existing RAM to install larger Memory chips.
How much RAM (memory) do I need?
Below are our general guidelines but please come in for a consultation based on your specific needs.
| General Use | Minimum Required | Tekserve Recommends |
| General Use of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard & iLife '09 | 1GB | 2GB |
| General Use of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard & iLife '09 | 512MB, 1GB for high definition video | 2GB |
| General Use of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger & iLife '06 | 256MB, 512MB for high definition video | 512MB-1.5GB |
| General Use on Mac OS X 10.3 Panther & iLife '05 | 128MB, 512MB for high definition video | 256MB-1GB |
| General Software | Minimum Required | Tekserve Recommends |
| Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac | 512MB | 1GB-2GB |
| iWork '09 (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) | 512MB | 1GB-2GB |
| Quicken 2007 & QuickBooks Pro 2007 | 128MB | 512MB |
| FileMaker Pro 10 | 256MB-512MB | 512MB-1GB |
| Graphics, Design, & Photography | Minimum Required | Tekserve Recommends |
| Aperture 2 | 2GB | 2GB-4GB+ |
| Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 | 1GB | 1GB-2GB |
| Adobe CS4 Design Premium (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, etc.) | 1GB | 2GB-8GB; 3GB+ if you use more than Photoshop and one other program at the same time |
| Adobe CS4 Photoshop | 1GB | 2GB-8GB |
| Adobe Lightroom | 768MB | 2GB-4GB+ |
| QuarkXPress 7 & 8 | 256MB | 1GB+ |
| Video Editing | Minimum Required | Tekserve Recommends |
| Final Cut Express 4.0 | 1GB | 2GB+ |
| Final Cut Studio 3 (Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, Compressor 3.5, DVD Studio Pro 4) | 1GB required, 2GB of RAM for compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources; 4GB of RAM for uncompressed HD sources | 6GB+ for compressed HD and uncompressed SD; 12GB+ for uncompressed HD footage |
| Final Cut Studio 2 (Final Cut Pro 6, Motion 3, Soundtrack Pro 2, Color, Compressor 3, DVD Studio Pro 4) | 1GB | 2GB+ for compressed HD and uncompressed SD; 4GB+ for uncompressed HD footage |
| Adobe CS4 Production Premium (After Effects, Premiere, Soundbooth, Encore, etc.) | 2GB | 2GB+ for DV; 4GB+ for HDV & HD work |
| Adobe After Effects CS4 | 2GB | 2GB+ for DV; 4GB+ for HDV & HD work |
| Audio Recording & Production | Minimum Required | Tekserve Recommends |
| Logic Express 8 or 9 | 1GB, 2GB+ recommended | 4GB+ |
| Logic Studio 3 (Logic Pro 9, MainStage 2, Soundtrack Pro 3, etc.) | 1GB, 2GB+ highly recommended, 2GB+ required for large EXS instruments | 4GB+ |
| Logic Studio 2 (Logic Pro 8, MainStage, Soundtrack Pro 2, etc.) | 1GB | 4GB+ |
| Pro Tools LE or HD 8 | 1GB | 2GB minimum, 4GB+ recommended |
| Windows on a Mac | Minimum Required | Tekserve Recommends |
| Windows XP via Bootcamp | 512MB | 2GB |
| Windows Vista via Bootcamp | 1GB | 2GB-4GB |
| Windows XP via Parallels | 1GB | 2GB-3GB |
| Windows Vista via Parallels | 1GB | 4GB |
| Windows XP via VMware Fusion | 1GB | 2GB-4GB |
| Windows Vista via VMware Fusion | 1GB | 4GB |
My Mac seems slow, will adding more RAM help?
One way to check is to go to /Applications/Utilities and open the Activity Monitor. Click on the System Memory tab and watch the graph as you work. If you have enough memory, the pie chart should continue to have chunks of green (free memory) or blue (inactive memory) throughout your tasks. If the pie chart fills up with red (wired memory) and yellow (active memory), your computer is probably being slowed down because it is using all the memory available. While in Activity Monitor, also look down at the bottom where it says Page ins/out. If the outs are growing, you need more RAM.
Why should I buy Tekserve RAM?
Tekserve RAM comes with a lifetime warranty, which covers the part and installation. Should you ever have any problems with your RAM, we'll do a free diagnostic and replace it while you wait. Additionally, we are one of the largest Apple Authorized Service Providers, so you don't have to stress about our RAM interfering with your AppleCare protection plan. We'll take care of any possible RAM problems for you during warranty or AppleCare repairs.
Can I install my own Memory (RAM)?
If you tend towards geeky, installing RAM on many current Macs isn't open heart surgery. However, it is possible to break your logic board in the process, which requires a very expensive repair to fix (not covered under any warranty). So if you don't have experience installing RAM, we recommend you let one of our certified technicians do it for you while you wait.
What is RAM and what does it do?
RAM (Random Access Memory) is like the surface of your desk. With a larger desk you can work on more projects (programs) and files (data) at once. With a smaller desk, getting things done is slower because you aren't able to reference as many projects and files at the same time. The geek explanation is that RAM acts as a buffer between your hard drive and processor. To access data on your hard drive, the computer must spin the drive until it finds the required data and reads it. Random Access Memory (RAM) is used to store data that your computer needs to access randomly without waiting for the hard drive.