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SizeMyLaptop

How much RAM does Premiere Pro need?

Adobe lists RAM for Premiere Pro, After Effects, Media Encoder and Audition. For Windows it lists a higher figure for 4K and larger media, so resolution is the first thing to decide.

Figures read from the vendors' own pages on 2026-10-20.

What the vendors say

Vendor minimum and recommended RAM for Premiere Pro4 GB8 GB16 GBPremiere Pro (macOS)816Premiere Pro (Windows)816After Effects (Windows)1616Media Encoder (Windows)816Audition (Windows)816
Vendor minimumVendor recommendation Gridlines are the RAM sizes Macs come in.

What it does with memory

Video editing holds frames, effects and caches in memory, and resolution multiplies all of them. Adobe lists HD and 4K separately for that reason.

Signs it is short

  1. 1

    Playback drops frames after a few minutes

  2. 2

    Exports slow down while you keep editing

  3. 3

    Swap climbs while the app is open

HD footage: hold Adobe's recommended figure. 4K or more, or After Effects beside it: aim higher. How to read memory pressure.

What more RAM costs

Extra cost per GB of each RAM step, MacBook Air 13-inch, Apple NLMacBook Air 13-inch, M5 Chip: 16 to 24 GB€27,50
Extra cost per GB of each step, in euros, VAT included.

Sources, read 2026-10-20: Apple NL: 16 GB page and 24 GB page; Apple US: 16 GB page and 24 GB page. All steps.

Try these figures in the calculator.

Open the calculator with this workload

Then measure it for real: get SizeMyLaptop and see your own memory pressure over a working fortnight.

Get SizeMyLaptop

  1. Open Terminal

    Press Command and Space, type Terminal, press Return.

  2. Paste it and press Return

    One command installs the tool, checks its checksum, then starts recording. No password, no admin rights.

    curl -fsSL https://sizemylaptop.com/install.sh | bash -s -- --start

    Rather read it first? Download it, read it, then run it:

    curl -fsSLO https://sizemylaptop.com/install.sh && less install.sh && bash install.sh --start

  3. Done. Keep working as usual.

    After one to two weeks, run baseline report in Terminal (the installer prints the exact command). It stops recording by itself after 14 days and the report opens in your browser.

Free. Nothing leaves your Mac unless you click Share. No password, no admin rights. Needs Python 3 (a Mac without it shows Apple's one-time install window); installs nothing else.