How much RAM do I need?
Pick what you run. You get a low, likely and high figure built from the apps' own published requirements. An estimate, not a measurement.
Start from a workload
Apps you run
No app chosen yet.
Virtual machines
Local AI model
Browser tabs
No browser vendor publishes a per-tab figure, so tabs only count once you enter one you measured. In Chrome, hover a tab to read it.
How the range is built
Vendors state RAM for the whole machine, so the calculator does not add one app's figure to another's.
- Low is the largest vendor minimum among your apps, as if you used them one at a time.
- Likely is the largest vendor recommendation. With the 4K box ticked it uses the 4K figure for the apps whose vendor lists one.
- High is every app at its largest listed figure, added up, as if all of them were busy at once. It counts the operating system more than once, on purpose.
- Virtual machines, a local model and measured tabs are separate memory, so they are added to all three. A virtual machine uses the guest system's own figure. A model uses the file size Ollama lists for it; context and cache come on top.
Where a vendor states only one figure, it is used for both. The sources for the apps you chose are listed here:
Every figure with its quoted line and date: RAM requirements of pro apps. What more memory costs: Mac RAM prices.
Measure it for real: two weeks of memory pressure on your own machine.
Get SizeMyLaptop for MacQuestions
Is this a measurement of my computer?
No. It is an estimate built from the RAM figures software vendors publish. It never looks at your machine. To measure your own use, run SizeMyLaptop for a working fortnight.
Where do the numbers come from?
Each app's figures are copied from the vendor's own system requirements page. The full list, with the quoted line, the page link and the date read, is on the RAM requirements page.
Does the calculator send anything anywhere?
No. It is a static page. It makes no network requests after it loads, and it stores nothing. Your choices live in the page address only, so you can share a result by sharing the link.
Why is there no per-tab figure for the browser?
No browser vendor publishes one. If you enter the size of one tab that you measured in your own browser, the calculator multiplies it by your tab count.