How Much RAM is Needed for Viewing and Editing Photos

[Zhaopian]

Sir or Ma'am,

I am using a Canon R5 and R3, and I shoot RAW. Unfortunately, I destroyed my previous laptop (MacBook Pro), and now I have a new one (8GB RAM, 225 GB HD storage, and basic stuff), Despite having an M3 processor instead of an M2, I have 8GB of RAM, and I think everything is slower. Denoising in Lightroom Classic is terribly slow. Even running Canon's DPP and Youtube makes scrolling through my photos a lot slower. 

My new Apple laptop is 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal HD drive storage. I guess I need a faster or bigger RAM. I can use the older RAM or basic processing software, but a faster internal or external Hard Drive is an absolute must, I guess.

Anyone else have recommendations and problems to address.

E.

[shadowsports]

Greetings ,

I recommend a minimum of 16 GB and as much solid-state storage as you could afford.  The size of your disk is not a factor for processing but as you acquire more pictures you're going to need a place to store them.  While it's possible to get by with 8 GB, you will notice a performance difference as you increase memory.

My Mac is an m1 32 GB and 1 TB hard drive. My PC is 32 GB and 1 TB hard drive.  For storage I have two NAS devices.  Those are about 20 TB.  

[kvbarkley]

If you are within the 14 day return, return the Mac you got and get one with the Maximum amount of RAM you can get. It is not expandable, and it is always a good idea to have a cushion to future proof things.