The actual reason the M1 Macs cap out at 16GB is that they use LPDDR4, and that on a 128-bit bus caps out at 16GB. Assuming that they move to LPDRR5 as it becomes available (hasn't Apple generally been pretty quick on the uptake on new RAM standards?), that limit goes up to 64GB.

It's a conservative spec for sure given the rest of the M1. Samsung has shipped their own LPDDR5 in the Galaxy S20 since February. Maybe production capacity is still too limited.

I believe that Samsung co-designed the memory with their interface block, and then it was effectively codified as the standard. Most other companies had to wait for the standard to be formed before they could start work on their IP. This gave Samsung a huge head start.

Intel's fault? Uhm, they've had some misses recently, but your statement about RAM support is incorrect.

The 7200u supports 32GB or RAM. That chip is over 4 years old and nothing special. Not sure how long that's been supported, I didn't feel like looking further back.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/95443/i...

It does not support LPDDR4... which is something Apple has been targeting because it uses less power.

The just released 16" macbook pro has DDR4. They clearly aren't married to LPDDR.

Probably because they couldn't keep waiting. It also means the 16" MacBook Pro goes through battery life at high speed from experience.

Apple switched to DDR4 when the 2018 Macbook Pros were released which allowed them to support 32 GB of RAM.

The rated battery life of the Macbook Pro didn't change between 2017 and 2018.

The rated battery life may not have, but the actual, real world experience battery life certainly has. Speaking as the user of a. 2019 MacBook Pro with the DDR4 that I use for work.

I find myself scrambling for a power supply way more often than I ever did with my 2017 15" MacBook Pro.

Even with the older battery in the 2017, with more cycles, I get a longer battery life out of it than the 2019.

And I have the complete opposite experience. Pinning this on the switch from LPDDR3 to DDR4 seems like a very weak conclusion. Especially when it is known that processors and displays are the largest consumers of energy and the 2019 MacBook Pro boosts way higher with more cores than the 2017.

Huh, so they did. TIL.

Apple sells the 16" macbook with 64gb of DDR4. It's their decision whether to use LPDDR or DDR. They choose LPDDR for some and DDR for others.

Pretty incredible to blame another company for a decision that was made inside Apple. Especially for a chip that was designed from scratch in apple, and therefore has no Intel constraints.

what do you mean entry level laptops? they don’t offer more than 16 and their base ram is only 8...

and how are the macbook pro or mac mini entry level laptops?

The mini is their cheapest computer. The Air has been their entry level laptop for the last several generations. The 13” Pro has had 2 versions since 2016 - a low-end 2 port model, and a higher end 4 port model.

Every device with an M1 available today is Apple’s lowest-end (and least expensive) offering.

> The reason it has been stuck to 16GB is precisely because Intel mobile chips did not support any more than that up until a year ago. So rather than blaming Apple, it should rather be placed on intel.

That is not true, example CPU I had in my old laptop: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/pl/pl/ark/products/78939/i...

Supports 32GB RAM, released in 2014.

The reason some older laptops didn't have more RAM was twofold: 1. Either the BIOS wasn't written with such support 2. There were no RAM sticks big enough (no 16GB in a single SO-DIMM) so you could have 2x16 - but there are currently since a year or two, SO-DIMMs with 32GB RAM, so you could easily reach 64MB in a laptop.

GP means LPDDR3 support which capped out at 16gb on intel, which was because their 10nm lines with LPDDR4 were delayed years. It was always possible to use regular DDR but for laptops the low power variant is important.

... and yet they use DDR4 (not LP) on at least one of their laptop lines.

Yes they do on the 16”, after years of complaints from users who didn’t understand the constraint, and which they added the maximum allowable battery size to (~100wH), and it still only lasts 3-4h in moderate use.

They switched it on the 2018 15-inch and it didn't change the battery life at all.

Seemingly out of necessity?

GP didn't write about LPDDR3, just a vague statement that intel cpus didn't support > 16GB RAM, which I proved was wrong.