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Does my M2 have too little memory for Lightroom?
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Does my M2 have too little memory for Lightroom?
I have been using an M2 -> 16GB / 512GB ssd for a few days now and notice while using Lightroom that quite a bit of memory is used.
The Swap here is currently +6GB?!
On my old iMac 5K (late 2015) with 512GB SSD and 24GB memory. I never had any issues with swaps, does this mean I'm running out of memory?
If I want to replace this M2 for an upgrade, is increasing the memory to 24GB sufficient or should I push the setup to a higher level?
Can the experts here please give me some good advice so that I can enjoy the mac min for a few more years?
The Swap here is currently +6GB?!
On my old iMac 5K (late 2015) with 512GB SSD and 24GB memory. I never had any issues with swaps, does this mean I'm running out of memory?
If I want to replace this M2 for an upgrade, is increasing the memory to 24GB sufficient or should I push the setup to a higher level?
Can the experts here please give me some good advice so that I can enjoy the mac min for a few more years?
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Are you a professional who really need to use Lightroom? If so, you should go to a higher level.
I'm not a professional.
Since my old iMac never had to use the swap memory, I notice with the M2 that a swap of +6GB is strongly used. I wonder if this has a negative effect on overall performance?
According to Apple about swap click
The 'Memory Pressure' graph shows whether your computer is using memory efficiently.
- Green memory pressure: Your computer uses all the RAM in an efficient way.
- Yellow memory pressure: Your computer may eventually need more RAM.
- Red memory pressure: Your computer needs more RAM.
With my swap I am therefore in the yellow area.
Since my old iMac never had to use the swap memory, I notice with the M2 that a swap of +6GB is strongly used. I wonder if this has a negative effect on overall performance?
According to Apple about swap click
The 'Memory Pressure' graph shows whether your computer is using memory efficiently.
- Green memory pressure: Your computer uses all the RAM in an efficient way.
- Yellow memory pressure: Your computer may eventually need more RAM.
- Red memory pressure: Your computer needs more RAM.
With my swap I am therefore in the yellow area.
Moving the "Lightroom" folder which holds the Catalogue files/Settings/Previews/Backups to a fast external SSD makes a real speed difference on Intel Macs. Lightroom writes heaps of temporary files. Worth a try. In Lightroom Preference change location of Catalogue.
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groundcontrol
woolypants
macrumors regular
Oct 24, 2018
No it just means your Mac is memory managing, like it's designed to.I never had any issues with swaps, does this mean I'm running out of memory?
Good advice: Stop looking at these figures. Close Activity Monitor. Just use your computer. If it truly runs out of memory, you'll know because a dialog box will appear and your computer will slow.
Also, update to the newest version whenever it's available in case there is a bug.
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Bob_DM
macrumors member
Nov 26, 2020
Kessel-lo - Belgium
I upgraded from M1/16GB mini to M2 pro 32GB, memory pressure/swap stays about the same in Lightroom (+/- 50% yellow maybe a little less swap a few GB), so it seems more memory available = more used. Feels about the same speedwise. Panotest with 33 18Mpix raws went from 1 minute to 45 seconds. So it is faster but in practice doesn’t feel much different.I have been using an M2 -> 16GB / 512GB ssd for a few days now and notice while using Lightroom that quite a bit of memory is used.
The Swap here is currently +6GB?!
On my old iMac 5K (late 2015) with 512GB SSD and 24GB memory. I never had any issues with swaps, does this mean I'm running out of memory?
If I want to replace this M2 for an upgrade, is increasing the memory to 24GB sufficient or should I push the setup to a higher level?
Can the experts here please give me some good advice so that I can enjoy the mac min for a few more years?
Yes, it has, if you use a benchmark side to side and compare, but if you don't experience lack of performance, then it isn't important. The SSD may be somewhat degraded with time, but it will most likely last longer than the computer itself is relevant for daily use.I notice with the M2 that a swap of +6GB is strongly used. I wonder if this has a negative effect on overall performance?
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TracerAnalog
Yeah, that's...not great, not terrible. If this is the heaviest workload that you usually have, you will be fine for some time I guess. You are not running out of memory, but you do not have too much to spare either. It should be ok.I have been using an M2 -> 16GB / 512GB ssd for a few days now and notice while using Lightroom that quite a bit of memory is used.
The Swap here is currently +6GB?!
On my old iMac 5K (late 2015) with 512GB SSD and 24GB memory. I never had any issues with swaps, does this mean I'm running out of memory?
If I want to replace this M2 for an upgrade, is increasing the memory to 24GB sufficient or should I push the setup to a higher level?
Can the experts here please give me some good advice so that I can enjoy the mac min for a few more years?
If I understand your post correctly, upgrading the memory to eg 24GB will not make sense for Lightroom, especially since swap will still happen.I upgraded from M1/16GB mini to M2 pro 32GB, memory pressure/swap stays about the same in Lightroom (+/- 50% yellow maybe a little less swap a few GB), so it seems more memory available = more used. Feels about the same speedwise. Panotest with 33 18Mpix raws went from 1 minute to 45 seconds. So it is faster but in practice doesn’t feel
Strange that my old iMac 5K late 2015 with 24GB memory never showed any swap?
How can I prevent that there is less swap with a better performance as a result?
Are you actually suffering from a degradation in performance?If I understand your post correctly, upgrading the memory to eg 24GB will not make sense for Lightroom, especially since swap will still happen.
Strange that my old iMac 5K late 2015 with 24GB memory never showed any swap?
How can I prevent that there is less swap with a better performance as a result?
Since I upgraded from an iMac late 2015 to an M2, I unfortunately have no reference how the performance of an M2 without swap compares.Are you actually suffering from a degradation in performance?
I would think it a shame not to use the full performance of the system.
It'd also be a shame to unnecessarily spend hundreds of dollars to chase graphs in Activity Monitor rather than because your system is actually suffering from reduced performance during your workflow.Since I upgraded from an iMac late 2015 to an M2, I unfortunately have no reference how the performance of an M2 without swap compares.
I would think it a shame not to use the full performance of the system.
That you can't tell if performance is affected really tells you everything you need to know. It's obvious when a computer is being pushed beyond it's limits. If you can't confidently detect any degradation in performance, you don't have any.
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telecomm, foo2, ItWasNotMe and 23 others
You should be fine with the specs you have. Try the following:
1. Reboot in safe mode.
2. Dump the Lightroom preferences.
3. Reinstall Lightroom
4. Try creating a new library in Lightroom. Could be a corrupt file.
5. It’s possible that your library has too many pictures for your Mac. Creating a new library with only a few thousand photos may help.
6. Clear some space in your hard drive. Use external drives for as much as possible including your Lightroom library. I would recommend a Samsung high-speed SSD for pro work. You want to keep at least 25% of your boot drive available for virtual memory. I follow this even with 256 GB of ram in my MacPro.
7. If all else fails, try booting from another drive. If that works, you may need to do an erase and reinstall or, new in Monterrey, erase content and settings.
1. Reboot in safe mode.
2. Dump the Lightroom preferences.
3. Reinstall Lightroom
4. Try creating a new library in Lightroom. Could be a corrupt file.
5. It’s possible that your library has too many pictures for your Mac. Creating a new library with only a few thousand photos may help.
6. Clear some space in your hard drive. Use external drives for as much as possible including your Lightroom library. I would recommend a Samsung high-speed SSD for pro work. You want to keep at least 25% of your boot drive available for virtual memory. I follow this even with 256 GB of ram in my MacPro.
7. If all else fails, try booting from another drive. If that works, you may need to do an erase and reinstall or, new in Monterrey, erase content and settings.
Lightroom system requirements
Your computer must meet the minimum technical specifications outlined below to run and use Lightroom.
helpx.adobe.com
Last edited: Feb 24, 2023
I do believe some of those actions are for an Intel mac.You should be fine with the specs you have. Try the following:
1. Reboot in safe mode.
2. Reset the SMC.
3. Reboot in recovery and repair permissions.
4. Dump the Lightroom preferences.
5. Reinstall Lightroom
6. Try creating a new library in Lightroom. Could be a corrupt file.
7. It’s possible that your library has too many pictures for your Mac. Creating a new library with only a few thousand photos may help.
8. Clear some space in your hard drive. Use external drives for as much as possible including your Lightroom library. I would recommend a Samsung high-speed SSD for pro work. You want to keep at least 25% of your boot drive available for virtual memory. I follow this even with 256 GB of ram in my MacPro.
9. If all else fails, try booting from another drive. If that works, you may need to do an erase and reinstall or, new in Monterrey, erase content and settings.Lightroom system requirements
Your computer must meet the minimum technical specifications outlined below to run and use Lightroom.
helpx.adobe.com
Edit: The quoted post above has now been corrected by the poster.
Last edited: Feb 24, 2023
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Sharewaredemon and Gezellig
ericwn
macrumors G4
Apr 24, 2016
11,229
9,483
Spot on!It'd also be a shame to unnecessarily spend hundreds of dollars to chase graphs in Activity Monitor rather than because your system is actually suffering from reduced performance during your workflow.
That you can't tell if performance is affected really tells you everything you need to know. It's obvious when a computer is being pushed beyond it's limits. If you can't confidently detect any degradation in performance, you don't have any.
smirking
macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,386
3,171
Silicon Valley
You are all good! Just use your computer and ignore the arcane details of Activity Monitor. I ran the crap out of an 8GB 13" M1 MBP on Capture One Pro with a ton of other stuff running in the background (including Windows 11).If I understand your post correctly, upgrading the memory to eg 24GB will not make sense for Lightroom, especially since swap will still happen.
Strange that my old iMac 5K late 2015 with 24GB memory never showed any swap?
How can I prevent that there is less swap with a better performance as a result?
In the time I had that 8GB M1 MBP, my memory pressure was lava red the entire time and it was still working mostly without any incident. Of the few performance issues I had, they were primarily software related ones that hardware upgrades would address only marginally.
Granted, Capture One Pro and Lightroom aren't the same program, but they're pretty equivalent and I'd expect that Adobe would be able to design better software than Phase One (maker of Capture One Pro).
Last edited: Feb 24, 2023
The only one I’m not sure about is repairing permissions. The rest work on both.I do believe some of those actions are for an Intel mac.
woolypants
macrumors regular
Oct 24, 2018
Repairing permissions went years ago.The only one I’m not sure about is repairing permissions. The rest work on both.
There is no SMC on Apple Silicon Macs.
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Checked Apple. You’re correct.Repairing permissions went years ago.
There is no SMC on Apple Silicon Macs.
I edited the post.
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AlixSPQR
Yes, as per apple's support documents, you are running out of memory. However, if you don't do this often, it won't be an issue. I had a friend who was constantly overloading their RAM and while the computer itself ran OK even in the red, the SSD took a massive beating from all the swap usage and health dropped to 10% or so in just 2 years. Even then, it won't be an issue if a few years is all you're expecting out of the machine and SSDs can continue to work even at 0% health.
@All
Thank you for your contribution.
On the basis of this Youtube it has become clear to me that more ram memory does not result in a higher performance gain.
Basically, this means that I will adjust my current setup to the following configuration.
Processor: M2
Memory: 16GB
SSD: 512GB upgrade to 1TB for higher performance in swap and longevity.
Thank you for your contribution.
On the basis of this Youtube it has become clear to me that more ram memory does not result in a higher performance gain.
Basically, this means that I will adjust my current setup to the following configuration.
Processor: M2
Memory: 16GB
SSD: 512GB upgrade to 1TB for higher performance in swap and longevity.
Last edited: Feb 24, 2023
Sometimes there are bugs or bad source files. I recently used Davinci Resolve to cut up a few 1080p footage. I have a maxed out M1 Ultra Mac Studio at 128GB of RAM. I started swapping like crazy and my memory pressure was in the red. I got out of memory warning half way through the export process. I restarted, quickly reencoded the source file and tried again. It barely used more than 5GB of RAM after I did that. Could have been a partially corrupt file somehow.
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fisherking
macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
10,111
4,749
ny somewhere
the only app i use on my mac is activity monitor; i like to open all the apps, then just watch carefully to see which ones creep up on the cpu or ram.
once i compile my findings, we can do a class-action lawsuit. anyone can use an app like safari (or lightroom), but only a genyus like myself is prepared to go after the fat cats who allow memory swaps, or any cpu usage...
once i compile my findings, we can do a class-action lawsuit. anyone can use an app like safari (or lightroom), but only a genyus like myself is prepared to go after the fat cats who allow memory swaps, or any cpu usage...
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Darjeeling
macrumors newbie
Sep 27, 2009
Ha! Genyus, fisherking.the only app i use on my mac is activity monitor; i like to open all the apps, then just watch carefully to see which ones creep up on the cpu or ram.
once i compile my findings, we can do a class-action lawsuit. anyone can use an app like safari (or lightroom), but only a genyus like myself is prepared to go after the fat cats who allow memory swaps, or any cpu usage...
This is a computer forum, so the geeking over tech specs is expected, as are huge helpings of FOMO (sorry, do I spell that "future proofing"?), RAM and processor envy, and sometimes brittle and defensive (self) justifications for money spent on high-end hobbyist machines.
But seriously, Activity Monitor monitoring has really gotten out of hand lately.
Last edited: Feb 24, 2023
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smirking
macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,386
3,171
Silicon Valley
I think you misspelled "always."Sometimes there are bugs or bad source files.
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