What is recommendation for RAM?

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop on a Mac with Apple silicon' started by SrinivasS, Jan 22, 2022.

  1. SrinivasS

    SrinivasS Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Im new to virtual machine(VM). Im considering 8GB MacBook Air (m1) and use it with parallels for Windows OS. Please suggest if 8GB RAM going to be sufficient for smooth operation. I guess certain amount RAM is assigned to VM. Lets say 4GB is assigned, is that going to be sufficient?

    Please advise.
    Thanks.
     
  2. SamS4

    SamS4 Hunter

    Messages:
    123
    I don't think so. All the apps that I run require a minimum of a 6 to 8 GB virtual machine.

    If you think Parallels is going to be important to you going forward then I think you should also future-proof your machine and buy much more real memory.
     
  3. SWANDY

    SWANDY Pro

    Messages:
    317
    I have an iMac and made the same mistake (only getting 8GB of RAM) forgetting that Parallels "suggests" only using half the available RAM for the VM. (That's what I get from getting used to BootCamp which allowed the Windows installation to use all the available RAM.)
    Anyway, I changed the VM settings to allow for 6GB of RAM and Windows 11 PRO ARM seems to run fine. BUT a lot will depend on what you need/want to run. I only have a few games that I play around with under Windows 11 (and one older database program - Lotus Approach - that runs fine). Some games - that specify they want 8GB of RAM will still run under 6GB - but it depends on the program. MS Office and my photography programs I all run on the macOS side so they have full access to all the 8GB of RAM.
    If I were to do it again I would build the iMac with 16 (but that is what I said the last time LOL).
     

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