we have a late 2013 2.4 GHz MBP with 13” Retina display, 4GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. Performance is slow and we keep running into space issues because of tiny SSD. Considering an OWC 480 GB SSD upgrade, but we are wondering if that will help the performance given the limited amount of RAM. RAM is not upgradeable on that machine
Wondering if somebody has a MBP of that vintage with 4GB RAM and could comment on the performance?
My wife has an older MBP with 4GB of RAM and while it’s usable it is no doubt slow despite a fast SSD and decent CPU. This is with El Cap. I suspect going to newer versions of macOS would only make it worse. I think 8 GB should be considered the bare minimum if you want a snappy UI you enjoy using. As soon as you use more hefty apps 16 GB would probably be advisable.
Considering your RAM is soldered, my advice would be to no longer invest in that MBP. Maybe you can get something for it if you sell it used. Use that to offset the cost of a new MBP or MBA (check out the refurb section too for some good deals). When you buy a new Mac, I’d suggest getting 16 GB just for longevity.
I don’t think that the amount of RAM that you have installed is a limitation at all. Was your MBP ever a good performer with 4GB of RAM? If it was (and I’m willing to bet that it was, otherwise you would have returned it when new), it’s not likely a limitation now. Never versions of the Mac OS have better memory management and advanced memory compression. So that isn’t the problem.
If your hard drive is over-full, that could easily be the problem. And/or if you’ve fallen behind in routine maintenance. Have a look at:
Macintosh Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html
Macintosh Slowdown Solutions
http://www.macattorney.com/sd.html
To determine if the 4 GB of RAM is a problem, open Activity Monitor, switch to the Memory tab, and look at the Memory Pressure graph at the bottom. If it’s yellow or red a lot, you need more memory.