Open Activity Monitor. Click on the Memory tab. Click the Memory column to sort processes by Memory usage. This will make it easier to see which process or app is hogging the RAM.
- View the open processes on your Macbook in the 'Process Name' column. Click the 'All Processes' drop-down box near the top of the Activity Monitor window and select 'Windowed Processes' to view.
- Favorite Answer Either use Control-Click on your HDD, or click on it and then use Apple-i. That'll open an info box on your drive and tell you how much space is free. Those are the short ways.
- The cost of SSD storage has finally dropped low enough to make it a reasonable buy for many MacBook Pro owners. Of course, the newer MacBook Pros with Retina Displays all include solid-state flash-based storage, but there's millions of MacBooks and MacBook Pros that still contain powerful processors that are only hampered by slow spinning hard drives.
- Jul 10, 2020 If you are looking at buying a MacBook Pro, and not sure which to choose, here is a detailed comparison and verdict on the new MacBook Pro 8GB vs 16GB. 8GB vs 16GB RAM MacBook Pro The macOS, which runs on every Mac devices, is developed to be one of the most efficient and memory-optimized operating systems even on a mediocre level of hardware.
How iOS and iPadOS optimize storage
If your device is low on storage, it automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS or iPadOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.
To make more storage available, your device can remove some of your items, like streamed music and videos, files in iCloud Drive, and parts of apps that aren't needed. It also removes temporary files and clears the cache on your device. But your device only removes items that can be downloaded again or that aren't needed anymore.
Use your device to check its storage
Go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage. You might see a list of recommendations for optimizing your device's storage, followed by a list of installed apps and the amount of storage each one uses. Tap an app's name for more information about its storage. Cached data and temporary data might not be counted as usage.
In the detailed view you can:
How To Check Available Memory On Macbook Pro Mid 2015
- Offload the app, which frees up storage used by the app, but keeps its documents and data.
- Delete the app, which removes the app and its related data.
- Depending on the app, you might be able to delete some of its documents and data.
If your device is almost full and can't free up space, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps.
Content categories
Macbook Pro Memory Test
The used content on your device is divided in these categories:
- Apps: Installed apps and their content, and content stored in 'On My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch' directory in the Files app, and Safari downloads
- Photos: Photos and videos stored in the Photos app
- Media: Music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, artwork, and Voice Memos
- Mail: Emails and their attachments
- Apple Books: Books and PDFs in the Books app
- Messages: Messages and their attachments
- iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive content that has been downloaded locally to your device. This content can't be automatically deleted.
- Other: Non-removable mobile assets, like Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, non-removable logs and caches, Spotlight index, and system data, such as Keychain and CloudKit Database. Cached files can't be deleted by the system.
- System: Space taken by the operating system. This can vary based on your device and model.
Use recommendations to optimize storage
Ios macbook pro download. In the Storage section of Settings, your device might offer recommendations for optimizing your storage. Best software for macbook pro 2012. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.
Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
Use Finder or iTunes to check the storage on your iOS device
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15, open Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
- Connect your device to your computer.
- Select your device in Finder or in iTunes. You'll see a bar that shows how much storage your content uses, divided by content type.
- Move your mouse over the bar to see how much storage each content type is using.
Here's a list of the types of content on your device, and what each type includes:
- Audio: Songs, audio podcasts, audiobooks, voice memos, and ringtones.
- Video: Movies, music videos, and TV shows.
- Photos: Content in your Photo Library, Camera Roll, and Photo Stream.
- Apps: Installed apps. The content of the apps is listed under Documents & Data.
- Books: iBooks books, audio books, and PDF files.
- Documents & Data: Safari Offline Reading List, files stored within installed apps, and app content like contacts, calendars, messages, and emails (and their attachments).
- Other: Settings, Siri voices, system data, and cached files.
About cached files in 'Other'
Finder and iTunes categorize cached music, videos, and photos as Other instead of actual songs, videos, or photos. Cached files are created when you stream or view content like music, videos, and photos. When you stream music or video, that content is stored as cached files on your device so you can quickly access it again.
Your device automatically removes cached files and temporary files when your device needs more space.
If storage on your device differs from what you see in Finder or iTunes
Since Finder and iTunes categorize cached files as Other, reported usage for Music or Videos might differ. To view usage on your device, go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage.
If you want to delete the cached files from your device
Your device automatically deletes cached files and temporary files when it needs more space. You don't need to delete them yourself.
Learn more
- To reduce the size of your Photo library, turn on iCloud Photo Library and optimize your device storage.
- Optimize your music and videos storage in Settings > Music > Optimize Storage.
- Learn how iOS, iPadOS, and macOS report storage capacity.
Matt Cone January 2, 2012 TutorialsMac
Imagine driving a vehicle with no gauges on the dashboard. You wouldn't know how fast the car was going, how much fuel it had left, or whether or not the engine was about to overheat. In short, you'd be driving blind - hoping, by chance, that everything would just work out okay.
As ludicrous as this scenario sounds, millions of Mac users do essentially the same thing every day. Most people have no idea how much RAM is installed in their Mac, or how much memory it is currently using. Of course, since RAM memory stores the code and instructions for OS X and any applications open on your Mac, running out of it can slow your Mac down, or worse. That's why it's important to monitor your Mac's memory usage in real time. You can see how much RAM is currently available on your Mac and stop potential problems before they start!
There are a couple different tools you can use to see how much memory your Mac is using. This tutorial covers three of them: Activity Monitor, iStat Pro, and iStat Menus. By the time you get to the end of the article, you'll be a memory-monitoring pro!
Using Activity Monitor
Activity Monitor is a free application that comes bundled with every Mac. You can use this application to see how much RAM is currently free, how much RAM is currently allocated, and a whole lot more. In fact, Activity Monitor presents so much information that it's easy to get overwhelmed when looking at it. Don't worry if you don't understand what it all means. Just follow these instructions to concentrate on the memory statistics.
Here's how to use Activity Monitor to monitor your Mac's memory usage:
Open the Activity Monitor application. (It's in Applications → Utilities.) The window shown below appears.
Click the Real Mem column header to sort the active processes by memory usage. This is a good way to see which applications are using the most memory on your Mac - the memory hogs are displayed at the top of the list.
Click the System Memory button. Now the bottom part of the window shows exactly how much free memory is currently available. If the free memory number looks too low, you should quit some applications to free up memory. (Ideally, your Mac should have 10% of the total memory available at any given time.)
To turn the Activity Monitor Dock icon in to a real time memory monitoring tool, right-click on the Dock icon and select Dock Icon → Show Memory Usage, as shown below. The Activity Monitor Dock icon turns into a pie chart which displays how your memory is allocated.
Now you have a way to monitor your Mac's memory usage in real time. Keep an eye on that Dock icon! You want there to be enough green (which represents free memory) to open other applications.
Using iStat Pro
iStat Pro is a free Dashboard widget that provides tons of system information about your Mac, including memory usage. If you're an avid Dashboard user, this is a good way to keep tabs on how much RAM is free and allocated. Just download and install iStat Pro and then open Dashboard. (To do so, you can press F4 on most Mac keyboards, or swipe left with four fingers on a trackpad.) The iStat Pro widget is shown below.
It's a good idea to check the widget a couple times a day, just to make sure you have enough free RAM available. Remember, if the free RAM is getting dangerously low, quit some applications to free up space.
Using iStat Menus
Using iStat Menus ($16, free trial available) is probably the best option for monitoring your Mac's memory. This application runs in the background and displays an icon on your menu bar that indicates how much RAM memory your Mac has available. And seriously, can you think of a better way to monitor memory than looking at your menu bar?
Here's how to use iStat Menus to monitor your Mac's memory usage:
Use recommendations to optimize storage
Ios macbook pro download. In the Storage section of Settings, your device might offer recommendations for optimizing your storage. Best software for macbook pro 2012. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.
Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
Use Finder or iTunes to check the storage on your iOS device
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15, open Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
- Connect your device to your computer.
- Select your device in Finder or in iTunes. You'll see a bar that shows how much storage your content uses, divided by content type.
- Move your mouse over the bar to see how much storage each content type is using.
Here's a list of the types of content on your device, and what each type includes:
- Audio: Songs, audio podcasts, audiobooks, voice memos, and ringtones.
- Video: Movies, music videos, and TV shows.
- Photos: Content in your Photo Library, Camera Roll, and Photo Stream.
- Apps: Installed apps. The content of the apps is listed under Documents & Data.
- Books: iBooks books, audio books, and PDF files.
- Documents & Data: Safari Offline Reading List, files stored within installed apps, and app content like contacts, calendars, messages, and emails (and their attachments).
- Other: Settings, Siri voices, system data, and cached files.
About cached files in 'Other'
Finder and iTunes categorize cached music, videos, and photos as Other instead of actual songs, videos, or photos. Cached files are created when you stream or view content like music, videos, and photos. When you stream music or video, that content is stored as cached files on your device so you can quickly access it again.
Your device automatically removes cached files and temporary files when your device needs more space.
If storage on your device differs from what you see in Finder or iTunes
Since Finder and iTunes categorize cached files as Other, reported usage for Music or Videos might differ. To view usage on your device, go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage.
If you want to delete the cached files from your device
Your device automatically deletes cached files and temporary files when it needs more space. You don't need to delete them yourself.
Learn more
- To reduce the size of your Photo library, turn on iCloud Photo Library and optimize your device storage.
- Optimize your music and videos storage in Settings > Music > Optimize Storage.
- Learn how iOS, iPadOS, and macOS report storage capacity.
Matt Cone January 2, 2012 TutorialsMac
Imagine driving a vehicle with no gauges on the dashboard. You wouldn't know how fast the car was going, how much fuel it had left, or whether or not the engine was about to overheat. In short, you'd be driving blind - hoping, by chance, that everything would just work out okay.
As ludicrous as this scenario sounds, millions of Mac users do essentially the same thing every day. Most people have no idea how much RAM is installed in their Mac, or how much memory it is currently using. Of course, since RAM memory stores the code and instructions for OS X and any applications open on your Mac, running out of it can slow your Mac down, or worse. That's why it's important to monitor your Mac's memory usage in real time. You can see how much RAM is currently available on your Mac and stop potential problems before they start!
There are a couple different tools you can use to see how much memory your Mac is using. This tutorial covers three of them: Activity Monitor, iStat Pro, and iStat Menus. By the time you get to the end of the article, you'll be a memory-monitoring pro!
Using Activity Monitor
Activity Monitor is a free application that comes bundled with every Mac. You can use this application to see how much RAM is currently free, how much RAM is currently allocated, and a whole lot more. In fact, Activity Monitor presents so much information that it's easy to get overwhelmed when looking at it. Don't worry if you don't understand what it all means. Just follow these instructions to concentrate on the memory statistics.
Here's how to use Activity Monitor to monitor your Mac's memory usage:
Open the Activity Monitor application. (It's in Applications → Utilities.) The window shown below appears.
Click the Real Mem column header to sort the active processes by memory usage. This is a good way to see which applications are using the most memory on your Mac - the memory hogs are displayed at the top of the list.
Click the System Memory button. Now the bottom part of the window shows exactly how much free memory is currently available. If the free memory number looks too low, you should quit some applications to free up memory. (Ideally, your Mac should have 10% of the total memory available at any given time.)
To turn the Activity Monitor Dock icon in to a real time memory monitoring tool, right-click on the Dock icon and select Dock Icon → Show Memory Usage, as shown below. The Activity Monitor Dock icon turns into a pie chart which displays how your memory is allocated.
Now you have a way to monitor your Mac's memory usage in real time. Keep an eye on that Dock icon! You want there to be enough green (which represents free memory) to open other applications.
Using iStat Pro
iStat Pro is a free Dashboard widget that provides tons of system information about your Mac, including memory usage. If you're an avid Dashboard user, this is a good way to keep tabs on how much RAM is free and allocated. Just download and install iStat Pro and then open Dashboard. (To do so, you can press F4 on most Mac keyboards, or swipe left with four fingers on a trackpad.) The iStat Pro widget is shown below.
It's a good idea to check the widget a couple times a day, just to make sure you have enough free RAM available. Remember, if the free RAM is getting dangerously low, quit some applications to free up space.
Using iStat Menus
Using iStat Menus ($16, free trial available) is probably the best option for monitoring your Mac's memory. This application runs in the background and displays an icon on your menu bar that indicates how much RAM memory your Mac has available. And seriously, can you think of a better way to monitor memory than looking at your menu bar?
Here's how to use iStat Menus to monitor your Mac's memory usage:
Download and install iStat Menus.
Open the iStat Menus application.
On the sidebar, move the Memory slider to the On position. The window shown below appears.
Now you need to customize the menu bar icon. Drag an icon from the Inactive Items bar to the Active Items bar. You really only need one memory icon to be active, but you can make multiple icons active.
Now you've got a handy little icon in your menu bar, as shown below. All you have to do is look up to monitor your Mac's memory usage!
Help! My Mac is Always Out of Memory
If your Mac always seems to be running out of memory, you probably need to upgrade the RAM. You can never have enough! If you own a newer iMac, Mac Mini, or MacBook Pro that you purchased in 2011 or later, we recommend that you purchase these RAM modules for a total of 8 GB of RAM - enough memory for all but the most professional users. Users with other models of Macs can find inexpensive memory modules here.
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