![]() ![]() Most recent-generation MacBooks have their RAM soldered directly to the motherboard, for example. While the cure for RAM issues can often be an upgrade to more RAM, that’s not a solution that works for Macs. But if it suddenly starts spiking to much higher levels for no apparent reason, it could be the sign of a problem, especially if your computer crashes soon after. Your swap memory used total suddenly starts spiking: If your swap memory is consistently a couple of GBs or so, you probably don’t have anything to worry about.It’s a good idea to check your memory stats when you first start running complex software and make sure your RAM is able to handle what you’re doing. You are using a memory-intensive program, like a Windows VM: While it’s possible to run them, complex programs like this put a lot of strain on MacOS.This is a sign to pull up the Activity Monitor and watch for signs that you need to cut back on app activity, including high swap used and the memory graph in the red. Your Mac is freezing or crashing a lot: If the apps you’re using are starting to freeze or crash repeatedly, you could be straining your Mac’s memory beyond what it can handle.If the graph gets too high, it will turn yellow and then red, indicating that you have some memory problems and should look into cutting back on some unnecessary or background apps. As long as that graph stays green, you should be in the clear. Your memory pressure graph is no longer in the green: The handy little graph next to the window showing MacOS memory stats indicates how much RAM is currently being used.So, if the swap used section doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem, how can you tell if there are issues with your Mac’s RAM? It’s important to consider several factors here to create a clearer picture of how your memory is doing. You can even have several GBs of swap memory used and not notice a thing because RAM is being allocated to the most important tasks. These days, it’s expected to see some swap used, at minimum, just to indicate that startup disk space has been reserved in case it’s needed. In fact, MacOS received major memory updates in Mavericks and Yosemite that adjusted the way memory is allocated to help make RAM use more efficient. It’s an indicator of potential issues, but some swap memory usage is not uncommon. However, swap used doesn’t always mean something is wrong. It tends to become higher if you have a lot of apps or tabs open at once or are trying to manage other complex processes. ![]() Swap memory is more likely to be used when your current memory isn’t enough to efficiently handle all the tasks you are trying to do on MacOS. Traditionally, swap used has a bad reputation since it can indicate RAM problems. The operating system does this by borrowing some space from somewhere else - the startup disk, in this case - and using it to temporarily store some data while the RAM is busy handling other tasks. Swap memory is a type of memory that computers use to offload demands on the current RAM. ![]()
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