Apple says new MacBook Pro’s 16GB RAM limitation is to maintain battery life efficiency

Apple has commented on the decision to limit the new MacBook Pro’s RAM to a maximum 16GB, informing a customer in an email that offering more would make for a compromised experience. Specifically, Apple says that more than 16GB of RAM “at this time would require a memory system that consumes much more power and wouldn’t be efficient enough for a notebook.”

To put more than 16GB of fast RAM into a notebook design at this time would require a memory system that consumes much more power and wouldn’t be efficient enough for a notebook. I hope you check out this new generation MacBook Pro, it really is an incredible system.

9to5Mac confirmed the email response, shared with us by a reader, was sent to a customer by Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller.

The new MacBook Pro models for the most part get around 10-hours of battery life across the board, and it sounds like Apple didn’t want to compromise that all-important spec by offering a machine with a 32GB RAM option that might reduce that, as Schiller noted. The new 13-inch models come with 8GB of memory stock with the option to upgrade to 16GB, while the new 15-inch MacBook Pros all come with 16GB standard.

Yesterday we gave you a rundown on the current MacBook lineup, comparing all the new models and built-to-order upgrades on offer. Ben also took a look at the MacBook Pro’s GPU options earlier today to see how performance compares between the various options and upgrades available.