Anyone else noticing things using a lot more RAM in Mountain Lion? iTunes in particular, keeps grabbing crap loads of real memory which it never did for me in previous versions of the OS.

While iTunes may be an issue that will be addressed soon, RAM requirements do bloat with each new version of OS X. Jaguar ran nicely with 192 MB. Panther Liked at least 256 MB. Tiger really wanted 764 MB. Leopard 1 GB, Snow Leopard 1.5-2 GB; Lion despite ridding the OS of a lot of legacy code wants at least 3 GB.

Anyways you get the picture. I would think from that progression that ML will probably need at least 4 GB and more likely 6-8 GB to run at its best.

Actually, the system is using less RAM. Not by much, but the system processes are all using slightly less. It's the apps that are using more.

I'm starting to think that iTunes might just have a memory leak it's grabbing so much, but Connect360 is grabbing more, and so is Safari and Reeder. Not by a whole lot, maybe 10%, but enough that I am noticing.

I haven't noticed any appreciable increase - without doing anything extra fancy, I'm usually siting around 10GB of RAM used. Same as 10.7.

yep im using around 6GB of my 8 at the moment with nothing fancy on the go

yep im using around 6GB of my 8 at the moment with nothing fancy on the go

That could be an indicator of gained efficiency. RAM in use isn't a bad thing, swapping without reason is.

i was agreeing with john above that not much had changed. that was customarily the amount i would see in use with 10.7 as well

Hmmmmm

Until fairly recently, the MacBook Air came with 2 GB of RAM standard and no way to upgrade; now it's 4 GB standard and still no way to upgrade.
But then I see people typically using 6 and 10 GBof RAM....am I correct that this is not that much of an issue with the MacBook Air because of the Solid State Drive which makes swapping memory between RAM and drive quick and therefore less of an issue?

the air came with 2GB in 2010...in 2011 all models had 4 save for the entry level 11" base, and honestly if anyone bought that *knowing lion required 2GB* without upgrading it i have a hard time feeling sorry for them

and to the 2nd part of your question yes, the flash does mitigate some of the lack of RAM, although the new airs (8gb option) are probably where the 2011 models should have been

the air came with 2GB in 2010...in 2011 all models had 4 save for the entry level 11" base, and honestly if anyone bought that *knowing lion required 2GB* without upgrading it i have a hard time feeling sorry for them

Well, maybe Apple shouldn't be selling a 2GB non-upgradable computer at all if that amount of RAM is marginal with the latest version of their OS.

But I'm thinking more of MacBook Airs bought in 2010 with 2GB and no way to upgrade the RAM, even today one can buy a 2GB MacBook Air in the Apple refurb shop.

Hmmmmm

Until fairly recently, the MacBook Air came with 2 GB of RAM standard and no way to upgrade; now it's 4 GB standard and still no way to upgrade.
But then I see people typically using 6 and 10 GBof RAM....am I correct that this is not that much of an issue with the MacBook Air because of the Solid State Drive which makes swapping memory between RAM and drive quick and therefore less of an issue?

An efficient OS will use as much as it can. It's not to say 4GB isn't enough. But someone with 8GB is going to see performance benefits (hence why they see 6Gb in use with nothing running; it gets released as needed.)

My machine has 4 GB (max is supports officially) and iTunes just keeps grabbing more and more, particularly when trying to update iTunes Match (which makes it crash occasionally). I'm used to seeing iTunes using upwards of 1 GB, but now it's grabbing as much as 2.5 GB. Maybe it's just iTunes. Hopefully an update will fix it.

That's odd. I just checked and my iTunes is only at 118 meg and it's doing the match update as I type.

My machine has 4 GB (max is supports officially) and iTunes just keeps grabbing more and more, particularly when trying to update iTunes Match (which makes it crash occasionally). I'm used to seeing iTunes using upwards of 1 GB, but now it's grabbing as much as 2.5 GB. Maybe it's just iTunes. Hopefully an update will fix it.

Does it spike when you sync your iPhone/iPad? I know both on Lion and ML I have to restart iTunes often because of this.

Oddly since getting ML I've noticed I've had more memory free than normal, but I am also noticing individual processes are using more memory.

That's odd. I just checked and my iTunes is only at 118 meg and it's doing the match update as I type.

How big is your music library?

Well, maybe Apple shouldn't be selling a 2GB non-upgradable computer at all if that amount of RAM is marginal with the latest version of their OS.

But I'm thinking more of MacBook Airs bought in 2010 with 2GB and no way to upgrade the RAM, even today one can buy a 2GB MacBook Air in the Apple refurb shop.

Those 2010 machines all had 4gb upgrades available CTO