How to find the maximum RAM capacity of your computer

When you buy a new desktop or laptop, you can save some money by buying a device with basic specifications. You can increase its performance later by upgrading the RAM . The question is, how much RAM can your desktop or laptop hold? Is it at its maximum or is there room for an upgrade? Let's see how to find the maximum RAM supported on your Windows, Mac or Linux device!

How to check maximum RAM capacity of Windows computer

Windows users can determine the maximum RAM size in Command Prompt using the command below. It gives the final value in kilobytes, but you can easily convert this value to gigabytes by dividing the value by 1048576.

wmic memphysical get MaxCapacity, MemoryDevices

The example below shows the maximum RAM size in the example is 33554432. This number divided by 1048576 equals 32GB .

The command also shows that the motherboard has two memory devices (or memory slots). This quickly gives you the maximum amount of RAM per slot. Just divide the maximum amount of RAM by the number of slots.

In the above example, it would be 32 : 2 = 16GB .

Therefore, with this device, you can install up to 16GB of RAM in each slot, for a total of 32GB.

How to Check Maximum RAM Capacity on macOS

The easiest way to find your Mac's maximum RAM is to go to About this Mac in the Apple menu . Click the More Info button to see your system specifications.

The Hardware Overview section is located in Hardware .

There are differences in maximum RAM depending on which MacBook you have. If it’s a MacBook Air or an older MacBook Pro model, the maximum supported RAM is the same as the Memory value shown – in this example, 8GB.

However, if you own one of the latest Mac Pro models, with Apple M2/M3 Pro or Max chips, the maximum RAM supported on your device will be much higher. For these devices, you should pay attention to the Total Number of Cores . It plays an important role in assessing how much additional RAM your device will support. The more performance cores, the more RAM upgrades you can make.

If you have a 12-core MacBook Pro released in 2023 with 16GB of unified memory, at least 8 performance cores, and an Apple M2 Pro chip, the maximum supported RAM will be 32GB. With an Apple M2 Max chip and a 38-core GPU, the maximum supported RAM will increase to 96GB.

Note : To add RAM to your MacBook Pro, you can only use Apple-approved memory. Also, you cannot mix LR-DIMM and R-DIMM RAM. Keep in mind that many MacBook Pro models only allow you to upgrade RAM at the time of purchase, not later. Also, if you damage the RAM while installing it yourself, Apple may refuse to service your device in the future.

How to Check Maximum RAM Size on Linux

To find the maximum RAM size in Linux, go to your distribution's Terminal and use the dmidecode command.

If it is not installed by default on your distribution, install it using the commands for the respective distribution.

#ubuntu/debian
sudo apt install dmidecode
 
#arch
sudo pacman -S dmidecode
 
#Fedora
sudo dnf install dmidecode
 
#openSUSE
sudo zypper in dmidecode

Once dmidecode is installed, run the following command:

sudo dmidecode -t 16

It will give you information about the amount of memory and the number of devices (or slots). In the example case, the Ubuntu virtual machine has one memory slot and a maximum of 3GB (3000MB) of RAM (3GB per slot).

To find out how much RAM your computer has, see the article: How to check RAM speed, type, RAM capacity .

It's great to know how to figure out your maximum RAM capacity, but you may not be ready to upgrade your RAM right now. Instead, learn how to troubleshoot high memory usage . Also, check your RAM status from time to time to prevent any unwanted software glitches.