The key phrase here is “can’t be paged out.”īefore we proceed further let me explain what paging is. Moreover, other processes can’t borrow it. Wired memory is a memory that can’t be compressed or paged out to your startup drives, so it must stay in RAM. The used memory then consists of App Memory (1.2GB) and Wired Memory (1.13GB).
#RAM PRESSURE COMPUTER PC MAC#
The screenshot above which I made after rebooting the Mac indicates that my Mac has 8GB of Physical Memory and 2.33GB of it is in the Used Memory bucket. When the Mac suddenly becomes too slow, the laptop owners start browsing forums and learn to check the memory tab in Activity Monitor. Now, let’s dive into more technical details. User applications add on average 1MB per instance, and too many running programs can contribute to high wired memory usage. The normal size of the wired memory is around 2GB.
Wired memory on Mac is reserved for the macOS kernel and its data structures, and it cannot be paged out. The purpose of this article to clarify those details as much as possible.įirst, let’s answer the first question from the title of the post. While most responses were generally correct, I felt that all answers lacked some important details and as a result confused people even more. While reading thru some Apple forums, I found a question people asked a lot. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.