Can I add more RAM to my Mac?

M-series Macs have soldered RAM that cannot be upgraded. Older Intel Macs (pre-2013 mostly) may allow RAM upgrades depending on model.

Why does free disk space affect memory?

macOS uses disk space for virtual memory (swap). When the disk is nearly full, swap cannot expand, causing out-of-memory errors earlier.

Mac Application Memory Errors — 'Your System Has Run Out of Application Memory'

Errorsystem

Overview

Fix the macOS 'Your system has run out of application memory' error caused by memory leaks, too many apps, excessive browser tabs, or insufficient swap space.

Key Details

This alert appears when macOS cannot allocate more memory and swap is exhausted
Memory pressure can be viewed in Activity Monitor > Memory tab (green/yellow/red graph)
macOS uses compressed memory and swap to extend available RAM
Heavy apps like Chrome, Photoshop, and virtual machines consume the most memory
Each Chrome tab uses 50-300MB of RAM depending on page content

Common Causes

Too many applications open simultaneously exceeding available RAM
Memory leak in an application consuming increasing amounts of RAM over time
Hundreds of browser tabs open consuming gigabytes of memory
Insufficient swap space (startup disk nearly full)
Virtual machine allocated too much RAM leaving little for macOS

Steps

1Open Activity Monitor > Memory tab > sort by Memory to find the biggest consumers
2Force quit memory-hogging apps: select in Activity Monitor > click X > Force Quit
3Close unnecessary browser tabs (use OneTab or similar tab manager extension)
4Ensure at least 10-20GB free on your startup disk for swap space
5Restart your Mac to clear all memory leaks and reset swap