How to check the specs of your Mac: find out processor and RAM

There are many reasons why you might need to know exactly what components are inside your Mac. Perhaps you’re thinking of buying a new game, app or accessory and you want to check whether it’s compatible or if your Mac has enough power to run it. Or you may be thinking about selling your Mac, in which case you may also want to know which processor it is using, and how much RAM is inside. You may also want to identify which Mac it is and what year the model is from, in which case, read: How to find out which Mac you have.

Whatever the reason, there’s a quick and easy, here’s how to find out all of your Mac’s specs:

1. Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your Mac.
2. This will bring up a drop-down menu. Pick the top option: About This Mac.
3. The resulting window should show you the information you need including processor speed, memory, and graphics card information.
4. You can get more details by clicking the tabs above, such as Storage (to find out how much disk space you have left) and Memory (to see how much RAM you have and whether you have room to add more).

How to tell what processor your Mac has

While the About This Mac window will reveal some details about your processor, e.g. 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5. It won’t reveal which generation processor is inside your Mac, e.g. Broadwell, Haswell, Kaby Lake.

If you want to find out which generation of Intel processor is inside the Mac in question (or, if the Mac is really old whether it’s an Intel processor or a PowerPC), Apple doesn’t make it easy for you. This makes it difficult to compare different generations of Mac, because one 3.2GHz processor isn’t necessarily the same as another 3.2GHz processor – if one is two generations older than the other there could be a big difference in performance.

To discover which generation of processor is inside the Mac you need to find out the following from About This Mac:

• What kind of processor is inside the Mac: e.g. Core i5, Core i7, Xeon
• When was this Mac launched

Once you have this information, visit Every Mac for their comprehensive list of all Mac processors.

1. Locate the processor (e.g. Core i5)
2. Click on that link
3. On the next page, scroll down the list until you find one that matches the one in your Mac (e.g. iMac “Core i5” 3.2 27-Inch, Late 2013)
4. Click on that link to find out what generation of processor Apple used in Macs at the time your Mac was manufactured.

If you want to find out how different processors compare, read How to choose the best processor for your Mac.

How to check how much RAM a Mac has

As before, you can check how much RAM your Mac has by following these steps:

1. Click the Apple icon in the top left corner of your Mac.
2. This will bring up a drop-down menu. Pick the top option: About This Mac.
3. The resulting window should show you the information you need including processor speed, memory, and graphics card information.
4. To get more detailed information about the RAM in your Mac clicking on the Memory tab.
5. In the resulting window you can click on a link to Memory Upgrade Instructions and then navigate to a page on Apple’s site that will detail the memory specifications, if you wished to upgrade the memory in your Mac

We have a guide to upgrading the memory in your Mac and these tips about how to free up memory on your Mac.

We also have a separate article all about how to tell how much RAM is in your Mac and whether you need more.

How to find out about the components inside you’re Mac

If you would like to know more about your Mac you can click on the System Report button found within the About This Mac window. This will pop out another window which will provide you with detailed information about your Mac. In here you can find specific information about your hardware, network and even software.

How to find the battery size on a MacBook

If you need to change your battery, or just want to list the information within the specs of your MacBook in your sale listing, you may want to find out the size and detailed information about your battery. To do so, follow these instructions:

1. Click on the Apple logo.
2. About This Mac > System Report
3. Click on the Hardware tab within the System Report window, to reveal Power.
4. Within the Power option, you’ll be able to see detailed information about your battery. 

The Cycle Count is an interesting number to analyse for your battery’s health, where a higher Cycle Count could give you a slight indication about the Mac being used to a great extent. With the screenshot below you’ll be able to see our reasonably new Mac, which has only had one charge cycle, as it has been plugged in since we got it into the office. We do normally recommend using the battery, by letting it discharge to around 40% and then charging it to around 80% – as this will extend its battery life.

Want to find out more information about your Mac? How about your IP address?