Many years ago I learned how to buy a new Mac. First, find the model you want. Second, get the maximum amount of RAM. Third, get the largest disk you can afford, preferably an SSD (solid state disk).
For many years Macs just did not come with enough RAM. Today’s OS X isn’t such a memory hog and Apple is more generous with its overpriced RAM, but many new Mac models don’t give you an option to upgrade to more RAM.
So, what if your Mac is low on RAM and that’s beginning to affect performance? Try MemoryTamer, one of a dozen or so Mac apps that free up memory that once was used by other apps that are no longer being used.
Even better, MemoryTamer works in the background, though there’s an option in the Menubar to ‘Free Memory Now’ as needed.
Setting up and using MemoryTamer is child’s play.
Set the Notifications so you know when memory is being freed up to use on other apps. Set the threshold to free up memory based upon the amount of RAM on your Mac. You can also have Notifications when RAM usage reaches a critical level.
Otherwise, MemoryTamer is mostly a set it and forget about it utility, especially useful on Mac models where there’s no option to upgrade to more RAM.