24GB vs 48GB RAM for M5 Pro MacBook Pro (Data Science & AI Master’s Student)

I’m planning to buy a 14” MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro (18-core CPU / 20-core GPU) and I’m struggling to decide between 24GB and 48GB of unified memory.

My current machine is a 2020 Intel MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM. It gets hot quickly and starts slowing down when I have Xcode, ChatGPT, and a browser with multiple tabs open at the same time.

My use case: • Starting a Master’s in Data Science & AI this year • iOS development with Swift/SwiftUI and Xcode • ChatGPT/Claude and AI tools • Python, Jupyter Notebooks, machine learning projects • Multiple external monitors • Planning to keep the laptop for at least 5–6 years

At my local Apple reseller, the prices are: • 24GB / 1TB: €2,749 • 48GB / 1TB: €3,249 • 24GB / 2TB: €2,949

For people with similar workloads: would you spend the extra €500 for 48GB, or is 24GB more than enough? Have any of you regretted buying too little or too much memory?

Thanks!