Memory and cpu requirement question for 7.1 Mac Pro vs Apple Silicon

kaotik78

I am debating on upgrading from a loaded 5,1 Mac Pro with 128GB ram to either a 7,1 Mac Pro Intel 16 core 96GB ram system or possibly a Apple Silicon M1/2/3 Max / Ultra.

The issue I face is the possibility of running out of ram with Apple's removal of user upgradable memory, the 7,1 Intel still allows for this. The reason it's an issue is that I use a large amount of VST's in Komplete, primarily orchestral, session strings, etc and they take a considerable amount of ram on my 5,1.

My fear is picking up a Apple Silicon m1/2/3 Max/Ultra and only being able to have 32gb or 64 gb only to find out I've run out and can't add any more VST's and I also can't add any more ram, so I'm forced to throw the current machine away and buy something more expensive and bigger to suit my needs.

On the other hand, I am wondering how long Native Instruments plans on supporting the Intel x86 Mac architecture in their software? Is there a roadmap to sunset that support or will it continue on regardless?

If I opt to go the Apple Silicon route, are all the VST's now finally compliant with ARM architecture and will not use Rosetta?

I realize my use case may very well be unique and I may not get a lot of replies, but I'd be curious to hear from other folks regarding memory resource utilization on the newer Apple Silicon and possibly on a 7,1 Intel Mac Pro. Did you find that having more ram was a benefit or was the new unified memory that Apple touts as 'revolutionary' is just that, and you may not need as much as you initially thought?