Ubuntu Linux raises minimum system memory requirements by 50% — requirements bumped to 6GB of RAM, previously raised from 1GB to 4GB in 2018

Official Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) wallpaper (Image credit: Ubuntu user @ndoki)

The release notes for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS show that Canonical has quietly raised the minimum RAM requirement for its popular Linux-based operating system by 50%. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon), the newest long-term support (LTS) release, requires at least 6GB of precious RAM, alongside a minimum dual-core CPU with a clock speed of 2 GHz, and 25GB of free storage.

The last time that Canonical upped the minimum RAM requirements of its well-known Linux distro was in 2018. That was when Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) arrived, demanding 4GB. Ubuntu LTS RAM requirements had been as low as 1GB for the preceding four years, as established by Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) in 2014. In that context, the latest change in RAM requirements isn’t as big of a shock.

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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS doesn’t make 6GB a hard requirement. The OS will still install on systems that don’t match the new spec. But obviously, users shouldn’t complain about Ubuntu’s poor performance on systems with lower memory quotas. OMG Ubuntu actually tested 26.04 (Beta) on a laptop with 2GB of RAM and noted it was functional but slow.

In the Linux world, there are plenty of alternatives

No one likes to see minimum system specs rise, especially during component shortages directly affecting potential upgrades. But progress must march on, and if this revision is indeed just for ‘honesty’ regarding usability with modern apps, then it is difficult to argue against the update.

If you are someone who would have installed Ubuntu LTS, and perhaps you were intending to do so on a machine constrained by a maximum of 4GB of RAM, remember that alternatives are readily available. Even within the ‘Ubuntu family,’ there is Lubuntu, a lightweight and efficient distillation of Ubuntu. This ‘essentials remix’ of Ubuntu is only up to 24.04 LTS right now but requires just 1GB of RAM, as well as a 1GHz CPU and a smidgen under 10GB of storage.

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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

19 Comments Comment from the forums

usertests

Ubunto? Coughs.

Not a big deal, and Tyson explained it well.
Reply
bit_user

I wonder if that's just a x86 thing, because Ubuntu supports Raspberry Pi and it'd be too draconian to drop support for everything with less than 8 GB.

As of 25.10, it still supported models with 4 GB:
https://ubuntu.com/download/raspberry-pi
Not sure where to find the Pi requirements for the 26.04 beta.
Reply
ezst036

On paper, that makes Ubuntu more of a RAM hog than Windows.

I would be curious to see a fresh install of the two, and then screenshots of the running task managers to compare. I bet Windows still tops.

This is very bizarre.
Reply
bit_user

ezst036 said:
On paper, that makes Ubuntu more of a RAM hog than Windows.

I would be curious to see a fresh install of the two, and then screenshots of the running task managers to compare. I bet Windows still tops.
I have a "server" machine running Kubuntu 24.04, which is just Ubuntu with the desktop environment defaulted to KDE. It's been up had a GUI login session running for a couple weeks and currently using 2215 MB (with 32 GB installed). Importantly, that's without any web browsers running.

I'll update it to 26.04, pretty soon after it's official. I'll come back and post what it's using, then.
Reply
usertests

ezst036 said:
This is very bizarre.
It's relatively easy to get to 8 GB of RAM. Most entry-level PCs have that, used PCs can still have that under $100. 16 GB may still be available around $100.

If you're using a device stuck at 4 GB, you should consider a more lightweight distro. At 2 GB, you probably want a non-desktop distro like Batocera.
Reply
salgado18

Ubuntu experts at OMG Ubuntu characterize the latest revision in RAM specs as “an honesty bump.” In other words, the core OS isn’t really more demanding on system resources this time around, but Canonical recognizes that with the latest Gnome desktop, modern web browsers, and typical multitasking workflows, users should look at a minimum of 6GB of RAM.
Wait, isn't this the purpose of minimum and recommended requirements? If it runs on 2GB, that should be the minimum. Unless that minimum also goes for system vendors, who now can't sell machines with less RAM and have users complain that Ubuntu is slow.
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usertests

salgado18 said:
Wait, isn't this the purpose of minimum and recommended requirements? If it runs on 2GB, that should be the minimum. Unless that minimum also goes for system vendors, who now can't sell machines with less RAM and have users complain that Ubuntu is slow.
Recommended Minimum vs. Minimum Minimum :cool:
Reply
Jame5

bit_user said:
I have a "server" machine running Kubuntu 24.04, which is just Ubuntu with the desktop environment defaulted to KDE. It's been up had a GUI login session running for a couple weeks and currently using 2215 MB (with 32 GB installed). Importantly, that's without any web browsers running.

I'll update it to 26.04, pretty soon after it's official. I'll come back and post what it's using, then.

Honestly as long as the cli-only system requirements don't radically increase costing us extra in a cloud environment, I'm fine with it.

Sure, I will likely be trying a 26.04 GUI variant on an old laptop here once it officially launches, but my day-to-day work uses Ubuntu as our server OS of choice. That's where I care about minimum required spec bumps causing additional costs to us.
Reply
Stomx

Looks like Canonical finally started doing something with Desktop Ubuntu. Few years ago people were heavily abandoning it and some bloggers even pronounced it dead. Server part was not causing any concerns.

Clearly with 1 or 4GB it is hard to be very advanced, fast and sleek when even cellphones having 12 and some 24.

My colleagues installed Ubuntu on their beefy moderm computer/workstation for simulations 3 months ago and in parallel they are using desktop, browsers and install many apps. Before I'd expect its OS to be dead in 3 months more, agree here with Chris Titus, will see in 3 months what's changed today.
Reply
salgado18

Stomx said:
Looks like Canonical finally started doing something with Desktop Ubuntu. Few years ago people were heavily abandoning it and some bloggers even pronounced it dead. Server part was not causing any concerns.

Clearly with 1 or 4GB it is hard to be very advanced, fast and sleek when even cellphones having 12 and some 24.

My colleagues installed Ubuntu on their beefy moderm computer/workstation for simulations 3 months ago and in parallel they are using desktop, browsers and install many apps. Before I'd expect its OS to be dead in 3 months more, agree here with Chris Titus, will see what's changed today
I want to buy a crappy old pc to run a server in my home, and I'll be using Ubuntu. Now, if it is GUI or server depends on the hardware I can get, but it would be noce to have it running on low end stuff. (My main work notebook has 64gb, but there are other uses out there).
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