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Ever wonder how many Google Chrome tabs a top-of-the-line Mac Pro with 1.5TB of RAM can keep open?

Updated Feb 15th, 2020 2:08PM EST
Google Chrome Tabs Mac Pro
Image: Apple Inc.

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While some people spend upwards of $6,000 on a brand new Mac Pro because they work in high-end video production, others have more ambitious ideas when it comes to pushing Apple’s top of the line Mac to the limit. Recently, Jonathan Morrison decided to see just how many tabs he could open on Google Chrome before his computer went haywire. And best of all, he chronicled the entire ordeal on a somewhat fascinating and hilarious Twitter thread.

Now we’ve all fallen victim to opening up too many tabs in Chrome and having our computer grind to a frustrating halt. But for most people, I’m guessing, the upper limit of their open tabs on Chrome is probably more than 50 but less than 100. Morrison, armed with Apple’s state of the art Mac Pro, was able to open more than 6000 Google Chrome tabs.

When Morrison hit the 3,000 tab mark, Chrome was using up about 126GB of RAM. By the time Morrison hit 5,000 tabs, Chrome was using up 170GB of RAM.

Looking to push things to the limit, Morrison kept on opening up tabs until he got to a whopping 6,000. By that point, his Mac Pro was seemingly on the fritz, as evidenced by the tweet below.

And then things kept climbing, with Chrome eventually using up a lot more than a full TB of RAM.

Not to be outdone, Morrison subsequently posted a few posts on Twitter that show a computer running 12,000! Google Chrome tabs. It’s unclear, though, if this was his own computer or someone simply trying to beat him at his own game. Either way, it’s a remarkable, exciting, and admittedly pointless achievement.

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.