I have a lot of applications, my applications folder has 150+ and the computer is a 2025 Mac Studio so it’s not exactly accumulated cruft. The relevant question is: how many activities do you use your computer for and how many apps for each activity?
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Im running at about 144 consistently… the right tool for the job. used as needed.
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Could Dunbar’s Number apply to apps?
Back in the 1990s, the British anthropologist Robin Dunbar noticed a remarkable correlation between primate brain size and the social groups they formed. This correlation was simple: the bigger their brains, the larger their social groups. And the explanation seemed reasonable: animals with bigger brains can remember, and therefore interact meaningfully with, more of their peers.
That led Dunbar to a famous prediction. By plotting the correlation and extrapolating the curve to the size of the human brain, he predicted that humans could have no more than about 150 people in their social sphere.
He and many others have gone on to find much evidence for Dunbar’s number in the sizes of hunter-gatherer societies, Roman legions, and effective businesses. Dunbar’s number has even been shown to hold on modern social networks. Humans really do seem to have a natural limit to the number of meaningful relationships they can have. And this number is about 150.
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If you use them and can afford them, then it’s no one’s business except your own how many apps you have.
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FWIW There are some very good rebuttals to Dunbar’s.
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The answer is, of course, 42. 
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