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tech: Mac laptop memory boost

June 25 2008 | Arnold

For today’s video, I’m going to show you just how easy it is to crack open a Mac laptop and install extra memory to upgrade the 2GB that comes in most machines. The RAM is designed to be user-replaceable, so you don’t need to worry about your warranty, either.

Now buying third party RAM and installing it yourself is a heck of a lot cheaper than getting Apple to do it for you. For my machines I’ve got with Corsair, which has a line of memory designed for Mac that is a faster specification than the standard memory, meaning increased performance.

Check out the video for the how-to and the details on the Corsair RAM.

-Wil

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comments

Stuart Scrace
June 25th, 2008 - 11:30am

Is it just me? Am I going crazy? In this vid, the music went really loud and I couldn’t hear Wil at all, very annoying I bet he was saying something really important, also what’s the price on this stuff?

Markus
June 25th, 2008 - 12:38pm

@Stuart: No I heard that too, came here just to say that. During the sequence in which Will introduces the Corsair memory retail data the music was mixed way too loud. A good review nonetheless.

Steve
June 25th, 2008 - 1:50pm

Hi Guys, Thanks for pointing out the sound issue, we’ve fixed it now so feel free to have another watch!

Zak
June 25th, 2008 - 3:29pm

I have 2GB of memory in my MBP already. Would it be ok if I buy a 2GB stick of this memory and put it in my MBP, or is that even possible? Im not sure if my MBP has 2 - 1GB sticks or 1 - 2GB, never opened it up to look.

WilHarris
June 25th, 2008 - 4:44pm

Unfortunately MBPs always come with 2×1GB sticks :( You could get a 2GB stick and upgrade to 3GB but you wouldn’t get the low latency performance benefit, since RAM always runs at the speed of the slowest stick.

ehsan
June 25th, 2008 - 9:30pm

hi Wil i was wondering wheres the best place to buy this kit. can anyone offer any links?

William Janoch
June 26th, 2008 - 8:02am

Http://www.pricegrabber.com keeps a list of where to find low cost on standard products. A good price at the time of this post may be high by the time you read it, so go check http://www.pricegrabber.com for yourself. Be sure to keep an eye on the stars rating the vendors. I never buy from a 3 star or lower, and I always make sure they’ve been reviewed at least 1000 times for high dollar items.

Wm

Nick
June 26th, 2008 - 12:07pm

man talk about the timing. about an hour after I install new ram in my macbook you send out this video wil. what a shame i didn’t know about this ram sooner.

Bobby
June 26th, 2008 - 3:57pm

I had been waiting and debating upgrading to 4GB in my MBP and this video pushed it over the edge. I figured if it was THAT easy and I got a great deal on Newegg, the upgrade would allow me to zip between iTunes, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash. Thanks for the tip, Channel Flip.

hmmmm
June 26th, 2008 - 6:03pm

You can’t do this on early MBPs. It might be useful to point this out.

Dave
June 26th, 2008 - 6:17pm

Wil,

Thanks for this one. I just took your advice and ordered a 4gig upgrade kit.

Aaron
June 26th, 2008 - 6:30pm

Thanks for this great video! Unfortunately, I just saw it after ordering my MBP yesterday with 4GB of RAM installed.

One reason I didn’t go with a third party upgrade is the question of what to do with the original 2GB that comes in the MBP. Are there any buy-back or return options available for the original RAM?

Sorry if this issue has been previously addressed elsewhere on the site. And thanks in advance!

Chris
June 26th, 2008 - 6:39pm

Wait…is this for both Core Duo and Core 2 Duo models, or only Core 2 Duos?

amoeba
June 26th, 2008 - 7:19pm

ya, my question is what the cutoff is for max ram. i have a 2.16 MB that states it can take 2GB max. i’d love to go to 4, especially with this faster memory. i do a lot of music production/editing.

Jake
June 26th, 2008 - 7:42pm

Sure sure, now you tell me Wil, right after I buy memory from another vendor…. Oh well, next machine gets Corsair.

HandyMac
June 26th, 2008 - 7:49pm

The original Core Duo MacBook Pros (like my 2.16GHz 17″) can take only 2GB of RAM. The first Core 2 Duo models (late 2006) allow installation of 4GB (2-2GB cards) but will use only 3GB of it. The mid-2007 and later models will take 4GB.

The original MacBook takes 2GB; the late 2006 & mid 2007 models will take 4GB but use only 3GB; the late 2007 and later will take 4GB.

See http://www.mactracker.ca for such details.

amoeba
June 26th, 2008 - 8:07pm

@ HanydMac
thanks so much for the info. well, i guess maybe for my next machine (by then they might have quantum jelly memory crystals or something…)

dodos
June 27th, 2008 - 7:39am

i have a question. my macbook pro is from mid 2007 (july), and I have 2gb of ram installed. I believe it’s 2×1GB, so how would I upgrade to 4GB if I have 2 RAM cards already?

MacTechLarry
June 27th, 2008 - 9:33am

@dodos -
Sad to say, but you have to pull both the 1GB ram sticks in order to upgrade - it’s a pain in the backside, for sure. :(

A way to be *sure* of what ram is installed (without using a screwdriver) is to run the System Profiler app (hidden in the Applications / Utilities folder). Click on Memory in the left-hand column (listed under Hardware) and it’ll show what each memory slot has installed.

Dom Barnes
June 27th, 2008 - 1:43pm

Well I’m sold. When I’ve sold my old Powerbook (on eBay now), I’ll think I’ll get a 4GB kit and give my 2 to my girlfriend.
Good review Wil!

*may need to check maximum RAM as I have a 2.2 15″ that I think can only go to 3 but have heard it will support 4.

dodos
June 27th, 2008 - 11:13pm

Yes, I have two sticks of 1GB. What do you mean by pulling out both 1GB ram sticks? Are they both located in the same place, or does this method (the one on the video) only apply to one slot? Is it possible (or at even worth it at all) to just upgrade to 3GB (1GB standard + 2GB custom)?

Thank you for any response.

jimmy
June 29th, 2008 - 6:48am

hold your horses

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp03.html

Paul Taylor
June 30th, 2008 - 4:04am

Wil, are the Corsair folks sponsoring you? Your review seemed a little too pushy in the direction of one product. If they are not sponsoring you and the product is worth the full 5 stars than pardon me. If you are doing a compensated review, that is OK just let us know up front, we’ll still watch and it gives you a lot of creditability.

Thanks, you site has been a real discovery.

Ronak
June 30th, 2008 - 12:23pm

tried looking for the corsair 4gb ram kit but didnt find any UK retailers. Anyone know where i can buy it from?

Ronak
June 30th, 2008 - 12:24pm

scratch that just found that link in the above post. Thanks

WilHarris
June 30th, 2008 - 7:56pm

@ Paul Taylor: No dude! It just happened that they sent me a stick of RAM to review and I so I wrote the episode around that. Any adverts you get on the site will be clearly labeled as such, we promise!

David
July 1st, 2008 - 6:54pm

This kit is a steal! went out and ordered them right after i saw this and has just got them today and I’v got to say what a huge difference it makes. I did a test just to se how much junk I could open before they clog up and I was abel to load 18 apps, many of them memory intensive like a full loaded Parallels desktop, Photoshop, a full loaded iTunes library, Safari, iMovie, iPhoto that sort of stuff.
A really kick ass product

Burak Alpar
August 4th, 2008 - 1:11pm

I don’t want to be alarmist, but does anyone know if using non-Apple RAM affects the warranty?

I remember taking in a busted iBook to Apple and the genius mumbled something about 3rd party RAM possibly causing the problem. In the end it turns out that my problem was unrelated but I got the feeling he was trying to squirm out of a free fix by blaming the RAM.

Mike Starus
August 25th, 2008 - 1:53pm

You can easily Find diffrent sort of electronics and genrel products on discount rates. For Further details visit http://www.plaza101.com

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