MacBook Unibody will run 8GB RAM - Confirmed!

This is to confirm that the old unibody MacBook 5,1 will operate with 2x4GB = 8GB Crucial memory modules - not 4GB or 6GB as previously thought. This makes for a cheap upgrade for anyone running memory intensive applications. The Crucial memory I used can be found here: http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=ct2kit51264bc1067

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• apple
• ibook
• macbook
• macbook pro
• macbook upgrade
• mac memory upgrade
• mac memory
• macbook memory
• macbook memory upgrade
• macbook unibody
• 8GB memory upgrade
• laptops
• crucial
• ram
• computer
• video review
• 8gb
• macbook 5.1
• 8gb 1067mhz ddr3
• macbook 8gb

[dddaaannn360]

i have the same MacBook, mine has fresh install and everything, but if i have a lot of tabs open it pinwheels do you think a ram upgrade will help this?

[alanstarkie2001]

@dddaaannn360 Hard to say really and depends which apps are running. I do HD video editing and also a bit of Excel spreadsheet work. I did manage OK before but now, when I use Adobe Premiere when rendering, I can see that much of the extra memory is being utilized. It's a fairly inexpensive upgrade and if you can couple that with a faster 7200rpm or Solid-State drive you are bound to see a big improvement! Next step - remove the optical drive and fit a 2nd HDD.

[rabidclimber]

thanks for an awesome insight here, good works and mega kudos! just wanted to know if you had to upgrade to snow leopard in order to make this work or if your running std "leopard" ?

[alanstarkie2001]

@rabidclimber Good point. I was running Snow Leopard long before doing the upgrade, in fact, when I bought the machine it was probably standard, so I'm not sure whether it will work with earlier versions of the OS. I suspect it will but even if you had to upgrade the OS, Snow Leopard is generally trouble free and had no issues when I upgraded my iBook a few years back - other than the fact it freed up lots of space on my hard drive because it has a smaller footprint.

[theshinywolf]

is this a good idea with the last ever macbook? (late 2010 2.4ghz white)

[alanstarkie2001]

@theshinywolf I think that will only do 6gb max but you need to trawl the forums to find out for sure.

[cammyjeee]

@TheMugfaker Guess what.. I found out there was a "silent update" a while back where it actually unofficially changed our machines max to 8 gigs thank god! I ordered some from OWC for 53 bucks. Google 8 gigs late 2008 owc, it will be the first article. Fuckin eh! thumbs this up so others can see

[kickassdj]

I just upgraded it to 8gb and it works!!! :)

[thedirtydeltas]

I wonder if it makes a lot of difference I looked at your specs and only difference from my is the processor was 2.4,my concern is to wether the programs will recognize the memory in such an old machine, and will it actually make it faster. or is that more to do with actual processor speed.I found a deal of both 4 gig chips for $145 so its not exactly expensive but only worth it if it actually works.

[alanstarkie2001]

@cb7pwn Not having any problems overheating although to be fair, when I'm using editing software the fan can run quite fast. Normal usage seems OK.

[TheMugfaker]

@cammyjeee - Hi, I haven't gotten round to buying the 8gb ram but from what other say it is worth a try!

[cammyjeee]

@TheMugfaker Hi did you end up trying 8 gb on your 2.4gh macbook pro? did it work? was it a late 2008 model?

[bbalkis1]

seagate momentus

[rabidclimber]

@alanstarkie2001 great reply, thanks :) gonna get me some 8gb action and test it out and as you say even if it dosent work native on leopard its not expensive to upgrade for sucha massive improvement in performance!