4GB RAM in MBA?

[dehory]

Has anyone looked into the possibility of having the MBA opened up and getting 4GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard in place of the existing 2GB stick? I'm certain this would provide a significant bump in performance.

Obviously this is not something you'd want to do at home, but it seems like this would be possible in theory. Am I correct?

[clayj]

Theoretically, manned space travel to Mars is possible, too.

If you want to monkey around with your MBA's RAM, or get someone who "knows what they're doing" to try this, be my guest. But it's been my experience that when you start talking about soldering irons and when you don't know if there are hardcoded limitations elsewhere in the hardware (as seems to be the case with some of the other recent Mac notebooks; you can install bigger-capacity RAM chips, but the computer won't recognize the extra memory), you're in Terra Incognita.

Short version: Don't even think about it.

[NC MacGuy]

Has anyone looked into the possibility of having the MBA opened up and getting 4GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard in place of the existing 2GB stick? I'm certain this would provide a significant bump in performance.

Obviously this is not something you'd want to do at home, but it seems like this would be possible in theory. Am I correct?

Not by hand you can't. Needs to be done w. wave soldering when manufactured.

[six.four]

Has anyone looked into the possibility of having the MBA opened up and getting 4GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard in place of the existing 2GB stick? I'm certain this would provide a significant bump in performance.

Obviously this is not something you'd want to do at home, but it seems like this would be possible in theory. Am I correct?

unfortunately the soldered ram aren't "sticks". They are actually individually memory chips soldered to the mobo. In order to get 4gbs, you would need matching chips of similar configuration of which I'm not even sure exists - not to mention expensive, as you would have to purchase each memory module individually. A similar procedure was unsuccessfully attempted on a sony UX umpc as it was too difficult to find matching modules.

I'm fairly handy with a soldering iron and modding electronics, but looking at the technical skill that would be required to replace the memory modules on the sony UX is far above any amateur and even some professionals I'm guessing.

So to answer your question - theoretically yes, practically no

[darngooddesign]

Even though Leopard can support 8GB of RAM there is somethibng stopping the MBPs from recognizing all 8; however, the reports say that they do see 6 if you drop in 6.

[UltraNEO*]

Even though Leopard can support 8GB of RAM there is somethibng stopping the MBPs from recognizing all 8; however, the reports say that they do see 6 if you drop in 6.

Thanks for the recap, we know that but the OP wishes to have 4GB of ram in the MBA. Technically it's possible and I can't understand why Apple hasn't offered it as a BTO option for consumers who don't mind paying for it.

[Ryan T.]

I was a little surprised they didn't upgrade the RAM to 4GB at least on the upper model when the MBA was bumped recently.

[cherry su]

you better have some uber 1337 soldering skillz if you want teh 4GB of RAM in your MBA

[darngooddesign]

Thanks for the recap, we know that but the OP wishes to have 4GB of ram in the MBA. Technically it's possible and I can't understand why Apple hasn't offered it as a BTO option for consumers who don't mind paying for it.

I was giving one example of exceeding apple's ram ceiling on one of the newest machines and it not recognizing the extra memory.

[twist2b]

They could EASILY update to 4GB Ram. It would help alot too. I don't know what they were thinking there.

I have seen a hack 4GB ram. IT BARELY fit. Pretty cool though.


Basically you CAN, but its tricky business and could destroy an EXPENSIVE lappy. If you mess up, don't even think about getting any help from apple either :P

Also, the OS recognizes the extra BTW.
Some expert hacker pulled it off, and gave a guide (have no idea were it is... google?) But I am sure you can figure it out if you know what your doing and an BSEE or something.

[O. Frabjous-Dey]

I'm surprised they didn't bump it either. The MBA seems to have less customizable BTO options than the others.

Unfortunately, I think you'll have to look at a MB if you want 4GB RAM.

[Grizzly Adams]

Again, theoretically it could be done. The problem isn't that it could or couldn't be done, the problem is finding the parts for the job. The MBA doesn't use traditional RAM sticks, it uses 16 Micron RAM chips (eight one-gigabit chips on each side of the logic board). So you can't just pop down to your local parts store or even order the parts online like you could with any other setup. A fair amount of the parts inside the Air were custom jobs that aren't readily available on the market.

[ducatidoc]

They could EASILY update to 4GB Ram. It would help alot too. I don't know what they were thinking there.

I have seen a hack 4GB ram. IT BARELY fit. Pretty cool though.


Basically you CAN, but its tricky business and could destroy an EXPENSIVE lappy. If you mess up, don't even think about getting any help from apple either :P

Also, the OS recognizes the extra BTW.
Some expert hacker pulled it off, and gave a guide (have no idea were it is... google?) But I am sure you can figure it out if you know what your doing and an BSEE or something.

tried googling this and couldnt find it. would be VERY interested in trying this, especially if i can confirm that it's already been done. any chance that you remember where ya saw it at??

[twist2b]

tried googling this and couldnt find it. would be VERY interested in trying this, especially if i can confirm that it's already been done. any chance that you remember where ya saw it at??

Really? The hack was done like only a like 2 or 3 months after the lappy came out. I will try to find it for you guys. I was so impressed I bookmarked it, but I don't have it anymore do to an OS restart and a lazy me. (I lost SOOOO MUCH artwork from this aswell..... it was sad) anyways, I will try to find it :)

[DjAmTraX]

To anyone wanting to add more RAM.
If you're not happy with what the Air offers, DON"T BUY IT. Why would anyone gut the main CPU board to add more RAM that it was NOT designed to have. You want 4GB, buy a MacBook.

Be happy that we have the Air. Its sexy, OS X is AWESOME, and it's expensive (you are doing well if you can afford one). The Air is NOT for everyone and was NOT designed for everyone.

[ducatidoc]

lol, oh where to begin...

"If you're not happy with what the Air offers, DON"T BUY IT."
im confused, where were core shutdowns and hinge problems listed in what it offers?

"Why would anyone gut the main CPU board to add more RAM that it was NOT designed to have."
simple, these things called "computer programs" require memory. the more you have, the more you can do with your computer!

"You want 4GB, buy a MacBook."
i would, if it weighed less

"Be happy that we have the Air. Its sexy, OS X is AWESOME,.."
yah easy on the apple kool aid there yo

"and it's expensive (you are doing well if you can afford one)."
it's a tough economy, but i work, it's my money, and ill do what i please with it. in that same vein, if we want to mod the air, we are going to mod the air.

dude, it's called xanax. go find some...

[dwsolberg]

I was so excited to read this thread because I'm going to buy a MBA as soon as I can get 4 GB of RAM into it. I carry my computer around about 2-3 miles per day, and my shoulders would be so happy!

My dream MBA is the current 1.87 Ghz with 4 GB RAM plus an Intel SSD drive, preferably at 128 GB or more. With that set-up, my computer would just fly.

Most of my stuff is more memory intensive than processor intensive, although VMWare Fusion eats up some processor, it eats a lot more RAM, and that's the big one for me. Same with iTunes. I like to keep it open, but it uses almost 200 MB of memory and almost no processor when not playing. Word uses almost 200 MB of memory, but very little processor.

I know Apple will allow more memory eventually, and I'm not so patiently waiting with money that's safely earmarked for that day.

[twist2b]

I was so excited to read this thread because I'm going to buy a MBA as soon as I can get 4 GB of RAM into it. I carry my computer around about 2-3 miles per day, and my shoulders would be so happy!

My dream MBA is the current 1.87 Ghz with 4 GB RAM plus an Intel SSD drive, preferably at 128 GB or more. With that set-up, my computer would just fly.

Most of my stuff is more memory intensive than processor intensive, although VMWare Fusion eats up some processor, it eats a lot more RAM, and that's the big one for me. Same with iTunes. I like to keep it open, but it uses almost 200 MB of memory and almost no processor when not playing. Word uses almost 200 MB of memory, but very little processor.

I know Apple will allow more memory eventually, and I'm not so patiently waiting with money that's safely earmarked for that day.

Well your dream is almost true. The tests have shown that the MBA is better in some places then teh PRO! Its pretty amazing and the new graphics cards ROCKS! Besides gameplay, 2GB is easily enough 99% of the time. Unless your into making big posters like me (I have a touch-laptop for that so I am good)

IMO - The air finally got what it needed. Its a worthy buy NOW, not b4.

[dehory]

Really? The hack was done like only a like 2 or 3 months after the lappy came out. I will try to find it for you guys. I was so impressed I bookmarked it, but I don't have it anymore do to an OS restart and a lazy me. (I lost SOOOO MUCH artwork from this aswell..... it was sad) anyways, I will try to find it :)

If you can find it, that'd be great. I already tried searching for a 4gb mod before I started this thread, but to no avail.

With a good SSD drive installed, I really think that the existing 2GB RAM is the bottleneck in terms of performance and might make the difference between, say, running windows virtualization smoothly and not. If the mod weren't too gruesome, I'm sure a lot of us would consider it...

[AppliedMicro]

To anyone wanting to add more RAM.
If you're not happy with what the Air offers, DON"T BUY IT.
I'd rather say: BUY TWO OR THREE OF THEM.

First one serves for practice ;)

[Eosblue]

I was so excited to read this thread because I'm going to buy a MBA as soon as I can get 4 GB of RAM into it. I carry my computer around about 2-3 miles per day, and my shoulders would be so happy!


This is what I refer to as "foot-pound miles". I know and you know the MB is only 5 pounds, but that makes a huge difference strapped over a shoulder. It's really all the other stuff we jam in our computer cases and now we're talking about maybe 10 pounds instead of 12 pounds.

I've done a lot of hiking up and down LONG airline terminals and only owned 3 pound laptops because of the above. About a year ago I gave up waiting for Apple to come out with one and coughed up the change for a MB. I've had it on maybe 5 trips so far and it's a slight pain. I'm getting a 2.2 Acer Aspire Mini for Christmas that I plan to use for air travel and restrict my MB to mostly home duty. The Acer is only $350 and I KNOW Apple will never have a 2.2 laptop for that price so it seems like a good compromise.

If I had waited about another month, I probably would have picked up the Air in January as I bought my MB the day after Christmas '07. I just extended my AppleCare to 3 years so plan to keep the MB at least another year and then take a good look at the Air then.

[Kan-O-Z]

It's really interesting how some people think that 4GB of RAM is just awesome and it'll be soooo much better and faster than 2GB. Unless you're doing some heavy duty processing, perhaps some serious video editing in Final Cut Pro with two high speed high capacity external drives with one being your scratch drive....4GB isn't going to buy you anything. I would say 99% of the people out there would never push their computers to the point that 4GB of memory would really be of benefit. If you are one of those people that 4GB is of real benefit then you probably need another computer....a computer that has a 4 or 8 cores running at 3.06GHz, and perhaps a TB of HDD....you need to upgrade from the Macbook Air!

Kan-O-Z

[zer0tails]

why limit yourself to 4GB? :cool: 8GB ram will be even more awesome wouldn't it? And then how about 12 GB?.........

[LinMac]

It's really interesting how some people think that 4GB of RAM is just awesome and it'll be soooo much better and faster than 2GB. Unless you're doing some heavy duty processing, perhaps some serious video editing in Final Cut Pro with two high speed high capacity external drives with one being your scratch drive....4GB isn't going to buy you anything. I would say 99% of the people out there would never push their computers to the point that 4GB of memory would really be of benefit. If you are one of those people that 4GB is of real benefit then you probably need another computer....a computer that has a 4 or 8 cores running at 3.06GHz, and perhaps a TB of HDD....you need to upgrade from the Macbook Air!

Kan-O-Z

There are several uses for the extra memory including just using the memory using a memory filesystem. I use 4GB of ram constantly and I don't do any type of heavy editing. I just use the ram however I can.

[BornAgainMac]

I think it is better to wait. Revision 3 may have 4 GB and 256 GB SSD with the single button glass trackpad. The enjoy the current MBA for what it is today. A second computer designed for most portable needs.

[Kan-O-Z]

There are several uses for the extra memory including just using the memory using a memory filesystem. I use 4GB of ram constantly and I don't do any type of heavy editing. I just use the ram however I can.

What do you mean by this? Do you mean that you manually use ram like a ram disk somehow....or are you saying that programs automatically get loaded into RAM so more RAM equals more programs that can be held in RAM? If you are speaking of the latter, let me assure you that Safari, iPhoto, Mail, iChat, Contacts, Calendar and iTunes will all comfortably sit inside 2GB of RAM without paging. This is typically what most users will have running day to day....so again I stand by the fact that most users will never really put 4GB of RAM to good use.

By the way with the faster SSD, applications seem to load fast enough that you almost don't need a huge pool of RAM.

Kan-O-Z

[fteoath64]

I think the memory chips are BGA and will need serious equipment to de-solder, also finding the new chips that are pin-compatible and double the density is going to be tough. Though possible for a very determined EE.

Next you might have to hack the EFI to ensure the cpu recognizes this new RAM size. Again not trivial for some. Best to wait for Gen3 MBA and it is bound to have 4GB DDR3 RAM.:rolleyes::apple::apple::apple:

[Kan-O-Z]

If you need a MBA now, it is a great time to go get one. This is the first big update to the original MBA and they have fixed a lot of issues as well as make it a fast machine. Aside from the screen problem some people have seen, this one is a solid ultra-portable notebook.

The waiting game can last forever. Some people say to wait till 4GB comes out and the glass trackpad.

First of all there is always something great that's on the horizon. When the 4GB version becomes availabe, the Intel i7 with quad cores will be coming to notebooks 'soon'. There will always be something coming so you'll keep on waiting forever. Get this one if you need a ultra portable notebook.

Secondly if/when this happens, there is a good chance that 4GB will either be for the high end MBA ($2500) or even worse, it'll be an expensive BTO option. You can count on Apple using absolutely the best RAM available(to try to make up for the slower processor) so they will charge a lot for 4GB of RAM.

Kan-O-Z

[h1d]

I also wonder what people need 4GB for, especially on a portable laptop, this is not a desktop.

I for one, use VMWare and run other OS on top, so, I can, sometimes choke the 2GB by running 2 other GUI OS on top of it, but really... I don't have to do that, but handle one at a time. And typically looking at the Activity Monitor, I see about 500MB still available (mind you, 'inactive' is part of a free space, but only cached in case that memory might be useful again soon [like reopening an application], but can be freed if necessary. some people may be mistaking that when 'free' gets choked, mems are all occupied.) And since some applications do leak memory... (namely Safari for one...unless I'm missing something about how Safari needs so much RAM. Right now, my safari is up to 350MB...), you could close and reopen it to save about 100MB of memory instant.

The only moment, when you want to upgrade memory is either,
- you see in activity monitor (or some similar tool) that your free + inactive is just regularly choked. (but then, you can really just close a few unncessary app at that moment as well...)
- ram spec is boosted (like ddr2 -> ddr3) but that's not gonna be as good as hdd -> ssd transformation.
- fill in your ego or coolness that you just have more ram

And why even bother with 4GB with required uber soldering skills to just fix your 3rd problem? (Except the 5% who fall in the first?)

[Cubit]

My Air is my main machine and almost permanently has Mail, iChat, Safari, Firefox, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Aperture, VM Fusion, Cyberduck, Activity Monitor, Word and Excel open plus a selection of cycling use applications.

As I sit here it been on for 4 hours and the RAM has had 263,000 in and 143,000 pages out. There are some of us for who 4GB of RAM would be a nice addition.

Cubit

[h1d]

Some. MBA is my main too, but perhaps close a few and save the soldering for now?

[Kan-O-Z]

My Air is my main machine and almost permanently has Mail, iChat, Safari, Firefox, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Aperture, VM Fusion, Cyberduck, Activity Monitor, Word and Excel open plus a selection of cycling use applications.

As I sit here it been on for 4 hours and the RAM has had 263,000 in and 143,000 pages out. There are some of us for who 4GB of RAM would be a nice addition.

Cubit

Wow you really leave Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Aperture, and even Word and Excel open at all times? I can't imagine you are using each and every one of these programs all the time every single day? I for one only open Photoshop when I need it, the same goes for Word. The only programs that I know I will need all the time is Safari, Chat, Mail and a few other small ones. I personally don't like a million apps running UNLESS I am using them regularly! Even if you have enough RAM, it still slows the processor down(perhaps just a small bit). On a portable having your processor loaded like this could potentially cause it to run a bit hotter and draw a bit more power, further reducing battery life.

I can't speak of the typical user but I would doubt they even own the programs or keep them running like you. Again, my statement applies to typical users.

Kan-O-Z

[Cubit]

Wow you really leave Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Aperture, and even Word and Excel open at all times? I can't imagine you are using each and every one of these programs all the time every single day? I for one only open Photoshop when I need it, the same goes for Word. The only programs that I know I will need all the time is Safari, Chat, Mail and a few other small ones. I personally don't like a million apps running UNLESS I am using them regularly! Even if you have enough RAM, it still slows the processor down(perhaps just a small bit). On a portable having your processor loaded like this could potentially cause it to run a bit hotter and draw a bit more power, further reducing battery life.

I can't speak of the typical user but I would doubt they even own the programs or keep them running like you. Again, my statement applies to typical users.

Kan-O-Z

Sadly, yes due to the nature of my work I do have to have them open at all times.

I fully appreciate I am not the typical Air user.

Cubit

[h1d]

You might want a second air side by side... Double every performance. :p