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PB G4: 12" ram slot vs 15" ram slot

T

Taustin Powers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I am going to buy myself a 12" powerbook at some point this year.

One thing that's still bothering me about it right now is the built-in 256 megs of ram. This means I can only replace the other 256 with 1gig max, and therefore be maxed out at 1.2 gigs of ram.

I noticed that the 15" powerbooks have two slots that are accessible, and therefore you can install a max of 2 gigs.

I am wondering if this could be a future upgrade to the 12" powerbook, so here is my question to people who have worked on the ram slots of both:

How do the sizes of the two ram compartments (of the 12" and the 15") compare? Would there be enough room in the 12"'s compartment for 2 slots, just like in the 15"? Or is the space limited due to the smaller casing?

Just trying to figure out the odds of this being an easy upgrade for Apple, or if there would be some major redesigning the case involved.

Discuss! 🙂
 
You can only access the one slot under the PB 12". I would assume that 1.2GB RAM will be plenty for your needs of a PB.

I have the 12" 1.33 with an extra 512 stick (768 total). It's great.
 
The stock 256mb is on-board. The stock config will get you 512 with no expansion slots left. To upgrade, you'll have to take out the 256 dimm and put in a different one.
 
Correct, I understand that much.

My question is, would the ram compartment of the 12" theoretically have enough room for both slots to be located there?

The width and length seem to be the same, as the 2 slots in the 15" are stacked - but would the compartment in the 12" be deep enough for the same stacked design if Apple should decide to provide it with 2 slots in the future?
 
they would've done it if they could've. why even discuss this? No a future update won't make this feature available. THat is a limitation you're running into with such a small form factor. If you want more ram, get the 15" and be done with it. If you want a small form factor then suffer the concequences. In all likelihood you wouldn't be able to fit the second slot in there, which is why it isn't there in the first place.
 
i think you bring up a valid point. unfortunately, i'm not having much luck finding a website i saw many moons ago. it might have been mentiontioned in a thread here - but i'm not sure. regardless, it gave step by step procedures for opening and gutting pretty much every mac product available - it might help you get an idea as to the space available. there probably isn't space, but i think as components get a bit smaller, it could happen. but, i don't really know what i'm doing.

the site is www.pbfixit.com They focus more on helping you do installs, well, of pretty much anything. But, you can see the interior of the 12 looks way tight. A little too tight for comfort
 
nbs2 said:
i think you bring up a valid point. unfortunately, i'm not having much luck finding a website i saw many moons ago. it might have been mentiontioned in a thread here - but i'm not sure. regardless, it gave step by step procedures for opening and gutting pretty much every mac product available - it might help you get an idea as to the space available. there probably isn't space, but i think as components get a bit smaller, it could happen. but, i don't really know what i'm doing.

the site is www.pbfixit.com They focus more on helping you do installs, well, of pretty much anything. But, you can see the interior of the 12 looks way tight. A little too tight for comfort
Click to expand...


Thank you for this informative and helpful reply!

(Other people could learn from you... 😉 )
 
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