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6GB in MacBook (Pro); Yes it works. - 8GB... well...

Hi all,

I have two of the G.skill 4GB modules and am having similar issues - the OS doesn't seem to allocate anything beyond 4GB visibly in Activity Monitor - and when something seems to use more than 4GB, that particular app runs very slowly! I see a high percentage of system% CPU usage as well.

There's nothing in dmesg. It seems that the new MBPs support 8GB so I'd love to know what's going on here or whether there's some sort of hard coding within OSX to prevent the higher memory from being used.

Has anybody here had success with a 64-bit OS under bootcamp? Snow Leopard?
 
Has anyone installed more than 4gb of RAM on their 'Santa Rosa' mbp yet? Curious to see what happens. And just to double check, you can have up to 8gb of RAM in this model correct?

Thanks,
 
I love how people will just ask questions without even reading the thread..

For the previous 2 posters.. the answers have been posted numerous times in this thread already...
 
Now that Apple have officially announced a MacBook Pro that can handle 8Gb, maybe if we can find a file and trick OS X into thinking its a 17" Uni, or something (Like the Early '08 MBP's and multitouch...?)
 
has anyone tried to work with the 8gb of ram synce the last 10.5.6 update?
you know that the new macbook pro 17" supports 8gb and maybe that it works now or they updated the drivers synce then (of course primary the unibody model)
 
MattZani said:
Now that Apple have officially announced a MacBook Pro that can handle 8Gb, maybe if we can find a file and trick OS X into thinking its a 17" Uni, or something (Like the Early '08 MBP's and multitouch...?)
Click to expand...

well technically speaking, shouldn't the other machines be able to handle it, i mean all the hardware is the same...processor, gpu etc..
 
cuco85 said:
has anyone tried to work with the 8gb of ram synce the last 10.5.6 update?
you know that the new macbook pro 17" supports 8gb and maybe that it works now or they updated the drivers synce then (of course primary the unibody model)
Click to expand...

Good call. Can someone trivially check, or does anyone else have any good idea why 10.5.6 might have changed things?
 
ChrisN said:
Is there any big difference between the 15" and 17" that lets 8GB work in the 17 and not the 15?

ChrisN
Click to expand...

Considering they both have the same graphics architecture (with the 9400m), it should be the same, as the chipset including the 9400m must be the same.

Theoretically all of them should be able to support 8GB as per the tech specs of this hardware, but I have a feeling there is some sneaking firmware modding over at cupertino to prevent users who didn't shell out from installing the 8GBs of RAM
 
The new Unibody 13" MacBook and 15" MacBook Pro can both handle chipset wise the full blown 8GB. We can see that in the 17" MacBook Pro, it has the exact same logicboard/chipset (except the processor).

I am for one thinking one of the firmware or drivers in the 15" and 13" MacBooks limits the capacity to top out at 4GB. Sneaky Cupertino. Maybe someone will hack into the drivers of the 17" MBP and leak what is actually making our late 08 MacBooks top out at 4GB. I for one want 8GB and need 8GB RAM. I run Fusion which can suck out RAM. True I have XP and 1GB should suffice, but I have reached moments when my whole 4GB are taken and Page outs/Swap memory is started to be used because I multi task alot in OS X.

So having more breathing room would surely be nice. That's my thoughts. I wish Apple would listen in that sense of RAM wise.
 
I'm finding I need 6GB+ on my computer now… Just recently started getting out of memory errors and increased swap.
 
Insticts tell me

My instincts (developed during decades of PC experience) tell me the folks who are speculating that a firmware mod would allow >4GB are probably right. I'm hoping someone will port the 17 inch memory firmware into a patch (hopefully Apple, but I have little experience to draw on here).
The fact that the system can recognize the presence of more RAM is pretty indicative that it's a firmware issue, IMO.

Meanwhile, I'll keep chugging along with 4MB and watch the boards for new firmware or a hack.
 
Cave Man said:
Yes, they're different. If you have the NVidia MacBook/MacBook Pro, you need DDR3 RAM. DDR2 will not fit.
Click to expand...


yeah but this thread was made Oct 2, 2008 and the new MaBook Pros were already out. The TS posted a link showing DDR2 not DDR3
 
Cave Man said:
It's probably in the EFI. Apple's done it before.
Click to expand...

I'm speculating that the SR 8GB limitation is also a firmware issue. Perhaps it's related to addressing >4GB in dual-channel mode; but I don't know how to disable dual channel mode to test.

The Windows 7 64-bit beta suffers from similar performance issues with 8GB installed on the early 08 SR-based 17" MBP I have here. With 5GB installed, the installer works a treat but 8GB makes it run very, very slowly, even when starting up.
 
all this 6vs8 gig, all i got is 2gb in my 15" unibody mbp...
i wonder whats the best model to go for 4gb w/bootcamp.
 
sorry to bring up an old post but

I have a 17in penryn macbook pro 4,1 that i purchased a 4GB Corsair stick for from new egg. It only shows up as 2GB when installed. I have tried to boot with the single dimm installed and still only shows up as a 2GB stick. Any ideas???
 
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