8GB of RAM in late 2009 unibody MacBook?

[laudern]

I just put in 8gb of RAM into my late 09 macbook, along with a 2TB HDD and replaced the DVD drive with a 500gb HDD. And WOW! I won't be buying a new Mac for a very looong time

 

[kayinus]

If anyone is looking to upgrade their macbooks, I would highy recommend OWC (macsales.com)

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=379&type=Memory
Way cheaper than Amazon and they ship very, very fast.

 

[stampeder]

1333 Works!

I can confirm 8GB runs in my white 13" MacBook Unibody Late 2009 A1342 updated to OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan). I had previously been running it on 4GB (2x2GB DDR3 1066).

Even better, it now runs 8GB (2x4GB) of DDR3 1333 SODIMM taken from my Lenovo Y570 laptop. The MacBook already used an SSD, but is even quicker now. Here are some screenshots from the MacBook:

http://lookpic.com/O/i2/170/E7OeVMrC.jpeg

http://lookpic.com/O/i2/394/m0an129g.jpeg

http://lookpic.com/O/i2/175/xKugIJHm.jpeg

Hopefully any brand of 2x4GB DDR3 1333 SODIMM will work for you but the SODIMMs I used were Lenovo OEM from when I bought my Y570 new several years ago.

 

[aleSilver]

i have 8 gigs in my late 09 uni mb

Hi,

I have a MacBook 6,1 (white unibody) late 2009. Initially I had 2GB DDR3 1066MHz. Thus, I updated them to 4GB DDR3 1333MHz. And my Macbook saw it correctly (it show 4GB 1333MHz).

Now I upgraded it again to 8 GB. I bought 2 module of 4GB DDR3L 1600MHz (These were cheaper than the 1066MHz). While installing it, the Macbook didn't work at all (it did several beeps in the beginning).
Now I put one module of 2GB at 1333MHz and one module of 4GB at 1600 MHz and the Macbook works correctly with 6GB of ram.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Versione Boot ROM: MB61.00C8.B00
Versione SMC : 1.51f53

Thanks in advance,
Alessio

 

[h4lp m3]

I got mine to run with 16GB ????

 

[Surrat]

The white plastic unibody 2010 macbook can use 16GB, and it looks exactly like the 2009 unibody.

Maybe you have a 2010 model.

 

[iMav]

I picked up a white unibody macbook (2010) off of eBay for cheap. Am going to throw 16GB of ram in it and do a fusion drive with a 128GB SSD and a 500GB hdd.

BTW, would folks here recommend re-pasting the heat sink since I will have it apart? (does the original paste lose effectiveness over time??)

 

[JParkerAdair]

I got mine to run with 16GB ????

This would really help if you provided details. Were you on a Late 2009 model (many people posting about 2010 model)? What brand and type of RAM did you use? Do you have a link so that we might also order said RAM? Very simple, basic things would help the community a ton.
Cheers.
[doublepost=1484195989][/doublepost]

1333 Works!

I can confirm 8GB runs in my white 13" MacBook Unibody Late 2009 A1342 updated to OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan). I had previously been running it on 4GB (2x2GB DDR3 1066).

Even better, it now runs 8GB (2x4GB) of DDR3 1333 SODIMM taken from my Lenovo Y570 laptop. The MacBook already used an SSD, but is even quicker now. Here are some screenshots from the MacBook:

http://lookpic.com/O/i2/170/E7OeVMrC.jpeg

http://lookpic.com/O/i2/394/m0an129g.jpeg

http://lookpic.com/O/i2/175/xKugIJHm.jpeg

Hopefully any brand of 2x4GB DDR3 1333 SODIMM will work for you but the SODIMMs I used were Lenovo OEM from when I bought my Y570 new several years ago.

Any update on how this is working for you? Trying to do anything to beef up my Macbook rather than shell out another $2,000 on a computer that will be obsolete 3 years later. (Remember when longevity and ease of use was Apple's signature?)

 

[stampeder]

Any update on how this is working for you? Trying to do anything to beef up my Macbook rather than shell out another $2,000 on a computer that will be obsolete 3 years later. (Remember when longevity and ease of use was Apple's signature?)

My late 2009 A1342 MacBook continues to run perfectly with the Lenovo Y570 OEM 2x4GB SODIMMs, so if you can find that Lenovo part number for those you are good to go. The front bus of that MacBook model will not go higher than 1066 so this is really a hardware hack that provides stable 8GB capability. The fact that the OS identifies it correctly is reassuring even if the capable speed is not being realized. Upgraded to Sierra and it runs perfectly.

 

[JBrittJPUK]

I can confirm that 8GB memory works perfectly well in my late 2009 13 inch Macbook and i am running Sierra OS. I bought 2x4GB Kingston Technology 8GB DDR3 1067MHz and it is running smoothly.

 

[salmonpenne]

Very helpful thread! Thank you!

Just upgraded my 2009 13" unibody 2.26 ghz macbook running OSX 10.6.8 from 2 ghz to 8 ghz and it worked!

Good point to note:

These Macbooks need 1.5v modules. Most DDR3 ram nowadays is 1.35V. Which would explain why some modules work and other nearly identical ones dont.

I live in Canada and ended up purchasing this ram:

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX34047

Corsair CMSA8GX3M2A1066C7 8GB (2 x 4GB) PC3-8500 DDR3 1066 MHz 1.5 V 204 Pin

 

[dandeco]

Yep; when I got my late 2009 polycarbonate unibody MacBook, it came with 2 GB of RAM, which certainly wasn't enough for today's uses (to me at least), so I ordered an 8 GB RAM upgrade and that really boosted performance. (It also didn't come with a hard drive when I bought it, but I put a 256 GB SSD into it, which also helps the performance.)

 

[elf69]

Until last week I was using a 2010 (2.4GHz, the 2009 is 2.66GHz) with 8GB ram but did test 16GB from a machine at work (Hynix 1066MHz) and it worked.

I had 240GB ssd and a 250GB HDD in optical bay.
I was running high Sierra.

But GPU failed on me last week.
gutted and now using a 2012 MacBook Air which is ok but not like it as much.

the A1342 is my favourite Mac.

 

[bensisko]

Just this weekend I upgraded my late 2008 MacBook to 8GB RAM and 250 GB SSD. All I can say is... WOW!!