Adding additional memory to an early 2011 MacBook Pro?

RAM is RAM. Just buy from a trusted company that has some decent reviews and is cheap.

 

I recommend Crucial, but, as the above poster mentioned, any of the established brands are equally good.

 

i have the 17' early 2011 macbook pro and upgraded to 16 gb and noticed a crap ton of differance using parallels. I picked mine up pretty cheap off ebay. If you ever take it in to apple though make sure you swap out your ram for your 8 gb of ram. that model "doesnt offically" support that much ram and that could cause you trouble at the apple store and they might not repair your computer if you need any type of repairs.

 

Just another nod for Crucial...My 17" MBP now has 16GB, and yes, it makes a big difference, more than I though it would.

 

GSkill worked just fine on my late 2011 SB MBP and iMac. Sign up for the newegg daily deal email, and check the reviews from MBP owners for whatever's on sale that day.

 

A Hebrew is pretty much spot on, though I tend to stay away from the absolute bottom shelf brands (KomputerBay) as the reviews are atrocious. I have used Corsair, G.Skill, PNY, Crucial, and one more brand that I'm failing to remember) to good effect. Only ever had one bad stick (from G.Skill). Every manufacturer ships a bad stick occasionally. Just be prepared to return it and make sure you test the memory after putting it in.


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This past summer I upgraded my early 2011 15" MBP from 8GB to 16GB by installing Crucial memory, no problems.

 

Please, check the MacRumors Guide about Buying RAM:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Buying_RAM#Macbook_Pro

This guide will tell you if your Macbook Pro model supports 16GB,
and also about how to make a right choice based on RAM specifications.

At the moment, the guide does not contain any table about 16 GB kits.
Simply because there are only two 16 GB 1600MHz CL9 kits exist:

1) Kingston HyperX PnP - KHX16S9P1K2/16 (normal voltage - v1.5)
2) Kingston HyperX LoVo - KHX16LS9P1K2/16 (low voltage - v1.35)

While LoVo kit is more eco-friendly, it is about 10% more expensive ($135 vs $125),
quite difficult to find, and nobody has tested it with MBP yet (at least I could not find such an information)

So, the best choice would be the first kit - KHX16S9P1K2/16.