Alu-MacBook supports 8GB, but I thought it only does 32-bit?

[richardlai]

Can someone explain this to me: I thought the whole point of 64-bit is that it supports more than 4GB of RAM. So how can the aluminium MacBooks, which is apparently limited to 32-bit environment due to the NVIDIA chipset, support up to 8GB?

Cheers in advance.

 

[Minimoose 360]

I thought it was 64 bit, but OSX isn't fully 64 bit (until Snow Leopard with the kernel) which is why we can't use 8GB yet until a software update. Aren't all boards pretty much native 64 bit nowadays?

 

[bluecarbon]

I'm pretty sure the new MB's are fully 64 bit compatible...

I know the Core 2 Duo;s are and it would be stupid for nVidia to release a new chip set that only supports 32 bit...
It would in fact be suicide

 

[Bengt77]

I thought it was a proven fact that both the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros couldn't reliably handle more than 6GB? There were random crashes when going beyond that amount. At least that was what I read. Haven't tried it myself, though. (The MacBook is a secondary machine for me; I don't need more than 2GB, let alone 6GB or RAM in it.)

Oh, and I think that any chipset that at least recognizes more than 4GB of RAM, is 64-bit per se.

 

[jav6454]

Can someone explain this to me: I thought the whole point of 64-bit is that it supports more than 4GB of RAM. So how can the aluminium MacBooks, which is apparently limited to 32-bit environment due to the NVIDIA chipset, support up to 8GB?

Cheers in advance.

Here are the facts:

1. nVidia chipset is 64-bit and capable of supporting 8GB.
2. Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) is a hybrid using 64-bit frameworks and other 32-bit frameworks with a 32-bit kernel. That is why it recognizes 6GB; however, this is why people have problems with anything above that.
3. 8GB can be used, its just too unstable for Leopard.
4. The processor is 64-bit.
5. Mac Pros have hardware that helps recognize beyond 8GB without crashes. (hence the 8GB+ RAM they can carry)
6. MacBooks are consumer notebooks, not power houses. Not even MacBook Pros are allowed this much memory.
7. Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) will be 100% 64-bit all the way down to the last spot. So it's safe to assume Al MacBooks may support the full 8GB later on.

Alrighty, I'm going to class. If you have any questions, please post, I'll respond as soon as I can.