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Buying more RAM

bjb.butler

bjb.butler

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 18, 2008
938
81
Southern California
Hi I am planning on buying a Macbook Pro. I was going to upgrade to 4gb of RAM, but it costs $180 more, when I could go to newegg and get 4gb for $80.

My only reservation is that I heard that Apple releases firmware updates that limit/disable third-party RAM. Is this true? I don't want to buy RAM that might not work down the line!

thanks,bj
 
You'll find answers to this and many other commonly asked questions under the Guides tab at the top of this page:

If you have questions that these sources doesn't cover, you can check to see if it has been answered in another thread by doing a Google search of the forums. I hope this helps!

bjb.butler said:
... I heard that Apple releases firmware updates that limit/disable third-party RAM. Is this true?
Click to expand...

That's not true at all.
 
That rumor is rubbish!!! there is no such thing as Apple RAM, Apple uses 3rd party RAM.

Get your RAM from anywhere but Apple and save $$$$. I use macsales.com (OWC).
 
Yeah all these are rumors about apple things dont work with non apple RAM.:D.. They were saying that for powerbooks too:p..

Go buy it from somewher thats worthy for you and dont pay the extra money apples want for them:D. They already made enough by just selling you the macbook as they did on all of us here .:)
 
bjb.butler said:
Hi I am planning on buying a Macbook Pro. I was going to upgrade to 4gb of RAM, but it costs $180 more, when I could go to newegg and get 4gb for $80.

My only reservation is that I heard that Apple releases firmware updates that limit/disable third-party RAM. Is this true? I don't want to buy RAM that might not work down the line!

thanks,bj
Click to expand...

As others here say, not an issue at all with 3rd party memory. Enjoy the money you'll save.

My only advice - and this is true of many laptops to a degree, not an Apple-only thing - is that some chipsets can be a bit fussy about what memory they'll work with, so my advice would be to go to a company like crucial who have a "picker tool" that lets you pick out the exact right memory for your machine. This way, not only will you get the correct memory, but crucial themselves will guarantee that's the case. I think there are a few other "major" memory suppliers who operate a similar service too.
 
as long as its the same pin, chip speed and recognised size you'll be fine.

i just bought some ram off ebay (kingston) and it is the same company that the apple had in orignally!
 
I ended up putting 4GB of Apple-specific Corsair RAM into my MBP and I haven't had any problems. I've used Crucial's recommended RAM in several PowerBooks prior to that and never had problems.

I've had Apple laptops fixed in the past and even Apple themselves never chastised me for not using their rebadged RAM. The only thing they wouldn't cover is a repair due to issues caused by 3rd-party RAM because they didn't sell to you. But when you use quality RAM, this never really becomes an issue anyway.

You're fine.
 
For what it is worth, I bought a 4GB kit from OWC and everything is perfect.

Self upgrading with "3rd party" RAM is incredibly common. Odds are most people here have done it at some point or another.
 
Due to all the little problems I've experienced with the machine, I was sent 4Gb upgrade from Apple for free!! It's probably for this reason alone why Apple needs to charge a arm and a leg for it's RAM!! They have to make up the cost, I'd guess...

Thanks Apple :D
 
Due to all the little problems I've experienced with the machine, I was sent 4Gb upgrade from Apple for free!! It's probably for this reason alone why Apple needs to charge a arm and a leg for it's RAM!! They have to make up the cost, I'd guess...
Click to expand...

No, profit is Apple's motivation behind overcharging for RAM and hard drive upgrades. Dell (perhaps to lesser extent) is the same way. I wouldn't necessarily confuse that with Apple trying to take care of an upset customer. But still, really cool.
 
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