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Has anyone upgraded their MacBook Pro to 8GB ram?

C

chrisjett

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 8, 2010
5
0
Long Island
Hello All,

I have a 13" 2.26GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB of ram. I run a lot of graphic-intense programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, Premier, Final Cut and some audio programs such as Reason and ProTools.

Searching around on the net I've found a lot of people saying that the MacBook Pro does not really take advantage of the 8GB and that most people need no more than 4GB.

So, the question is, has anyone upgraded their MacBookPro to 8GB and if so, did you notice a significant increase in speed or do you feel that 4GB would be fine?

Thank you all in advance for any helpful advice.

Chris
 
I think you're not aware that PowerBook and MacBook Pro isn't the same thing. So I guess you're asking about your MacBook Pro.

The first edition of the Unibody MacBook Pros (late 2008) can only support 4GB, and it's possible to push it until 6GB. The more recent editions support up to 8GB officially. There was something on MacRumors about it but I can't find it. Someone else can probably tell you more precisely.
 
It is the MacBook Pro.

"I think you're not aware that PowerBook and MacBook Pro isn't the same thing. So I guess you're asking about your MacBook Pro."

Ooops. I am aware that the Powerbook and the MacBook Pro aren't the same thing and yes, I am posting this question in regards to my MacBook Pro. I have a tendency of switching the names since they are similar and I have both models.

That said, I was wondering what were everyone's personal observations with running 8GB in a MacBook Pro.

Thanks for the response...
 
I think it rocks! Now, I do a lot of VMs so YMMV but i would never go back to 4 gig. I still find it hard to believe that Apple can charge what they want on the new MBPs and still has 4 gig of ram! :eek:

Most systems are coming with 6 gb(I mean pro systems not a BB special..).


Both OS X and Windows 7 seem thrilled with 8 gig of ram.


However, I love being able to fire up VirtualBox and not have to worry about how much memory my VM is using compared to OS X.

Currently, I do a lot of development work in Visual Studio 2008 on a Windows XP Pro VM. I gave the VM 3 gig of ram, turned off virtual memory in Xp, and the thing just screams. I can flip back and forth without hard drive paging.

Just my humble opinion...
-P
 
Having the headroom of 8GB in my 2.26ghz 13" mbp is just wonderful for pushing it through applications.

2GB is bare minimal for lightwork and is sufficient, 4GB is plenty, and 8GB just helps keep the system in optimal mode IMO.

since i primarily use FF when doing web editing i always keep it runnign with other streaming sites and FF is a big memory hog so i have enough leeway when running FF and other applications such as PS, Dreamweaver, iTunes, etc
I do the occasional handbrake encode as well while running iTunes and editing in the background...does slow down the CPU but its not very laggy or noticable.
When i run logic and protools its just as fluid and fast as ever and this is all without even having to restart from running so many different apps.


so is 8GB necessary? No...but its not bad to have at all, id say invest in either 4GB & an SSD or a fast HD (500GB 7200RPM or even the 5400RPM 640GB) & 8GB of memory. unless you can go all out then SSD + max memory your system will be good to go for a very long while.
 
Just did. Speed per se isn't going to increase, as confirmed by Geekbench scores before and after upgrade.

Got it from data memory systems. Same (hynix) as OEM modules. Just passed 5 grueling iterations of memtest. 7.5 GB tested in safe user mode boot. Now I can see the OEM modules.
 
I did about a week ago and i can notice an increase speed when opening apps and how many I can have open
 
I do a lot of HD movie watching and downloading and encoding and unrar-ing, sometimes at the same time, Especially when I'm just downloading and unrar-ing (usually massive files) on 4GB of Ram on my old MB, it would get bogged down and I would get a lot of Beach Balls.

W/ my new MBP (i7, 8GB of Ram) I've been in the clear. Its really fast and really awesome.
 
Thank you all for your input. I am going to upgrade to 8GB. Both Crucial and NewEgg have decent pricing on all 8GBs, so I have to choose between the two.
 
I'm a big fan of NewEgg and I have purchased many items from them including the two 4 GB sticks for my MBP.

I think just sticking with a good name-brand manufacturer is the key.

I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I paid close to $700 but the time its saved me in my work has been paid back in spades!

-P
 
Just to update everyone on what I decided. After a few recommendations, I chose to go with OWC. I ordered the 8GB upgrade kit as well as a Seagate 500GB 7200RPM drive for my PowerBook Pro. Excellent pricing and I thank those who steered me their way.

Looking forward to getting everything and upgrading my laptop.

Thank you again,

Chris
 
OWC was a good choice. I got my RAM there as well. What helps is that they tell you exactly the type and amount of RAM your exact machine will support.
 
I constantly max out my 4gb running CS/5 or various audio software. I am used to a 8GB Mac Pro - but I never thought that I would run out of ram that easily ... guess I have to upgrade to 8
 
Upgraded my MBP to 8GB a day after I got it.. it's been great since.

I used Mushkin brand 2x4GB from Newegg. Although I think some people have had issues with it from previous reviews. I bought it since it was the cheapest deal at the time.
 
I've been struggling with this one - wanting to upgrade to 8, but hard pill to swallow at 350-400. For those that have upgraded, would love to know your thoughts on if you are noticing a noticeable difference.

I have a 15 i7 2.66
 
I have 8gb inb my 13" MBP. Honestly, the biggest speed boost (by far) will come from installing an SSD drive. In most cases, 4GB is plenty. I went with 8GB because I run virtual machines in OSX, but if I didn't have to do that I wouldn't need it.
 
Hey All,

Just an update. I got everything from OWC. Upgrading to 8GB of RAM and the 500GB hard drive was very easy. OWC was super-fast on the shipping and the prices were fantastic. Thank you again to everyone who suggested them.

I decided to install the drive without backing up the old one, that way I would have a fresh drive from the offset. I loaded in Snow Leopard and am on my way. I haven't had too much time on it as of yet, but feel that the startup time is much faster and where I had major problems with a spotty internet connection, it seems that since the upgrade I have not. I do not see how these two can be related, but I'm usually running multiple programs while the internet is connected, so maybe the RAM was being allocated earlier and now there seems to be enough to keep all programs happy.

I've yet to record audio, edit video or manipulate photos and will post back here when I do. So far though, I am very pleased.
 
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