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How much RAM does your MacBook have?

Mad Mac Maniac

Mad Mac Maniac

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 4, 2007
4,808
2,110
A little bit of here and a little bit of there.
I have a late 2007 MacBook and I still have it loaded with the original 1GB of RAM that came preinstalled.

My macbook has increasingly been running ridiculously slow lately (over the past 6-12 months) and freezing with the beachball of doom for minutes at a time occasionally and I was wondering how much of that is attributed to my lack of RAM. Yeah I realize 1GB probably just doesn't cut it anymore, so would an upgrade fix all my issues or should I try something else. I bought SL when it first came out, but that hasn't seemed to really help anything.

How much RAM do you have in your macbook?
 
I have the very last Black Macbook running 4GB of RAM. It is plenty fast! I would say upgrade if you can. RAM is cheap.
 
I think mine is 2007 also

Here is my system specs, and I have no speed issues.

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
 
Aluminum MacBook 4GB

I just recently added 4GB (from 2GB) to my aluminum MacBook, at a cost of $150. It is so much better! Before I added more memory I would check my usage with Activity Monitor and invariably would be using some swap memory (storing information on the hard drive instead of a memory chip). Now I never use swap memory, no matter how many programs are running. Everything is faster and smoother. I would never buy another Mac with less that 4GB of memory after seeing the difference.
 
Here's mine (early 2009 alu unibody):

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

Works like a charm, pity I can't put in 8Gb and that the SSD-drives are still so expensive.
 
I maxed out my late 2007 MacBook with 4 GB as soon as I got it. The upgrade was pretty cheap back then (from Crucial I think), probably even more so now. Plus it's really easy to install new ram yourself on the old macbooks, and you'll see a good proper jump in performance.
 
2007 Model

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook 2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
 
Same as you and I have the same issue (may even have the same computer. Mid 2007 Macbook 2.0 ghz).

Honestly, I think RAM is its problem but I also question if wiping the hard drive and reinstalling the stuff I want may not also speed it up.

But I've been dieing for an excuse to upgrade it. Apple hasn't really given me one but my own computer is finding small reasons to annoy me (though none really non fixable yet).
 
tigress666 said:
But I've been dieing for an excuse to upgrade it. Apple hasn't really given me one but my own computer is finding small reasons to annoy me (though none really non fixable yet).
Click to expand...

Yeah same. I've been wanting to upgrade for a while. Especially with the new aluminum 13" macbook pros. But that's a lot of money to spend if all I need to do is spend like $150 on RAM
 
13" macbook pro...

2GB ram was still beachballing more than I wanted after I replaced the stock HDD so I upgraded the RAM to 4GB... I still have some beachballing but not nearly as much... I really think a huge part of it under leopard and snow leopard is the HDD... I am planning on buying a SSD as soon as 256GB models are under $400 and if I can hold out maybe even under $300
 
What's annoying is that it seems my computer has slowed down. I don't remember it beachballing when it was new. It was very smooth and worked well then.

I am thinking it's a combo of both needing more RAM for newer systems and newer applications (Firefox has become quite the either ram or processor or both hog) and also probably being loaded down with extra crap I don't even know it's running (spyware and stuff but for some reason I thought Macs weren't as prone. But I kinda think if I did a hard drive wipe and reinstall that might help smooth my computer's performance).
 
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB


I used 2x Lenovo 4GB chips and have had no issues at all (except a faster machine).

My machine was manufactured in early January. A co-worker has a machine, also from early January, running 8GB of RAM with no issues as well.
 
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