RAM for 2010 Unibody

[bunnspecial]

I just recently picked up a 2010 Unibody Macbook.

It came with the stock 2gb of RAM. It runs Snow Leopard great, but is absolutely painful on Sierra. I know the computer is capable of better, as I've run Sierra on worse hardware.

I think a first step is to get more RAM in it, as the memory pressure is hovering between yellow and red with a lot of page outs.

I have 4gb of Hynix RAM that shipped in my late 2011 MBP and had planned to drop that in, but the computer refuses to boot with it(I've gone through diagnostics with trying the sticks individual in the two different RAM slots). I only get a single beep on start-up.

A friend advised me that these computers are "picky" about RAM, and as this isn't a primary machine I just want to get enough in to get it useable. Given the current price difference between 2x4 and 2x8, I'd prefer to either buy 2x2 or 2x8 for this computer.

Can anyone suggest particular brands and P/Ns of RAM that they have had working in these computers? The OEM RAM is Micron, which I'm guessing might be a safe bet.

 

[foo2]

I just recently picked up a 2010 Unibody Macbook.

It came with the stock 2gb of RAM. It runs Snow Leopard great, but is absolutely painful on Sierra. I know the computer is capable of better, as I've run Sierra on worse hardware.

I think a first step is to get more RAM in it, as the memory pressure is hovering between yellow and red with a lot of page outs.

I have 4gb of Hynix RAM that shipped in my late 2011 MBP and had planned to drop that in, but the computer refuses to boot with it(I've gone through diagnostics with trying the sticks individual in the two different RAM slots). I only get a single beep on start-up.

A friend advised me that these computers are "picky" about RAM, and as this isn't a primary machine I just want to get enough in to get it useable. Given the current price difference between 2x4 and 2x8, I'd prefer to either buy 2x2 or 2x8 for this computer.

Can anyone suggest particular brands and P/Ns of RAM that they have had working in these computers? The OEM RAM is Micron, which I'm guessing might be a safe bet.

Simplest is to check the specs on Apple.com; easiest is to go to macsales.com to order what they suggest for that particular model. I bought Crucial RAM from Amazon (1x8GB, added to a 1x2GB I had already) and it worked great.

 

[JTToft]

Manufacturer doesn't matter for compatibility. I like Corsair.

You need 1066 MHz. That's all. Up to 16 GB.

 

[bunnspecial]

Manufacturer doesn't matter for compatibility. I like Corsair.

You need 1066 MHz. That's all. Up to 16 GB.

Thanks-another friend also said pretty much the same. My issue with the sticks I tried was that they were 1333, and apparently the memory controller in these computers doesn't like to down clock RAM.

In any case, I ordered 8gb of Munchkin brand from Amazon. I nearly ordered 16gb from NewEgg, but needed to make some other Amazon purchases and also had gift cards and other incentives to use there. I couldn't find anyone selling a 16gb kit of 1066 that fulfilled through Amazon(which I needed to make everything work together).

I think even if I'd gone to 4gb, the HDD would have likely been the bottleneck. As tempting as it is to max the RAM in the computer, I thought the $20 I saved would be better put toward an SSD(I'll get one soon enough). My main MBP(mid-2012 15", 9,1) has 16gb and I NEVER get close to straining it-I'm currently sitting at ~25,000 page outs in 1.2 million page-ins after 11 days of up time. The SSD(admittedly a high end one-a 1TB EVO 850) makes the page-outs imperceptible, and I've seen the same with other Macbooks. My 5,2 runs Sierra relatively well on 4gb of DDR-2 in combination with a lower-end SSD.

 

[lambertjohn]

I just recently picked up a 2010 Unibody Macbook.

It came with the stock 2gb of RAM. It runs Snow Leopard great, but is absolutely painful on Sierra. I know the computer is capable of better, as I've run Sierra on worse hardware.

I think a first step is to get more RAM in it, as the memory pressure is hovering between yellow and red with a lot of page outs.

I have 4gb of Hynix RAM that shipped in my late 2011 MBP and had planned to drop that in, but the computer refuses to boot with it(I've gone through diagnostics with trying the sticks individual in the two different RAM slots). I only get a single beep on start-up.

A friend advised me that these computers are "picky" about RAM, and as this isn't a primary machine I just want to get enough in to get it useable. Given the current price difference between 2x4 and 2x8, I'd prefer to either buy 2x2 or 2x8 for this computer.

Can anyone suggest particular brands and P/Ns of RAM that they have had working in these computers? The OEM RAM is Micron, which I'm guessing might be a safe bet.

Samsung 250GB and 8GB RAM (www.crucial.com) is what i fed into my 2010 Macbook Pro, and it flies now. My Macbook won't take 16GB, and I doubt yours will either. Better check into that before you order too much RAM for your computer and can't return it.

 

[DeltaMac]

The Mid 2010 13-inch MBPro can use 16GB, but the 15 and 17-inch models from that year only support 8GB.
2010 MacBook certainly supports 16GB.

 

[bunnspecial]

By the way, here's some other information on these computers since it's a known issue:

The bottom rubber is known to peel on these, and mine was not immune to this problem. I found varying reports that the program only covered four years from the original purchase date, and others that it was covered now regardless of the age.

I needed to drop a broken screen iPhone off, so thought I'd give this one a shot also. They could have done the repair this evening(i.e. the parts were in stock) but only for $125. No thanks The Genius actually suggested seeing if iFixit carried it. He also said it was the first computer(period) he'd seen come in with Sierra installed.

 

[bunnspecial]

My 8gb of Crucial 1066mhz RAM from Amazon(finally) arrived, and I'm happy to report that the computer is actually usable in Sierra!

It's not as fast as my 2012 MBP w/16gb and the Evo 850, but still definitely usable enough for me to play around with and not have to mess with rebooting my main computer.

Thanks for all the help...now to go SSD shopping. Since it's not a computer I depend on, I may toss a Kingston in it-I know they're not the best but I'm at 2-for-2 for 256gb Kingstons. One is in my mid-09 MB(also running hacked Sierra) and the other is in my Mac Pro 1,1 at work. My work computer has an internal 3TB WD Green for Time Machine and another 500gb Blue that gets periodic clones since this is a mission-critical computer, but I've been happy with the Kingston in it.

 

[beanboy89]

Thanks for the info in this thread. I just picked up a 2010 MacBook, and I'm definitely looking at upgrading the RAM. Not sure which RAM I want to go with yet, but I know what SSD I'll be installing: a Samsung 850 Evo, 250 GB. I have one in my Mac Pro, which is running great.

 

[bunnspecial]

I am firmly of the opinion that you can never go wrong with Samsung SSDs.
[doublepost=1472045554][/doublepost]By the way, I downloaded and installed DP7 on the Macbook in question last night. It took a fair bit of time(and SSD is getting pushed further up the list) and I haven't had time to play with it, but we'll see. Siri was acting a bit weird when I was playing last night(something that I'm still convinced is a gimmick on a Mac until I'm shown otherwise) but otherwise everything is going well.

I think I may actually have been running DP1 on the computer...I downloaded it from my App Store account directly onto the Macbook, and had assumed that it would download the most current DP version, but in retrospect I'm not sure if that's the case. At least I'm up-to-date, though, so can start using it hard and sending in my bug reports