RAM in Late 2008 Unibody MacBook Pro

[Gaz0811]

Hi there, I was hoping someone with more knowledge than myself could help me. I've just been on the crucial website as I'm looking at putting a new SSD in my MacBook Pro and it says I can upgrade my RAM to 8GB. I currently have 4GB, which apple says is the maximum, am I able to exceed this as the crucial website says or is it likely to cause me problems in the future.

Thanks in advance

 

[poematik13]

4 is apple's "maximum". The actual chipset can handle 8. I had 6 in my late-2008 model and it ran fine.

An SSD will make the biggest difference though. Just keep in mind that since your machine only has sata III, you'll only get speeds up to 2-300mb/s. Which is still way better than a hard drive.

 

[Loge]

I put 8GB from Crucial in my late-08 MBP and it worked absolutely fine. Just make sure you have the current EFI Firmware installed, since this fixed an issue with memory addressing above 6GB.

 

[pukrnukr]

I've had 8GB in my late 2008 macbook pro for a couple years now. Never had a problem with it. A quick search should tell you what Firmware/ Boot Rom you should be on to make sure you won't run into any problems. I got my ram from OWC, but just get it from where ever is the best deal. I also have a SSD which helps a lot too. If you're running a lot of applications at once, the ram will definitely help more with slowdowns.
Honestly, depending on what you're using the computer for, I would look at resale values of your computer in your area before you dump too much money into an SSD and ram. You may be able to sell you computer for a lot more than you think and upgrade to a newer refurbished macbook for about the same money out of your pocket. I feel like I made the wrong move last year by buying a 512GB SSD instead of selling and buying a new machine. Hope this helps!