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'Secret' Firmware Update Unlocks Support for 8 GB RAM on 'Late 2008' Notebooks

TradeMomentum said:
Mikey, I also have a late 2008, 2.8 Ghz machine, can you tell me the web url or part number of the 8 GB memory you ordered from Crucial.
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I recommend buying your memory from MacSales. They're a high-quality supplier of memory, SSDs, and all sorts of other upgrades for Macs. They've noted this memory capacity mystery on the 2008 Unibody MacBook for years and finally sorted it out.

Crucial is a good vendor (and an advertiser here ;-) but I would give this business to MacSales. This page lists the parts you need from them and has a link on how to ensure you have the firmware needed to access all 8GB of memory.
 
8GB and stoked!

Just installed today and very happy.

Toromac--

I max mine out every day. Usually have open:
Photoshop
Rapidweaver
Parallels (virtual machine running XP)
Safari (of course)
iPhoto
Transmit
Mail, iCal, iTunes, etc.
blah blah blah.

Anyway, I was always having to close things to open others and now I have all of that stuff open but still have over 3GB available.

Iceman. Make the investment. It's a huge help to my day.

Btw, bought mine at Newegg.
 
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smileyborg said:
Coincidentally, Newegg just launched a shell shocker for a 8GB (2 x 4GB) kit of Corsair RAM for $69.99 free shipping. Corsair is one of the major brands along with Kingston, Crucial, etc. There seem to be a few negative reviews for dead sticks on this particular product, however the RAM comes with plenty of warranties (30-day Newegg and Lifetime Corsair), so it should be fine to take the deal and just run Memtest for a while once you install it to make sure you didn't get any defective sticks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233081

This deal will only last for a few more hours, then it's up (10am PST).
Click to expand...


Corsair gave me problems, had to return. Bought it at newegg.
 
jmooring said:
Working flawlessly and feels like a new machine.
I highly recommend it.
Should carry me at least another year.
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I ordered 8gb RAM and installed an SSD... I'm more than satisfied at my computer now... well besides "meh" battery life and flickering 9400m of course.... :-/
 
No issues with the Crucial memory I purchased through newegg. Made a noticeable difference on my system and passed memtest.
 
samh004 said:
I regularly start paging my HDD with my 3GB RAM, however can’t get any more as I’m on an older machine. I dream of the day I can have 8GB in my mac and not see it max out.
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Apparently, the Mac will occasionally 'page-in' no matter how much excess ram you have. What you have to look at is page outs.

As member xUKHCx once pointed out:

Page outs is when requests for memory get sent to the harddrive. This is slower than RAM and will lead to a decrease in performance. If you have zero page outs or very little in comparison to page ins then you have enough/more than enough RAM. If you have a high number of page outs/page ins then you need more RAM.
 
So glad to hear this!!!

i sure hope this means i can finally run Parallels without everything else coming to a halt,
 
toromac said:
who needs 8gb, sheesh. i barely use 2gb of my 4gb of ram as it is. even using photoshop, I have never seen it max out.
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I like the way you say that when my free memory currently is 9Mb (Yes, Megabytes) out of 12Gb. [1Gb inactive]

I thought 6Gb was enough, it clearly isn't.
 
It depends on what you do.

toromac said:
who needs 8gb, sheesh. i barely use 2gb of my 4gb of ram as it is. even using photoshop, I have never seen it max out.
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I call 4GB the base Minimum RAM. I have 8GB on my MacPro for CAD and Photoshop. It gives things (including OS X) room to breath, and not create loads of swap files. In other words you dont get as many damn spinning beach-balls!
 
FloatingBones said:
The page http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3 says you need MacOS 10.6.6.

"You must be running Snow Leopard to address 8GB on these systems."

Did you look on the site before asking your question here?
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Even odder, IMO, why would someone stick with Leopard on any Intel Mac is beyond me. Upgrade to Snow Leopard already! It's stable and generally uses *less* resources than Leopard on the same hardware. I loathe using my Leopard based machines at this point.
 
FuNGi said:
Can you enlighten us a bit more as to where you get these proportions? Looking at my 4GB MBA I see that there is nearly no free RAM, the page ins are at 1.52GB, and the page outs are a measly 22.6 MB with a swap of 6 MB. How does no free RAM equate with your rational above?
Click to expand...

People go crazy seeing all these numbers and not understanding it, and thinking they have to upgrade their RAM/Computer... What is your total "Inactive" + "Free" RAM? That is the true number you should be looking at. Unix likes to fill your RAM with old memory incase you want to use it again to speed things up, this is "Inactive" RAM. If free ram gets filled, Unix will dump something in inactive memory before writing to the page file. But this is not something most consumers would know. All they know is "free" memory vs "used" memory. Most of them couldn't tell you what "Wired" means either... Maybe Apple should go with a dumbed-down version by default, and an advanced mode for those of us who know what it all means.

EDIT: Also, if these firmware numbers are correct, then nothing in the update has changed, contrary to what has been claimed. I remember this update, and i got it the day it came out, and I seem to have the firmware version they say I should have to unlock the 8GB, so it seems that the update never changed at all.
 
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SD, I've stuck with Leopard because I use a Duel Adapter to download Panasonic P2 cards via express card slot. An upgrade to Snow Leopard would break this functionality and I'd have to use the camera via FW or USB to download. That would be quite an inefficient use of precious shoot time on set.

I've considered a dual Leopard/SL boot set-up but haven't gotten around to trying it. I did try the Duel Adapter under a Windows/Boot Camp scenario but it didn't work. I'd love to upgrade, but at this point, it's more trouble than it's worth for me.

If anyone has an old 15" Powerbook they want to donate to the cause, I'd upgrade my 5,1 to SL w/ 8gb ram in a heartbeat!

Thanks,

DH

SmileyDude said:
Even odder, IMO, why would someone stick with Leopard on any Intel Mac is beyond me. Upgrade to Snow Leopard already! It's stable and generally uses *less* resources than Leopard on the same hardware. I loathe using my Leopard based machines at this point.
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2nded!

baryon said:
Can anyone tell me what kind of RAM I have to buy for a late 2008 MBP? On Crucial it won't tell me because their website thinks that this machine only supports 4 GB... Can I just get the 8GB RAM kit for the mid-2009 MBPs?
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Can anyone answer this please? I'm curious as well.
 
Tailpike1153 said:
GAA is a mutherfu....bberinksy! I wonder if Apple says the previous 6GB cap was imposed due to a defect in design/manufacturing. The firmware update address the "memory defect" and other problems. This way with the firmware update they would be addressing the defect instead of adding a feature. Consumers keep their soda/candy money. Those 3 class action lawyers would have a field day with Apple's "covering up the defect." Just some ramblings.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be a defect. When the initial firmware was created, 4 GB chips were very rare and very expensive. At that point maybe Apple couldn't guarantee that these Macs would be able to work with RAM from every supplier because not enough testing could be done. If you can't guarantee that 8 GB work properly, then you limit it to 6 GB.


AwakenedLands said:
So they had it limited intentionally until recently with this update? I don't get it. Why was it limited to 6 until now? It's not like anything was added to the hardware by magical pixies while we slept. It looks like it was intentionally limited to 6 when it could have been 8 the entire time.
Click to expand...

See above: Quite possibly it was changed when Apple was confident 8 GB would be working, not before.
 
bentoms said:
just got 4GB for my late 2008 macbook pro..

just ordered 8GB & will test this weekend..

good thing crucial have a 45 days returns policy :)
Click to expand...

sorry for late reply.. but it worked.. ordered the below from crucial:

CT1226751 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM Upgrade for a Apple MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 (15-inch DDR3) MC371LL/A System
 
FloatingBones said:
This macsales.com page will address your questions.
Click to expand...

salty10is said:
Nope, not a bit.
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Of course it does. Read the question I was answering:

baryon said:
Can anyone tell me what kind of RAM I have to buy for a late 2008 MBP? On Crucial it won't tell me because their website thinks that this machine only supports 4 GB... Can I just get the 8GB RAM kit for the mid-2009 MBPs?
Click to expand...

As noted on the OWC page, you must have the correct memory chips, the correct firmware, and be running Snow Leopard.

Unless helping me realize that Crucial RAM is a much better deal than that site you keep pushing counts.
Click to expand...

OWC provides clear documentation on what hardware, firmware, and software you need for the upgrade. Based on Baryon's comment, Crucial doesn't even have a clue how much memory those machines can actually support.

OWC also provides clear video and printed documentation on how to perform the upgrade. As Eric Slivka noted in the article that started this discussion, they were the ones who unraveled the mystery of the max memory could be used in those particular Unibody machines.

For that superior service, they charge about $10 more than Crucial. IMHO, one should reward OWC for providing that superior service.

You are welcome to spend your money with whatever vendor you wish.
 
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