"Truth" about maximum memory on a MBP mid 2012

[EricaV]

I have a 1TB MBP mid 2012 (non retina) with 8 GB of memory.

I've heard rumors that you can install up to 16 GB of memory and it will work. Apple says 8GB is maximum and even though you can physically place 16 GB in the laptop, the machine won't see it.

If I can put more memory in this machine I would like to- does anyone know the "truth", and whether it is possible ?

I'm in the process of overcoming a glitch in trying upgrade to High Sierra. I need to save my itunes library and then I'm going to wipe all 700GB off this whole machine and perhaps get it to move faster.

 

[itadampf]

I have a mbp 2011 13” with 16 GB of ram (faster ram than the original), so don’t trust what Apple says

 

[wbrad01]

Ditto the above. 2011 MBP with 16gig. The machine recognizes and uses all of it.

 

[ZapNZs]

It will work just fine with 16 GB. With that said, going from 8 GB to 16 GB may or may not have a big impact depending what you do (in many cases, with just standard-use business, recreational, social media Apps, the impact will be minimal). If your current hard drive is a HDD, then upgrading it to a SSD will almost certainly have a dramatically more pronounced effect on overall usability. High Sierra does not run well at all on a HDD IMO.

 

[treekram]

I have 16GB in my 13" mid-2012 MBP, as do numerous others who have posted in this forum in the past. You cannot do an incremental upgrade - you will have to replace both of your existing 4GB memory modules with 8GB memory modules. In terms of what Apple says, in some cases the available memory technology changes and Apple doesn't update their tech specs to reflect that. In other cases, it's the opposite - people believe the available memory technology has changed when it hasn't and they believe that Apple is understating the memory capability of a Mac.

 

[EricaV]

Thanks- I think I'm following you. I believe this is an HDD, rather than SSD (solid state right ?) like my MBP retina. What does HDD IMO mean ? Good to know that High Sierra does not run well on it. Once I clean this thing up is there any way to install Sierra on it instead of High Sierra ?

It will work just fine with 16 GB. With that said, going from 8 GB to 16 GB may or may not have a big impact depending what you do (in many cases, with just standard-use business, recreational, social media Apps, the impact will be minimal). If your current hard drive is a HDD, then upgrading it to a SSD will almost certainly have a dramatically more pronounced effect on overall usability. High Sierra does not run well at all on a HDD IMO.

[doublepost=1511651138][/doublepost]Thanks- I have always had 8GB in this. Can I just add another 8GB or are you saying I will definitely need to install all 16 GB. Or perhaps will I not know until I look in there ?

I have 16GB in my 13" mid-2012 MBP, as do numerous others who have posted in this forum in the past. You cannot do an incremental upgrade - you will have to replace both of your existing 4GB memory modules with 8GB memory modules. In terms of what Apple says, in some cases the available memory technology changes and Apple doesn't update their tech specs to reflect that. In other cases, it's the opposite - people believe the available memory technology has changed when it hasn't and they believe that Apple is understating the memory capability of a Mac.

 

[DeltaMac]

Your 2012 MBPro has two memory slots. Both will be filled now, with a pair of 4GB sticks.
If you want to upgrade, then you have to replace both with 8GB sticks.
You DO need to be careful to get your memory from a supplier that supports Macs, so you can be more certain of what you get. Data Memory Systems would be a good choice.

 

[treekram]

Thanks- I think I'm following you. I believe this is an HDD, rather than SSD (solid state right ?) like my MBP retina. What does HDD IMO mean ? Good to know that High Sierra does not run well on it. Once I clean this thing up is there any way to install Sierra on it instead of High Sierra ?

"High Sierra does not run well at all on a HDD IMO." = "High Sierra does not run well at all on a hard disk drive in my opinion."

If you have "purchased" (downloaded the free upgrade on the App Store) Sierra previously, it will show up in your "Purchased" list on iTunes. If you didn't, you should be able to get it this way:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macos-sierra/id1127487414?mt=12

This is a link supplied in the Sierra forum. This Sierra download will pop up the your App Store app. I haven't done the download this way but I presume it will work. Once it is downloaded, before you do the install, copy the "Install macOS Sierra" app (it should be in the Applications folder) to some other location (on another disk/flash drive) because there are MANY people who wished they saved the install app but didn't.

Once it's saved elsewhere, you can just run the app and it will install Sierra over what you have (unless you already have High Sierra installed). You can do a clean install but that requires more work - ask if you need help with this.

There is probably going to be security updates that will need to be done (listed in the "Update" tab in the App Store app). It's normal if that's the case.

 

[DeltaMac]

Just one point, the Sierra installer is not linked to an AppleID, so will not normally appear in your Purchased items in your App Store.
The link that treekram posted is a good one to get the Sierra installer app through the App Store.
I have used that link a couple of times, and it provides a good download of the Sierra installer.

 

[ZapNZs]

Thanks- I think I'm following you. I believe this is an HDD, rather than SSD (solid state right ?) like my MBP retina. What does HDD IMO mean ? Good to know that High Sierra does not run well on it. Once I clean this thing up is there any way to install Sierra on it instead of High Sierra ?


[doublepost=1511651138][/doublepost]Thanks- I have always had 8GB in this. Can I just add another 8GB or are you saying I will definitely need to install all 16 GB. Or perhaps will I not know until I look in there ?

You got it - it would be the same type of drive in the retina, which is the SSD. The HDD is a hard disk drive - that is, it is a spinning disk platter that has a head which reads/writes data to/from the platter (where as a solid state drive uses flash memory, with no moving parts.) HDDs were the base storage option on Unibody Macs (there were SSD upgrades available - and you can do the upgrade itself.) You can make a bootable USB flash drive for any version of macOS since the original that came with the machine. However, even Sierra and El Cap IMO don't run great with HDDs. Macs are very much optimized for SSDs. If you are having performance issues, I think it is likely related more to the hard drive than the RAM.

Your Mac has two RAM slots, and almost certainly they are filled with two 4 GB DIMMS. So, to go to 16 GB, you would need to purchase two 8 GB DIMMs to replace the two 4GB DIMMs currently in the system.

How are you currently using the system? Is your memory pressure extremely high?

 

[Count Blah]

2012 15” cMBP Here with 16 gigs of RAM and an SSD -beautifully running machine - 5 years later. Hopefully it runs for a couple more. I don’t game on it, so the biggest downfall about Macs, is not an issue here.