Filed under: Hardware, Apple, MacBook
Aluminum MacBooks unstable after 3rd-party RAM upgrade
Lucky enough to have purchased one of those shiny new unibody MacBooks? If you happen to be in the market for a RAM upgrade you may want to hold off for a little while. It seems the latest MacBooks are a little more fickle about the RAM they support than previous models.Users on the Apple Support Discussion forums are reporting problems with third-party RAM upgrades, noting system instability and lock-ups. Even users who have purchased RAM from providers that pride themselves on Mac compatibility such as Crucial and OWC are seeing the same issues. It seems that the only solution is to take out the third-party RAM and use Apple-branded RAM. International users with no access to an Apple store are currently out of luck.
Of course, Apple will only officially support their own branded RAM from Samsung; upgrade kits of this sort are apparently working without issue. Unfortunately for many, however, acquiring these modules has become somewhat of an act of futility as Apple's online store says the upgrade kits are unavailable for owners of the 2.0 and 2.4 GHz MacBook.
Many are guessing-slash-hoping that the problem is caused by the newness of the DD3 spec. modules in Apple's line of notebooks. Until the situation gets clarified, users are having to swap RAM repeatedly in search of a kit that will work. Hopefully Apple will shed some light on the problem and everyone can go back to getting RAM from third-party sources. Had any luck (good or bad) upgrading RAM in your new MacBook? Let us know in the comments!
[via jkOnTheRun]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Chris Clement said 8:50AM on 12-07-2008
Yep. Bought some Patriot memory from newegg and had a ridiculous number of crashes and lock ups. Had the memory replaced but it didn't make any difference. So unfortunately.......with neweggs "no refund" policy on the memory....I'm suck with it. Come on, Apple. Fix it!
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bob said 8:58AM on 12-07-2008
what d'ya mean apple come on fix it? this can only be the rams problem
far From Over said 9:40AM on 12-07-2008
Patriot memory is horrible, why would you trust it?
robogobo said 10:10AM on 12-07-2008
No, Bob, you'd be wrong there.
jason said 3:40PM on 12-07-2008
I bought iRam brand (whoever that is) right when I got my MBP and I have no issues. It was stupid cheap, too.
RobK said 9:03AM on 12-07-2008
Face it -- Apple ONLY wants you to buy expensive RAM from it!
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eric f. said 11:34AM on 12-07-2008
I just purchased a new MBP and for the first time in my life maxed out the RAM through Apple. the prices have gone down so much there is almost no point in doing it yourself. Only $150 to go from 2GB to 4GB.
paperless said 11:53AM on 12-07-2008
"Only" $150? Isn't that too much?
Reed said 1:59AM on 12-08-2008
$150 is quite reasonable for DDR3 notebook memory.
http://daringfireball.net/2008/10/apple_ram_prices
Ainhoa Vega said 9:10AM on 12-07-2008
I upgraded my RAM just yesterday. The problem I've been having so far is that every time I close the computer and it goes to sleep, it goes into a state of "hibernation" of some kind... and when I try to use it again I have to keep pressing the ON button, this really sucks!
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Dick Fitswell said 12:16AM on 12-08-2008
awww, pobrecita, que lastima!!!
Ken said 9:54AM on 12-08-2008
Probably not your RAM - try resetting your SMC
Far From Over said 9:38AM on 12-07-2008
I have used nvidia chipsets for a long long time and they have always been picky on the type of memory you use. This is not new, apple builds these machines around the standards that Nvidia gives them, and unfortunately they have very picky latency and CAS requirements on their memory.
Most memory is made to work with intel chipsets, which is less picky about what latencies you use.
Plus, if you purchase a new macbook just upgrade it with apple, its $150 dollars to upgrade to 4GB. And 2GB isn't bad either, I am sure people can wait until it comes in stock. Crucial 4GB memory upgrade kit is $125... your only saving $25 dollars and your risking stability.
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Izzy said 10:11AM on 12-07-2008
Very true. And Apple offers free shipping often enough on purchases over $99. So it's even less of a savings to risk buying off-brand.
I'm willing to bet that it is just the newness and that the off-brand RAM companies will come out with a specific RAM for the new MB. I ordered mine with 4gb just to save the headaches. It took an additional 3 days to get it, but that was ok. I love this lappy so far!
Nate said 12:08PM on 12-07-2008
I upgraded my new unibody with 4GB from Crucial and haven't had one problem. I swapped out the memory before I even turned it on for the first time.
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Jason said 11:58AM on 12-07-2008
Ditto. New MBP and 4GB Crucial RAM from newegg ($120) and no troubles so far.
Apple is only charging $150 for the 4GB, so it's hardly an upcharge to scoff at. Only a couple years ago Apple was charging about 400% of typical RAM prices. $150 is only about 20% upcharged.
Kevin said 4:17PM on 12-07-2008
Are you factoring in the price of the 2GB of RAM you are paying for whether you upgrade or not? If you include that you are looking at $200 to get 4GB from Apple. That is a little than double from OWC and other places. I would rather pay half and have 2GB laying around for another machine or just in case. Oh yeah, not to mention most third party memory has a lifetime warranty, the maximum you can get from Apple is 3 years if you buy Applecare. It really is a non-brainer to go third party. Just buy from a company that guarantees Mac compatibility and that is fair on returns and exchanges.
To recap the advantages of buying third party:
1. Cheaper, regardless of how you spin Apple's upgrade price.
2. Lifetime Warranty
3. Spare 2GB from Apple in the event something happens to the third party memory which you will be able to replace at anytime since it has a superior warranty.
Bobby said 9:46AM on 12-07-2008
Is this true of the MacBook Pro as well? I was asking for new RAM for Christmas, but will tell Santa to take it back if it's unstable.
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Jason said 3:27PM on 12-08-2008
If you're still wondering, see my comment above. I've got the new Pro model and I put 4GB of iRam in and it works great. I got mine from The Memory Man (www.memman.com), but there are a few other places listed on iRam's site: www.iramtechnology.com.
Michael said 9:50AM on 12-07-2008
I bought a new Macbook from Best Buy at a recent promotion, rather than Apple -- will Apple still upgrade my memory as a tradein?
Anyone know?
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