Q: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) Ram Upgrade

16 gb upgrade is possible, but I only have 8gb in mine.

from mactracker:

It's possible and I just did it. The price is a LOT more reasonable now.

Here is information on probably the two most reliable vendors of RAM:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_133 3MHz_SDRAM

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Quad-Core i7 (17-inch DDR3) Late-2011

Ciao

And if you have a local Fry's (or if you want to see if those other guys will price match) here's the link to the Coursair memory I bought.

http://www.frys.com/product/6932057

Hi Kyn,

Have you had any issues with this upgrade I was thinking of going to 16gb as well. I haven't done any updates and still have the 4gb. The new os is running very slow.

Let me know if you recommend this upgrade or just stick to the 8 gb upgrade.

thanks

No problems, and you'll definitely feel the difference immediately. Fewer HD accesses are one of the things you'll notice up front. Go for the 16, the price is likely VERY reasonable by now.

Does the 16gb work ok with OS Yosemite as I'm looking to upgrade my RAM but was only going to get 8gb. Plus will it work ok with the new OS later this month?

Also this link below from the apple support pages say the Macbook Pro 15" early 2011 can only have a maximum of 8gb

MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory - Apple Support

Thanks

Thanks shldr2thewheel

Here’s something to think about: In mid 2011 my 2009 MBP became terribly slow (an OS and software upgrade did it) but my wife’s 2011 MBA didn’t even break into a sweat with the same changes. Both had 4GB but hers had an SSD and granted, it was 2 years newer but I didn’t think the specs were that much better. I borrowed an SSD from work and installed it. Wow, it was like getting a new computer! I also borrowed RAM and checked out a RAM upgrade to 8GB. That also improved things but the SSD seemed to provide the biggest improvement. I performed the same experiment when I received a Mac mini at work and saw similar results.

It seems to me that Apple is fine tuning OS X for SSDs and computers that have a mechanical hard drive are at a disadvantage today.

Friends,

planning to install the 16GB on the newest OS X El Captain.. any issues to do so? as well as chaining the default Hard disk with SSD ? any advice ?

Thanks in advance..

Faisal

I am running 16 GB.  OWC/macsales.com sells good quality RAM that is compatible with macs (and macs act quirky with incorrect RAM).  All you need is a #00 phillips screwdriver and macsales has installation guides.

SSD is notably faster than HD (OWC sells a Mercury series model that many swear by).  HD cost is less (you can get 1 TB for $100) while SSD can be $0.50 per GB).  Installation is not too hard (macsales.com has those guides and tools as well).  But if you have $$ burning a hole in your pocket and you do not have enough backups I would invest in an external enclosure like this one http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MSTG800U3K/ that can take any 2.5 in bare drive and 1 or 2 spare HD (like this one http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD7500BPKX/).  CarbonCopyClone (bombich.com, $40) and a spare clone drive, one for the new El Capitan and one for the the old Snow Leopard disk.  I actually advise making a full clone of SL on a separate external disk and upgrade *that* disk first leaving your internal intact while learning about El Capitan.

I just bought two 8GB RAM modules from OWC/MacSales for my early 2011 MacBook Pro 15-inch laptop, and for the life of me haven't been able to get them to seat right in the motherboard, and that's in 2 motherboards, one that Apple replaced due to failing video display circuitry, and in the new replacement motherboard

The little latching tabs just won't hold the OWC chips in place, not really sure why, but Apple RAM seats easily and works flawlessly. I'll be returning the OWC RAM, sadly, everything I've eve bought from them has worked great.