Is Pc3-8500 RAM compatible with an Early 2011 MacBook Pro

Question

Is Pc3-8500 RAM compatible with an Early 2011 MacBook Pro

I purchased an 8GB RAM upgrade kit from Corsair. Their website says it’s compatible with the Early 2011 MacBook Pro and it even says it on the box

However, the modules I removed are PC3–10600.

Apple’s website and even Kappy said on this forum that this model takes PC3–10600, but the computer still boots up.

How is this possible and did I just downgrade my laptop and make it slower? Why does it say 1067 MHz, when the box says the RAM is 1066 MHz?

[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Serial Number]

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Mar 23, 2023 12:38 PM

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Answer 1

Jeff

Level 6

12,202 points

Mar 23, 2023 6:31 PM in response to ShouldersChestPantsShoes

You have installed the correct memory in your early-2011 MacBook Pro, but you're confusing the terminology. Those (2) SO-DIMMs are PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333), which is specified for your Mac. The slower PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066) is specified for the 2010 MacBook Pro models, but the faster memory (PC3-10600) can be installed in them and would be backward-compatible. The clock speed of 1066 MHz isn't exact, so 1067 MHz just reflects rounding up and isn't significant.

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

60,284 points

Mar 24, 2023 5:39 PM in response to ShouldersChestPantsShoes

The 2011 MBPro is meant to use 1,333 Mhz RAM (aka PC3-10600).

The 8,500Mhz (PC3-1060) is for the 2010 models.

The Corsair memory is running at a slower speed, but the Latency is better. Sort of a trade off on performance. Since you are installing two modules you should be Ok. There is not much of a difference between the speeds....the Corsair memory is about 6.4% slower than the original Apple memory of 1,333Mhz.

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Is Pc3-8500 RAM compatible with an Early 2011 MacBook Pro

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