Macbook Pro (2010) 16gb memory

You are right, thanks for the post. alexbold should probably pay more attention. You are the first one I've seen to sctually confirm that the upgrade works on a mid 2010 model with the 2.66Ghz processor. BTW, I even chatted with support at OWC and they did not think it would work either.

Hello everyone,

It is only the 13" model that can be upgraded, apparently due to a simler video arrangement.

Unless Apple has recently issued a firmware upgrade, the 15" and 17" versions can't be upgraded. I know, it doesn't make sense...

So finally can you confirm that for Macbook Pro 13'' Mid 2010 there's no problem upgrading to 16GB RAM?

My model is 2,4GHz. I wanted to buy the RAM but I don't want to waste my money if it doesn't really work

so I don't know if it would be better to buy just 8 GB.

Could you please confirm?

Thank you.

you are good to go with 16GB on your 13" MBP 2010...

MacBook Pro 13.3" 2.4GHz (Model ID: 7,1) Supports 16.0GB

RAM specs

• Speed: PC3-8500
• CL: CL = 7
• Cycle Time: 1.875ns
• Voltage: 1.5V
• ECC: Non ECC

just make sure you are running Lion and have all firmware updates installed.

It's working for me!

I now am running 16GB of RAM, with a 1TB hard drive.
Now, virtual sessions do NOT bog down my operation.

Mac OSx being UNIX, does a "wonderful job" of handling all of these tasks. It just needed the appropriate RAM (workspace ceiling) to do the job!

I have added "TotalSpaces" and "TotalTerminal" as well.
TotalSpaces allows me to press a key and the left or right arrows and roll over to yet another workspace, like in LINUX! And TotalTerminal gives me back that Yakuake "drop-down terminal" utility I love in LINUX. In fact, if the drivers were available for this Macbook Pro hardware in Ubuntu, I'd just change to LINUX and run Mac OSx as a virtual when needed.

Mac OSx is "Apple UNIX", actually bsdUNIX ... "tweaked" and "stripped-down". There is a lot missing in this UNIX version. It'd be nice if you had a fully functional LINUX OS here, with the Mountain Lion interface GUI for workstation use. "THAT" would be a perfect scenario!

Wholeheartedly, I can!

I went out to YouTube.

There are a lot of items there that tell you what to look for, on your system, to ensure that you are compatible, and "where" to get too RAM that will work. Just specify the "16GB RAM upgrade" and your system name.

I've been using 16GB now for 3 weeks, and it works great! So great, in fact, I upgraded the HDD to a 1TB so that I'd have room for some 'virtual" systems on this one.

Enjoy!

Unfortuantely, the problem still exists for those of us with 15 or 17 inch MacBook Pros of this vintage.

Help, Apple, PLEASE!!!!

Please compare your system to those listed in this article.

Your system should take 16GB of RAM, and work flawlessly.

See the link:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20125391-263/add-16gb-ram-to-your-macbook-p ro

Here's a short version of that page, for your review ...

The "key" is getting GOOD MEMORY to use, that works. Mine cost me around $250 for 2 8GB memory chips. I got mine from "Other World Computing" and they are "guaranteed"! You can't beat that!
They are running great!

[Summary - please see the article for details]

These systems are the ones with the model number series of MacBookPro8,x or later, which include the following:

• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

If you have one of these systems, then you should be able to install up to 16GB of memory if needed, which can be purchased from vendors such as Crucial or Other World Computing.

I trust this will help!

-rAllcorn-

Rich Allcorn

We'll it should work too for Macbook Pro 7,1 13'' 2,4 MHz. Or at least that's what they say with the OWC kit. What I don't understand is why just with that kit. That makes me think that it could fail in the future maybe with another firmware upgrade?

My model, a 2.66 ghz i7, 15", with model identifier 6.2, can only be upgraded to 8 gb ram. The same age 13" can be upgraded to 16 gb. Some problem with the firmware and how it handles the two video cards in the larger computer. I have heard that it only required Apple to patch the firmware, but it hasn't happened yet.

Hi Ersemi,

go to OWC website put in the model details of your Mac and check what options are available. I've got the 2.66 13" MBP Mid 2010... and all good with 16GB. That being said.. the best performance gain was not the amount of RAM installed but when I switched over to an SSD replacing the original mechanical drive. The SSD with even 4GB of RAM on 10.8.3 flies like a rocket. Depending on workloads 8 or 16GB will be useful. But do yourself a favour and go for an SSD!

Surry

Great advice Surry!

A faster drive will always speed up a system ...
You might even look into the new "hybrid" drives. They have a solid-state (static RAM) drive as the primary, caching over to the physical hard drive, any files that are not being frequently accessed. This improves performance "and" gives you more space.

My issues with the RAM were when I would run "virtual systems" on my PC. When running Windows XP or LINUX, or especially Solaris, in a virtual session, the system would just begin to "BOG DOWN" big time! One reason was because I only had 4GB of RAM. The 16GB of RAM I now have is fantastic on the speed! I can be running multiple screens, and a virtual system alongside my MacOSx and it never breaks a sweat!

With VirtualBox, you can "tweak" the RAM available to a virtual system.
For instance, Windows XP can only recognize 3GB of RAM - "max". So, that's all I give it!
The others, I tweak them as needed, usually giving them 4GB, but I can actually go 8GB if I want and still have a full 8GB for "me".

I strongly urge the upgrade of the RAM ...
and just as with the many things people have been "jail breaking" the iPhone for have since been added to the iPhone repretoir (and vice versa), I think Apple will soon open up the ceiling here, understanding that there are "power users" who are now giving their hardware a second look.

I think we need to start a separate forum dealing with the issue of the 15 and 17 inch models being excluded from ram upgrade to 16 gb. It is well established that the 13" model of that era is upgradeable. Apple needs to patch the firmware for the 15 and 17 inch to allow this upgrade to the higer end models.

Hope this info is clearing the issue.

check the memory spec.

http://ark.intel.com/products/43560/Intel-Core-i7-620M-Processor-4M-Cache-2_66-G Hz

Yes ... that's what is says.

But I'm running 16GB and have been for over a month now ...
It's nice to be able to run a heavy virtual OS alongside my Mac OSx Mountain Lion, and never even notice a slowdown! (Running Solaris 11 alongside, giving it 8GB to work with)

You cannot believe everything you read.
Google it. Find those who are "doing it", and check your system's specs against theirs. If they match, go thou and do likewise. It works!