Will "early-2011" MacBook Pro RAM work in 13" MacBook "UniBody" late 2008?

Question

Will "early-2011" MacBook Pro RAM work in 13" MacBook "UniBody" late 2008?

Hello all,

I recently purchased the most recent MacBook Pro model with the quad-core "Sandy-Bridge" processor. This MBP comes standard with 4GB 1333Mhz RAM. I purchased an 8GB RAM upgrade for this computer that I will install when the computer arrives. I also own a "late-2008 Unibody" aluminum MacBook that has 2GB of memory installed, however I am pretty sure that it is 1066MHz RAM. My question is as follows: will the 4GB 1333MHz RAM from the new computer work in the old computer? I was hoping I could install the 4GB into the old computer and turn in the 2GB for recycling or something. Thanks for your help.

Very Respectfully,

Lex

MacBook Late-2008 "Unibody" Aluminum, Mac OS X (10.6.6), MacBook Pro early 2011 RAM into old Macbook

Posted on Mar 1, 2011 7:37 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 1, 2011 8:09 PM in response to Alexis J. Lojek

Doubtful. The MacBook takes DDR3-8500 RAM, you new Pro takes DDR3-10600 RAM. Not that I know what those mean, of course, but Macs are always finicky about RAM.

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Answer 2

Mar 5, 2011 1:33 PM in response to Jay Bullock

If anyone's curious - I tried the 1066, 1333 MHz RAM in the old Macbook...and it worked just fine! If I could include a screenshot, I would.

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Answer 3

Mar 5, 2011 1:34 PM in response to Alexis J. Lojek

Tried the new RAm, it worked just fine.

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Answer 4

tonykyw

Level 1

0 points

Mar 20, 2011 8:13 PM in response to Alexis J. Lojek

Hi,
I own a late 2008 Macbook, and I am thinking of purchasing two of SAMSUNG 4GB 1333MHz RAM.
According to your post above, it seems like 4GB 1333MHz RAM is working in MacBook "UniBody" late 2008.
Is it working without any malfunction?

With much thanks,
Tony.

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Answer 5

Mar 30, 2011 2:15 PM in response to tonykyw

Tony,

My apologies for the delayed response - I'm on detachment and don't have regular access to the Internet. You are correct - the two 2GB Sticks of 1333 RAM has been working with no malfunctions. I've heard that the late MacBook 2008 was quietly updated with a firmware update that allows 8GB of ram to be installed as well, so you should be just fine.

Very Respectfully,

--Lex

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Answer 6

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Mar 30, 2011 4:46 PM in response to Alexis J. Lojek

As a word of caution for anyone who is still covered by warranty (I am assuming you may not be): if you do not stay with the published "supported" specs, you may possibly be voiding your warranty (if Apple determines that the problem was caused by parts not in compliance with their officially supported specifications). May not happen, but it could - especially when using different speeds and/or latency RAM which the other parts were not made or maybe even tested to work with.

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