First RAM upgrade for 13'' MacBook Pro (Mid 2009). Advice?

Hi D,

Make sure any RAM you get has been tested in and is guaranteed 100% comptatible with your Mac. Most RAM is not. Also, a liftetime warranty.

Hmmm, it says "or OS X 10.6 experience." It appears to be a "value" RAM (sounds like "generic" RAM). Price is good. If that $20-$30 or so difference in price between that and top tier RAM is important, it might be worth a try. It has a lifetime warranty. At newegg, it does say "This PNY laptop memory kit can work at DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333 MHz) or DDR3 PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) and is compatible with Windows 7 and Mac."

So if the company is willing to stand behind it if it causes issues, sounds ok. Just keep your old RAM safe. 😉

I agree with tjk; aim for warranted modules to make sure your RAM is of top quality and won't suffer from performance issues, and is guaranteed to work with your MBP.

Another issue. I have a MBP almost like yours, and when you upgrade RAM, you'll notice a remarkable increase in performance. A good decision. But you may find, when you do additional research, that there's not all much difference in performance between a 4gb and 8gb module. 4gb will be fast, but 8gb won't be much faster - except if you're juggling a lot of applications at the same time. If you're using Photoshop, Safari, Preview, and burning disk at the same time, you'll notice a modest improvement of speed only when you're using your Mac intensively.

However, when you boot up from scratch with 8gb RAM, you'll notice that boot will take twice as much time as before, since your computer must process this RAM every time. (A good way to avoid this is to sleep your MBP most of the time; no time needed for booting.)

Or get 4gb.

Poikkeus wrote:

(A good way to avoid this is to sleep your MBP most of the time; no time needed for booting.)

Of course, then Safe Sleep will be slower unless it is disabled. 😉

Dhoppz wrote:

Thanks for the insight! I did purchase the item but as it turns out, they didn't accept my credit card because it was not issued in the U.S. 😟

However I did find a single memory module on newegg that is the same brand, but a different model:

PNY Optima 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model MN4096SD3-1066

Would this one be the right memory for my laptop? I am thinking of buying two to fill the two slots my MacBook has.

Model number will be different simply because it's one module instead of two. It may be the exact same RAM.

The best performance is gained by buying matched sets, which this would not be. I don't know how important that is to you.

Link to this product?

Interesting that this one says nothing about Mac compatibility. Again, it's the proper specs, and there is one review there that says it's working fine in a 2010 MBP . . . .

buy from crucial

I have a 64 bit 2.3ghz 2011 MBP 13", I replaced the OEM 2 x 2 Hynix kit with a 2x 4 gb kit prior to the release of Lion. Crucial guaruntees stability; and I've put mine through the paces with Final Cut Studio HD.No issues whatsoever. I used their memory configurator and bought these 2 x 4 GB modules for 73.98 with indiana taxes and 4.99 shipping 2 day UPS.

Qty: 1 CT1898808 Part Number: CT2KIT51264BC1339 Price: $73.98

Description: 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM Upgrade for a Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) System Line total: $73.98

I've also now got Lion on it and havent seen any weird behavior for the last two weeks of hard use since the upgrade. Lion's completely stable with these 2 x 4 GB kit.

One review on newegg memory forget about it....and I LIKE Newegg.

these work perfectly

I believe I've found a link for 8gb RAM for your notebook for 59.00

http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=ct2kit51264bc1339&pid=154815 9

Use the configuration wizard to double-check before buying. $59 is a very good price. You can pay half of that if you decide to purchase a 4gb RAM chip.

Poikkeus that wasnt too obsrvant:

I had suggested CT2KIT51264BC1339, now you figured out to suggest the EXACT SAME KIT PN # CT2KIT51264BC1339?

Hey they're a little less expensive this week, but then agan one CT2KIT51264BC1339 is as good as another CT2KIT51264BC1339 right?

as said I've been using a pretty hard testing with Final Cut Studio HD rendering for two weeks; so my suggestion is from daily use and no problems.....They run like a top.