Installing 16GB RAM on 2010 mid MBP 13"

Hey guys,

I'm one of the group looking for 16GB RAM upgrade on my mid 2010 MBP 13" Unibody. It was an old but lovely machine especially after I removed the super drive and installed a SSD together with the 500GB HDD. The only problem was the stock 4GB memory. After reading tons of threads I decided to give it a shot. I ordered a pair of Samsung 8GB DDR3-1600 SODIMM from Taobao (I'm in HK). Tried all the following combinations but didn't work. Just got a beeping sound when booting up the machine:

1. 8GB in one slot
2. 16GB in two slots
3. 2GB + 8GB in one slot

So I contacted the seller and he suggested me to bring over my MBP to his shop for some tests. Here is the result:

1. Samsung 4GB DDD3-1600 (8-chip model, 4-chip on each side of the RAM board) x 2 - didn't boot
2. Samsung 4GB DDR3-1600 (8-chip) x 1 - didn't boot
3. Samsung 4GB DDR3-1600 (16-chip) x 1 - didn't boot
4. Samsung 2GB DDR3-1066 (my original one) +Samsung 4GB DDR3-1600 (16-chip) - worked!

Then that guy used a RAM modder (I gave that name to that board) which was a PCB with two SODIMM slots, some chips and a USB plug to mod the Samsung 4GB DDR3-1600 (16-chip) RAM speed as 1066. What happened:

Samsung 4GB DDR3-1066 (16-chip, modded) x 1 - worked!

Now he modded two pcs of Samsung 8GB DDR3-1600 (16-chip model) to 1066 as top speed. And guess what, both worked beautifully on my mid 2010 13" MBP! See the pictures.

Here is the conclusion from that Taobao seller:

1. Apple machines are very picky. You should only try those well known brands including Samsung and Kingston.
2. On old machines like 2010 MBP, try to get a 16-chip RAM no matter it's 2GB, 4GB or 8GB. It's a bit more expensive but with much better compatibility with outdated machines supporting DDR3 RAM.
3. Pick DDR3-1066 if possible. Otherwise you need to mod the speed of the RAM as 1066 to cheat MBP like that seller did.

Hope that helps!