acoe91

Q: Upgrading ram: going beyond the stated limit

Hi all,

 

I'm not satisfied with the speed of my macbook pro. Here are the headline specs:

 

Hardware Information: ℹ️

  MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) (Verified)

  MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2

  1 2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

  4 GB RAM

  BANK 0/DIMM0

  2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

  BANK 1/DIMM0

  2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

  Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

  Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

 

Video Information: ℹ️

  AMD Radeon HD 6490M - VRAM: 256 MB

  Color LCD 1440 x 900

  Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB

 

System Software: ℹ️

  Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63b) - Uptime: 0:57:47

 

As you can see - I'm currently on 4GBs of RAM and would like to upgrade to 16GB (2 slots, 2 8GB cards)

 

This page states that 8GB is the maximum RAM for my model:

 

MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory - Apple Support

 

However, this article suggests that it is possible to go beyond the limit:

 

http://www.cnet.com/news/add-16gb-ram-to-your-macbook-pro/

 

The CNET article has comments below from those who have had trouble going beyond the 8GB limit. I take on board Apple's guidelines of course, but I imagine there is a way around it.

 

I wondered if anyone had any experience of it being possible/ tips/ recommendations of RAM brand to buy which would work at 16 GB with my Early 2011 Macbook Pro.

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

Adam

Posted on Jan 9, 2015 5:19 AM