Maximum memory for a mid-2010 MacBook Pro. 8GB? or 16GB?

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Level 1

13 points

Maximum memory for a mid-2010 MacBook Pro. 8GB? or 16GB?

I have a mid-2010 MacBook Pro, 15" and was told it could hold a maximum of 16GB of memory. MacMall said it would only hold 8GB. Can someone please clarify?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jan 15, 2015 4:16 PM

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Answer 1

Jaded212 Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 16, 2015 10:03 AM in response to spudnuty

Thank you spudnuty! Before I ordered anything, I had the opportunity to chat with an Apple specialist about what I could install, and perhaps I misunderstood them, but I believe they had told me my Mac would support 16GB, so needless to say when I received the new memory modules, installed them, and subsequently found out they were only a total of 8GB, I was disappointed. However, the bright side is, 8GB is double what I had before! So I guess it's not all bad. 🙂

Thanks for your reply and help!

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Answer 2

Jaded212 Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 15, 2015 4:23 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123

Thank you stevejobsfan0123. I appreciate the quick response! I guess I'll just stick with the 8GB I just upgraded to, however I am slightly disappointed because I was expecting two, 8GB memory modules. At least the 8GB doubles the amount I had before. Again, thank you for the rapid response.

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Answer 3

spudnuty

Level 5

7,128 points

Jan 15, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Jaded212

Hello Jaded212 and welcome to Apple Support Communities,

Well OWC agrees with MacMall that your model will only hold 8 GB RAM:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3

There's continuing confusion about this because Apples position on many markets was that these MBPs would only hold 8GB but many 3rd party suppliers found that they would hold 16 GB.

The biggest speed increase I saw was when I put a 120 GB SSD in my MBP 2011 13". Photoshop CS 6 starts in 3.4 seconds, Word in 2 seconds flat.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Mercury_6G/

I also did this to my wife's Mini 2012 with similar results.

Here are the benchmarks on your machine:

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Framework.cfm?page=/Benchmarks/CS5BenchmarkPag e-MacProNehalem.html

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Answer 4

Jaded212 Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 16, 2015 12:08 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thank you Oglethorpe! I appreciate the feedback and further clarification of my question. I can rest a little easier now knowing that I was not misled by MacMall and they actually did send me what my MBP could handle. 🙂

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Answer 5

spudnuty

Level 5

7,128 points

Jan 16, 2015 1:55 PM in response to Jaded212

So of the 2010s the only one will take 16 GB of RAM:

From OWC

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

All the rest are 8 GB.

So look at my post. The biggest increase in speed, boot times and refresh rates was when I put an SSD in my machine.

Currently $74 from OWC!

Thanks for the star!

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Answer 6

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Jan 16, 2015 10:15 AM in response to Jaded212

A 2010 13" MBP will support 16 GB RAM. 2010 15" and 17" MBPs will support only 8 GB RAM, not 16 GB. Therefore you have the maximum possible RAM installed in your MBP.

Ciao.

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Answer 7

Jan 15, 2015 4:17 PM in response to Jaded212

It officially supports 8GB, however 16GB is the absolute maximum.

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Answer 8

Jan 15, 2015 4:29 PM in response to Jaded212

You're welcome.

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