if both Macbooks (early 2008 & Late 2006) use the same type of RAM... 4GB? no : (

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spiers69spiers69
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
hi all according to Mactracker,



my mum's Macbook (late 2006) can only be expanded to 3GB of RAM, whereas my Macbook (early 2008) can be expanded to 4GB. They both take the same type of RAM, and have 2 slots. So what's going on?



I'd really like to expand mum's Macbook to 4GB too.



cheers

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  • Reply 1 of 1
    afx5iafx5i Posts: 37member
    Hi. The Macbook (late 2006) uses a chipset called 945GM, which has a technological limit of addressing 3GB of RAM, even when 4GB is actually installed.



    However, the Macbook (early 2008) uses a newer chipset called GM965, which supports a feature called PAE (Physical Address Extension), and thus allow Leopard (which still uses a 32-bit kernel) to address full 4GB of RAM when installed.



    From everything I've heard, a 64-bit kernel might allow the 945GM chipset to address full 4GB of RAM, so you might want to try 10.6 Snow Leopard on it, when it's actually released. But I can't promise you that it'll certainly work.
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