New MacBooks to support more than 8GB RAM?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014


My MacBook right now is old and is maxed out on 4GB of ram, sure it's not DDR3 but it's 4GB, I see the current MacBooks can manage up to 8GB, but I feel that I'd only find myself in the same position again as I like to keep my computer for a long time, it's what comes with not having a lot of money.


 


I would like to know, based on those who follow competitors products (e.g. chipsets etc...) whether the new MacBooks coming will support anything more than 8GB?


 


Thanks.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    The entire MacBook family has supported more than 8GB of RAM for nearly two years now.


     


    The MacBook is dead. There is no more MacBook. The MacBook Pro right now supports 16GB. The Ivy Bridge laptops will support 32GB.

  • Reply 2 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    Yea, yea the MBP.


     


    I was on the Apple website and I didn't see that, the customisable option only lets me go up to 8GB!


     


    So then, even if not specified in the options, the new Ivy Bridge's can accept x4 16GB RAM, brilliant. The costs of RAM are really good right now.

  • Reply 3 of 25
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jovixxs View Post

    I was on the Apple website and I didn't see that, the customisable option only lets me go up to 8GB!


     


    Buying RAM from Apple is a fool's errand. You're wasting your money. OWC or anyone else will have better prices.


     


    Quote:


    So then, even if not specified in the options, the new Ivy Bridge's can accept x4 16GB RAM, brilliant.



     


    Well, 2x 16GB.

  • Reply 4 of 25
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member


    Oh neat Ivy Bridge can handle 32 GB even for dual core processors? Will quad handle 64 or is that only for Haswell?

  • Reply 5 of 25
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Winter View Post


    Oh neat Ivy Bridge can handle 32 GB even for dual core processors? Will quad handle 64 or is that only for Haswell?



    The board is limited to 32.

  • Reply 6 of 25
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    winter wrote: »
    Oh neat Ivy Bridge can handle 32 GB even for dual core processors? Will quad handle 64 or is that only for Haswell?

    Actually there is a difference between what the desktop models and the mobiles can handle. At least I recall a difference though finding the documents is a bit difficult. Most of the mobile chips only handle two memory slots.
  • Reply 7 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    *I made a lot of mistakes in my post, sorry about that*


     


    Well, I couldn't see anything to say that it could go up to 16GB, the website's tech specs say "4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1333MHz DDR3 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 8GB", where do you get yours specs?


     


    I wouldn't buy RAM from them and recently found out the same for an SSD, complete rip off!


     


    Looking forward to the refresh, I hope there's more changes to the hardware than just the body unit, I know biometrics is a little off, for now, but 3G or RF-ID would be nice.


     


    Thanks.

  • Reply 8 of 25
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member


    I am probably getting way ahead of myself as 16 GB DDR3 SODIMM chips (or shall we say DDR4 since that's most likely when they'll be most prevalent) are not even out yet. And we're not even going to begin talking about 32 GB : P

  • Reply 9 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    So where are the specs to confirm the 16GB capacity?

  • Reply 10 of 25
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jovixxs View Post


    So where are the specs to confirm the 16GB capacity?



    http://ark.intel.com/products/52213


     


    Note the ram capacity there. It's the cpu used in the top 27" cto imac. I believe it's chipset dependent. I don't think the laptops support over 16. If they do, I'd want to confirm stability using those 16GB dimms. I know Ivy Bridge will take 32.

  • Reply 11 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    I am more interested in portables than desktops and unfortunately this doesn't mention if it's compatible with Apple's MacBooks (present or future), only what the processor can handle from the factory, which doesn't take into account the limits of the rest of the build.


     


    I still haven't seen any facts to support the present range of MacBooks supporting up to 16GB of RAM.

  • Reply 12 of 25
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jovixxs View Post

    I still haven't seen any facts to support the present range of MacBooks supporting up to 16GB of RAM.


     


    The fact that everyone is selling 16GB upgrade kits and people have put the RAM in and it works isn't good enough?

  • Reply 13 of 25
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jovixxs View Post


    I am more interested in portables than desktops and unfortunately this doesn't mention if it's compatible with Apple's MacBooks (present or future), only what the processor can handle from the factory, which doesn't take into account the limits of the rest of the build.


     


    I still haven't seen any facts to support the present range of MacBooks supporting up to 16GB of RAM.





    Plenty of people have installed it successfully, and OWC guarantees it to work as they sell kits specifically for macbook pros. I don't think there's any reason to provide you with more links. It just has to be a 2011 model. Anything prior to 2011 caps out much lower.

  • Reply 14 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    I had a SATA II HDD in my MacBook until it went kaput, simply because I failed to realise my computer could only take SATA I.


     


    I need proof from Apple that the current crop of computers can handle 16GB of RAM.

  • Reply 15 of 25
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    jovixxs wrote: »
    I had a SATA II HDD in my MacBook until it went kaput, simply because I failed to realise my computer could only take SATA I.

    I need proof from Apple that the current crop of computers can handle 16GB of RAM.

    Then go to a RAM vendor with the MBP model number in question. A reputable vendor should be able to tell you what capacities they have available.

    As to your SATA drive issue, what is the problem, the interface is designed to be upwardly compatible. As such you loose nothing by running a SATA2 drive on a SATA1 port. Immnot sure if you are just not familiar with electronics or are just a bit dense. I'm not sure what you could possible mean by proof after reading this thread.

    Instead of looking for "proof" on this forum, which is foolish in my estimation, talk to the supplier you wish to deal with. Make sure you have specific model information so that the supplier isn't beat it collective heads together to try to get the info out of you.
  • Reply 16 of 25
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jovixxs View Post


    I had a SATA II HDD in my MacBook until it went kaput, simply because I failed to realise my computer could only take SATA I.


     


    I need proof from Apple that the current crop of computers can handle 16GB of RAM.



    I already told you configurations that can be guaranteed are available assuming it's a macbook pro that was released in 2011. SATA II can run on a SATA I connection, and with HDDs you're not saturating it anyway. Prior to ssds this didn't matter much with single drive configurations. All this comes down to is that you don't know anything about computers, and you're not even providing the necessary model information. Click about this mac, then more information. Then use mactracker to look it up, or call a vendor that tests ram on macs (like OWC or Crucial) and give them that information. If this is about Ivy Bridge macs, wait and ask one of the vendors at that time. Apple officially supports the maximum amount you can configure in the Apple store. If you want to be safe, don't exceed that. You won't run into stability issues, firmware limitations, or anything else. Beyond that, you have absolutely nothing official. It's just that if the chipset can work with higher density ram, someone will inevitably test it. 

  • Reply 17 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    You sound like my next door neighbour.


     


    I just have to laugh.

  • Reply 18 of 25
    jovixxsjovixxs Posts: 10member


    Theres nothing official out there to support your claims, yet I'm supposed to trust you wholeheartedly.


     


    Dear oh me, what a mistake it was to come here.

  • Reply 19 of 25
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    jovixxs wrote: »
    You sound like my next door neighbour.

    I just have to laugh.

    If you behave in public the way you do here, I can't imagine your neighbor thinking positively about you. You have been hand feed the required information to determine what is going on with your model or another. Yet you are oblivious to all around that are trying to help you.

    Believe me more than a few are laughing right now.
  • Reply 20 of 25
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    I'm almost certain you've misattributed your drive failure, that it's a different generation plug is just a coincidence. Drives sometimes die young, just because they're mechanical devices. Drives just down-clock the interface if a newer-spec drive is connected to an old plug. It's like plugging a USB 3 device into a USB 2 jack, or a USB 2 device in a USB1 jack. It will work, just at the slower speed. I've never had or heard of a failure due to the wrong generation of SATA drive.

    I've put both more memory than Apple offers in a computer, and I've also put SATA II drives in a SATA 1 connection, multiple times. Both setups generally work just fine. Sometimes there is incompatibility, but it doesn't actually kill drives.

    Often, Apple doesn't claim compatibility with more memory because there wasn't enough memory of the largest size to test before they ship. Then third parties test it and it works fine. I've done fine with OWC and Crucial as well.
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