So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

I have the very first unibody Macbook Pro 2.53 ghz, version 5,1 with bootrom

MBP51.007E.B05.



I've searched online about this issue and it seems that it is officially limited to 4GB, but unofficially it can support 6 GB.



I haven't been able to find any information on whether a recent firmware update has solved the issue, however.



Does anyone know if 8 GB will now work?

Reply 1 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianDude I have the very first unibody Macbook Pro 2.53 ghz, version 5,1 with bootrom MBP51.007E.B05. I've searched online about this issue and it seems that it is officially limited to 4GB, but unofficially it can support 6 GB. I haven't been able to find any information on whether a recent firmware update has solved the issue, however. Does anyone know if 8 GB will now work?

See this discussion in the Apple Discussion Forums

Reply 2 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

I have read that discussion but I'm just wondering if there have been any recent developments that may enable 8 gb usage. That discussion was from 2009.



Seems to me that 8 GB wont work though. Too bad so sad. I guess 6 will do.

Reply 3 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

If there haven't been developments its because there are none. If you require more ram then it would be recommended to upgrade to a machine that will handle more ram.

Reply 4 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianDude I have read that discussion but I'm just wondering if there have been any recent developments that may enable 8 gb usage. That discussion was from 2009. Seems to me that 8 GB wont work though. Too bad so sad. I guess 6 will do.

I doubt that Apple would update the firmware on an older machine to support more RAM (that would be bad for business for them). Considering that even the 2011 models only support 8GB RAM, when there are laptops out there that will do 12GB and 16GB, I'd say it's a limitation that was imposed by Apple and probably won't change. Having said that, I too wish they would raise the limit on the amount of RAM supported.

Reply 5 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ren3g7ade I doubt that Apple would update the firmware on an older machine to support more RAM (that would be bad for business for them). Considering that even the 2011 models only support 8GB RAM, when there are laptops out there that will do 12GB and 16GB, I'd say it's a limitation that was imposed by Apple and probably won't change. Having said that, I too wish they would raise the limit on the amount of RAM supported.

some will do 24 and 32 as well, mostly gaming units and workstations

Reply 6 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

I would recommend downloading MacTracker which is a great application!



With your particular model it will only expand up to 6.0GB worth of RAM. So if you put in 8gb it will only recognize 6gb, even if apple says 4.



As for firmware updates, never gonna happen from apple I am afraid.

Reply 7 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

Actually, much of it has to do with the processor. There was another similar discussion. The RAM limitations we are seeing in the current MacBook Pros all come from the Intel processors. The 2.3GHz Core i7 2820QM can only address 8GB of DDR3 RAM. That is a limitation of the actual processor (maybe chipset, I am not sure on the technicalities) that was either set in place by Intel or has to do with the design. I have heard some stories (just today) of manufacturers using slower DDR3 RAM so that the processor can use more than 8GB but those were just stories, nothing concrete.



Either way, there doesn't appear to be anything Apple could have done to increase the amount of RAM the hardware would actually work with. The new Sandy Bridge notebooks processors (except the Core i7 Extrme, I haven't read the specs on that) can only work with 8GB of RAM.

Reply 8 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kornchild2002 Actually, much of it has to do with the processor. There was another similar discussion. The RAM limitations we are seeing in the current MacBook Pros all come from the Intel processors. The 2.3GHz Core i7 2820QM can only address 8GB of DDR3 RAM. That is a limitation of the actual processor (maybe chipset, I am not sure on the technicalities) that was either set in place by Intel or has to do with the design. I have heard some stories (just today) of manufacturers using slower DDR3 RAM so that the processor can use more than 8GB but those were just stories, nothing concrete. Either way, there doesn't appear to be anything Apple could have done to increase the amount of RAM the hardware would actually work with. The new Sandy Bridge notebooks processors (except the Core i7 Extrme, I haven't read the specs on that) can only work with 8GB of RAM.

+1 kornchild2002

Interesting...wasn't aware that the mobile i7's were limited by the Sandy Bridge arch. Good to know!

Reply 9 : So does my MBP support 8 GB ram?

< DROOL >

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazycanuk some will do 24 and 32 as well, mostly gaming units and workstations

< / DROOL >