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    How to upgrade RAM from 4 to 8 on Quadcore MBP

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by MyFishWagon, Apr 18, 2011.

  1. MyFishWagon

    MyFishWagon Notebook Consultant

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    Greetings all, as you can see I am impatiently waiting for HP notebook to arrive, but I am very close to canceling my order at this point. I went to the apple store today, and the 15 quadcore MBP caught my eye.

    My question is, how easy is it to upgrade the 4gb of ram to 8gb ? what kind of ram should I get for this ? Thanks all for your help :cool:
     
    MyFishWagon, Apr 18, 2011
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  2. debaucher

    debaucher Notebook Deity

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    Not really hard.
    Just pop off the bottom cover, pop in new ram.

    Some people have trouble getting in the "bottom" stick but easy for me (each ram stick goes in the same area on either side of the logic board)

    As for ram, depends on your processor if you can run 1600 speed but it will run at 1333 if not so its your choice.

    Many people like the kingston hyperx 1600 kit for ~$100 (check newegg and read reviews)

    D.
     
    debaucher, Apr 18, 2011
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  3. MyFishWagon

    MyFishWagon Notebook Consultant

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    thanks for the info. I am assuming it will be two sticks, at 4gb each, correct ? Please forgive the nooby questions :D
     
    MyFishWagon, Apr 18, 2011
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  4. floydstyle

    floydstyle Newbie

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    Indeed very easy. You have 10 screws to unscrew, lift the bottom plate and everything will be shown from battery, ram, HDD.

    You need 2 stick
    These sticks are for Early 2011 Macbook Pro only. Anything older use 1066MHz ram instead of 1333MHz

    I did it for mine and also installed a Corsair SSD
     
    floydstyle, Apr 18, 2011
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  5. MyFishWagon

    MyFishWagon Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you, will rep both of you.
     
    MyFishWagon, Apr 18, 2011
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  6. kornchild2002

    kornchild2002 Notebook Deity

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    On a side note, there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube showing you how to take the bottom plate off of your MBP. The instructions for upgrading the RAM and taking the bottom plate off are the same for the 2010 unibody MBPs and the ones released in early 2011. They both use the exact same body so it doesn't matter. The biggest issue that most people seem to have is that the small screws around the sides of the plate don't go in straight, they are at an angle. Make sure you looks closely at the instructional videos as they will explain everything and should show you how the screws go in at an angle.
     
    kornchild2002, Apr 18, 2011
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  7. MyFishWagon

    MyFishWagon Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you, +1
     
    MyFishWagon, Apr 19, 2011
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  8. ren3g7ade

    ren3g7ade Notebook Evangelist

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    iFixit.com is a site that has a number of illustrated guides detailing how to do all sorts of MBP maintenance. I have used guides from there to take apart a 2006 MB (non-unibody) and a 2009 MBP.
    Here is a link to all the relevant howto's

    In particular, here is the guide to replacing the RAM in the Macbook Pro.

    You need PC3-8500 DDR3 RAM for anything up to the end of 2010 and PC3-10600 DDR3 RAM for the 2011 models. Here is a table of all the models and the RAM types used.

    Happy Modding!!
     
    ren3g7ade, Apr 19, 2011
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  9. MyFishWagon

    MyFishWagon Notebook Consultant

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    Beautiful, +1
     
    MyFishWagon, Apr 19, 2011
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  10. TheGodlyAsian

    TheGodlyAsian Notebook Guru

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    I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned this yet since I've only lightly scanned their posts but there are 2 different length screws just be sure to remember where they go.
     
    TheGodlyAsian, Apr 22, 2011
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  11. lancorp

    lancorp Notebook Virtuoso

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    FYI, 1066 RAM works great also, in the 2011.

    8GB of 1066 CAS 7 RAM for $60 using PNY. Works very nice. Sure, clock is slower, but CAS is lower too, so I see it as equal. ;)

    Does 2011 MBP even run at 1600 or does it run 1600 RAM at 1333? I guess the benefit here is if it's 1600/CAS9, then maybe it will
    run 1333/CAS7 or 8?
     
    lancorp, Apr 23, 2011
    #11