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Oct 21, 08 - 12:16 pm Comment from: Wandering joe

is 4GB the real limit for the MBs, or is it capped?

Is there actually any benefit for going for this supposedly mac-specific RAM over off-the-shelf DDR3 1066Mhz RAM?

Good question Wj.

I'm on the verge of buying a new MBP - as more of a back-up workhorse machine. One that I can hook up to my big screens when needed. The only remaining thing holding me back is the RAM limitation.

I feel the new MBP is capable enough for my needs [I work in the media], if only the RAM limit was 8GB instead of a paltry 4GB.

Hmm. What to do...

Since I don't know of any DDR3 1066Mhz 4GB SO-DIMM RAM modules, it's a moot point at the moment.

Once those are available, it will be a question of whether the motherboard in the MacBook/MacBook Pro will be able to support it.

Laptops always have 2 RAM slots, which means getting over 2GB needs a 4GB RAM or higher module.

Oct 21, 08 - 12:34 pm Comment from: MrScrith

@HueyLong and Wandering Joe

From what I understand the 4gb limit is hardware based, they are using a 32bit hardware interface for the memory which limits it to 4gb. I'm not sure if there will be a push anytime soon to go beyond that, word is all 32bit OS's are address-space limited to 4gb as well, and Microsoft's 64bit stuff isn't going anywhere so most hardware suppliers aren't overly interested in spending all the money to make 64bit laptop memory if the majority of the market won't touch it.

Hopefully Apple will be able to use Snow Leopard to push HW makers into creating the 64gb laptop memory/hardware, when that happens then things will really start snapping.

Oct 21, 08 - 12:39 pm Comment from: KingMel

@Wandering Joe
The Apple Store lists the following for the new MacBook Pro:

"2GB (two 1GB SO-DIMMs) or 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 4GB"

I do not know if that is a hard cap. Perhaps the 4GB cap will open up when larger SO-DIMMs become available? Or, perhaps there are technical reasons that prevent the installation of more than 4GB - bus design, thermal dissipation, etc.?

I would be interested in the answer.

@ @huey
laptops don't "always" have 2 RAM slots. I'm typing a laptop with one RAM slot right now.

Oct 21, 08 - 12:42 pm Comment from: KingMel

@MrScrith
MacOSX supports more than 4GB. You can install 32GB in a Mac Pro. So, if there is indeed a hard cap of 4GB on the MacBook Pro, then it must be a hardware limitation of some type (e.g., only enabling 32-bit addressing, as you identified).

According to 9to5mac, nVidia says 8 gigs is possible. 4gig chips are available for $529, says the site.

But there is another article that says more ram won't help you with games.

Oct 21, 08 - 01:30 pm Comment from: The Dude

529 bucks... ouch. Reminds me of buying 16 MB chips for my IIci!

The Dude abides.

Oct 21, 08 - 01:34 pm Comment from: Spark

I've read it stated that when 4 GB DIMMs packaged in the same size as the current 2GB are available that there is no reason that they couldn't work. It is currently a size issue.

I read in the 9to5mac site that Nvidia has confirmed tat the new macs can run up to 8 Gb of Ram, but they don't know why apple is limiting the amount of ram the can put on it when you order it from them.

are the previous generation mbp's ddr3 compatable?

The previous MBP are not compatible with DDR3. An 8 GB kit from Crucial is $1179.99. Just because the hardware platform on these new MacBooks is 32-bit, does not mean memory needs to be limited to 4 GB. Modern 32-bit architectures have been able to increase the theoretical 4 GB limit.

Has anyone done tests to see the real world benefits of increasing the 2 gigs to 4 gigs? Yeah, I know it would help with parallels, and probably with doing large files in Final Cut or CS4, but would 4 or even 8 make a difference to your average consumer?

Point me out to some benchmarks, if anyone has them. Thanks.