After Apple generously replaced my ailing 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with the new unibody 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, I went from 4GB down to 2GB RAM. Even though the new MBP has a faster bus speed and better hard drive, I felt the shortage of RAM when using Final Cut, Photoshop and Parallels.
Crucial and newegg to the rescue! I ordered a pair of DDR3 1067Mhz RAM chips for $125. That’s pretty affordable!
Here are a few shots to illustrate how easy it is to upgrade the RAM (and, coincidentally, the hard drive) in the new MacBook Pro and MacBook. Thankfully, upgrading RAM and hard drives on the new unibody MacBook Pro is easy and won’t void or risk the warranty. (Just don’t sneeze or drool onto the logic board when doing work and you should be fine.)
First, remove the battery plate and battery. This exposes the hard drive for easy replacement if you ever want to upgrade to a 320GB 7200RPM drive or even one of the new 500GB 5400RPM drives. (I wonder if the MacBook Pro could be run off an external 10,000RPM SATA drive like the VelociRaptor. That’d be awesome!)
Removing the battery plate does not expose the memory bay like in the earlier MacBook Pros, so there’s more work to do.
There are 8 screws to remove from the bottom plate of the MacBook Pro. You’ll need a simple jeweler’s screwdriver. Remember the order of screws as there are three different sizes.
Here you can see the inside of the MacBook Pro exposed. It’s gorgeous. I was pretty impressed with the exterior design of the MacBook Pro, but this shows it’s true inner beauty.
This is where the RAM chips go. There are little tabs on each side of the chips. Pulling those tabs apart by less than a millimeter will “eject” the RAM for removal.
You put the new RAM in and take the old RAM out. You do the hokey pokey and turn yourself about. (Gag, I know.)
Here you see the new RAM installed. Check out the logic board and fans. Everything is so compact, tight and compartmentalized.
Another inside shot.
Put the botom plate back on and put the screws back in. Tighten well, but not too much. You don’t want to strip the threads.
That’s it! It took less than 5 minutes for the whole operation. With 4GB RAM, boot time is marginally better, but the real benefit comes with running larger apps like Photoshop, Parallels, Final Cut, etc. I can have much more going at one time than I could before.
A side note: I also notice that the new MacBook Pro runs much cooler than the old versions. When running generic apps like Mail, Safari, Firefox, etc., the old MacBook Pro would usually keep at a warm 130°. When running Photoshop and/or Parallels for more than a few minutes on my previous MacBook Pro, the internal temp would rise to no less than 160° and would often top 185°. This new unibody MacBook Pro runs between 96° and 110° for normal apps and hasn’t risen above 130° even when running Final Cut. Very cool, indeed!
Thanks for the time and energy put into this. Much appreciated. Ordered the RAM but I also want to update the hard drive. Where’s the best deal. Also, it would be soooo cool if I could get a terabyte in there and back up my whole office!!!
Hey James – The best you can do for hard drives these days is 500GB at 5400RPM. Newegg.com has three of them listed for $109. Here’s a link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150380%201309740009&name=500GB
Some time in the next 18 months we’ll have 7200RPM terabyte drives for laptops. Right now, I’m anxious to get a 512GB solid state drive!!
Jason
hi, I have one question, in last week I buy a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 2G RAM, and I want to upgrade to 4G RAM, and question is: open the screws to remove bottom plate of the MacBook Pro will effect the guarantee of this product? thanks the post!
Edward – no, you will not void your warranty by upgrading the RAM in your MacBook Pro. You should call Apple (800-My-Apple) to verify what you can upgrade (hint… hard drive and RAM) without affecting your warranty. Enjoy your 4GB!
I have a late 2008 MBP with 2gb of memory. My question is if I want to go to 4gb of memory do I have to get 2 x 2gp’s or can I just get one 2gb and put that in with my already installed memory.
Hey Bradley,
You should get two 2GB RAM chips. MacBook Pros, no matter which year, have only two RAM slots. If you have 2GB now, it’s likely that you’ve got two 1GB chips. Find a nice, highly rated 4GB pair on newegg.com. It’s pretty inexpensive, and buying a matching pair will ensure your RAM will be fully taking advantage of dual-channel speeds.
This Crucial set is the highest rated one for 1066MHz (which should be what your laptop needs), and I’ve had great luck with it in the past. Crucial is one of the best brands for RAM.
I hope that helps.
Hi guys,
Did anybody here try to upgrade to something more than 4GB of ram on their Macbook Pro late 2008 (MacBookPro5,1) ?? I find 4GB of ram sometimes are not enough (everytime I need to start Parallels Desktop and Firefox is open, only about 20MB of ram are left….). I think 6GB would be very nice, don’t you ?
Best regards
I just found out that it is possible and has been tested. Plus, the price seems reasonable (228 USD) for 6GB module (if you already hat 4GB you can sell these to spare on this new buy
)
Here is the link http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp11.html of the test. (I am not affiliate with any of the links !! )
If anyone has tested this himself please let me know if it’s worth the 228 USD…
Best regards,