The IT Nerd

After I answered this question about whether one should get 8GB of RAM or 16GB of RAM, I looked at my situation with my MacBook Pro which is a summer 2012 model. I do some heavy duty stuff with Parallels Desktop, as well as editing videos and a limited amount of Photoshop. Thus this makes me a candidate to upgrade to 16GB. If you recall, I got it with 8GB of RAM as that was the max that Apple would install. But many MacBook Pros will support up to 16GB of RAM even though Apple doesn’t say so. These systems are the ones with the model number series of MacBookPro8,x or higher. The Mac’s model number can be found by checking the System Profiler (System Information in OS X Lion), which is available in the Apple menu if you press the Option key. I should also mention that owners of Mac Mini computers that have a model number of Macmini5,x or higher can also put 16GB of RAM into those computers as well.

Upgrading the RAM in a MacBook Pro is fairly easy. Here’s how you do it:

First you need to get the RAM. Now Apple computers use very specific types of RAM so you need to be careful about what you buy. So I recommend using RAM from a vendor such as Kingston or Crucial who have online tools to make sure you get the right RAM. Alternately, there are Mac only vendors such as OtherWorld Computing that sell RAM for Macs. Whomever you choose, make sure that they specialize in Mac memory. But if you’re technically adept, you can find RAM that meets the specifications of your Mac at any local computer store. Just make sure you really, really do your homework. In my case, I went to my local computer store and bought a brand of RAM called G.Skill based on a recommendation of a friend who’s opinion I trust. The particular part number was F3-1600C11D-16GSQ as that matched the specifications that my MacBook Pro needed. It cost me $152.99 which is a pretty good price.

Now to the install. All you need is a small phillips screwdriver. I also recommend that you not be wearing clothing that holds static such as sweaters. Static can kill the RAM, the Mac, or both.

First up is to remove the screws on the bottom of the case. One thing you absolutely need to do is to keep track of which screws came from which screw holes that you removed the screws from as they are different lengths. That will make it very easy to put everything back together later. Once you remove the screws, removing the case is easy. Simply pull it up from the back near the hinge. At this point, you should touch something metal to get rid of any static on your body.

The circled area is where the RAM is located. There are two RAM modules and they are stacked on top of each other. To remove the RAM modules, do the following:

1. Push the levers on the sides of the RAM module in an outward direction to release the module from the slot. The RAM pops up at an angle. Before removing it, make sure you find the half-circle notches. If you don’t, try pressing the levers outward again.
2. Hold the RAM module by its notches and remove it from the slot.
3. Remove the other RAM module.

Now you can install the new RAM modules:

1. Align the notch on the gold edge of the module with the notch in the lower slot.
2. Tilt the RAM module and push the memory into the slot.
3. Use two fingers with firm, even pressure to push down on the RAM module. There should be a click when you insert the memory correctly.
4. Repeat this procedure to install an additional RAM module in the top slot. Press down on the module to make sure it is level.

Now you can close up the MacBook Pro and screw everything together making screw you use the right screws in the right locations. One thing to keep in mind is that you should NOT over tighten the screws as that may strip either the screws or the screw holes. Simply screw them in until they are snug. You should also firmly press around the edges to make sure that everything fits together and make sure the screws have no play.

Now the fun part. Start up the Mac. If you hear anything other than the startup tone, you’ll need to double-check your handiwork by removing and reseating the RAM modules. If you’ve done everything right, your Mac should start up and if you look under the Apple menu and click on About This Mac, you should see this:

Now the work isn’t over. What you should do at this point to make sure you have no issues with the RAM upgrade you just did. Recent Macs have a testing application called the Apple Hardware Test. Here’s how you access it:

1. Boot the system into the Apple Hardware Tests which can be done by pressing the power button followed by holding the “D” key held.
2. You have two options at this point. You can simply run the test with the default settings. However, this will only do a rudimentary test of your system’s RAM. In situations where you need to immediately use your system, this is the best option to take. But if you want to make sure that everything is fine, then check the box to run an extended test. Do keep in mind that the extended tests will take considerably more time than the standard test, and if you have 8GB of RAM or greater, then expect the tests to take a few hours to complete.

If the tests do show an error with the memory, then consider returning the memory for a replacement; on some systems you can try swapping the memory around in the available RAM slots to see if it will be recognized and accessed properly. But if it shows no errors, then you are good to go. Though over the next few days, I’d watch to see if any applications randomly crash or the system as a whole crashes with the infamous Grey Screen Of Death. That usually indicates a problem with the RAM.

Finally, I recommend that you keep the factory installed RAM instead of selling it. The reason being that you may need it if the RAM you bought turns out to be bad later on, or you may need it if you need to take your Mac in for service as some Apple Genius Bar employees will blame customer installed RAM for issues without doing any sort of real diagnosis.

Now having had my Mac upgraded from 8GB to 16GB has had some good effects. I noted that I could now run my virtual machines at 4GB of RAM each which makes them perform better. I also note that other stuff on my Mac is a touch faster. Not dramatically faster. But the difference is noticeable. The only exceptions to this is the performance of the Safari web browser which now renders pages a whole lot faster and Photoshop which doesn’t seem like it gets bogged down when I edit RAW formatted photos.

It was worth the upgrade.

This entry was posted on December 11, 2013 at 8:11 am and is filed under Tips with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.