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Topic: Apple

Time to feed the MacBook Pro more memory?

Summary: If you bought a MacBook Pro last fall, perhaps it's time to take your machine all the way to 16GB of RAM. Prices for a pair of 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs have fallen off a cliff over the past year.

David Morgenstern

By for The Apple Core |

If you bought a MacBook Pro last fall, perhaps it's time to take your machine all the way to 16GB of RAM. Prices for a pair of 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs have fallen off a cliff over the past year.

In an excellent chart at Lloyd Chambers' Mac Performance Guide blog, you can see the tremendous drop in prices for 16GB (2x8) memory kits and 8GB (2x4) kits. The current MacBook Pro (2011) model can handle 16GB total and the previous rounds can take 8GB total.

There was a big drop last August in prices for 8GB DIMMs and then another drop that started in October.

Modern OSes such as Mac OS X want as much memory as you can throw at them. It's the easiest way to get some extra performance.

Topic: Apple

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6 comments
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  • HA!

    Even cheaper since you can use PC ram in your Mac. No nifty apple sticker needed. no double price tag because it's apple. Apple doesn't make computer hardware anymore, they make iphones and ipads while making Mac's with all PC parts. Why else would you buy a Core i5 Mac for $3,000 while the very same computer is $649 with a HP brand on it. Same specs, Same hardware. Only the SOFTWARE is different.
    Nate_K
    Reply Vote

    • ha?

      well yes ... standard ram, but there is no $649 machine that is the same as a $3000 Mac. Your grossly exaggerating. Macs are slightly more expensive, not something like your saying.
      doh123
      Reply Vote

      • Equip a PC as near as possible to a Mac

        and the price is much the same. If you pay a rubbish price rubbish is what you get.
        Laraine Anne Barker
        Reply Vote

  • It's all about the SOFTWARE

    First, you are right about Apple not making the parts that are inside the Mac such as RAM, CPU. GPU etc. You are wrong when you say the core i5 Mac costs $3000, though it could cost up to $3000 if you maxed out everything possible.

    Whether you believe this or not, Macs are better designed than most PCs. Just look at the recent following to copy the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro. It's the fact.

    Macs retain their values is also another fact. I just sold my 3.5 years old MacBook Pro for $1100 and bought it new at $1400. Try to sell that $649 HP 6 months from now and see what you get.

    Macs are not for everyone, I like PC too; but for me, Macs are superior in every way.
    It's all about the design and software.
    Plogpower
    Reply Vote

  • I lol'd

    "Why else would you buy a Core i5 Mac for $3,000 while the very same computer is $649 with a HP brand on it. Same specs, Same hardware. Only the SOFTWARE is different. " - Nate_K

    Um, care to prove this? I can say random non-provable things too, but i choose to actually have facts on things before I just blurb things out.
    pcampagna
    Reply Vote

    • gross exaggeration

      Yes, that was a gross exaggeration. PCs are cheaper, but it's nowhere near that difference. You're talking maybe a 100-200 dollar difference. It could be a larger gap when you compare macs to desktops that people build themselves, but it's still not going to be anywhere near that.
      dsa791
      Reply Vote
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