New iMac Memory

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openside


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Hi All

First post here. I have recently handed on my old PC Notebook and got myself a MacBook Pro. Early next year I plan to change out my iMac for the new 27" iMac.

The question I have is this, having upgraded the memory in the MBP to 8Gb I now have 2 x 2Gb DDR3 memory cards available. Therefore if I get the 27" new iMac with 4Gb is the memory from the MBP compatible and therefore I can upgrade the iMac to 8Gb effectively for free?

Cheers
Simon
 
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Maybe. The current iMac "supports 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SO-DIMMs."
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 21.5-Inch (Late 2009) Specs (Late 2009, MB950LL/A*, N/A, iMac10,1) @ EveryMac.com

You didn't specify exactly which MacBook Pro you have. The current 15" and 17" models "support 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM", which is identical to the current iMac.
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 17" (Mid-2009) Specs (Mid-2009 17", MC226LL/A, N/A, MacBookPro5,2) @ EveryMac.com

So if your RAM came from the above model MBP, then it should be perfectly compatible with today's iMacs. Of course, the iMac may get refreshed with a different spec of RAM by the time you get one, which may make this moot.

EDIT: Doh! I overlooked how the iMac uses SO-DIMMS and the MBP does not. Sorry. They won't work.
http://www.kingston.com/newtech/ddr/ddrvssdram.asp
 
bobtomay

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Wow, I hadn't noticed they'd changed all of the MBP's to SDRAM either.
 
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openside


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lifeisabeach said:
Maybe. The current iMac "supports 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SO-DIMMs."
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 21.5-Inch (Late 2009) Specs (Late 2009, MB950LL/A*, N/A, iMac10,1) @ EveryMac.com

You didn't specify exactly which MacBook Pro you have. The current 15" and 17" models "support 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM", which is identical to the current iMac.
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 17" (Mid-2009) Specs (Mid-2009 17", MC226LL/A, N/A, MacBookPro5,2) @ EveryMac.com

So if your RAM came from the above model MBP, then it should be perfectly compatible with today's iMacs. Of course, the iMac may get refreshed with a different spec of RAM by the time you get one, which may make this moot.

EDIT: Doh! I overlooked how the iMac uses SO-DIMMS and the MBP does not. Sorry. They won't work.
Kingston Technology Company - New Technology - DDR vs SDRAM
Click to expand...


The memory I installed in my MBP was 204 Pin SO-DIMM DDR3 2 x 4Gb. So hopefully that's the same. Otherwise I'll have to budget extra to up the memory.

My MBP is the latest 15" version running at 2.66, with replacement memory from Crucial.

Regards
Simon
 

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