Exceeding Mac's Suggested Amount of RAM?

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Hi folks,

I have a MacBook Pro (2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Version 10.6.8), 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM purchased Feb 2007.

It currently has 2 GB of RAM. I see that Mac says 3 GB is the max. What if I put in 4 GB - does that do any harm? I just upgraded my RAM from 4 to 8 GB in my newer 13" MBP.

Any ideas if I can do this?

Thanks!
 

dtravis7


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MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
From what I have heard if you put in 4GB in an older Mac that only accepts 3, only 3 will show up and the other 1GB will not, but it will still work.
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
And it's suppose to maintain the dual channel mode since you're putting in matched pairs. I have 4 GB in my late '06 model for this reason.
 

dtravis7


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And it's suppose to maintain the dual channel mode since you're putting in matched pairs. I have 4 GB in my late '06 model for this reason.

Oops. Forgot to mention that. Thanks Bob. Dual Channel is a bit faster than mismatched RAM would be.
 
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Thanks guys - so to clarify. If I put in 2 x 2 GB in my old MPR no bad side effects predicted?
 
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09 MBP 8GB ram 500GB HD OS 10.9 32B iPad 4 32GB iPhone 5 iOs7 2TB TC Apple TV3
Thanks guys - so to clarify. If I put in 2 x 2 GB in my old MPR no bad side effects predicted?

As long as its the right ram I like using Crucial and their scan ware .
 
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When you say "right" RAM. The 4 GB I plan to use are form my new 13" MBP (bought in May of 2011) - so if it was MAC, it shoudl be fine?

Sorry, new to this :)
 
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09 MBP 8GB ram 500GB HD OS 10.9 32B iPad 4 32GB iPhone 5 iOs7 2TB TC Apple TV3
Your newer 2011 MBP is 1333MHz and your older one uses 667 MHz so I would think not.
 
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Thanks! Yip, opened up old MBP and found out the RAM from my new MBP that I had removed today does not fit into old MBP (the tiny slot in the RAM is offset).

Thanks! It is a good learning experience!
 
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MacBook Pro 2.2 i7 + MacBook 2.2 Duo 2 (late 2007) + ATV2 + T/C-2Tb + iPhone4 + iPad2 (64gb wifi)
As long as its the right ram I like using Crucial and their scan ware .

As osxx said earlier if you use Crucial they have a handy little download CrucialMacScanner that scans your RAM in your computer and will match it entirely for you...takes the worry away. i used it when i upgraded. might be worth a shot.

J
 

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