I have a constant flow of emails reaching my inbox subjecting RAM on a day-to-day basis. I struggle to keep up with all of these emails/questions, and see the need for a detailed piece on a few of the most frequently asked questions.
Let’s start with a quick explanation of RAM for those who know the term, but aren’t exactly familiar with what it does.
RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is a memory storage system that allows information to be stored and accessed in any order. It is much faster for the other parts of the computer to access information stored in RAM than to access data stored on the Hard Drive of the computer.
The main characteristic with this type of memory is that it only stores information while the computer is switched on, once the computer has been switched off the contents of RAM are erased.
RAM From Apple
Truth be told – Apple charge an obscene amount for their RAM. It can’t be proved to be any better than RAM from any third party vendor.
RAM upgrades are one way Apple continually make money when people purchase Macs off the online store. The most frequent reasons being users think it’s hard to install RAM, they don’t understand the market and actual retail price, or they feel it’d be easier to have it installed before it arrives.
The latter option is poor to say the least, upgrading the RAM when building a machine on the online Apple store delays shipment of your Mac. Even if the shipping time is delayed by just a single day, do you really feel it’ll take 24 hours to install RAM? Is it really saving you time?
RAM is very easy to install, especially if you’re running a modern Intel Mac. The Mac mini is the only exception to the line of Apple products, the RAM installation will take a little more effort than the Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook, or MacBook Pro.
Using 3rd Party RAM
It’s perfectly safe to use RAM from reputable third party dealers (as listed below). It is perfectly safe to purchase RAM from third-party vendors after you purchase your Mac, as long as they meet Apple RAM specifications.
The dealers below all offer products which meet required qualification to match all Apple RAM specifications. Most of the sites will indicate technical specifications on the product info page, letting you know if they meet the strict Apple guidelines. If you can’t see this note, contact the vendor before placing an order.
In a nutshell, as long as you keep your eyes pealed for those magic words Apple Certified, you’ll be perfectly safe using the memory.
Performance
A question which is so frequent on Mac forums I might as well create a TextExpander snippet detailing the following few paragraphs – is will extra RAM make my machine ‘quicker or snappier?’ The answer in short is yes, the longer answer is maybe.
It all breaks down to what you’re doing with your Mac. Are you currently pushing it to its boundaries? I’d recommend anyone running with under 1GB of RAM to upgrade, especially if you’re running Leopard. Past the 1GB stage, it become harder to say I recommend everyone purchase more.
RAM is a one of the most simple things you can replace or add to your machine to gain performance. The general rule of thumb is 1GB of RAM to each core for the best performance. Meaning 2GB of RAM in Core Duo/Core 2 Duo iMacs, MacBook Pros, and MacBooks is optimal if you want to squeeze every ounce of performance from your Mac.
RAM does make a different to overall system performance. Once you break the 2GB barrier, jumping from 2-4 and further onward will reap smaller increases in speed the upgrade from 1GB to 2GB shows a great change under normal daily use. The upgrade from 2GB to 4GB for general daily use does not.
Pairing For Performance
For the maximum performance benefit possible, Apple recommends that two modules of the same size be installed to enable 128MBit memory addressing in machines such as the iMac and MacBook/Pros. This means using two identical sticks of RAM (in size) to make the most of 128MBit memory addressing (ultimately speeding up the RAM/system).
The Mac Pro follows the same trend, however it’s a little different. To take advantage of the Mac Pro’s 256 bit memory data path, you’ll want to populate both memory riser cards, each with at least one matched pair. If you put your memory on only one riser, you are dropping from quad channel to dual channel mode
Machine Limitations
The questions is often arising on how much RAM different Macs can hold. Here’s a list of the current Apple Macintosh lineup and their RAM limitations based on the motherboard allowances (with the exception of the Mac Pro, it can hold more than 32GB, but there are no larger DIMMS on the market than 4GB at this point in time.
32GB – Mac Pro 2.0/2.66/3.0Ghz (With 4GB DIMMS)
4GB – iMac 2.4/2.8Ghz
4GB – MacBook 2.0/2.2Ghz
4GB – MacBook Pro 2.2/2.4/2.6Ghz
2GB – Mac mini 1.83/2.0Ghz
Where To Purchase
I favor two vendors when purchasing RAM. OWC MacSales and Omni Technologies. I’ve used both vendors in the past and have been super impressed with customer service, delivery time, packaging, and quality of product from each.
They are both pretty competitive in pricing. 4GB of Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro RAM from MacSales will run you $125.00, while purchasing the same from Omni Technologies will run you $175.00.
Other reputable vendors you might like to check out include Crucial, Data Memory Systems, NewEgg, and TransIntl.
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