Ram and SSD for MBP mid 2012

keeni · 1st August 2012, 11:17 PM

Hi Guys,

so at the start of July I made the big switch from pc to mac and bought my self my first ever apple product a macbook pro (mid 2012).

Now I know macs used to be really particular with memory upgrades etc etc. I am looking to upgrade the ram from 4gb to 8gb or 16gb and possibly put an ssd in if the budget allows. Do I need to get mac approved ram or will any old DDR3 ram be fine? Also has anyone had any experience with the intel ssd's in the mbps or can recommend another brand?

damo13579 · 1st August 2012, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keeni

Hi Guys,

so at the start of July I made the big switch from pc to mac and bought my self my first ever apple product a macbook pro (mid 2012).

Now I know macs used to be really particular with memory upgrades etc etc. I am looking to upgrade the ram from 4gb to 8gb or 16gb and possibly put an ssd in if the budget allows. Do I need to get mac approved ram or will any old DDR3 ram be fine? Also has anyone had any experience with the intel ssd's in the mbps or can recommend another brand?

when it comes to SSD i would go with intel, from what ive seen they seem to be the most reliable.

only issues i have seen with the newer macs when it comes to ram is the speed, as long as u put the same speed ram in as what is in it now it should be fine. from what i can remember corsair have ram they claim to be fully mac compatible if you want to be sure.

Pengoz · 1st August 2012, 11:37 PM

I believe Apple uses Kingston RAM but I could be wrong, could contact their spare parts department or whatever and see what brand it is.

I don't think they use intel ssds, all the ssd's I've seen come in at work we configure have Samsung SSDs or Toshiba SSDs.

~Coxy · 2nd August 2012, 11:50 AM

Whichever SSD you use won't have TRIM enabled, even if you do get a Samsung or Toshiba one. You will have to use the TRIM enabler Perl command if you care about that.

ronald_r32 · 2nd August 2012, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pengoz

I believe Apple uses Kingston RAM but I could be wrong, could contact their spare parts department or whatever and see what brand it is.

I don't think they use intel ssds, all the ssd's I've seen come in at work we configure have Samsung SSDs or Toshiba SSDs.

Yeah Kingston RAM is what we use in our service department when repairing/upgrading RAM. Also the Samsung 830 series is the SSD used by Apple.

chip · 2nd August 2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pengoz

I believe Apple uses Kingston RAM but I could be wrong, could contact their spare parts department or whatever and see what brand it is.

Apple use RAM from a whole bunch of manufacturers, sourcing a commodity like that it from a single manufacturer is too risky. Off the top of my head, I've pulled out Micron, Nanya and Samsung DIMMs from 2011/2012 MBPs and replaced them with Kingston stuff and had no dramas.

If you're super worried about compatibility, you can buy 3rd party RAM that's guaranteed to work with your Mac.

keeni · 2nd August 2012, 12:40 PM

Well I've ordered some Corsair Vengeance stuff so see how that goes when it arrives. Still deciding on the SSD for now.

Pengoz · 2nd August 2012, 8:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chip

Apple use RAM from a whole bunch of manufacturers, sourcing a commodity like that it from a single manufacturer is too risky. Off the top of my head, I've pulled out Micron, Nanya and Samsung DIMMs from 2011/2012 MBPs and replaced them with Kingston stuff and had no dramas.

If you're super worried about compatibility, you can buy 3rd party RAM that's guaranteed to work with your Mac.

Yep, and I'm not worried. I don't own a mac

but yeah so long as its the right type of ram that the chipset supports there shouldn't be a problem. The major ram oem's should be able to tell you if their ram is compatible for whatever apple computer a person has.

phatmike12885 · 3rd August 2012, 11:51 PM

It's non retina MBP right? Cos the retina ones can't be modified, the ram and ssd's are all soldered in.

keeni · 4th August 2012, 12:02 AM

Yeah its a non retina

~Coxy · 6th August 2012, 11:41 AM

SSDs are not soldered in on a MBPR. They are just a non-standard form factor but can be replaced.

Pengoz · 6th August 2012, 5:37 PM

but the ram is?

damo13579 · 6th August 2012, 6:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pengoz

but the ram is?

yep, ram is soldered, SSD is not.

_zak · 7th August 2012, 7:04 PM

If you're still deciding on which SSD to go with, I went with a Crucial M4 and it's served me very well (Early 2011 MBP). I went through two OWC SSDs, neither of which worked. As a bonus, a 256 GB drive will only set you back $250 locally these days.

1st August 2012, 11:17 PM	#1
keeni Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Newcastle Posts: 274	Ram and SSD for MBP mid 2012 Hi Guys, so at the start of July I made the big switch from pc to mac and bought my self my first ever apple product a macbook pro (mid 2012). Now I know macs used to be really particular with memory upgrades etc etc. I am looking to upgrade the ram from 4gb to 8gb or 16gb and possibly put an ssd in if the budget allows. Do I need to get mac approved ram or will any old DDR3 ram be fine? Also has anyone had any experience with the intel ssd's in the mbps or can recommend another brand?

1st August 2012, 11:37 PM	#3
Pengoz Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brisbane Posts: 4,225	I believe Apple uses Kingston RAM but I could be wrong, could contact their spare parts department or whatever and see what brand it is. I don't think they use intel ssds, all the ssd's I've seen come in at work we configure have Samsung SSDs or Toshiba SSDs. __________________ Best Friends Animal Rescue Save a life, adopt from your local shelter or pet rescue group! Last edited by Pengoz; 1st August 2012 at 11:56 PM.

6th August 2012, 5:37 PM	#12
Pengoz Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brisbane Posts: 4,225	but the ram is? __________________ Best Friends Animal Rescue Save a life, adopt from your local shelter or pet rescue group!

7th August 2012, 7:04 PM	#14
_zak Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 229	If you're still deciding on which SSD to go with, I went with a Crucial M4 and it's served me very well (Early 2011 MBP). I went through two OWC SSDs, neither of which worked. As a bonus, a 256 GB drive will only set you back $250 locally these days. __________________ Gerald: Arc Mini \| Z77MX-D3H \| i5 3550 \| 8 GB DDR3-1333 \| HD 7850 2 GB \| 80 GB SSD + 1 TB

2nd August 2012, 11:50 AM	#4
~Coxy Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Cannington, WA Posts: 1,194	Whichever SSD you use won't have TRIM enabled, even if you do get a Samsung or Toshiba one. You will have to use the TRIM enabler Perl command if you care about that.

2nd August 2012, 12:40 PM	#7
keeni Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Newcastle Posts: 274	Well I've ordered some Corsair Vengeance stuff so see how that goes when it arrives. Still deciding on the SSD for now.

3rd August 2012, 11:51 PM	#9
phatmike12885 Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 14	It's non retina MBP right? Cos the retina ones can't be modified, the ram and ssd's are all soldered in.

4th August 2012, 12:02 AM	#10
keeni Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Newcastle Posts: 274	Yeah its a non retina

6th August 2012, 11:41 AM	#11
~Coxy Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Cannington, WA Posts: 1,194	SSDs are not soldered in on a MBPR. They are just a non-standard form factor but can be replaced.