Where to buy MacBook memory upgrades
I remember happy times in my Mac life, like how sweetly 96MB RAM and a 512MB hard disc felt inside one particular Quadra I owned. Or, what a revelation video editing was on the PowerMac 7600. How about the dual gig nirvana — 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM — of a Graphite G4? That baby really cooked after I added an ATI Radeon 9000 with 128MB — I swear you could actually feel the splatter after hitting an opponent with the rocket launcher in Unreal Tournament 2004.
That said, after a week of using OS X 10.6 I realized — all of the cool stuff I like about Snow Leopard aside — 2.5GB of RAM just wasn’t making it. To be honest, it never felt like my MacBook was properly lubricated running Leopard either, but by last week enough was enough.
So, I went shopping and took some notes whilst out and about on the interwebs:
Early 2008 MacBook (DDR 2, PC5300)
— Other World Computing
• 2GB (1×2), $34.99; 4GB (2×2), $68.97; 4GB (1×4), $139.99; 6GB (2+4), $174.97
— Trans International
• 2GB (1×2), $28.00; 4GB (2×2), $58.00; 4GB (1×4), $158.00; 6GB (2+4), $178.00
— RamJet
• 2GB (1×2), $45.99; 4GB (2×2), $89.99; 4GB (1×4), $199.99, 6GB (2+4), $239.99
— Crucial
• 2GB (1×2), $31.99; 4GB (2×2), $63.99Plug -> How to: Upgrade memory in a 2008, 2009 MacBook
Late 2008, Early 2009 MacBook (DDR 2, PC6400)
— Other World Computing
• 2GB (1×2), $35.99; 4GB (2×2), $69.99; 4GB (1×4), $139.99; 6GB (2+4), $175.97
— Trans International
• 2GB (1×2), $42.00; 4GB (2×2), $82.00; 4GB (1×4), $298.00
— RamJet
• 4GB (2×2), $89.99; 4GB (1×4), $199.99; 6GB (2+4), $239.99
— Crucial
• 2GB (1×2), $34.99; 4GB (2×2), $64.99
As you can see from the above, no single vendor has the best price across the board, so a little judicious shopping is always a good idea.
Currently, I’ve got 4GB RAM in my Early 2008 MacBook — one 2GB module from Other World Computing and the other 2GB DIMM from Trans International. Also, whereas I generally tend to shop for commodity items on price alone, warranty, shipping and return terms should also be on your radar when buying parts for your Mac.
And, by the way, 4GB is just oh so smooth…
Related Posts:
September 10th, 2009
Just be careful with warranties when you buy. They may not be worth anything and you may be better off buying cheaper. I recently had the unhappy experience of a failed memory card bought from OWC which they would no longer replace because it was not their brand name even though it was guaranteed when I bought it. It did have an equivocal warranty statement on the original invoice that could be interpreted either way.
The manufacturer’s warranty required returning the memory card for evaluation with hints that it would take a long time. Since it was a matched pair and my computer would be out of commission for an indefinite period, I bought a cheap replacement from Crucial.
September 11th, 2009
That’s a good point — if you buy OWC or Trans International branded memory, the warranty is unequivocal, and I’ve been buying their stuff for years. Actually, I’ve never had to return RAM from either. RAM purchased Best Buy’s been taken back, but not OWC or Trans…
September 12th, 2009
As a honest seller, I should tell you that be careful when you purchase. Take time to think and investigate.