on upgrading laptop memory

Just a few notes on my recent experience of upgrading the RAM memory on my mac laptop. 

My laptop is getting towards three years old now, and it has started to freeze from time to time. I am not the ideal laptop user, I tend to run with the hard drive almost completely full and tend to run far too many open programmes at the same time. However on checking with the Crucial website, it was apparent that I could upgrade the RAM memory in my laptop for around fifty pounds. My Applecare Warranty was near to expiry anyway so I reckoned that I did not have a huge amount to lose, so I gave it a go. 

By way of full disclosure, I completed an SHNC in Computing many years ago, so I have experience of opening up desktop computers and rearranging components. I have also installed memory in a few of my other computers before, so I am not a novice. 

Should I upgrade the RAM memory ?

Only if you are confident, your machine is sluggish or old and it is not the end of the world if you break it.

What is the RAM memory ?

RAM is the working memory that your computer uses to run open applications, rather than to store your old documents. My first laptop in the eighties had four megabytes of RAM and eighty megabytes of hard drive. My current laptop had four gigabytes of RAM and two hundred and fifty gigabytes of hard drive. 

How do I get more RAM memory ?

Other suppliers are available, but I would recommend Crucial, they provide an app that you can download and run to provide a quote for suitable compatible memory. You may need to go into System Preferences to ensure you can run the app after download if you have set your Systems Preferences to restrict the apps that you can download and run. Go to the Apple Menu, Systems Preferences, Security and Privacy, General tab, and amend to allow you to download apps from anywhere. You should then be able to open up the app and run it. If you like the price, just order online from there. The upside of Crucial is that they are cheap, reliable and well regarded. The downside, they do not install. If you went to Apple for a RAM memory upgrade it would be a lot more expensive. I am not aware of any problems with Crucial memory.

When to do it ?

There are risks, so best to only upgrade memory when you need to, your machine is sluggish, or when you have little to lose. If you are out of warranty then it is worthwhile to extend the useful life of your machine. Having said that, RAM memory is not the ‘be all and end all’ of performance that it used to be, for many users it is pretty irrelevant.

Can I do it ?

If you have some training in IT hardware then you should be okay, there are instructions on line, so if you are willing to be careful, then it is straightforward. It is fiddly and you do need to be methodical, so if this is not you, then give it a miss.

What else could I do ?

Nowadays I would not bother defragmenting my hard drive, but if performance is getting poor, then remove unwanted applications, reduce the amount of stuff on your hard drive, reduce the stuff on your desktop, remove any unwanted applications that run at login, just generally give your machine a springclean. Remember that there are plenty of ways to store material in the cloud and reduce the work that your computer is doing.

What could possibly go wrong ?

You could easily break your computer and invalidate your warranty. Apple might turn a blind eye to successfully installed non-Apple memory, but if you break the slot for the chips then you have a very expensive paperweight.

What could possibly go right ?

You could end up with a machine that runs quicker, and stick a good few extra years of life onto your computer. Having said that, more RAM does not make the screen any bigger or expand your hard drive.

So talk me through it -

1 getting fed up with my laptop freezing

2 went onto Crucial website, downloaded their app, amended Systems Preferences to run it 

3 checked the expiry date for my Applecare

4 ordered online additional RAM from Crucial, along with an anti static wrist strap

5 reset Systems Preferences to only download and run Apps from the App Store and identified developers.

6 waited patiently for the delivery

7 chose a quiet afternoon

8 cleared the table

9 spread out a towel on the table, 

10 printed off the instructions on the Apple website 

11 switched off the laptop and let it cool for ten minutes

11 touched the kitchen taps to earth myself

12 put on wrist strap and taped it to the computer 

13 the laptop was face down on the towel, unscrewed the screws on the back, they are mostly minute, those around the battery were longer. I have freckles that are larger than the small screws. They are absolutely tiny! They seem to be screwed in at a slight angle, so it is tricky returning the back of your laptop to the smooth feel of well aligned screw heads that it had before. 

14 unclipped the RAM memory, eek, the two chips are on top of each other!

15 removed both chips and put them onto the open box with the new chips

16 pushed the first chip into the bottom slot, making sure to line up the side notches and notch in the gold connector at the front

17 pushed in the second chip above it, lining it up too

18 fired up laptop 

19 checked for installed memory under the Apple About this Mac options, showing only four Gigabytes, should be eight, More Info told me that only one four Gig chip was installed, so shut down,

20 left to cool for ten minutes

21 went through the whole process again, giving the chips an even firmer shove in

22 booted up, and all now running

23 breathed considerable sigh of relief. 

Obviously whenever the back is off your computer do not eat, smoke, cough, drink, etc. Do not touch anything you don’t need to. Shoving the RAM in does require a fair bit of force. I preferred when there were two slots beside each other, that way you could take out one chip, and put in the replacement to the same depth as the remaining one. The slots on top of each other are a lot more fiddly and demanding. 

Overall, I would do this again, but I am not rushing to do it, and I would have reservations about doing it for someone else, just in case I broke their machine.