Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

32 gb memory into MBP 2012 13

Hitek

Hitek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2016
7
2
Hello! I'm curious about possibility of putting 32 gb of ram into my MBP 2012(mid, i7). I know the 3520m processor CAN serve 32 gb of ram memory BUT there might be some limitation on the motherboard making impossible the usage of 32 gigs of ram. The question is: did anybody try to put one pair of those recently avaible memory sticks of PC3 1280 16 gb into MBP 2012 13??
 
Hitek

Hitek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2016
7
2
There was time it was claiming 8 GB and we know what came next ;) I'm looking for someone who actually put those memories in and checked it himself - that is the final confirmation to me(judging by the past)
 
P

poematik13

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2014
1,353
1,908
Nope. Motherboard doesn't support it. 2x 8GB is the best you can do, despite the fact that 16Gb sticks do exist.
 
Hitek

Hitek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2016
7
2
poematik13 said:
Nope. Motherboard doesn't support it. 2x 8GB is the best you can do, despite the fact that 16Gb sticks do exist.
Click to expand...
Have you checked it or know somebody who checked it?(experimentally)
[doublepost=1458169037][/doublepost]Generally speaking from my experience usually what used to prevent the usage of bigger RAMs was the processor if number of slots wasn't the case and in this case we know the processor is serving 32 gb amount
 
P

poematik13

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2014
1,353
1,908
Just because the CPU supports it does not mean the motherboard/chipset necessarily does. In this case, the highest amount of RAM you can use is 2x 8GB sticks for a total of 16Gb.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Count Blah
Hitek

Hitek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2016
7
2
poematik13 said:
Just because the CPU supports it does not mean the motherboard/chipset necessarily does. In this case, the highest amount of RAM you can use is 2x 8GB sticks for a total of 16Gb.
Click to expand...
I would like to know Your sources
 
J

JTToft

macrumors 68040
Apr 27, 2010
3,447
796
Aarhus, Denmark
Hitek said:
Can't find them in my city. As soon as I spot them somewhere it will be first thing I try :)
Click to expand...
- You can just get them off Amazon. The Crucial kit is out of stock at the moment, though, but I'm sure there are other kits available if you're in a hurry. Or you could get it directly from Crucial.

Knowing Amazon's rather liberal return policies, you could probably return them if it doesn't work.
 
Last edited:
H

HeroicDeath

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2016
15
5
There are no mobile DDR3 DIMMs available at 16GB. So no. You cannot fit 32GB of DDR3 memory into your 2012/2013 rig.

There are only two slots available for memory on all Macbook Pros. As such you can do the simple math, (8*2 = 16GB) therefore the maximum amount of RAM you can put on the 2012/2013 Macbook Pro is 16GB.

You clearly don't know your stuff...
 
  • Like
Reactions: poematik13 and Samuelsan2001
H

HeroicDeath

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2016
15
5
  • Like
Reactions: JTToft
R

Ries

macrumors 68020
Apr 21, 2007
2,327
2,917
The CPU supports 32 RAM using 2 channels. Each channel supports 2 dimms slots with a maximum of 8Gb per slot. Only 2 slots mounted, so 16GB is max.
 
T

treekram

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2015
1,849
411
Honolulu HI
Ries said:
The CPU supports 32 RAM using 2 channels. Each channel supports 2 dimms slots with a maximum of 8Gb per slot. Only 2 slots mounted, so 16GB is max.
Click to expand...

There was a thread in the Mini forum where somebody saw the Intel specs and wondered why they couldn't have 32GB and the answer was pretty much the same - if there were 4 slots, it could support 32GB but since there's only 2, 16GB is the max. (Intel really needs to revise their specs and list how many slots are required to support the maximum RAM.)

Out of curiosity, I looked for laptops with the 3520M processor that could support 32GB and I found a couple - the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 and the Dell M4700, both of which have 4 RAM slots, both of which you can only put 8GB RAM sticks, not 16GB. For the OP, if you can find a laptop with the 3520M with 2 RAM slots than can support 32GB, then maybe all of us are wrong, otherwise ...
 
duervo

duervo

macrumors 68020
Feb 5, 2011
2,475
1,246
treekram said:
There was a thread in the Mini forum where somebody saw the Intel specs and wondered why they couldn't have 32GB and the answer was pretty much the same - if there were 4 slots, it could support 32GB but since there's only 2, 16GB is the max. (Intel really needs to revise their specs and list how many slots are required to support the maximum RAM.)

Out of curiosity, I looked for laptops with the 3520M processor that could support 32GB and I found a couple - the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 and the Dell M4700, both of which have 4 RAM slots, both of which you can only put 8GB RAM sticks, not 16GB. For the OP, if you can find a laptop with the 3520M with 2 RAM slots than can support 32GB, then maybe all of us are wrong, otherwise ...
Click to expand...

ThinkPad W540 can have 32GB as well (4 DIMM slots). There's an HP model that can too. All of them are considered to be "workstation" class systems, which Apple does not currently make, so 16GB will be the max unless Apple releases something that bumps the limit up, which they probably will eventually with whatever they spit out that uses DDR4.
 
Hitek

Hitek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2016
7
2
treekram said:
There was a thread in the Mini forum where somebody saw the Intel specs and wondered why they couldn't have 32GB and the answer was pretty much the same - if there were 4 slots, it could support 32GB but since there's only 2, 16GB is the max. (Intel really needs to revise their specs and list how many slots are required to support the maximum RAM.)

Out of curiosity, I looked for laptops with the 3520M processor that could support 32GB and I found a couple - the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 and the Dell M4700, both of which have 4 RAM slots, both of which you can only put 8GB RAM sticks, not 16GB. For the OP, if you can find a laptop with the 3520M with 2 RAM slots than can support 32GB, then maybe all of us are wrong, otherwise ...
Click to expand...
Guys! Sources! Links! Sorry but without hard proofs what you say doesn't count! I don't see anywhere information about the limit per channel!
 
R

Ries

macrumors 68020
Apr 21, 2007
2,327
2,917
Hitek said:
Guys! Sources! Links! Sorry but without hard proofs what you say doesn't count! I don't see anywhere information about the limit per channel!
Click to expand...

It is in the CPU spec sheet.

memory.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom