3rd party ram on a mac mini

i want to put some more RAM into my C2D mac mini. if I were to do it myself, it would void the warranty.
i was wondering if i took the desired amount of 3rd party RAM (crucial, kingston...etc...) into an apple-certified repair shop and had them install the RAM, would that still void my warranty?

A.E.S.
Can you point to the specific clause in the "Terms and Conditions" that state that the warranty or Applecare will be voided if someone other than an Apple Certified facility installs the memory? I don't see it. They do mention that damage caused by "faulty installation" won't be covered. But if you know what you're doing, that's not an issue.
The SO-DIMMS in my MacMini are the same as in my MacBook and iMac. I know, I've upgraded all three systems myself. If they're user replaceable in one model, I don't see why they wouldn't be considered as such by the another.
Yes, you have to work a bit harder to get to the RAM on the MacMini, but it was no big deal. I wouldn't recommend it to someone that's never touched a computer before, but it's not rocket science.
If I suspect a problem with my MacMini, I'll reinstall the original SO-DIMMs and test it again. If that doesn't solve the problem, the issue is not memory related and Apple would need to PROVE that something I did caused the failure. I'm not even sure how they would know the MacMini had ever been opened.
~Rick
Message was edited by: Rick Jay

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Upgrading to 3rd Party RAM

hi all,
i am wanting to upgrade my 20" intel iMac from 1gb to at least 2gb of RAM, but am not really wanting to pay the $549 price tag offered on the Apple website.
There are several 3rd party ram modules for macs (which are substantially cheaper), and i was just wondering what others thoughts were on a topic like this?? do you think would i encounter any problems using 3rd party ram modules??
many thanks!

First thing to do is check your current system to see what's there now.
Go up to the blue: "Apple / About This Mac / More Info / Hardware / Memory"
There you will see that the Intel iMac's have two slot's BankO and Bank1..
If your system has two 512MB modules then you'll need one of these 2GB kits below to bring your system up to 2GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145157&ATT=20-145-157&CM P=OTC-17exta6
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/53DR2SPAIR2G/
17" iMac Intel Core Duo - 1.5GB Ram - Mac OS X (10.4.9) - Maxtor 300GB FireWire - Creative Inspire 2.1 - 2G Nano

Anyone Else Notice How Tempermental the iMac is with 3rd Party RAM?

I recently upgraded my 2007 iMac so Lion could run more smoothly by adding RAM from Crucial.
The machine worked fine for a few days then I started experiencing kernal panics. I suspected my new RAM wasn't seeded properly. The last straw was when I shut down the system to re-seed the RAM and turned it back on, the machine beeped three times at few second intervals (which indicates a problem with RAM) and would not power on.
I moved it to a different slot--still no joy. In an effort to just get the machine started, I tried other 3rd party RAM that was compatible with the iMac that I had lying around. Still no go as the machine would beep loudly and not power on.
I finally found some RAM I had taken out of my 2007 Macbook Pro when I upgraded it. It was the original RAM that had come with the Macbook Pro. It worked like a charm.
But I'd like to upgrade my RAM. Guess I'll have to take a trip to the Apple store and buy from there--much more expensive though.
Anyone else have issues with RAM?

Mac's are not tempermental with third party RAM however they are sensitive to the following RAM issues:
1. Incorrect RAM specifications. RAM specs must exactly meet Apple's specifications, period! Installing incorrect RAM will cause KPs.
2. Unseated RAM. Unseated RAM will cause problems.
3. Failed RAM, this is more unusual however it's possible to have a RAM DIMM be defective of fail at a later date.
The only third party RAM I would not recommend for your machine is Kingston Value brand, this has been troublesome. However if you use OWC or Crucial both are great vendors and sell RAM that works assuming 1, 2 and 3 above.

3rd party RAM covered under Apple Care?

hey all,
i just got a new MacBook and am planning on upping the RAM to 2 Gigs. I know that if you buy the RAM from Apple and you have the Apple Care Protection Plan on your computer, the Apple RAM you install is also covered for the duration of the plan. I have Apple Care for my new MacBook and i'm wondering if 3rd party RAM would be covered under AppleCare of it it HAS to be Apple RAM. Is it worth the extra roughly $400 to have 2 Gigs from Apple and have it covered under Apple Care? If not, what are some recommendations for reliable 3rd party RAM? is there a certain brand that is hands down the best? thanx very much!
David

David,
AppleCare only covers hardware that you purchase from Apple. If you have problems with your RAM later on, that's between you and the company you bought it from.
Thus, if you buy third-party RAM, it's important to buy a good product from a reputable company (and to keep the RAM that came with your machine, in case you ever have to return the machine to the state it was in when you bought it from Apple, to return it to Apple for service should they request that.)
Only you can decide for yourself whether it's worth it to you.
I decided that it was not worth the extra money to buy RAM from Apple, and bought and installed 2GB of RAM on my own. It was easy, as long as you follow the directions from Apple's MacBook support site (there are PDF downloads explaining how to do maintenance on your MacBook, and RAM is considered a user-replaceable part.)
I have had a very good experience buying and installing third-party MacBook RAM from Small Dog Electronics; others on this forum have recommended OtherWorld Computing (OWC.)
Patriot and Crucial also seem to be well thought-of memory vendors.
MacBook 1.83 Ghz/2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) Parallels Desktop (Mac OS X / WinXP) user; XP & Ubuntu Linux on other PCs

Lower RAM slot damage caused by 3rd party RAM?

I took my 1.33 ghz 15" powerbook G4 in to be repaired this past Friday. The lower RAM slot was not working (as a note, this slot contained the original RAM that came from Apple). Upon noticing that 256 megs I had in there was missing from system profiler, I removed the 3rd party 512 RAM and placed the 256 Apple RAM there, I placed the 512 meg card in the other slot, and then 512 megs were missing when I booted up. Clearly both sticks of RAM worked, the problem was the slot. I took it into Apple.
They called me today to tell me the system was repaired. They also told me something that I don't believe and don't even think is possible: The 3rd party RAM is what caused the problem. The reasons I don't believe this? I have never heard of faulty RAM breaking a RAM slot in my life, it just doesn't work. Also, the RAM worked in there for a long time prior to it not working. I have also heard of a system update which breaks the lower RAM slot, and Apple issuing a recall on a range of powerbooks as a result to replace the motherboard. True, my powerbook is not in the range of serial numbers, but I also know that there are many people who have this problem that are not in the range Apple has recalled.
The RAM was installed free of charge at the store I bought it from (a non-Apple mac store in Los Angeles). It was never removed until I noticed that the RAM was not being detected, and it was the slot, not the RAM that proved defective.
What do you guys think? Could that have legitimately been the problem? Or did Apple just not know what was wrong, fixed the board, and made that up in the hopes of getting me to buy some overpriced Apple RAM?

Hey, whatever mod deleted the reply to this and my subsequent reply to that, why don't you tell me an accurate response? Tell me exactly how working RAM could break the RAM slot it wasn't even plugged into.
Otherwise, Apple is telling a bunch of bull and refusing to admit to a product flaw. Why delete a post speculating on such an issue? All it does is lend credence to the speculation. I believe that it is the case all the more now that you have deleted the posts.

Where to buy 3rd party RAM

Hello,
I've been prepping my old iMac G5 to sell. After "7-pass"ing the hard drive I re installed the OS. It was still running a little weird so I took it in to the apple store to run a diagnostic. It turns out I need to replace one of the RAM sticks.
According to apple.com i should be looking for RAM with these specs:
* PC2-4200
* unbuffered
* nonparity
* 240-pin
* 533 MHz
* DDR2 SDRAM
Here are my questions:
1) Is there a recommended/preferred site to buy 3rd party RAM for Macs? Or preferred brand?
2) If not, certain sites like newegg.com has RAM with the correct specs listed above, but also lists compatibility like Dell, HP/Compaq, etc. Does this matter? Do I need to find RAM that specifically says "compatible with Mac"?
Thanks for your help!
Darren

[macsales.com] and [newegg.com] are reliable and offer lifetime guarantees. The fact that the RAM is compatible with other makes doesn't matter, as long as they specify that it's compatible with your model iMac, it will work.

Best 3rd Party Ram for MB Pro

Hello folks,
I've been running a MB Pro for the last 7 months and it's been doing ok, aside from the battery crappying out on me all of a sudden (my iBook Snow battery lasted like 3 years before it acted up).
Ah anyway I brought a stock MB Pro with 512 ram. I want to max the ram, but I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on 3rd party ram. On my last mac I used crucial ram with no problems. Is their stuff still any good?
TIA!
-jlmcb
Macbook Pro 2.0 GHZ / 512 MB Mac OS X (10.3.9) In Japan 'Airmac = Airport'

Apple supply Samsung, Hynix, Nanya and Micron (which is Crucial) as standard. So any of these should be as supplied by Apple.
Crucial.com had some 1gb sodimms for $60 or so, which is dirt cheap. Newegg.com had the same chips for $65 or so also. Last year they were $120.
You want 1gb DDR2 667MHz PC5300 Sodimms
So yes, Crucial is fine. If you see Samsung you want M470T2953CZ3-CE6.
Best of luck.

3rd party ram question

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to everybody reading!
I know there are many threads on 3rd party ram so please humor me for a minute. All my friends are PC guys and can’t offer me Mac advice.
I own a 2.66 Mac pro with 2x512 APPLE ram and 2x512 CRUCIAL ram
I am a design student using adobe after effects as well as all of the creative suite. I really need to get up to 3 or 4 gigs of ram on my machine. Of course I am in college and broke as a joke. I am looking at getting 3rd party ram for the next two gigs. I already have both Apple and crucial ram in my machine, here are my questions:
1) Is it a bad idea to have a rainbow of different manufactures ram in my Mac Pro? (aka is 1 gig apple 1gig crucial and maybe 2 gig transintl ram?
2) The two more affordable memory companies I am looking at for my Mac Pro are Transintl ($398 2x1gig) and Datamem ($378 2x1gig). I can’t really understand why these two companies can be 100 dollars cheaper then crucial and almost 300 cheaper then Apple. Are these reputable ram suppliers and equal performance or is there a compromise I would be making going with the less expensive ram?
I am so thankful that I have this forum of Mac Geniuses to help me out as this is my first Mac purchase. Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving!
mac pro Mac OS X (10.4.7)

1) Is it a bad idea to have a rainbow of different manufactures ram in my Mac Pro? (aka is 1 gig apple 1gig crucial and maybe 2 gig transintl ram?
As long as you install RAM in pairs it doesn't make any difference whether they are from the same or different manufacturers.
2) The two more affordable memory companies I am looking at for my Mac Pro are Transintl ($398 2x1gig) and Datamem ($378 2x1gig). I can’t really understand why these two companies can be 100 dollars cheaper then crucial and almost 300 cheaper then Apple. Are these reputable ram suppliers and equal performance or is there a compromise I would be making going with the less expensive ram?
I've used DataMem for over 10 years with complete satisfaction. Although they do not usually have the cheapest prices, their prices are competitive. They have a good return policy, provide a good product, and are knowledgeable of Mac RAM. I have no qualms recommending them based on my experience.
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Can I mirror my 3rd generation iPad on my Mac mini core 2 duo with 10.6?

Can I mirror my 3rd generation iPad on my Mac mini core 2 duo with 10.6?

You would need OS 10.8.x for mirroring. But no you can mirror your iPad to your mac mini See here for more information http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5404

Does kext signing check 3rd party RAM?

Since Yosemite, Apple introduced kext signing to check drivers.
Are the drivers of 3rd party RAM sticks checked too? Because since Yosemite, my Corsair RAM sticks cause crashes.

Test your memory with Rember. It can be downloaded from here.
http://www.kelleycomputing.net/rember/

Which 3rd party ram can I buy to max out my imac 2.93ghz i7 without the imac shutting down?

Which 3rd party ram can I buy to max out my imac 2.93ghz i7 without the imac shutting down? I know and apple knows that there is an issue with this but, I'm wondering if there is anyone here that has solved this issue. Apple wants waaaaay too much for 16 gigs of memory.

There was an issue with mid/late 2010 iMacs mostly, as evidenced in one of the threads:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2588800
However, I'm not aware of any current or remaining problems. I have a mid 2010 iMac and solved the problem by sticking with a total of 12 GB RAM (4 GB OEM original and 2 x 4 GB added from OWC). So, if you're not sure, contact OWC - they were actively working on the problem last year and if you buy 16 GB from them and they don't work, you can easily return it. Or, be super safe, and stick with a total of 12 GB - I'm finding that 12 is really quite enough even though I do a fair amount of photo, graphics, and video editing.

3rd Party RAM (OWC?) and Keyboard Backlight "Leak"

Good day,
I have purchased a MacBook Pro, 1.83 stock. The 512 that it ships with is sort of a joke, so I plan on upgrading to at least 1.5G, if not 2G from Other World Computing.
My concern is that I've read a few posts indicating that after installing 3rd Party RAM, the keyboard's backlight "leeks" between the keys. In other words, the light that normally illuminates that letters/numbers/symbols instead illuminates the spots between the keys.
So my question is this: Has anyone who has upgraded to OWC "white label" RAM had this problem?
Thanks!

I'm not sure how that would be possible. I have upgraded both the RAM and HD in my MacBook and that doesn't make sense to me.
The backlight mechanism is part of the keyboard and the RAM is underneath the keyboard.
I'm not sure where this light would be coming from.

Cuanta memoria ram soporta la mac mini 2010

Cuanta memoria RAM soporta la Mac Mini 2010

Officially Apple say's 8GB.
see > Mac mini (Mid 2010): Memory specifications and upgrades
However OWC has tested and sells a 16GB kit for it.
see > Apple Mac mini Memory 2010 Mac mini unibody models

Happy to report (Ram upgrade for Mac mini))

Hello All,
I would like to share this info with you, just in case someone wanted to add more Ram to their Mac mini.
I purchased 2X4GB Kingston DDR3 Ram and followed instructions that I found on YouTube and other sources to replac my 2GB Mac mini.
The Kingston ram is very cheap KVR1066D3S7/4G but you should evaluate how much Ram you will need.
If I knew that I will only need 4GB then I would have saved my money in a warmer place (my pocket).
Anyway here is the info of my Mac mini after the RAM upgrade:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          Mac mini
Model Identifier:          Macmini3,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          3 MB
Memory:          8 GB
Bus Speed:          1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          MM31.0081.B06
SMC Version (system):          1.35f0

I'm not sure what your point is here. How does one actually "evaluate" how much RAM you think you need?         I think most would agree that a RAM upgrade is one of the best performance boosters for the money and the simple rule is the more RAM the better. I have a new Mac Mini with 2.3 GHz i5 processors and upgraded to 8GB of RAM from Crucial.com (complete with instructions so you don't have to search YouTube) and noticed an immediate performance increase when working with multiple applications and while playing iTunes, etc. The Crucial upgrade was only $59.99 for 8GB kit and I think the 4GB kit was only $20 cheaper so it doesn't make sense to not get thte 8GB kit.

How can i install 8 gb ram on a mac mini early 2009 when it says i dont need the EFI firmware 2.1?i can only install 4 gb but the side of OWC says i can install 8 gb? what to do?

i have a mac mini early 2009 and i want to install 8 gb ram but it doesn,t work.
it says on the OWC site that i have to install the EFI firmware 2.1 update but it won,t let me,it says(the mac mini)that i don,t need this update.
my kernel is 32bit but my EFI is 64 bit,how can i install 64 bit so i can use the 8GB cause with 32 bit i can,t use more than 4gb ram

Check your computer's EFI Boot ROM version;
1. From the Apple () menu, choose About This Mac
2. Click More Info Under Contents
3. Select Hardware
If your Mac mini's Boot ROM version is the following or more recent, then you do not need the update to use 8 GB of RAM;
Boot ROM Version: MM31.0081.B06

3rd party ram on a mac mini

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