Mac Mini RAM matching

[RecipeForDisaster]

PM'd, it's worth a shot

[Article Accelerator]

RecipeForDisaster wrote:
I had a local reputable shop add RAM to my 2007 Mini so that I can upgrade to Mavs

OS X 10.7.5 ("Lion") is the latest OS version for that model.

They said that when they put two 2gb sticks in, it still only recognized 3gb total.

They are correct.

[Buzz]

Wasn't that 3GB (or 3.3GB) limit a "thing" w/ the first Mac iterations of the C2D offerings? IIRC, there were laptops, iMacs, and Minis of that generation that had the issue, and there was much discussion about speed benefits of matched 2GB DIMM's, even though not all the RAM was recognized.

It was frustrating when those machines were orphaned after Lion, while the next gen 4/6/8GB RAM C2D's got carried much longer in the support queue. Apple should (I/we wish) license, or create a separate support group for Snow Leopard, given the massive number of machine capable of running it.
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[Lew Zealand]

bobinmurphy wrote:
[quote=PeterW]
If you have a 2007 mini, you cannot get it to run Mavericks regardless of the amount of memory. That model tops out at 10.7.5 (Lion).

I understand the technological need for dropping support for older hardware - it's not always just a marketing thing to try and force people to upgrade to newer hardware. BUT, I sure miss the old days when just about any new version of the OS just ran on any older hardware. Maybe didn't run all that great but it gave one a chance to test out the new features and then decide if they really needed them enough to want to upgrade to newer hardware.
When was that? Apple regularly dropped support for older models through their history.

OS 10 dropped support for all models which didn't ship with a G3 chip or later, and the Kanga
OS 10.3 dropped Beige G3s and WallStreet PBG3s
OS 10.4 dropped iMacs 233-333MHz, iBooks 300-366MHz, Lombard PBG3s
OS 10.5 dropped all G3s, and G4s slower than 867MHz
OS 10.6 dropped all G4s and G5s, desktop and laptop
OS 10.7 dropped all Core Duo and Solo Macs
OS 10.8 dropped Core 2 Duo "Merom" (667 bus) Macs, MacBook 2,1-4,1, MacPro 1,1&2,1

No drops until after then until 10.12. Seems pretty consistent to me.

[Racer X]

Buzz wrote:
Wasn't that 3GB (or 3.3GB) limit a "thing" w/ the first Mac iterations of the C2D offerings? IIRC, there were laptops, iMacs, and Minis of that generation that had the issue, and there was much discussion about speed benefits of matched 2GB DIMM's, even though not all the RAM was recognized.

It was frustrating when those machines were orphaned after Lion, while the next gen 4/6/8GB RAM C2D's got carried much longer in the support queue. Apple should (I/we wish) license, or create a separate support group for Snow Leopard, given the massive number of machine capable of running it.
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The Core Duo machines topped out at 3.3 gigs, essentially 3 gigs. I have a C2D MBP, which can see 6 gigs, with a 2 and a 4. Right now it has 2 2 gig sticks.

[RecipeForDisaster]

Well, it's good to know that (I didn't look into maximums because I "knew" the matching rule, and apparently the shop didn't either) , and it does work fine now. I really like it, so hopefully one of my family members can keep using it....