What DDR RAM and how much can my 2017 MacBook Air hold?

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jppv Author

Level 1

8 points

What DDR RAM and how much can my 2017 MacBook Air hold?

Hi,

I have a 2017 MacBook Air, Serial Number ********** (A1466)

I currently have 8gb of ram, but I need to upgrade it - I run a lot of apps and it takes up a lot of my ram.

From what I collected on the internet - I can upgrade to 16gb of ram (is that the max I can put in this MacBook Air?

If 16gb is the 'unfortunate max' - do you guys have any recommendations on what brand ram I should get and install?

My "About this Mac" says the following for Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Do I have to upgrade to the same DDR? DDR3? And the same MHz, as listed above?

If you guys have any recommendations and information on what the spec of the upgraded ram has to be - please let me know! It would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

– Jon

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Sep 28, 2023 1:19 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ku4hx

Level 7

23,592 points

Sep 28, 2023 10:37 PM in response to jppv

Nobody is forcing you to buy such despised Apple equipment.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

146,402 points

Sep 28, 2023 3:15 PM in response to jppv

I currently have 8gb of ram, but I need to upgrade it - I run a lot of apps and it takes up a lot of my ram.

That's what it's for.

How were you able to determine you need more though? Read Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor.

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Answer 3

jppv Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 28, 2023 3:08 PM in response to stedman1

Wow, that is incredibly unfortunate. I don't understand why Apple does this (other than to get people to pay more money to purchase a more expensive computer with higher ram).

One giant thing I despise about Apple and the way they do things with their computers.

Do you have any ideas on how I could possibly increase my RAM or prevent my computer from using so much RAM? I only actively have Microsoft Edge and Figma open and according to Dr. Buho/BuhoCleaner I am using about 4.4gb of ram.

I understand that there is more being used in the background that I could find in the Activity Monitor.

But is there a way I could significantly reduce the amount of RAM being consumed?

Thank you!

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Answer 4

Sep 28, 2023 3:23 PM in response to jppv

In general unused RAM is wasted RAM, and macOS will always attempt to us3 as much as possible.

Unless memory pressure is red in Activity Monitor, your ram usage is fine, and your 8GB aren’t being taxed.

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Answer 5

Sep 29, 2023 12:11 AM in response to jppv

If your MacBook Air had RAM slots, and you wanted to upgrade the RAM, then getting RAM with the right specs would be extremely important. You cannot use DDR5 RAM on a motherboard designed for DDR3 RAM – or vice versa. The general DDR ("Dual Data Rate") concept may be similar, but the generations are not compatible.

Your 2017 MacBook Air doesn't have RAM slots. The RAM is soldered in. So you can't upgrade it.

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Answer 6

Sep 28, 2023 1:26 PM in response to jppv

The RAM in a 2017 MacBook Air is not upgradeable.

Its soldered onto the motherboard in small chips.

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Answer 7

Sep 28, 2023 1:23 PM in response to jppv

It is not possible to upgrade RAM on a MacBook Air.

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What DDR RAM and how much can my 2017 MacBook Air hold?

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