Hi, I was just wondering if the same problem occurs with a 5GB or 6GB memory condition, as apple has said the unibody macbooks can actually address 6GB.

I’m not a MacBook user or owner, but from reading the posts here and using simple logic, I would deduce that the problem is either an OSX software bug or a system board hardware issue when configured with 4GB.

The fact that James is reporting such problems he is having with his notebook I feel is welcome. I applaud reviewers who not only look at, but purchase, own, and use the hardware they talk about and otherwise recommend. I have purchased highly-praised equipment in the past having the CNET editors choice stamp of approval, only to find out it was a piece of junk when I turned it on:

http://lgponthemove.blogspot.com/2008/09/first-impressions-gateway-p-7811fx.html

It doesn’t matter whether you are playing with a demo/eval unit or a retail item purchased from a store with hard cash – problems of any kind need to be expressed and brought to the attention of users, prospective buyers, and the manufacturer. How else will you encourage progress if you don’t open your mouth and tell the truth?

James,

In reading the Apple forum, those that got their machine replaced seem to be OK now. Have you gone to an Apple Store and talked to them about this?

BTW, unlike some I have no problems with your Apple coverage here. Well, except your desire to drag Apple into the cheap, cut-rate, low-profit, dog-eat-dog world of netbooks.

I have a major issue with the person above using MY domain as his identity! I have no affiliation with this person Geoff? I am requesting that James or Kevin remove this as Mobility Today does not agree with this person’s comment!

James I’m just here to offer moral support. I have blogged about my problems with Apple before only to be flamed by fanboy idiots who assume I didn’t power the computer on.

You have my sympathies. I’m on the edge of buying an MBP with 4GB ram, and this issue frightens me. I’m upgrading because my CURRENT MBP is so unreliable.

Now I feel trapped. Wary of upgrading. Can’t keep using this system. Can’t change OS platforms.

Good luck to you with the mac issues and the rude fanboys

Geoff – Sorry but the reason I continue to enjoy this site is that James and Kevin DO write about what they are using. I am sure you will agree that we all benefit when JK write a review about the latest device they received and are using themselves. I would much prefer to hear from people who are putting these devices to heavy use rather than just a superficial overview.

well Jeff, the problem is that his “personal issues” unfortunately are happening to a large number of others as well…

I bought 5 Macbooks with a APPLE INSTALLED RAM upgrade and 0 problems! I feel that James continues to use this site as a soundboard for him to get attention!

Do us a favor James and keep your personal issues away from this site. You are going to lose another reader soon!

Apple’s Built in memory test for Macs (MacOS X) is only a very quick test.
using a full test from a tool like the 64bit enabled memtest 86+ that is modified to run correctly under Mac OS X, you can sometimes track down “rare” ram issues.

Using one such testing tool, I’ve been able to track down many cases of “intermittent” problems actually being caused by one or more bad ram modules
memtestosx.org (under $2, only needed if you have over 3 GB of ram, otherwise the free Rember is a GUI version of memtest)

note: The MacPro tower uses FB-DIMMS which include ECC, and will show in System Profiler if they encounter any errors.

Almost half the posts that are currently on your front page are about Apple or directly related to Apple and today is not unique. No other hardware manufacturer receives as much coverage from JKOnTheRun as Apple does these days.

This post (http://www.jkontherun.com/2008/12/apple–buy-a-ma.html) is simply regurgitating an Apple ad.

Me thinks you have some faulty RAM. I was having a couple problems (not major, as in sluggish performance) when I upgraded to 4GB. The firmware update fixed it.

Jake, sorry you feel that way. The majority of the posts here are non-Apple. We cover all facets of mobile technology and Apple products fit into that category.

We don’t do any coverage with an eye to ads. We cover what is topical and what we use. That hasn’t changed nor will it.

This used to be a great site but whenever I come here now it’s just one Apple post after another. It’s all very boring, especially considering the fact that the products are so badly engineered that something as simple as a RAM upgrade causes them to crash.

How many Macs with RAM problems will you put up with James before you stand up to Om Malik, tell him that you’re not going to post about Apple ads any more and go back to writing about something interesting?

Sounds like somehwere along the line, some part of the pc is very finicky about the ram. If it’s not happening when booting to windows, hopefully that means another patch could sort things out in OS X. I’ve seen some very weird things on pc’s happen when ram was moved around.

Gavin, OS X has an excellent RAM diagnostic test. The RAM passes with flying colors, for me and for the others reporting the same problem.