New MacBook Pro Does Not Support 8GB RAM (for now)

Luke from iFixit.com was kind enough to test out a new NVIDIA-based MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM (two 4GB chips) to see if the earlier reports were true. NVIDIA representatives had stated that the new chipsets used in the MacBook and MacBook Pro could support up to 8GB of RAM. Previous generation MacBook Pros could only reliably support up to 4GB of memory.

Preliminary results show that while the new MacBook Pro did recognize the entire 8GB of RAM, during actual usage, the computer appeared to be limited to 4GB:

165131 ram 400

The machine would hit an invisible wall at 4GB and act like it had run out of memory. In the larger screenshot, two instances of Parallels can be seen (both set to 2GB of RAM). The second instance, however, only occupies a small portion of RAM expected. It's unclear why this limitation exists, as Mac OS X is able to use more than 4GB on Apple's Mac Pro. As a result, MacBook and MacBook Pro owners should not expect to be able to upgrade to 8GB of RAM at this time.

iFixit has posted a disassembly guide for the new MacBook Pros including RAM replacement and will post updates about these results after further testing.

170021 about this mac 90
170020 activity monitor parallels 90
170019 asp 90


Update: More results.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Tuesday June 24, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Apple CarPlay Ultra cluster Now Playing

These Apple CarPlay Ultra Partners Now Say They Won't Support It

Wednesday June 25, 2025 5:03 am PDT by
Apple is facing mounting resistance from automakers over CarPlay Ultra, the next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles that was announced last month. A new (paywalled) Financial Times report claims several major brands are walking back their earlier commitments to support the upgraded dashboard software. German luxury manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Audi have both...
ios 26 control center b2

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 2

Monday June 23, 2025 2:57 pm PDT by
Apple provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26, introducing the first changes and refinements to the new operating system since it debuted after the WWDC keynote. Because we're early in the beta testing process, there are quite a few tweaks to iOS 26, which we've rounded up below. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Control Center The background behind the...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices from credible sources. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
foldable iphone mockup

Foldable iPhone Leak Reveals New Camera Details

Thursday June 26, 2025 3:01 am PDT by
A new rumor today surfaced about Apple's book-style foldable iPhone, set to be released next year, and this time it's about the cameras. Mockup of foldable iPhone in its unfolded state (Image: Digital Chat Station) In a previous report, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expects the foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold" for short) to include a dual-lens rear camera, but Kuo provided no other...
iPhone 18 Punch Hole Feature

Here's What Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Display Could Look Like

Wednesday June 25, 2025 12:07 am PDT by
If you've been following iPhone 18 Pro reports recently, you'll know that there are two competing rumors from usually reliable sources about how Apple plans to integrate Face ID into the display, and both of them likely affect the fate of the Dynamic Island – and in turn the overall look of the display itself. Last month, The Information's Wayne Ma said that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18...
HomePod 2 and Mini feature 2

iOS 26 Brings New Functionality to HomePod

Wednesday June 25, 2025 9:27 am PDT by
With the launch of iOS 26 and HomePod Software 26, Apple is adding support for Crossfade, an Apple Music feature that improves transitions between songs. Beta testers who have the second HomePod Software 26 and iOS 26 betas now have an option to enable Crossfade. The toggle is a little bit hidden, but it can be found by opening up the Home app, going to Settings, tapping on a person's name,...