Can I use a PC3-10600 memory on a MacBook with PC3-8500 slots?

Solution 1:

You should be able to use the faster RAM without a problem. No guarantees when it comes to RAM compatibility that hasn't been vendor qualified (which is seldom an option) so make sure you buy from someone with a good return policy.

You might consider buying through somebody like OWC (macsales.com) that specializes in Mac parts.

Solution 2:

I recently upgraded my Mid-2010 13 inch MacbookPro 7,1 to 16 GB using cheaper PC3-10600 DDR3 modules.

It did involve taking a chance on a program called Thaiphoon Burner to modify the EEPROM on one of the modules so it could pretend to be PC3-8500. The OS would not boot otherwise. I would not recommend trying this unless you're comfortable with all the steps involved.

An alternative is to use one 8 GB PC3-10600 module along with a 4 GB PC3-8500 module for a total of 12 GB, but there would probably be a speed penalty from having mismatched module sizes.

OWC has a blog post Certain 2010 MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models join the ’16GB’ MaxRAM club going into more detail.

They list the following requirements:

• A Mac mini (Macmini4,1), MacBook (MacBook7,1), or 13” MacBook Pro (MacBookPro7,1) from 2010

• OS X 10.7.5 or later

• Latest EFI Update for your machine