I got another 1GB recently and I was not too impressed with the result. Most programs still take the same amount of time to load but I did notice little things like Mail opens emails quicker.

I bought this RAM stick: Newegg.com - Transcend JetRam 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Notebook Memory - Retail

The MBP recognized it right away by MenuMeters and I ran a RAM test and everything passed. So I guess everything is OK, I was just expecting a big difference from 1GB to 2GB. I guess everyone that notices a huge diff is prob upgrading from 512MB to 1GB or 2GB?

I have a 2.0 core duo MBP.

[Frugle]

yeah my jump from 1 to 2GB wasn't anything impressive either untill I started using FCP editing a 5 camera HD shoot... then I really realized a difference.

so yeah, you don't need 2 in OS X normally , so you won't really notice a difference until you do.

[mfbernstein]

If what you were doing before wasn't memory limited, 2GB is unlikely to make a big difference. That said, if you use Parallels, Photoshop CS2 or Lightroom, as I do, the difference between 1GB and 2GB can be quite noticable.

[Rev2Liv]

Everyone, remember to run a progam called "Rember" which is a memory testing program. Check versiontracker.com to find it.

I'm running 2GB in both a Mac Mini and MBP C2D. With Parallels, even 2GB doesn't seem like enough.

[CanadaRAM]

Adding memory doesn't speed a machine up ... it removes a barrier to speed. It's like saying "Taking my foot off the brake makes my car go fast" -- no, it stops slowing the car down.

If all of your programs, data and OS were fitting comfortably underneath 1 Gb before, then the performance difference from 1 Gb to 2 Gb will be minimal.

If you were regularly exceeding the 1 Gb limit though, that means your machine was swapping memory space off and on the hard drive, which is much slower, so that creates a slowdown. Adding RAM in this case would result in the machine responding at full speed. Until, of course, you opened enough programs, data, widgets, etc. that you exceeded the new 2 Gb barrier, and then, you'll start slowing down again.

Some programs such as digital audio, video and graphics programs, can exploit all the RAM that is available for caching data, so they can run faster with 2 Gb RAM immediately.

Also, adding memory doesn't make an appreciable difference to tasks that are bound by hard drive performance (startup, opening applications and files for the first time) or bound by CPU performance (rendering video)

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM

[SierraDragon]

What other folks said: it depends on your workflow. For folks working graphics apps (e.g. Photoshop, Aperture, etc.) hard, adding RAM makes a huge difference. E.g. just Aperture and OS X will use more than 2 GB RAM if it is available, even keeping all other apps like PSCS2 and Safari (another RAM hog) closed. Due to OS operation Photoshop shows performance improvement at up to 8 GB RAM on board, even though technically PS can only directly access ~3 GB RAM.

I am bummed that my MBP is maxxed out at 3 GB, and when I upgrade my tower to a Mac Pro it will have at least 9 (1 Apple + 4x2 OWC) GB RAM installed.

-Allen Wicks