MacBook Air 16GB RAM Upgrade

In this video, I upgrade a Mid-2012 MacBook Air from 4GB to 16GB of system memory, and in the process repairing the machine, which I got with bad RAM. Since this machine never came from the factory with more than 8GB of RAM installed, modifying the SPD, or serial presence detect, info in the system's SPI ROM was necessary in order for it to detect and run with the newly-installed memory.
If you'd like to contact me about performing an upgrade such as this, go to doslabelectron...
A copy of the SPD dump used can be found here: dosdude1.com/fi...
Stencil kit used: www.unionrepai...

[@micleh]

Awesome. Didn't know it was possible to harvest memory modules from SO-DIMMs to use in a Macbook. Props to what you've achieved.

[@Astinsan]

It’s the memory interface and pinout. Lucky for most of us, you weren’t the first to think of it. Look it up :) Happy hacking!

[@johndododoe1411]

I thought memory modules contained an extra chip telling the computer what the chip and module properties are, so the north bridge or CPU can provide the right voltage, timing and address decoding. Thus when Apple soldered the memory, there would either be a similar chip or the equivalent data would be in another firmware chip. And since the information includes electrical properties of the PCB itself, someone would need to figure out the data for each combination of Apple board and unofficial chips. Update: In the second half of this video, he does in fact reprogram that tiny flash chip.

[@ВасилийПопов-м5ж]

@@johndododoe1411 chips itself are dummy. The controller is to put modified rom image

[@TechMex27]

Collin, thanks for working on my 2015 MBA 11", works like a charm after the RAM upgrade to 16GB. Been using it for over a week and am completely satisfied with the service. Much appreciated.

[@dosdude1]

Awesome, glad you like it!

[@sbyseven]

How much did you pay for it?

[@zameerramdianee5718]

@@dosdude1 Hello, do you offer this upgrade as a service? I have two A1370 2gb that needs upgrade.

[@dosdude1]

@@zameerramdianee5718 I do, though the A1370 can only be upgraded to 4GB.

[@joseosuna-carrero1674]

It’s possible for the A2337 to be upgraded, if so, how much can it support?

[@_BYR47]

You’re a monster bro !! Insane dude keeping that unsupported hardware alive!!

[@Collinormous]

This is the kind of content I love on KZbin. Thanks for sharing! I need to buy some stencils - I have my hot air station and have played with reflowing - but I haven't done a full reball before.

[@mndlessdrwer]

your speed and precision at lifting those BGA memory modules with those tweezers is legendary.

[@dreikycaprice]

You should get an award for true sustainability. I’ve been using your patch on my 2011 iMac, but this is next level. I love it. This even looks FUN!

[@KimoKimochii]

what patch?

[@CygnusBlack]

@@KimoKimochii The dosdude Catalina patch.

[@samuelmills4990]

@@CygnusBlack Couldn't live without the Catalina patch!

[@wwjoshdew]

Dude… wtf. You are literally the best. I had no idea this could be done. Friggin love your work man.

[@jimwheeler6094]

This is one of the most interesting videos that I've seen on KZbin in a very long while. I had no idea that this type of work could be done outside of a highly specialized repair facility. Good job and very impressive work!

[@jbrooks4282]

I'd love to see a 2015 15" MacBook pro retina with 32gb.

[@ares9304]

My exact thoughts. My 2015 15" would be perfect for this.

[@ОлегВячеславович-т1о]

it's imposible

[@jbrooks4282]

@@ОлегВячеславович-т1о who said it was impossible? They said it was impossible to upgrade MacBook air to 16gb yet here we are.

[@PedroPauloAmorim]

@@jbrooks4282 CPU doesn't support.

[@jbrooks4282]

@@PedroPauloAmorim According to Intel's website the i7 4980HQ (the CPU present in the 2.8ghz 2015 15" retina MacBook pro) supports 32gb of DDR3L 1600 in 2 channels non ECC.

[@BluesfireTV]

Absolute insanity. Never seen someone do something like this, mad props.

[@honda_fanboy]

Oh my god, if you do this on a regular basis, there will be less e waste. Good Job Collin!

[@honda_fanboy]

I hope I knew how to solder and stuff so I could keep using my 2013 MBA even after upgrading from it a month ago

[@MexicaliBenchmark]

@@honda_fanboy you can request the service and still use it or sell it

[@thatdude5104]

That stencil and the holder looked really good, I think it can make things way less complicated!

[@RyanKarolak]

I have this Macbook Air. I'd love to do this, but I don't think I have the soldering skills to pull it off. It's awesome that you were able to do this and record the process! Nice job!

[@mashunvs]

Yeah, from experience video seems much easier. Couple of practices on dead boards will give you the confidence.

[@anoopraha7166]

Just Take precautions like heat taping surrounding and use plenty of flux. Watch for Heat gun flow so that nearby components don't fly away . It is simple .

[@koobydotnet]

This is phenomenal stuff! I also see that you've helped out with the OpenCore Legacy Patcher project! Awesome!

[@aykhanislamzade]

Bro. You are insane. This is some good soldering skills. Good luck with your work!

[@poorlydrawnstickman1660]

Love your content on MacBooks! You do what apple won’t. Keep it up!!!

[@whitebeartigtig]

Projects like these is why I need to learn how to solder. Would love to breathe new life into older systems like this. I know soldering projects like these are difficult to learn how to do and I don't expect to be able to do them instantly.

[@VolodymyrViner]

Same. When I have some disposable income I'm definitely going to invest in all the proper equipment and learn how to do it properly.

[@whitebeartigtig]

@@VolodymyrViner that's also part of the problem for me, I don't just have the money to buy dead boards along with all the equipment too.

[@DigitalJedi]

My advice is to see of it's applicable to any of your current hobbies. If it is, then you already have a starting point to work from. It helps get over that first step into doing it. I started off with RV cars and small combat robots. Now I do computer repairs and port replacements.

[@abdo.3asal]

Dude this was Awesome , the amount of knowledge that u have and shared and the skill you showed you earned a new subscriber ,Mad props

[@aen1528]

When dosdude is better than the manufacturer you can’t do nothing but applaud hard Great job man

[@beingatliberty]

dosdude making apple hardware do happy backflips, undoing all of the garbage that apple forced on users unnecessarily, ram limitations , non upgradeability etc. marvellous to watch.

[@axethepenguin]

I’m pretty sure ram limitations is intel’s own fault

[@vazador]

EXCELLENT job Collin!!!!!!! You are something else man, congrats!!!! Got a question, would you be able to post the link for the stencils you used for this process? Would be very much appreciated. Thanks again for the great content!

[@dosdude1]

I'll update the description with a link.

[@vazador]

@@dosdude1 thank you very much sir!!!!

[@glaubhafieber]

You’re the dude, man. Apple Store in iconsiam Bangkok understood the term dosdude style when i was talking with employees there. But actually they’re honest enough to send people to independents for rossmann style repair

[@chadwickcloister5143]

those machines still ran good. i bet it cooks now. i have seen the ram upgrade process before one time, it's the souce of the ram chips that is genius. i have one mid 2012 and 3 early 2015 11 inch and one early 2015 13 inch

[@MikieLAX]

The first part of your awesome video (unsoldering the 4 RAM chips four times) reminds me of when I was 10 years old and my father took me to the theater to see his favorite "star" Frank Sinatra, in Oceans 11. Being a geek, I loved the scenes where they were using the invisible paint to setup the casino for the big robbery AND when they repeated those sequences in each of the other 3 casinos being setup to be robbed on New Years Eve at the stroke of Midnight. Of course, you have modernized this repeated activity with time-lapse photography! Great work! I have sent you an email about upgrading my 2 recently purchased used 2014 Mac Minis!

[@ezzbuttheyshouldntleavethe5529]

your existence scares me, keep up the good work!

[@PoconoPCDoctor]

Amazing. You have got the skills. I am guessing the equipment is not cheap. My soldering skills are basic. It does seem a shame that Apple wants to keep this process so locked down. ✅💻

[@personalPickle]

greatest respect for your work, I'd love to pay for your services!

[@rawstarmusic]

Quite amazing. It takes all the skills to do this.

[@cambike]

Great work, little tip for you. Use pointy needle to scratch around chips before removing. That way you can easily align chips visually.

[@perish1n]

I love your work man Just keep it up Hopefully you can cash in on your huge and useful knowledge 🤞😁 But even if you dont , you will always have a satisfaction for helping millions of people worldwide 💖

[@libertarian1637]

I still run a MacBook Pro from mid-2012; I also updated to 16 GB years ago, which also wasn’t a standard from Apple which shows maxed specs at 8 GB. You can also modify/modernize the mid-2012 machines to use PCIE Gen 3 NVME SSDs along with allowing them to accept two 2.5” HDDs or SSDs, though this does require the elimination of the DVD drive; you can also upgrade the WiFi to AC. With a Pentium Core i7 these computers can compete with plenty of modern computers in running OSX, Windows, or Linux, with the exception of OSX 11+ and Windows 11 as Apple and Microsoft have established hardware restrictions/limits on these newer operating systems.

[@prod.7590]

I like this kind of videos on KZbin. You are doing interesting things for many years, so thank u for it

[@daspec]

Colin is THE #1 dude! 😎

[@diegosalgo]

Amazing, great job! Unfortunately the newer m1 macs can't upgrade the ram because they are inside the SOC 😖

[@BuzZ.]

some of the most satisfying content on KZbin

[@DragonBlazeDesigns]

Thank you I had feeling others can do this or with other parts see it step by step is really good info am a seller of parts I had others say why to sell old CPU to ram to GPU to boards no one wants that I had feeling can be remade or use on other upgrades A+ great job on that repair

[@FabioOlczewski]

would you be able to push the motherboard to function with 32GB ram?

[@lexsmith8689]

this is pretty elaborate piece of work.. I suppose i have an admiration for anyone who has the balls, energy and patience to deal with any apple sh.t .. this dude is awesome..

[@utforskaren3031]

wow impressive thanks for having people who have a high level of knowledge to figure things out

[@cappuccino-1721]

Apple: Forces people to pay for more RAM upgrades at time of purchase. Or Buy new computer when something goes wrong Dosdude1: Hold my soldering iron

[@nitro-ww6sk]

wow i highly impressed by your hardware and programming abilities !

[@JamieTheEnby]

I wonder if you’re able to do this on the 2012/13 retina MacBook Pro’s but upgrade it to 16 or even 32 gb

[@Howeitworks]

Good stuff dosdude1! Keep up the great work!

[@mystic316]

yes! you are right, the MacBook Air's offered with 16GB of ram from Apple are the Retina 2018-2020 MacBook Airs

[@daverichardson7289]

Amazing video, and really amazing to give these older Mac's extra life- thank you!

[@michaelsilverman341]

That is incredible DOS Dude. You are the DOS MAN

[@unseenviews745]

How much temprature use? How much air flow? Very good information.

[@zekepliskin6398]

It's truly stunningly impressive to see a 10 year old machine rocking as much RAM as my current 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Pro does as a base model, and how quickly it boots. Also learned that 2012 MBA boards *aren't* limited to 1333MHz memory; as I suspected they can take 1600MHz just like the later years do. Direct question to dosdude 1 actually; I believe that on 2015 15" MacBook Pro Retina models the maximum is 16GB, which mine already has installed, is that right? I always wondered if it could be taken to 32GB but it appears 16GB is the hard limit for a lot of models in the 2011-2015 Core i5/i7 era.

[@PanosPitsi]

I learned it the hard way, I got an 8gb mac mini in quarantine for uni and 8gbn ram was unusable for more than 1 program and a chrome instance at a time. Basically macbooks are great but the bbase model doesnt make sense practically u need to spend 400 more+ vat to make it usable. I had to buy a ryzen laptop tldr

[@ProjectPhysX]

Almost every laptop manufacturer: To upgrade/replace the RAM, just plug in the new SODIMM modules. Apple: This is not possible unless you can do reflow microsoldering...

[@retal052]

Not these days.... most thin and light laptop manufacturer uses the same process as Apple. Apple just made it "normal" :( hopefully things will change with right to repair, but not holding my breath.

[@indigosandwiches]

@@retal052 well... Yes, and no. There's a reason luggable computers don't exist anymore. With today's technology and incredible performance, you could totally pack a portable supercomputing powerhouse with, like, 50 compute nodes into a 10KG package! Upgrade everything in it! Have amazing expansion! Sure, it's 'portable'! Consumer demand dictates the products we consume. The majority of consumers like thin. light designs, made from premium materials and enclosures with as few visible seams as possible. Finishing a flagship phone in plastic today would never happen. Even if it also had a battery with alien tech and was last on the charger when dinosaurs roamed the earth. 'Yes, it's amazingly resistant to shattering! It even bounces!' Every product has compromises - introducing removable batteries and upgradeable anything again means increasing product weight or thickness. Or, compromises in material choice, fit and finish, price, etc. Absolutely product lifespan/ease of replaceable components should again be reconsidered, but the consumers aren't going to be as willing to adopt such when we've been so spoilt already.

[@FixTechStuff]

Impressive! I love what you do with old mac's.

[@skerto1]

Já já isso chega em todos locais do Brasil, espero que chegue

[@antoniojunior5710]

tbm estou esperando

[@foam4123]

this is god mode. Incredible!

[@nitroman2266]

Bro, this is awesome. Do you know if this is possible on the MacBook Air, early 2013?. Also, is there a process to finding out which Sodium sticks are compatible? Btw, huge fan of your projects.

[@Periimplantar]

Great tutorial, man! Thanks! Would it work in a 2013 Macbook air?

[@dosdude1]

Yes, and in those it is much easier, as they only have 4 chips.

[@Vwvt82]

I have a 2015 MacBook Air 4gb how much would it be to upgrade it to 16gd I’m really interested

[@HeuderM]

Impressionante. Um profissional de alto nível. Parabéns pelo trabalho!

[@lucasnoroes]

Heuder, você conhece alguem que faz esse trabalho no brasil?

[@the.real.ipatch]

really hoping you can upgrade a macbook pro 2013 late model from 16gb to 32gb 🤞

[@CatBacon-qc5ot]

This is amazing, you guys are doing the lord's work, fantastic.

[@luis11347]

Good quality content I don't miss any of your videos. greetings from 🇲🇽 City

[@cleanycloth]

That is awesome. Makes me want to buy up some old Mac boards and play about with them to learn new soldering skills 😝

[@yooverthere]

Phenomenal. Simply phenomenal. That was soooo cooool to watch. Thank you for sharing it and congrats!! I'd be curious to know what the performance was like.

[@Sanjuro2112]

dosdude1 does what the rest of us wish we could do.

[@HardProduct]

Very neat video! I remember how I tried to mod the X99 BIOS to get XEON V3 turbo unlock mod to work... it was painful you on the other hand have a really good understanding what you are doing. Keep up the good work.

[@Ben79k]

In the system info you should change the Upgradeable RAM string from No to Yes just because it's incorrect now :)

[@BrandonMitchell84]

What does this kind of repair/upgrade cost (what do you charge ) , would love to have my 8gig retina upgraded to 16gb

[@BGRUBBIN]

Getting some serious Steve Wozniak vibes!

[@pkt1213]

You're insane...in the best way. I have been working up wipe and update my wife's old macbooks and it's insanely frustrating.

[@Junkyard_Dawg]

I remember some Apple fanboy saying soldered memory is an advantage because it would not be prone to the failures of removable DIMMs/SO-DIMMs. I wish I would of seen something like this years ago.

[@Junkyard_Dawg]

I heard the same. I cannot stand fanboys.

[@Verssales]

Apple: We can't offer a 16gb macbook air, it's physically impossible. Men with a heat gun at home: Hold my beer.

[@maklogetrich2378]

it's hot air station actually

[@beenine5557]

@@maklogetrich2378 And women with a hot air station, too. The beer stays the same.

[@DangerousPictures]

I am fully expecting you to remove the ram sticks of your main PC, upgrading the ram sticks itself and putting them back into the PC.

[@ABTOMOTO]

Great job! Keep it up, buddy! I watched this video several times and really enjoyed it.

[@plushardware]

Hi sir! great job. What brand are the memories you put on it? Thank you so much

[@Josh.Davidson]

This is awesome, great work as usual.

[@UNVIRUSLETALE]

would be amazing to do on my yoga 730 which was only sold with 8gbs in my country, wish I had the tools and skills to do so

[@gakujiharaguchi3845]

Excellent !! Ofcourse I can not , I don't try , I respect you !!!!

[@geekPlayground]

Great work. This is super complex and a delight to watch. Thanks for the video.

[@LuisCarlosEChaves]

gran vídeo!!! es posible en macbook air 1369 mid2011?

[@tahaak]

If you have the ability of BGA and microsoldering you have unlimited power on doing great projects

[@CAA84788]

This guy is a legit wizard

[@jmssun]

11:45 I wonder if this high temp treatment affects magnetic strength over time

[@bradnelson3595]

Pretty nifty modification.

[@jovieasyrof2017]

dude, you're insanely genius!

[@Serua1]

hello whats the total price of it to upgrade to 16gb ram

[@SalemTechsperts]

Man this is so sick.

[@leandrojanuario6412]

i just want to increase my memory thanks for letting me know i gotta pay someone like you to do it.

[@mauriciorodrigues9991]

My friend, you are a genius.

[@kevcheng72]

Could a Macbook Pro 13 inch Touchbar with two thunderbolt be upgraded to 32 GB of RAM?

[@anirudhn1360]

This is amazing. I was contemplating getting a new laptop. But looks like it can wait as this seems like a good work around. I have an Early 2015 MacBook Air with 8 gb of ram and would like to upgrade it to 16 gb. Any idea what RAM I must use for this version of the MacBook? Could you help me with a model number please?

[@dosdude1]

For 2015 MacBook Airs, I use Elpida EDFB232A1MA-JD-F chips, which are 1866 MHz 4GB chips. These models use four LPDDR3 chips, so four of these will give you 16GB of 1866 MHz RAM. You can get these from AliExpress, and setting the SPD strap resistors to the “16GB Elpida” setting will run them at their rated 1866 MHz speed.

[@davidpatrick1813]

I am thinking of buying an Early 2015 MacBook Air with 4GB Ram and 128 SSD from a friend. I found I can upgrade the SSD ... can I upgrade the RAM as well and if so do you have a video and what to do? This video looks like something I might not be able to do though.

[@anunakischile8673]

I’ve done some reballing before, and I have exactly the same Mac mid 2011, the only part I get lost is reprogramming the “what?” With the eprom programmer. Such a nice video dude

[@beenine5557]

Reprogramming the SPD, "Serial Presence Detect".

[@t3cnogamer]

You can upgrade the ram? I have the same macbook

[@augustoconstante8780]

dude, you're a rockstar

[@pattskatoey3139]

Dos dude does it again!

[@Humulus_Lupulus]

It is impressive that and how you pulled that off... But what tasks will be run on a Mid-2012 MacBook Air which require 16 GB of RAM?

[@eileenlucynakurosawa7421]

Most outstanding work!!! Someday something like this to upgrade RAM to M1 family Macs.

[@crispy-k]

Gotta love those expensive apple laptops which you have to buy a new of every 2 years ;) Nice work, really cool vid!

[@tomike544]

Dude, you are freaking AWESOME !!!

[@HomeServiceTech]

is it Possible for you to do the ram upgrade of this Unit and Post in on Ebay or Amazon?

[@shadowhacker27]

While hypocrites talk about saving the planet while making you waste money on new products you don't need by damaging or making useless the ones they told you to buy a few years ago, this man is single-handedly saving the planet and our pockets. Not that I care about no planet since nothing we do matters but still. Props to you.

[@Lanceawright]

I am beholden to your skill! Wow!

[@Maserati7200]

I have this exact same model - 11" MBA 2012 with 4 GB of RAM. Would you do this upgrade for me if I shipped it to you? How much would you charge?