Earlier iMac models, both iMac 2007 and iMac 2008 can be upgraded to 6GB due to the fact that they use the same chipset (Santa Rosa) used in the latest Macs officially certified for 8GB.
This wasn’t known at the time these machines came out as there were no 4GB memory sticks available at the time. If you wonder if perhaps 2 x 4 GB memory sticks for the total of 8GB can be installed in your iMac 2007 or 2008 to 8GB – the machine will report 8GB available, but this will NOT work as the system will freeze and crash – therefore 8GB in iMac 2007 and 2008 is highly UNSTABLE (this is just the way it is, the motherboard was not engineered with 8GB in mind for these models).
6GB is the unofficial maximum that can work well and be stable on both iMac 2007 and 2008, including all unibody laptops certified originally for 4GB – confirmed by actual users in several Mac community forums (if you google it there are lots of pages on it).
As far as which memory to install, it is interesting to note that you will often hear selling pitches such as “Apple memory” or “OWC memory for Macs” – the best kept secret in the Mac world is that these are only selling strategies, as you can use memory from ANY manufacturer that complies with your computer’s technical specifications (even “PC branded” memory).
For example, Apple doesn’t make its own memory – sometimes in Macs you will see Hynix or other memory modules installed by Apple. OWC memory is nothing but a label on a memory stick with Samsung (or other) chips (and there are only a few memory chip manufacturers in the world). Then when you compare the price tag between “Apple certified” memory and memory sold for PC laptops with the exact same technical specifications (btw. “PC branded” memory works great in Macs too), the price difference is quite radical! They use the same memory chips, so what is the extra cost for? – it is the tax on perception of a brand value and a quality.
Personally, I would use parameters such are warranty (many quality memory manufacturers offer lifetime warranties) and return policies in choosing memory for my Mac (regardless if the memory is Mac or PC laptop branded – chip wise its all the same).
Having said the above, you can upgrade iMac 2007 to 6GB RAM with one “2GB 667Mhz unbuffered so-dimm” and one “4GB 667Mhz unbuffered so-dimm” memory stick from any manufacturer (even if it is sold as a PC memory) complying to PC2-5300 specification.
Similarly, iMac 2008 can be upgraded to 6GB RAM with one “2GB 800Mhz unbuffered so-dimm” and one “4GB 800Mhz unbuffered so-dimm” memory module from any manufacturer (PC branded memory too) complying to PC2-6400 specification.
The below provided table can be used in order to determine which memory modules you need in various configurations for iMacs 2007, 2008 and 2009. Please note that only iMac 2009 can be upgraded to 8GB RAM.
Danny
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