The keyboard perhaps had 100 characters typed, it's covered by the thin foam packaging and the trackpad wasn't used at all hardly. My Early 2011 is like brand new almost, it still has the factory smell a little. You can always try the 8GB and likely that will be enough, or if it doesn't work, return the RAM or sell it on eBay and get a new machine (newer machines need newer RAM specs usually, but not in all cases) So it's nearly 3 down now and X amount to go, depending how well you treated and took care of it if it's worth spending $300 for another 3 years or not. If it's a 15' or 17' and not heavily used, or if your needs will exceed 8GB RAM, or it has a SSD already, and you have been babying the heck out of it, then perhaps the $300 is worth it.Īverage lifespan of a laptop is about 3-4 years, more with considerable care and wear and tear placed on external devices. If the machine was heavily used, the keyboard and trackpad worn, or if it's a 13', then go for the third party 8GB and stick it in yourself and make do. OS X Lions need 4GB+ easily, programs are being bloated. It's almost 2014 now, that's about 3 years. 2011 machine can hold up to 16GB of RAM, 2-8GB sticks.

What slot does ram go in