Can a 15" MacBook Pro support 32 GB of RAM?

Intersting idea! Back in 2012 ~ 2014 the only option was two 8 GB SO-DIMM’s. Late in 2015 I had heard of these larger 16 GB SO-DIMM’s. I was intrigued, at the time the current draw and size of these SO-DIMM’s prevented their use. I’m sure they have been improved over the years and maybe they are possible to be used here.

While the DDR3 spec allows for the extra address lines I’m not sure if Apple enabled them in the SO-DIMM sockets which also gets into the PCH chip Apple used in the system as well as if the BIOS (EFI) offers support as well. Don’t forget the macOS version also plays into this too!

What we have seen in older systems is the hardware allowed for a larger SO-DIMM to be used but the memory space above the BIOS limit was ignored (6 GB address limit but system is using 8 GB of RAM as seen in the MacBookPro4,1 models).

Then there is the question of what apps are able to leverage this larger amount of RAM. CAD-CAM and other deep drawing apps, Image and Video editing are now the more common. But, is the system really workable? The i7 models are more likely here the i5 models wouldn’t be very useful.

But even still, the limits of the older CPU architecture make this not the ideal system. As an example the new 16” MacBook Pro with either a hex core or quad core would be a better choice as these heavy memory apps are very dependent on threads, the more the better!

So… Is it possible? It might be! Does it make sense given the limits of the CPU and the rest of the system architecture? I don’t think so.

Also remember! Just because you can doesn’t make it the best investment, this RAM is not cheap!