Can I upgrade RAM on my 2017 MacBook?

However, when I run heavy data excel file and ppt, it tends to start overheating and lag a little.

Not surprising. Per the take-apart instructions for that model I just looked up, it appears you have one of the fan-less Macbooks.

Were adding RAM even possible, it would not change the fact that your Mac has a convection cooling system best suited to light tasks.

—Imagine an air-cooled car like the original VW Beetle.

—Now image it with its air fan missing or not turning.

Lag is a reaction to overheating. If thermal sensors on various components detect a significant heat increase, they signal the system to clock back the processor to reduce heat production.

Heat management is on of many tasks handled by the System Management Controller (SMC). You can try and SMC reset to see if that helps, but it's a long shot given your usage needs and the design of that model. Apple instructions for resetting the SMC are here: All other Mac models

The RAM is soldered in. There is no way to upgrade it.

For what it's worth, MacTracker indicates that 16 GB of RAM is the most that any 12" Retina MacBook ever had. All of those from earlier model years, and some of those from the 2017 model year, had 8 GB.

ambar155 wrote:

I have a 2017 (retina, 12-in) macbook (not pro or air). Can I upgrade the RAM on it from 16GB to 32GB? It actually is holding up since purchased in 2019. However, when I run heavy data excel file and ppt, it tends to start overheating and lag a little.

One reason that Mac might lag a little is that it uses a relatively slow Intel mobile CPU. According to MacTracker, the choices were

• A 1.1 GHz Intel® Core™ m3-7Y32 Processor
• A 1.3 GHz Intel® Core™ i5-7Y54 Processor
• A 1.4 GHz Intel® Core™ i7-7Y75 Processor

These were dual-core CPUs with a normal TDP of 4.5 watts, and a maximum configurable TDP of 7 watts. That TDP is low compared even to the TDPs of CPUs used in the MacBook Airs, but seems to be what let Apple get away with a small, fan-free chassis that included a power-hungry Retina display.

If we look at Geekbench (CPU) benchmarks from MacTracker, a 12" 2017 Retina MacBook with a Core i7 has scores of 953 (single-core) and 1707 (multi-core). A 14" MacBook Pro with a plain M4 chip has scores of 3813 and 14837. The 13" and 15" M4 MacBook Airs do not have MacTracker entries yet, but presumably would have similar scores.

So if we were comparing a 13" M4 MacBook Air (the most portable notebook in Apple's current new lineup) to a 12" 2017 Retina MacBook with a Core i7,

• The M4 MacBook Air would probably be up to 4x as fast when it comes to single-core workloads
• The M4 MacBook Air would probably be up to 8 to 9x as fast when it comes to multi-core workloads

You can get M4 MacBook Airs with up to 32 GB of RAM. The one area in which the 12" Retina MacBook wins would be portability. It weighs 2.03 pounds, whereas a 13" M4 MacBook Air would weigh 2.7 pounds.

Comparative weights:

• 12" 2017 Retina MacBook – 2.03 pounds
• 13" MacBook Air – 2.7 pounds
• 15" MacBook Air – 3.3 pounds
• 14" MacBook Pro – 3.4 pounds (M4), 3.5 pounds (M4 Pro), 3.6 pounds (M4 Max)
• 16" MacBook Pro – 4.7 pounds (M4 Pro or M4 Max)

The advantage of a MacBook Pro chassis would be a fancier screen, more ports, a cooling fan or fans – and the option to get a higher-end processor (Pro or Max) (if one needed it for some reason). But the lightest MacBook Pro (14" M4 MBP) would be noticeably heavier than the lightest MacBook Air (13" M4 MBA).

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