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AppleInMyBlood

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
202
0
I use all of those programs both at work and home with third party RAM and neither has ever had an issue, even with multi-day long renders. The RAM that Apple uses is the cheapest crap that they can get away with, which is pretty much in line with any "bargain" RAM.

You're doing yourself a favor on both a quality and financial level by purchasing third party RAM.

I want to be clear on this. Are you saying that you know for a fact that RAM from Crucial or whichever company you recommend is of higher quality than the RAM Apple installs? A few more questions:

1. How do you know this? I'm asking seriously--you may well be right and if so, I would certainly reconsider. But I find it hard to believe (see question #2).

2. What do you mean by "quality"? Less prone to failures, or better performance? If it's the latter, why would Apple skimp on good RAM if they know the machine will not perform as well on benchmarks, which they also know are pretty important upon release of a new product. The computer is comparatively expensive, uses pricey materials and a first-class display, yet they save a few bucks by putting in crummy RAM? Just doesn't sound very likely to me. Also, if Apple RAM is "cheap crap," how is that we don't hear stories about more failures or slower performance with the Apple-installed RAM? Maybe I've missed all the complaints. I can accept that the Apple RAM may not offer any better performance or less failure rates--who really knows? But worse performance or higher failure rates? Hmmmm...
 

southerndoc

Contributor
May 15, 2006
1,832
504
USA
I purchased Apple's 32GB upgrade when I ordered my iMac. I've installed memory myself in prior iMacs, and perhaps my laziness is showing as I didn't feel like fooling with it this time. It's not a huge hassle, but I wanted to get the machine up and running as quickly as possible. Luckily I can afford to spend the money on the memory.
 

12dylan34

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2009
884
15
I want to be clear on this. Are you saying that you know for a fact that RAM from Crucial or whichever company you recommend is of higher quality than the RAM Apple installs? A few more questions:

1. How do you know this? I'm asking seriously--you may well be right and if so, I would certainly reconsider. But I find it hard to believe (see question #2).

2. What do you mean by "quality"? Less prone to failures, or better performance? If it's the latter, why would Apple skimp on good RAM if they know the machine will not perform as well on benchmarks, which they also know are pretty important upon release of a new product. The computer is comparatively expensive, uses pricey materials and a first-class display, yet they save a few bucks by putting in crummy RAM? Just doesn't sound very likely to me. Also, if Apple RAM is "cheap crap," how is that we don't hear stories about more failures or slower performance with the Apple-installed RAM? Maybe I've missed all the complaints. I can accept that the Apple RAM may not offer any better performance or less failure rates--who really knows? But worse performance or higher failure rates? Hmmmm...

I was probably overzealous in saying that it was "cheap crap." Sorry, I tend to do that a lot. I just heard someone else say it before and decided to believe it without checking.

The fact is, though, is that it's not better than anything else that you will get. I looked at some G.Skill RAM (a good brand with a lifetime warranty) that I have in my iMac and the chips underneath say "Hynix" on them, the same brand that Apple uses.

Hynix is apparently the second largest RAM manufacturer in the world, and, supported by what I said above, their chips are in a lot of anything else that you might buy. The only difference is that you'll be paying more like $180 for 32GB and not $600 if you buy from Apple.

I was worried about buying third party RAM to a certain extent too, but I got 32GB of the appropriate memory on sale for $100, and I couldn't be happier. On every benchmark test, I get scores in line with what people with Apple factory memory are using. Furthermore, it has a lifetime warranty, as would the memory from Crucial or OWC, something that you don't get with Apple's RAM.

Really, it just comes down to if you want to/can pay 3x for something that, in many cases, is literally the same thing. I'm a poor college student, so the choice was obvious for me, but your case may be different. It's just convenience vs. savings.
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
I went for the 16GB on my rMBP. Didn't bother me paying the extra tbh given how long i want this machine to last.
 

AppleInMyBlood

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
202
0
I was probably overzealous in saying that it was "cheap crap." Sorry, I tend to do that a lot. I just heard someone else say it before and decided to believe it without checking.

The fact is, though, is that it's not better than anything else that you will get. I looked at some G.Skill RAM (a good brand with a lifetime warranty) that I have in my iMac and the chips underneath say "Hynix" on them, the same brand that Apple uses.

Hynix is apparently the second largest RAM manufacturer in the world, and, supported by what I said above, their chips are in a lot of anything else that you might buy. The only difference is that you'll be paying more like $180 for 32GB and not $600 if you buy from Apple.

I was worried about buying third party RAM to a certain extent too, but I got 32GB of the appropriate memory on sale for $100, and I couldn't be happier. On every benchmark test, I get scores in line with what people with Apple factory memory are using. Furthermore, it has a lifetime warranty, as would the memory from Crucial or OWC, something that you don't get with Apple's RAM.

Really, it just comes down to if you want to/can pay 3x for something that, in many cases, is literally the same thing. I'm a poor college student, so the choice was obvious for me, but your case may be different. It's just convenience vs. savings.

That's helpful, thanks. And no worries about the overzealouness--I've been guilty of that myself! :)
 

Apple fanboy

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Feb 21, 2012
55,097
52,712
Behind the Lens, UK
I went for Apple's RAM in my 21". There is no way I would be happy to take this apart. If I had gone for the 27" I would probably have bought the RAM and installed myself. At the end of the day it's a choice thing. Some people pay a guy to change or top up the oil on their car. Others like to do it themselves.
 

Stevi

macrumors member
For me I calculated the time effort, energy and cost into the equation and decided for the price difference I was happier having my iMac arrive fully loaded. My iMac has 16gb of RAM. Had I felt the need for 32gb, I think I would have done it differently as the price difference is much higher.
 

bill phillips

macrumors regular
Dec 8, 2012
221
0
one caveat that should be mentioned though is that although installing macbook pro ram is also quite simple, it is still much more involed than opening the compartment on the 27 inch and putting ram in and closing it....paying for imac ram is just retarded
 
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