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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Consistent with Apple's quest to make its new computers as thin as possible at the expense of expandability, the new 21.5" iMac contains no user-accessible RAM slots. Instead, it can be configured with 8GB or 16GB of RAM direct from the factory. This was first noticed by Cult of Mac.

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The 27" model, on the other hand, can be equipped with up to 32GB of RAM, and has four user-accessible RAM slots via an "easy-to-access memory panel" on the rear of the machine.

From one of Apple's iMac marketing pages:
The 21.5-inch iMac comes with 8GB of memory and can be configured online with 16GB. On the 27-inch iMac, 8GB of memory comes standard, and you can upgrade to 16GB or 32GB. Configure and buy your iMac at the Apple Online Store and it will arrive with the memory already installed. Or add more memory to the 27-inch model yourself by popping open the easy-to-access memory panel on the back.
The 21.5" model ships in November, while the 27" model will begin shipping in December.

Article Link: 21.5" iMac Has No User-Upgradable RAM; 27" Has Four Accessible RAM Slots
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
There are only 17 people in the world who need to custom hand-install 16 GB of RAM in the smaller iMac.

But all 17 of them are about to post :p And I feel your pain: you need what you need!
 

The Phazer

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,995
923
London, UK
The 21.5 model seems to have been made considerably worse in many ways.

At least the 27 inch hasn't been ruined to the same extent it seems.
 

BreuerEditor

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2008
315
328
New Jersey
Thankfully we can upgrade the RAM so we don't have to pay for extremely expensive RAM from Apple and get it from good ol' reliable MacSales.com for a fraction of the cost. Looks like I'll be upgrading my Late '09 27" i7... :D:D:D:D:D
 

petsounds

macrumors 65816
Jun 30, 2007
1,493
519
RAM slots on the iMac? Is this what Tim Cook meant when he said he had something great in store for Mac Pro users?
 

george-brooks

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2011
732
16
Brooklyn, NY
The 21.5" iMac's also are limited to 5,400 RPM HDDs.

Apple clearly wants to make the iMac a "consumer" machine again, forcing pros to buy a mac pro. I think this new iMac update almost certainly means that we will see a revived mac pro, rather than a discontinuation
 

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,133
17,434
Florida, USA
Has anyone found out if the new iMacs use 3.5" or 2.5" hard drives?

I keep thinking they might have switched to 2.5" drives to make them thinner...
 

AppleMacFinder

macrumors 6502a
Dec 7, 2009
796
152
There are only 17 people in the world who need to custom hand-install 16 GB of RAM in the smaller iMac.

But all 17 of them are about to post :p And I feel your pain: you need what you need!

You tell it like "There are only 17 iMac users who can buy and install new RAM by themselves" :eek::eek::eek:
 

AcesHigh87

macrumors 6502a
Jan 11, 2009
985
324
New Brunswick, Canada
I'll keep my 2011 21.5" iMac thanks. I get a 7200 RPM drive and can upgrade the RAM myself up to 32GB. I don't care if my computer is thin, I care if it's functional. Apple is going too far with their drive for thinness.
 

Rudy69

macrumors 6502a
Mar 30, 2009
790
2,415
I've never really been a fan of the 21" anyways. I really wish they would say when you'll be able to order (pre order?) the 27" though
 

Yamcha

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2008
1,825
158
Thats too bad, personally not an issue for me as the entry level comes with 8GB, but I'm sure it'll bother a lot of people..

Not sure why making an iMac this thin was necessary, seems we are continuing to make sacrifices..

- No DVD Drive
- 2.5" Hard Drive 5400RPM
- Memory not upgradable..
- $100 more expensive..

At least the graphics card is faster, the 640M is slightly faster then the 6770M..
 

DivineEvil

macrumors regular
Feb 7, 2009
202
0
F*... it . I'll buy some nice Haswell Mobo and CPU next year and will make myself a Power Mac G5 hackintosh!
 

MrXiro

macrumors 68040
Nov 2, 2007
3,850
599
Los Angeles
I'm glad to hear that the 27 inch model is upgradable the second I saw the new design I was thinking... "Oh crap... no upgradable ram?"

I'm still on last years 27 inch though and I'm poor now, so I shall be sticking with my Fat 27inch iMac.

I wonder if they'll upgrade the Thunderbolt monitor to look this sexy...
 

PeterQVenkman

macrumors 68020
Mar 4, 2005
2,023
0
There are only 17 people in the world who need to custom hand-install 16 GB of RAM in the smaller iMac.

But all 17 of them are about to post :p And I feel your pain: you need what you need!

Add to the list: pray to whatever god you worship that those ram chips never have a problem! it's the difference between a cheap, 5 minute fix by installing a new ram chip, or shipping your entire computer back to apple if it happens to still be under warranty.

It's a sad trend. Let me fix the most common things that break in a computer, Apple.

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RAM slots on the iMac? Is this what Tim Cook meant when he said he had something great in store for Mac Pro users?

I think he meant the new Mac Mini with SSD options, but no more discrete graphics. ;)
 
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