How hard will it be to upgrade RAM on 21"

[MorganJones]

I already know that the RAM is not user upgradable but does this new stir friction welding make it even harder for us to pull apart the iMac to install our own RAM anyway?

[mrbrown]

Originally Posted by MorganJones

I already know that the RAM is not user upgradable but does this new stir friction welding make it even harder for us to pull apart the iMac to install our own RAM anyway?

I would guess that the RAM on the 21" iMac might just be soldered into the motherboard, if their latest laptops are any indication....

[joe-h2o]

Originally Posted by MorganJones

I already know that the RAM is not user upgradable but does this new stir friction welding make it even harder for us to pull apart the iMac to install our own RAM anyway?

We have no idea until someone does a teardown. It might not be upgradable at all - ie, soldered to the logic board.

It might just be hard to get to. Until someone actually gets their hands on one and takes it apart, the only people who can give you a definitive answer are Apple themselves.

[MorganJones]

Now that would really suck... Looks like an expensive leap for 16 gb RAM then

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by MorganJones

I already know that the RAM is not user upgradable but does this new stir friction welding make it even harder for us to pull apart the iMac to install our own RAM anyway?

No idea until the first tear down, usually within 24-48 hours of release.

[MojoRisinSD]

Originally Posted by MorganJones

I already know that the RAM is not user upgradable but does this new stir friction welding make it even harder for us to pull apart the iMac to install our own RAM anyway?

The new welding process will have no effect on getting into the iMac. Everything depends on if they still use magnets or some kind of clips to hold the glass/display in place. If they do still use magnets or clips, it will be possible if the ram is not soldered to the logic board. If the display is held in place with any kind of adhesive, you will probably be out of luck.

[JaHull]

Originally Posted by mrbrown

I would guess that the RAM on the 21" iMac might just be soldered into the motherboard, if their latest laptops are any indication....

looking at the Tech Specs page on the iMac webpage it says "8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory" under the memory section which would indicate that it is not soldered on, since it would be on 1 chip if it was soldered on.

[drambuie]

Originally Posted by JaHull

looking at the Tech Specs page on the iMac webpage it says "8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory" under the memory section which would indicate that it is not soldered on, since it would be on 1 chip if it was soldered on.

It's 2 x 4GB because it's dual channel RAM. The total number of actual chips involved could be 4, 8, or 16, depending on the density of the individual chips. The original 4GB that came with my MBP had 32 total chips, 16 on each module, the 8GB I upgraded to has 16 total chips.