i called an apple store that claimed that they can upgrade ram in store. when i asked about the soldered on RAM, they said a tech could do it in about 45 minutes. is this legitimate? I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere in the forums, thanks!
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apple store claims to upgrade ram in store
- Thread starter Somechineseguy
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I too have heard this from Apple store employees. It's not the only misinformation I've heard them give out. It seems that Apple has reduced the amount of training their people receive. When the product is in very high demand, Apple can let things slide.
yup, misinformed.
I was pretty excited when a local Apple store employee told me that. I got him to go check, and ......
I was pretty excited when a local Apple store employee told me that. I got him to go check, and ......
Some Apple stores DO upgrade the Ram in the new Air. I was at the West 14 store in Manhattan a few days ago looking for a 4gb low end 13" Air that of course they didn't have. An employee, however, told me that the ram could be upgraded in the store within the day for a cost of $300-400. I don't remember the exact cost but it was ridiculously high compared to the BTO cost.
Well I certainly wouldn't bet money on this. And I wouldn't have them do it either because of the extra cost.
The Apple folk went as far as telling me that they would buy the original 2gb stick so I would only pay the difference.
Its soldered in. Its not replaceable.
Today's laptops aren't simple to solder either. Everything is soldered using a technique that cannot be replicated without complex manufacturing equipment.
Based on everything thats been reported by those who have taken apart the MBAs, it simply cannot be done.
The store personell are likely confused because most other Apple laptops do have replaceable memory. If/when they'd try it they'd discover that it can't be done.
It would be insanely easy for Apple to upgrade the RAM on either model to 4GB for $500. That's the difference between the base and ultimate model.
It would be insanely easy for Apple to upgrade the RAM on either model to 4GB for $500. That's the difference between the base and ultimate model.
It's very simple you open the back and just transfer the ssd from one machine to one with the extra ram. Take about 5 minutes. Otherwise you need a surface soldering machine and all the related equipment.
The flash RAM in the new MBAs is not contained in an enclosure, such as the SSDs used in MBPs. The MBAs' flash RAM is a series of chips, which are soldered to the logic board. As another poster has already explained the soldering required to be done on an MBA's logic board requires sophisticated manufacturing equipment of a type that Apple would be unlikely to issue to an Apple Store. Thus, the option of transferring an SSD from one machine to another, as one could do between MBPs, can't be done to MBAs.
Swapping the FS on the MBA can be done in 8 steps:
and an additional 7 steps to get to the logic board:
With the right screw driver, a tech can do that in 1/2 hour.
and an additional 7 steps to get to the logic board:
With the right screw driver, a tech can do that in 1/2 hour.
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The flash storage is changeable, but the actual RAM is on the motherboard, most likely they are BGA chips would at a minimum need a hot-air rework station to remove and replace, and even then it would be difficult and nothing someone would be doing in a store.
While it may be true that the employees are uninformed you still might want to get a confirmation about that from the manager of the store before giving MR members so much credit. Also, what do you expect from employees who are paid $10/hr to stand on their feet all day dealing with an internet cafe full of annoying teens on Facebook that have no intention to buy?
While it may be true that the employees are uninformed you still might want to get a confirmation about that from the manager of the store before giving MR members so much credit. Also, what do you expect from employees who are paid $10/hr to stand on their feet all day dealing with an internet cafe full of annoying teens on Facebook that have no intention to buy?
I expect them to know their products. These people do get training, or at least they used to.
There hasn't been any proof so far in what they were claiming was wrong. Until the OP gets full clarification of this the employees "could" be right about the upgrade. I understand what you're saying but sometimes MR geeks here expect too much, for example one member expected the employees to know how much space would be left on the hard drive with OS X, iLife and iWork installed? Who knows? Their demos have a lot more on them plus iTunes songs so it was way too much to expect them to know that. You're lucky if you can go to Best Buy's computer department and find an employee that know's what OS X is?
But they can choose to swap out the entire logic board (2nd pic above), just like when someone spilled water and fried it. Apple tech and replace the board in store providing they have the parts. Note: I am not saying they will, but they *could*.
They get more "formal" training when there's a big launch involved.
For updates (like the Air), Apple bullet-points the new things and makes it available for the employees to read on a intranet portal that employees are supposed to check once per shift.
As you've seen, with slower moving products like the Air, there's a lot of employees that aren't reading (and/or retaining) all of that information.