I'm ordering a new 27" 5K iMac. Is it really worth the $600 extra for 32GB of Apple ram or is 32GB of Crucial Memory for only $172 just as good? Why such a difference in price?
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Apple RAM or Crucial.com?
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Go with Crucial if you're comfortable replacing it. Apple always charges crazy amounts for their upgrades because they can.
differences between apple ram and crucial ram
first of all your apple ram may be soldered, then this post should be thrown away
apple ram
apple ram is more expensive, and is only warrantied by your original apple warranty, or apple care. if your applecare runs out and your apple ram dies, your stuck
apple will pay for any damage to your computer if they break something while installing it.
google says the warranty is 1 year.
crucial ram and other companies ram
crucial ram is warrantied for its lifetime. if your ram goes bad, you just pull your ram chip out, get an RMA #, send faxes, and a receipt and they will replace your ram chip free of charge. there is no 3 year warranty on crucial
you may void your warranty by installing it.
if you damage your computer while installing the ram, its your loss.
make sure you unplug your computer. a lot of people just tell you to turn off. you need to unplug the computer and maybe even go as far as pressing the power button or waiting 45 seconds for the "smc controller to reset" before touching the ram chips.
first of all your apple ram may be soldered, then this post should be thrown away
apple ram
apple ram is more expensive, and is only warrantied by your original apple warranty, or apple care. if your applecare runs out and your apple ram dies, your stuck
apple will pay for any damage to your computer if they break something while installing it.
google says the warranty is 1 year.
crucial ram and other companies ram
crucial ram is warrantied for its lifetime. if your ram goes bad, you just pull your ram chip out, get an RMA #, send faxes, and a receipt and they will replace your ram chip free of charge. there is no 3 year warranty on crucial
you may void your warranty by installing it.
if you damage your computer while installing the ram, its your loss.
make sure you unplug your computer. a lot of people just tell you to turn off. you need to unplug the computer and maybe even go as far as pressing the power button or waiting 45 seconds for the "smc controller to reset" before touching the ram chips.
I put Crucial in mine - works great. Look at all the positive reviews on Amazon. Thousands of them. Actually put crucial in 6 Macs over the years so far - no problems.
Also most people want more than 8Gb but certainly don't need 32GB, (you will know of course if this is true for you) and the 2 slots free in the 27 inch iMac can be upgraded with a 16GB kit and give you 24GB at even better price. Honestly do it yourself, it's the only upgrade you can still do yourself under warranty so it's very easy.
It makes no sense to pay Apple price for RAM when there are so many alternatives that will save you a ton money.
i would pay apple's price if it was soldered or if the computer was glued shut
but i agree with you. it makes no sense to pay apple's price of $600 and get a 1 year warranty when you can get ram for like $175 with a lifetime warranty.
your not saving any money if your clumsy like me and break your retraining clips and interface board in your mac mini 1,1 intel 2006 model when upgrading it to 2 gigs!
That's not what we are talking about. That would be an entirely different scenario and there wouldn't be any alternatives.
I've gone with crucial RAM in all of my Macs since 2009 and their RAM has always been good. Order with the least amount of RAM you can (8GB I think) and upgrade with Crucial RAM as you need to. I would try running with the standard 8GB first to see if you actually need more memory then if you do, it's really easy to add it to the 27" iMac. If you swap all of the Apple RAM out for Crucial RAM (i.e. you go for 32GB) then remember to keep your old RAM for warranty purposes - put it back in if you need to take the computer in for repair
When you open up your iMac, and look at the memory, the odds are you'll recognize the brand name...
Hynix, Kingston, Crucial... Have run into all 3.
You can also do a 1/2 upgrade. I'm running 24GB in mine right now (2x8GB+2*4GB-Apple RAM)
I went with Crucial in mine after reading the posts here on this subject a few years ago. It's a solid product with an excellent reputation and warranty.