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apple ram

jondunford

jondunford

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
480
1
Going for a poo Moderator
is there any reason to buy apple ram?

unless someone else (work) is buying it, or you are rich enough that the $300 extra is worth spending to save the couple of hours it would take to change it yourself

is it faster?

does putting new ram in void warranty?
 
jondunford said:
is there any reason to buy apple ram?
Click to expand...
The only reason to buy Apple ram is because its easier at the initial purchase and you don't mind paying a premium and/or because its soldered onto the logic board like the MBA and rMBP. Other then that it makes more sense to buy it elsewhere and install yourself and no it does not void the warranty.
 
If you're talking about a 21.5 inch Late 2012 or later, the RAM is not easily user accessible (no access door), and you should go with Apple if you want more than the stock RAM. The 27" has RAM that is easily accessible and replaceable with 3rd party RAM.

If you're having a hardware issue, it's always a good idea to replace the third party RAM with the Apple supplied RAM to be sure it's not causing the issue. The Genius Bar will usually pull out third party RAM and insert their own to check on whether it's causing the issue you brought it in for.
 
Last edited:
macthefork said:
If you're talking about a 12.5 inch Late 2012 or later, the RAM is not easily user accessible (no access door), and you should go with Apple if you want more than the stock RAM. The 27" has RAM that is easily accessible and replaceable with 3rd party RAM.

If you're having a hardware issue, it's always a good idea to replace the third party RAM with the Apple supplied RAM to be sure it's not causing the issue. The Genius Bar will usually pull out third party RAM and insert their own to check on whether it's causing the issue you brought it in for.
Click to expand...

He meant 21.5"
 
jondunford said:
do i need to put the old ram in if i need to go to the genius bar?

or can i sell the apple ram / give it away / use it in something else?
Click to expand...

I think the only reason you'd need Apple RAM is if the RAM slot on your logic board dies, and in that case, they'd probably be willing to swap in a stick of Apple RAM for testing. If the issue is completely unrelated to RAM, then it doesn't matter if it's 3rd party. Just like if the engine on your car blows up, the dealer can't deny a warranty claim because you replaced the factory radio with aftermarket.
 
jondunford said:
do i need to put the old ram in if i need to go to the genius bar?

or can i sell the apple ram / give it away / use it in something else?
Click to expand...
You need the Apple ram in case you have a problem bad enough they decide to swap your system. Looking at the price of third party memory and Apple memory if I wanted 32GB of ram on the 27" iMac, I would get the initial 16GB from Apple and the second memory kit from a third party. I think that little extra premium (considering you shouldn't sell your old memory) is not that much. But this is a personal choice.
 
Bear said:
You need the Apple ram in case you have a problem bad enough they decide to swap your system. Looking at the price of third party memory and Apple memory if I wanted 32GB of ram on the 27" iMac, I would get the initial 16GB from Apple and the second memory kit from a third party. I think that little extra premium (considering you shouldn't sell your old memory) is not that much. But this is a personal choice.
Click to expand...

thanks i never looked closely i just assumed the 16gb option would be 4x4gb!

is it safe to have 16gb apple ram and 16gb from someone else?
 
Bear said:
Yes it is, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it. On my older iMac I'm running Apple+Crucial memory.
Click to expand...

that is true, however, it is better if you have 'matching' RAM from the same manufacturer, I learned the hard way, be it on a PC, with incompatibility of 'mismatching' RAM.
 
2trout said:
that is true, however, it is better if you have 'matching' RAM from the same manufacturer, I learned the hard way, be it on a PC, with incompatibility of 'mismatching' RAM.
Click to expand...
Actually brand isn't as big a deal as making sure the ram matches spec wise.
 
If you buy 16GB RAM from Apple, you should confirm they use two 8GB modules, rather than four 4GB modules. I know they used to use four 4GB modules for 16GB RAM when you purchased the upgrade on a new iMac. Don't know if they still do that. Best to confirm.
 
macthefork said:
If you buy 16GB RAM from Apple, you should confirm they use two 8GB modules, rather than four 4GB modules. I know they used to use four 4GB modules for 16GB RAM when you purchased the upgrade on a new iMac. Don't know if they still do that. Best to confirm.
Click to expand...

It's 2 x 8 GB sticks. And comparing prices from Crucial and OWC, Apple's price is not that much of a ripoff anymore. From Crucial, it costs $171 for a 2 x 8 GB kit. OWC's kit costs $183. That $20-$30 more that Apple charges isn't highway robbery like it once was. So depending on looking at it, that $20-$30 extra may be worth it just for Apple do it and you don't have to deal with the 4 GB sticks that it came with. For me, I got the edu discount which lowers the price down to $180 so that made the decision even easier for me and ordered mine with 16 GB directly from Apple.

Though just checking it again, going to 32 GB is still a complete ripoff at $600..... You telling me 2 x 8 GB sticks costs $200, but adding two more 8 GB sticks adds $400 to the price?
 
2trout said:
I learned the hard way, be it on a PC, with incompatibility of 'mismatching' RAM.
Click to expand...

Reusing / transferring experiences between two different worlds is not always
a good habit. The context counts. Do it with care!
Frequently one can lose more than gain by doing so!
 
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