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Is RAM upgradeable in the Mac Mini?
- Thread starter bumfluff
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I guess a lot of us will anxiously await the "tear downs" then decide which way to go. Sure is nice to have questions about a new mac mini that certainly came!
I am on the fence until I see a tear down, to me it looks far too tight to change the ram without removing the fan enclosure, that will void the warranty, unless it's a clipped on cover.
Upgradeable Ram, but only if done by Apple to protect the warranty is my fear here.
Presumably they knew how narrow the gap was going to be and used a socket that doesn’t require normal amounts of insertion headroom
Having read through these comments, it looks like there's no consensus as to whether the RAM is truly user-upgradable or not..? (I'd like to know the same about the SSD). If not, it would be yet another Apple facepalm moment -- so close to getting it right, then botched. Again.
To be clear, the RAM is user upgradeable. By that I mean there are definitely 2 SO-DIMM Memory slots that allow the DIMM's to be inserted and removed at will.
The question that needs to be confirmed is whether you or I as the user can replace the DIMM's by removing the cover, popping them out and and putting new ones in without touching anything else.
If you look at the position of them with the fan in place (scroll down until you pass the note about memory - https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/
You will see that it looks unlikely that you can get your fingers (Comfortably) into the other side of the DIMM's to release them. Now it may just be the image and the fan is lower than it looks and there is enough room.
If there is enough room, great, they can't void your warranty as you replaced the RAM, not in the EU anyway, but if that fan needs to come out then there goes your warranty regardless of the reason it fails in the future.
I am expecting the image makes it look worse than it is, but we all need clarity.
The SSD is soldered, just like it is in every other device, there is no surprise there and nobody would reasonably have expected Apple to change their stance on doing that.
Look how T2 has that metal frame around it, and it is normal that T2 is soldered to the logic board.
Same metal can be seen around the SSD.
I wouldn't mind it if it wasn't upgradeable if they charged normal prices for RAM!
Long and short of what I have read is that I will be waiting until 11/8 to decide what to do. I think this is where iFixIt shines. They will give it a zero or a one on a scale of fixability, like every other Apple product, but they will also give realistic advice as to the feasibility of changing things out for the hard core to the occasional tinkerer. I know, when I updated my spinner to an SSD in my 2012, I never did get the fan to align just right. I have no problem popping in SIMS, but if it comes back saying that you have to pull a fan and remove this bracket and that card to do it, I will think hard about my options. I am highly skeptical about the SSD swap in this machine. Love it or hate it, this is just an Apple thing now to solder on storage. I would love to be wrong.
And worth an edit. I have been a member since 2010 with 11 posts. Mostly lurking and following the Mac Mini. Yesterday was a nice day. Not earth shattering in a modular machine. Pretty much what I expected, with a seeming bonus of user replaceable memory. I had tempered expectations and this was OK.
And worth an edit. I have been a member since 2010 with 11 posts. Mostly lurking and following the Mac Mini. Yesterday was a nice day. Not earth shattering in a modular machine. Pretty much what I expected, with a seeming bonus of user replaceable memory. I had tempered expectations and this was OK.
The lack of clarity to me indicates it's not really user upgradable, meaning your below-average computer user could do it himself. They probably mean the user can take it to an Apple store to have them upgrade it (at a premium price). Hopefully I'm wrong.
Then another Apple whiff. Could they please make it 2 nanometers thicker so we can swap out the SSD for ourselves?? Otherwise we have to go for the max SSD now in order to "future proof" it, which adds $1,400, which then prices it almost on par with an entry-level Mac Pro, so what's the point?
Which wouldn't be an outrageous move, for Apple at least. Give the users part of what they want at the cost of having to get Apple to do it or void the warranty. "We are not preventing you upgrading the ram on your own, just saying that you need to remove the fan to do it, and doing it will void your warranty."
That's for Apple to answer, however, with USB-C you at least know there is the option later to add a fast, low cost external SSD , whilst not the most elegant solution provides an opportunity to expand the storage and keeps it moving.
Is that given to the press? Or is it available anywhere?
Start thinking external...
Buy what is comfortable now, with cheap external expansion.
Then upgrade externally later for a speed kick, right now a Thunderbolt 3 NVMe enclosure is likely $200 (if the new ones test decently -- and you don't want to bulk buy 500 units on Alibaba for $60), and a reasonably fast 2TB NVMe SSD blade for $600 should get you decent external performance now.
Hopefully speed goes up and price goes down.
You can check out barefeats.com for testing of pre-built external TB3 drives.
They said it was so-dimm. He also said they listened to users and heard them and made the memory upgradable. It is on the Mac mini page, scroll down. It’s where they talk about opening it up and upgrading it yourself.
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Apple gave us upgradable RAM..... And gave themselves a BIG pat on the back for being so kind to their customers.
And they made up for their profit loss by pushing up the cost of their proprietary soldered SSD's.... Very simple marketing.
And they made up for their profit loss by pushing up the cost of their proprietary soldered SSD's.... Very simple marketing.
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That's the thing. I don't want to think external. If I want a Mini, it's because I want it to be... mini. If it's designed with external in mind for the basics -- like the HD/SSD -- it's not really "mini", is it?
I have upgraded about 20-30 mac mini's already, it's my job.
I don't understand the controversy anymore; apple cares about their money, not about user upgradeability to save money. It's going thing in the opposite direction of the other... The sooner you realise, the better.
If anyone knows the model code for the new mini, please write it here.
It will be upgradeable, if T2 chip allows it. All firmware chips until today could be cracked, if this T2 is like iphone security though, all mac thieves had a bad day yesterday. I do not think apple will restrict the ram thing. Regarding upgrade procedure, after removing a few parts, the logic board probably can be slided out, just like in any past mini. once board is out, you can change the ram... same tough process as in any latest 21.5" A1418 imac; gotta take out the display and the whole board to access the ram... still doable by any technician... 60 minutes of work back to back to do it properly with the imac, i expect 30 minutes on the mac mini, 45 min max.
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exactly, soldered ssd 99,99% sure...
I don't understand the controversy anymore; apple cares about their money, not about user upgradeability to save money. It's going thing in the opposite direction of the other... The sooner you realise, the better.
If anyone knows the model code for the new mini, please write it here.
It will be upgradeable, if T2 chip allows it. All firmware chips until today could be cracked, if this T2 is like iphone security though, all mac thieves had a bad day yesterday. I do not think apple will restrict the ram thing. Regarding upgrade procedure, after removing a few parts, the logic board probably can be slided out, just like in any past mini. once board is out, you can change the ram... same tough process as in any latest 21.5" A1418 imac; gotta take out the display and the whole board to access the ram... still doable by any technician... 60 minutes of work back to back to do it properly with the imac, i expect 30 minutes on the mac mini, 45 min max.
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exactly, soldered ssd 99,99% sure...
thanks for the info...you may indeed be reading the Apple tea leaves correctly. I'm not saying your are wrong, or that it can't be upgraded. I'm saying it is not clear. Nowhere are the words "user", "upgradable" and "memory" mentioned by Apple together anywhere. I don't see where it says anything about "upgrading it yourself".
Apple could have easily said the memory was user upgradable, instead they use words like configurable, upgradable, climb in, we heard our users, they'll be happy, gave us pretty pictures of the underside, told us it was so-dimm. Perhaps it is all Apple lawyer speak, but it sure looks like apple is being obtuse about this on purpose.
For me, I plan to wait for the tear downs, to find out what I'm getting into, rather than make assumptions about what the words they are using might mean, especially when all the information from the sales people I've chatted with directly say it is not user upgradable.
I actually hope your are right and this will be a piece of cake to do! thanks for the discussion...
No one knows yet. AppleCare Chat support sure as !@#$! doesn't know. Wait for the tear-downs & support documents.
How are you dropping multiple thousand if not going for the already spec’d out model?
maxing out everything except ram brings it to $2800 usd. thanks for playing.
Then I’d still question your strategy. You’re willing to pay a huge premium for everything but RAM. Why the price sensitivity there? The first two tiers of RAM upgrade are around 100% markup which is what everyone charges. The 64GB upgrade seems like a fair value considering what 32GB DIMMs are going for.