Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac mini (late-2014) ram upgradable?
- Thread starter starnox
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Its mentioned as "configurable" on the Apple Store. If I had to guess, this memory is not soldered on.
Side note/question: If it is indeed not soldered on, is it possible to use DDR3 SDRAM in place of LPDDR3 SDRAM in this new machine? I'd love to toss the 16 GB memory from a recently purchased Mini into this if I decide to upgrade.
Edit: It appears the other Mac's with soldered memory refer to the memory as "onboard" whereas the wording for the new Mini's memory doesn't include onboard. Looks upgradeable?
Last edited:
I believe LPDDR3 SDRAM is what the Mac Air uses and I wouldn't expect it to be user upgradable... especially if it says "at the Apple Store only"
there is not disclaimer on the ram like the macbook pro and air say...most likely is user upgradeable
There's a screenshot of an apple support chat in another thread which suggests its user upgradeable - phew
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1801943/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1801943/
Last edited:
You're right, the MBA and low-end iMac describe the RAM as "onboard" which this does not. However, I don't think LPDDR3 SODIMMs exist...
http://www.virtium.com/blog/ddr3l-vs-lpddr3/
EDIT: LPDDR3 is designed for embedded and mobile systems and uses a very low voltage. Very unlikely this is user upgradable.
Sounds like flash drive.
----------
I would say it is not upgradeable and ssd is flash drive just like the rMBPs.
It comes with a 2.5" 5400 rpm hard drive. The same ones that you could find in your typical laptop from 1995.
If you buy the fusion it will come with flash drive and a hard drive. Now considering it does come with a spinner you may be able to replace with your own SSD but you will not have trim enabled for garbage collection.
We will have to wait for a IFixit teardown to see exactly what is going on.
It looks upgradeable. Both the 21.5" iMac and the Macbook Airs have disclaimers in their BTO descriptions warning users they can't upgrade later. The new mini has no such disclaimer. I went ahead and ordered one with 8GB, if it turns out its soldered on I'll just return it and then purchase one with the upgrade.
Exactly - If the RAM and hard drive are user upgradeable I'll buy the middle spec one straight away and then buy an SSD and up the RAM. (And a container for the old harddrive?)
If not I might have to spend a lot more to Apple to upgrade. Boo
This is what I got from apple! I'm confused now. So the base model uses a regular 2.5 HDD @ 5400RPM, but if you upgraded to 1tb you get a PCIe-based flash drive?
Source: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/10/16Apple-Updates-Mac-mini.html
The Apple store Mini page says that the RAM is ONLY upgradeable at the online Apple store. I take that to mean it is soldered in.
After 20 years, I'd sure as hell hope so.
It's downright comical that a 5400 spinner is being included in a desktop computer in 2014.
Price comparison
So I'm trying to work out what to buy… If the hard drive and RAM in the new models aren't upgradeable then buying a 2012 model is the best bet.
If they are upgradeable I'm still not sure the price difference is worth it for the performance improvements?..
Calculations here - UK Apple store for education pricing
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ishcojA0vUJC5UUgi55A_3rNMjLPr2mPvKacn3cvsSk/edit#gid=0
So I'm trying to work out what to buy… If the hard drive and RAM in the new models aren't upgradeable then buying a 2012 model is the best bet.
If they are upgradeable I'm still not sure the price difference is worth it for the performance improvements?..
Calculations here - UK Apple store for education pricing
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ishcojA0vUJC5UUgi55A_3rNMjLPr2mPvKacn3cvsSk/edit#gid=0
Last edited:
This.
I am going to believe RAM is non-upgrade in the 2014 Mac mini until someone can point me to any LPDDR DIMM or any product with LPDDR RAM that is actually user-upgradeable.