Memory in New $1099 iMac is Soldered and Not Upgradable

[dec.]

I didn't even see his post before I read your comment, but I knew exactly who you were talking about. You gotta admit though, it's a good laugh reading their history. They fit the cliche of an "Apple consumer" 100%.

I agree, looking at post history definitely says a lot sometimes.

 

[brentsg]

They should have provided one model: 16GB. That way it gives schools a 3-4 year upgrade cycle.

That would be ridiculous overkill.

 

[cgc]

This move, as well as the potential requirement to have factory Bluetooth 4 in your Mac to use hand-off feature (or whatever it's called in Yosemite Beta 2) work, and the 32-bit EFI I got screwed with in my 2006 1,1 MacPro (grrr), and a multitude other things less annoying than forced obsolescence, make me seriously consider why I stay with Apple. OSX is great, but the pain of dealing with a maniacal company with the hubris of Apple makes me wonder.

I plan on buying a MacBook Pro and a Mac Mini this fall (Nov/Dec) and if they're not updated with some nice features I'm pulling the trigger on a killer mini-ITX build and won't look back. I don;t want no HD4000 or even HD5000, Iris or better in the Mini and at least an nVidia 760M in the MBP.

 

[Dionysus2112]

I swear reading all the hate here makes me confused. I don't understand what all the fuss is all about.
First I am a PC gamer, not so much of late but I just recently purchased the high end none BTO iMac with the gt750m. The reason I purchased it was because I wanted a nice profile system that wasn't a big desktop with a really beautiful display and killer looks.

I use It primarily for my itunes music collection and as a headphone listening station, I went online picked up an Edu email and bought it on sale from Bestbuy for 1349.99 less 150.00 with the EDU discount, if you want you could do the same with this new entry level unit and walk out the store for 899.99 do a little home work.

Personally I didn't need the high end iMac, the entry with the integrated Iris would have been just fine for me but my thoughts were if I ever retired the PC I still had a nice little system with some decent power, and of course I got a great deal.
A lot of people just surf the web do some lite word stuff and get emails and listen to music, so if you do a little homework 899.00 is attainable.
I bet this fits 70% of most users computer needs and the talk about closed upgrades etc etc doesn't matter to them. I bet most people don't change their computers for 3 to 5 years because those computer serve most their needs.
Should this computer be 999.00 maybe 899.00 I think so too but I already told you how it could be attained

 

[Arfdog]

That's a false assumption. There are lots of us who would like to be able to upgrade our Apple computers. Specially considering the kinda absurd premium prices Apple asks for if we want to upgrade them prior the purchase.

Edit: And what advantages did this move bring to the consumer, to deserve your 100% support?

"Lots" does not imply "most" people. Most people haven't upgraded their PC in any way. This is a sensible move by Apple, because when was the last time a normal person opened up even their memory slot?

If all you do is upgrade memory, your PC will fall behind in other areas. Just get a new one.

 

[brentsg]

I still have my late 2009 model iMac. Have upgraded the hard drive as well as the memory, and still runs like a champ. Have plenty of room for more upgrades if needed. It's also the last model that had the optical drive built in. Not a good thing to skimp on IMO.

Seems like these new 'upgrade' models are nothing more than upgrading the margin dollars in Apple's pocket. I own stock, so that's OK as well, but I still see things as a consumer as well.

Go examine the feasibility of the current models. It's not as easy as with yours anyways. Nothing of value was lost.

People are posting like buyers are being stuck with 4GB.

 

[iPad Air]

Give me a break

Com'on forum members, consumers don't even know or need to know about the amount of memory in there systems. Oh, and they don't NEED anymore memory than that! Most are complaining on here about it, because we are all tech enthusiasts. THEY DID THIS TO MAKE A MORE AFFORDABLE VERSION OF IMAC.

Stop complaining...

 

[FrozenDarkness]

people complaining are babies. vote with your wallet. if you don't like it don't buy it. i'm just here telling you that soldered components won't affect apple sales because historically it hasn't.

 

[wizard]

That's a false assumption.

Baloney. His statements reflect average consumer behavior 100%.

There are lots of us who would like to be able to upgrade our Apple computers. Specially considering the kinda absurd premium prices Apple asks for if we want to upgrade them prior the purchase.

Apple pricing are perfect but are not significantly worst than the test of industry.

Edit: And what advantages did this move bring to the consumer, to deserve your 100% support?

Far higher reliability for one. Nothing for the average consumer to think about at purchase time would be another. 8GB is plenty to run the vast majority of consumer apps and will be for a long time.

Don't forget this is an entry level machine.

 

[iPad Air]

people complaining are babies. vote with your wallet. if you don't like it don't buy it. i'm just here telling you that soldered components won't affect apple sales because historically it hasn't.

You said it.

 

[brentsg]

nobody is complaining about the 1.4GHz mobile i5? I mean Come On!

They've been doing it all day. You're just in the wrong thread for that.

 

[scott911]

I'm a little surprised by this, but I work for a large urban k-12 educational institution and if this is geared toward the educational market it actually makes since. We have a problem with students stealing the ram out of computers.

ok - that's the first and only reason that makes sense!

 

[AppleScruff1]

I didn't even see his post before I read your comment, but I knew exactly who you were talking about. You gotta admit though, it's a good laugh reading their history. They fit the cliche of an "Apple consumer" 100%.

I still don't know how he gets away with it on every single post.

 

[ebouwman]

Check his post history and it will become clear.

I'm stunned. Its like an apple fanboy mixed with a corporate doublethinking moron.

I can't imagine he/she is a real person. I think it's some sort of satire.

 

[PocketSand11]

You're right. Whatever RAM Apple includes is the perfect amount.

Thank you.

----------

iOS7 did make my iPhone 4 a little chunkity. 7.1 fixed it up a good bit, but it still takes a little longer than it did on iOS6 to launch some applications. Especially when I accidentally swipe on an email when unlocking it, and it has to open up Mailbox.

Hmm, sounds like a software-hardware optimization issue. That's what I was afraid of and a reason I kept the 4 at iOS 6 (the other reasons being my jailbreak and the ugly new GUI).

 

[iBug2]

But when they complain to you in a few years that their computer is getting slow, you say, no problem, I'll throw in some new RAM and it will be good to go. Only you won't be able to. It's not a case of never having to alter the hardware, it's a case of not being able to do it, forcing someone to buy a new computer instead of spending $50 -100 upgrading it. Personally I don't see how that is comforting. It's like if your car needed a tune up and you had to replace the car instead.

Sorry but, this machine's CPU is way too slow. You cannot just throw in more RAM and speed up this machine. It'll be dead slow in a few years whether it has 128 GB RAM or 8 GB.

 

[Exponent]

THEY DID THIS TO MAKE A MORE AFFORDABLE VERSION OF IMAC.

Stop complaining...

As I am shopping for a replacement for my mom's 2002 swing-arm iMac, I for one am not complaining about the features, especially the soldered in RAM.

I will say though that for a 40% performance hit I'd expect this to be an $899 computer, tops, with retail going down to $799 - $849. Maybe I'll grab one when retail goes to $950, but probably not before....

 

[brentsg]

ok - that's the first and only reason that makes sense!

It sounds like a funny thing, but I too had experiences with stolen PC parts in K-12. Keeping the network locked down was a challenge too.

 

[Freyqq]

This option would be interesting if it came standard at the same price with a fusion drive. As it is, it is slower than a macbook air with no portability.

 

[Renzatic]

That would be ridiculous overkill.

Yup. I don't feel like I'm going out on a limb by saying that 8GB will be the average consumer standard for at least the next 5-6 years. When it comes to doing those regular things that regular people use their computers for most often, we've long since reached the point of diminishing returns when it comes to the amount of computing power required to perform those regular tasks.

This isn't 640k is enough for everyone situation. You could watch a couple of 4k movies, surf the internet with 10 tabs open, listen to your collection of FLAC encoded albums, and hack a bunch of spreadsheets together all at once and still have memory to spare with 8GB. We've become so desensitized to big numbers, I don't think we really appreciate just how much ram that actually is these days.

Now I'm not saying 8GB is enough for everyone. It's not. There are people who need more. But I doubt Apple soldering the ram into their lower end machines won't hurt anyone's feelings.

 

[brentsg]

Sorry but, this machine's CPU is way too slow. You cannot just throw in more RAM and speed up this machine. It'll be dead slow in a few years whether it has 128 GB RAM or 8 GB.

Based on what? I don't know if you've looked at CPU advancements over the past several years, but parallelism aside, they haven't been too significant when it comes to performance.

Nothing is likely to change the CPU needs of someone who doesn't already need more than 2 cores. People have simply become accustomed to bigger is better and the future proof concept.

 

[iPad Air]

As I am shopping for a replacement for my mom's 2002 swing-arm iMac, I for one am not complaining about the features, especially the soldered in RAM.

I will say though that for a 40% performance hit I'd expect this to be an $899 computer, tops, with retail going down to $799 - $849. Maybe I'll grab one when retail goes to $950, but probably not before....

Yeah, it is certainly nice to have a lower priced option now to replace systems where not much power will be needed

 

[pragmatous]

Then don't buy it. Clearly it's not for you. 99% of people don't care. They use facebook. They don't need a super computer.

Man you elitest think Apple only releases products thinking about you. This is for the general public.

If you want something super awesome get a mac pro.

So lame. I Hate that they make it just about impossible to upgrade the HD in the iMac and charge a ridiculous premium on the initial upgrade. Now restricting memory? Maybe people can't afford the upfront cost and want to upgrade over time.... just lame...

 

[kazmac]

...

I figured this when looking at the BTO configuration.

 

[Icaras]

people complaining are babies. vote with your wallet. if you don't like it don't buy it. i'm just here telling you that soldered components won't affect apple sales because historically it hasn't.

Couldn't agree more. Very logical assessment, and a breath of fresh air around here.