Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New 2014 Mac Mini Has Soldered RAM, Not User Replaceable

snorkelman said:
"we love our customers' money"
Click to expand...

Not aware of any capitalist company that doesn't (especially the publicly traded ones), though strangely it appears to surprise people, especially on this forum (which used to have a much higher average IQ before the trolls descended<ha!>), that Apple actually likes the profit.
 
KellydenAdel said:
Im always good at predicting the future (retired at age 32).
Apples (accurate) VISION FOR THE FUTURE:
Iphones
Ipads
Iwatch
Imac
Macbook Air

thats IT. period.
The newest macbook Pro is just a beef'd macbook Air.

The beloved Mac Mini is an obsolete turd in Apple's eye. :D
Click to expand...

Don't quit your day job.
 
Last edited:
crawler1975 said:
I totally agree that 16GB is a lot of RAM. It amazes me that people complaint that is being limited and that 16GB is barely enough. Heck, at work I manage servers with 12GB of RAM and it's working efficiently and have no issues at all.
Click to expand...

It depends on the use case. Who are you to tell them whether 16gb is enough?

I'll spin it on you. Servers with 12GB of ram? That's not nearly enough! We have numerous database servers with 768GB of RAM...
 
blahblah100 said:
It depends on the use case. Who are you to tell them whether 16gb is enough?

I'll spin it on you. Servers with 12GB of ram? That's not nearly enough! We have numerous database servers with 768GB of RAM...
Click to expand...

But but macs require 10% of the Ram that a PC does;)
 
Justifiable only if the software quality improves

What the majority of consumers failed to realise is the expense in development of, and value in, the software that they get for free on this beautiful hardware.

It's becoming increasingly harder to extract a profit from selling software so software is becoming more and more a hidden expense and cost.
Ask anyone who try's selling 99c App's on the App Store how much people grudge that 99c even though they'd chuck it in the hat of a beggar or busker without a 2nd thought.

Apple makes money from selling hardware. I bought the 2013 Mac Mini and then got a cheaper 16G upgrade from Crucial than getting the 16G built to order from Apple. Is that fair? Who cares! It was common sense economics. I just downloaded and installed Yosemite on that machine and I like it, yet Apple gets nothing in return.

However what I do take issue with is the fall in software quality since the passing of Jobs. Perhaps even the sacking of Forstall. Whatever the reason Cook needs to get his development house in order and start saying "no" just like his deceased boss used to when the product isn't polished well enough to release.
I'm not going to go into a list of bugs and cock ups but I'll give you a single simple example. iOS8 over the Air upgrade. If you had a loaded 16G device you didn't get a simple, 1 minute to add in code, pop up suggesting to you that you could plug into iTunes on a computer and get the upgrade without deleting all your files and apps.

If Apple wants to charge a premium for it's products then it has to make sure it retains its reputation for quality _everywhere_.

In the end it's the user experience, that comes from the combination of all facets, that made Apple the legend it became.
 
bedifferent said:
How about another theory? Sales may "be soft" because Apple hyped up a 4K system and didn't bother releasing 4k displays (and jacked the prices, a decent PowerMac ran ~$1950 and was a powerhouse at the time). Instead, they list overpriced, mediocre non-Apple displays. Then, adding insult, announce a 5k all-in-one with mobile parts. Not even a 4k in almost a year. Even if they release a 5k display, it would require a new Mac Pro.

You know what I miss? Choice. The choice to have, say, more than one display size. Oh, Apple did that w/ 20", 23" and 30" CCFL LCD's, that were excellent - 10 years ago.
Click to expand...

There are several 4K third party displays going from $500 up to $8000 considering you needs. That is choice. I don't see Apple getting back into the freestanding monitor business for a good while.
 
CFreymarc said:
There are several 4K third party displays going from $500 up to $8000 considering you needs. That is choice. I don't see Apple getting back into the freestanding monitor business for a good while.
Click to expand...

They are already in it. I think it's more about the right moment for a retina display that works with all (most) Macs and the DisplayPort.
 
Haynzee said:
Shame really this sort of stuff like the soldiering of ram reminds me of Dell Machines.
Click to expand...

Really, which models in particular? Every desktop Dell I've ever worked with has normal, user-replaceable RAM modules in slots. Course they've also had the ability to replace the CPU, add expansion cards, replace the graphics card, install more than one hard drive...
 
SolarShane said:
So a random guy who hasn't even been inside the mini knows all? Seriously MacRumors? This is news?


I'll wait for iFixit for the truth, either way.
Click to expand...

The memory is soldered onto the Main Logic Board and not user replaceable. LPDDR3 (or any LPDDR Memory if my memory is correct) had always been soldered onto the main board. This helps achieve faster speeds and less power consumption, let alone saves space. Outside of that, I'm a Genius at a Apple Retail Store and finished my training on the Mac Mini (Late 2014) earlier today which did also state that the Memory Modules are in fact soldered onto the Main Logic Board and cannot be replaced (unless you swap the entire Main Logic Board) or upgraded after purchase.
 
crawler1975 said:
what mission critical apps are you running that 16GB of RAM is barely enough? I have 8GB RAM and I run multiple VMs (connecting to company's VPN etc) and do heavy photoshopping as well and yet, I find 8GB is more than sufficient. just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm a computer scientist and I frequently use large data sets. There is a fundamental concept many people are not familiar with: time and space complexity, and the ability to trade one for the other. IOW, there are many problems where one can half the run time if memory is doubled.

While I generally agree that a typical app's memory efficiency is abysmal, that does not mean large quantities of memory is not useful and good for the average person. On the contrary: as processor speed approaches the limits predicted by Moore's Law, the only way to make things run faster is by using clever algorithms to either trade space for time or split problems into smaller parallel problems.

The reason companies like Apple don't like strapping lots of RAM to their products is that it is energy intense. Oh, and it costs them more ¢¢¢.
 
Last edited:
This update just made the MacMini a no go. It's not about using 16GBs of RAM now, it's about using it in the future. When 16GB dimms become an option users with soldered RAM will be stuck.

Add to this the fact that many apps are becoming platform agnostic on all OS (desktop and mobile) platforms and there's even less of a reason to get a MacMini.

Hell I'd get a ChromeTop before a Mini if I just needed access to web based services or where building a schools computer lab.
 
KPOM said:
And yes, Steve Jobs would have done this. His philosophy was that people shouldn't have to and should not tinker with his creations.
Click to expand...

No quad core, no installable memory or second drive. No 4k support @60hZ.

I don't mind paying extra for what I may need. I don't need THIS mini, a new iMac or a MacPro.

I feel like I can never wear blue jeans and a black shirt ever again.

RIP MacMini, Jobs and Apple.
 
Last edited:
How to lose customers!

Thanks Apple... For nothing! If these rumors are true, and you can't upgrade ram or HDs, I've bought my last mini. I used to be Mac Mini's biggest fan. No quad? I'm disgusted.

What happened, did you hire Enron's smartest guys in the room? You're pissing off customers that loved this product
 
Apple IS Doomed.

I mean it.

Just not like most think I mean it.

Apple is and will probably continue to be (at least a while) quite successful. They are now a status symbol, and it takes time to erode that.

But their moves toward appliance-land have literally KILLED the company we knew and loved. This Apple is not the Apple I fell in love with 15 years ago. We are in a transitional period, folks.

Get ready, because they WILL take away the one thing you will miss.

Next to go: OS X freedom. Yup, they'll push you "upgrades" and not let you back out, a la iOS. Apple will become a full-on, "take-it-or-leave-it" company. You won't be able to tweak or customize a damn thing, aside from blinging it with gold or neon-pink or some other stupid BS.

I curse the day Tim Cook put Jony Ive in charge of all design. I really, really do.

When I first became aware of Apple, the Hardware was amazing, but it really was OS X that brought me into the Mac fold.

My first smartphone was an iPhone, because iOS was OS X lite.

iOS 7 drove me away into Android's arms. Yosemite is already looking like OS X'll take me away from the Mac as well (surprisingly, back into Windows…um…X).

I used to take pleasure in using Apple products. Now it makes me angry to see such wasted potential. They really, literally, don't build them like they used to. I guess that is a sign of old age. ;)

*Sigh* Fine, then. Time to move on.
 
crawler1975 said:
I totally agree that 16GB is a lot of RAM. It amazes me that people complaint that is being limited and that 16GB is barely enough. Heck, at work I manage servers with 12GB of RAM and it's working efficiently and have no issues at all.
Click to expand...

16GB is always enough on a PC (heck I use 6GB), but I'd be worried about scalability on a server. I exhausted our Mac mini server's RAM (4GB) running Time Machine AFP hosting, HTTP hosting, a proxy, a VPN, a virtual FreeBSD machine, 3 Minecraft servers, and other stuff. Add more of the same things, and you'll eventually need 16GB. Or if my iPhone app gets popular enough that the FreeBSD VM needs more RAM for the server-side task...

More importantly, it would be a shame for the whole computer to be toast because of a failed RAM stick. Or it would at least cost way more time and effort to fix it. On a tower computer, there's no excuse for anything to be inaccessible.
 
Last edited:
It's a good thing I bought the last model, that's another Apple product I wont be buying in the future, saving even more money, thanks Apple.
 
I don't care if the ram is soldered but what I did care was the processor type. No quad was a big mistake IMO. No buy for me.
 
16GB is a lot of ram and 8GB is not bad either. Where I have a problem with the soldered ram is repair costs out of warranty.

This pretty much forces everybody to buy the extended warranty. You really need to now factor in that cost.

It also means a total system replace when a ram chip goes bad. Yes it can happen and does happen all the time. If it happens within your warranty not a huge deal but once your warranty is over you will have to replace the entire system board which now includes paying to replace every item on the inside of the mini excluding the case.

Kind of sad.

Once your mac mini is over three years old you better dump that thing off on eBay as fast as you can. Apple is really trying to force its customers into a three year upgrade cycle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back