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New 2014 Mac Mini Has Soldered RAM, Not User Replaceable
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And for those complaining about soldered parts, no upgrades... well you want a less expensive computer right? You want a nice, small, efficient design? Well you have to sacrifice something. But, I *love* these new products that cannot be upgrade OR fixed. I just had my rMBP entire display unit replaced because of an issue with the FaceTime camera. You can't fix anything within the display, so I got a new display.
Rule #1. Buy the computer you will need in 2 years.
Rule #2. Get AppleCare.
Rule #1. Buy the computer you will need in 2 years.
Rule #2. Get AppleCare.
The new Mac computers are making me dislike apple. Each generation they go more and more crazy with the ideas.
It already was nice, small, and efficient. There was no need for the change - unless it was a radical design change, like going to a no fan model or something. That repair sounds like a horrible waste of resources.
I know, but there was a limit of the signature and you really didn't want me to post a PC there, did you?
Big man cpus are for heavy work, not my macs. My macs are for entertainment I see you're defensive .. Why? It's a known fact and marketing strategy.. Market laptop cpu's with the same name to make believe they are the same. They're not. There is not enough space in a laptop or a Mac mini to cool a real desktop grade cpu. Just not enough man. Have you ever opened a mac mini? There's a tiny heatsink and a weakass fan. Lol. Ah, found it. You're a proud owner of the quad mini. Congratulations. I see you run stock hdd. My macs are actually faster than your weak as hell mini then
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no - I don't necessarily want a less expensive computer - that's not the point of people complaining about no upgrades and no quad cores.
I want a DESKTOP - nothing with an integrated display. And no, I can't afford the mac pro. so I don't really have an option in the apple line...
I had really hoped the mini would have evolved in more computer, not less.
Also - your 2 year comment - If that's your timeframe for computers - great - But I will use my computer for 5 years, maybe more. That's why the upgradability of the memory is important to me - The OS that apple launches in 4, 5 years IS very likely going to need more that memory boost...
I just bought an i7 quad 2012 from an Apple store yesterday. They're still around at the same price ($750CAN).
Not sure if you have noticed but there are lots of competitor products around the same size that do allow replacement parts and upgrades. If this was say the low end option and there was a mid range system that could still be upgraded then I think you would be on to something but there isn't. That is what the problem is. If you want a headless unit you have mini or Pro and they are 2 massively different segments. The market might be small compared to the iMac but it's where a lot of us more historical Mac users came from and I struggle to believe there is no demand for a mid range desktop unit still.
Are you naive? You must be. Apple foresaw the response -- after all, they had the same response when they soldered the RAM into the MacBook Air and iMac.
Apple are now like Vladimir Putin -- or should we say Tim Cook, Jonathan Ive and Phil Schiller are like Vladimir Putin. They know there'll be an initial outcry, but they also know Apple users will eventually accept it and keep buying some Apple products.
Apple's only aim is to add more cash to its pile of billions of dollars.
If something makes them money, do you really think the care about your infuriation? Surely you're going to keep buying Apple Macs irrespective of whether the RAM is soldered in or not. You know that, and Apple knows that, and they DO NOT CARE whether you are upset.
Depends on the word "Soldered". My Apple store colleague stated that the bottom access is gone, so getting inside the Mac Mini is nearly impossible. I guess "Permanently Locked inside the computer" might be the term you want to use because "Soldered" sounds like an on-board RAM.
Still I need a full teardown to truly confirm everything.
Pay attention to what? A small fraction of people complaining about something which they might not even be a Mac Mini buyer? Guess it is the same people who complain the batter on iPhone is not replaceable. I can't even recall having seen a person carry an extra battery for their Samsung phone. People here complain any small detail just to complain. You want proof? Visit U2 free album thread.
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I know, but there was a limit of the signature and you really didn't want me to post a PC there, did you?
Ah, found it. You're a proud owner of the quad mini. Congratulations. I see you run stock hdd. My macs are actually faster than your weak as hell mini then
LOL...some detective. Less than 2 minutes of searching should have told you that I don't use any internal HDDs. Moreover, I'm guessing those big man cpus of yours are about as competent as your detective skills.
Seriously you guys? The Mac Mini is supposed to be used for casual users as a transition system. You can use it for light photoshop work, or other light tasks.
And seriously, you guys are saying general users upgrade their ram? REALLY? I have never, EVER met a grandpa, parent, or just a general user that upgrades ANYTHING on their system. I have looked at computers THIS YEAR that are still on Windows XP. Not even SP3, so they do not even run updates!
I have met A LOT of people that think they have 500GB of RAM because they confuse that with their hard drive.
General users use their computers until it dies. They do not care if it is really really really slow. I know people that still use their 10+ year old Windows PC with Windows XP still at 512MB of ram.
If you need a heavy duty server, there are other computers for you.
If you need to do 4K video editing, there are other computers for you.
This system is meant for light tasks.
Besides, doesn't OS X have memory compression? So aren't you technically getting around 20GB?
And seriously, you guys are saying general users upgrade their ram? REALLY? I have never, EVER met a grandpa, parent, or just a general user that upgrades ANYTHING on their system. I have looked at computers THIS YEAR that are still on Windows XP. Not even SP3, so they do not even run updates!
I have met A LOT of people that think they have 500GB of RAM because they confuse that with their hard drive.
General users use their computers until it dies. They do not care if it is really really really slow. I know people that still use their 10+ year old Windows PC with Windows XP still at 512MB of ram.
If you need a heavy duty server, there are other computers for you.
If you need to do 4K video editing, there are other computers for you.
This system is meant for light tasks.
Besides, doesn't OS X have memory compression? So aren't you technically getting around 20GB?
I just grabbed a quad 2.6ghz mac mini from B&H when they reopened. Got a feeling this is going to go down in history as the fastest mac mini ever produced before they killed them and I'm not going to waste my time on a hackintosh, too time consuming. I figured I better grab one because not only are the new ones horrible, they can only run Yosemite, which to me is but ugly.
I stretched the useful lifespan pretty significantly of my two previous Macs by upgrading the RAM in each of them when they started to chug under my normal day to day work routine.
I ordered a NIB 2012 quad core Mini today. With the 16GB upgrade kit, the price was about the same as the mid-level 2014 Mini with 16GB. But with the 2012 I get quad core, Firewire and replaceable memory if it craps out. The 2014 model isn't better in any way, unless you really need two TB ports.
I think Apple is mad because we're more interested in a Mac Mini refresh than iWatch and being fashionable.
I ordered a NIB 2012 quad core Mini today. With the 16GB upgrade kit, the price was about the same as the mid-level 2014 Mini with 16GB. But with the 2012 I get quad core, Firewire and replaceable memory if it craps out. The 2014 model isn't better in any way, unless you really need two TB ports.
I think Apple is mad because we're more interested in a Mac Mini refresh than iWatch and being fashionable.
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Please, just stop. Everything you are saying might make sense had the machines available a week ago not existed;The fully upgradable servers with four processors and replaceable memory. The Mini was used by a lot of pros who didn't want a built in monitor. My company has dozens of them on people's desks and a dozens more acting as servers.
This redesign was simply a money grab. The problem for them is that many of us aren't so attached to OS X anymore that they can't go elsewhere. Windows 10 is looking promising, and a lot of pros are switching. Looks like I might be one of them in the near future.
No, that isn't quite how it works.
Memory compression is good if you've got multiple apps up that consume a good chunk of memory, but aren't actively using them. Instead of paging out, or shifting a chunk over to slower virtual memory, it'll compress the amount of ram those programs are taking up, basically keeping the system speedy.
It's a nice feature, but it doesn't double or triple your ram. And it won't do jack crap if you're using a single program that consumes all that memory.
Wow, nothing like Apple giving the middle finger to customers. "Soldered RAM"...wow...just wow!!!
No.
Wrong.
Sorry... nothing personal; I've just seen this type of bs myth perpetuated for long enough. I can't really stand it any longer.
I bought my "Late 2009 27" iMac" in January of 2010. It shipped with Snow Leopard (about four months old, at the time), the middle of the next year I updated it to Lion, the summer after that I updated it to Mountain Lion... the following late fall, I updated it to Mavericks (for the 1st time doing a clean install, rather than an upgrade), I now am running Yosemite.
Now, I will note that when I bought my iMac, I got it BTO (though NOT top end)- it has a quad-core i5, 8gb RAM, & a 512mb video card.
However... my iMac is showing NO signs of age. I do light video editing & DVD authoring regularly, and it (along with some torrenting & my Netflix membership) serves as my television... I watch at least 15 hours of video on it weekly. My son plays Minecraft, Assassin's Creed, and myriad other Steam games on it, as well as using it for all of his school assignments.
If I had to guess, I'd say as it comes up on its fourth birthday, that it MAY be approaching the halfway mark in its lifecycle.
I do NO maintenance on it.. & NO upgrades. As it has now ran five iterations of OSX on it, just swimmingly... and will certainly run at least the next few... I can patently call out your claim of "each version needs twice the RAM" as a baldfaced lie! Lol, were that true- I'd need to have 128gb RAM right now... or at least 64gb, if I hadn't started out with the upgrade to 8gb.
You are a complete alarmist & just plain incorrect.
The only part I can't be sure about is boot times... I suppose you may be right. They may be longer now. I neither know, nor care. I boot my Mac perhaps 3-4 per year, including OS upgrades. Other than when absolutely necessary, I don't shut it off. Why would I??? It is a home computer. Sleep is fine & consumes no power. It's not a PC, so this doesn't cause any issues. Frankly, I cannot imagine paying the slightest amount of attention to boot time, much less pretending like it has any bearing whatsoever on system performance, when booted.
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