New 2014 Mac Mini Has Soldered RAM, Not User Replaceable

[512ke]

If you know the difference between a 7,200 and a 5,400 rpm hard drive, then you are not the target audience for the Mini.

If you know how much RAM your devices have, you are not the target audience.

If you know which version of the OS you are running, you are not the audience.

Apple is now selling the mini like an expensive piece of chewing gum. It is a short term buy, requires no obvious technical understanding or ability, and performs only simple basic tasks.

 

[majkom]

It really is.

They all think they should be able to edit Spielberg movies on it just because.

Buy a Mac Pro. You can add extra RAM to it. 99% of the population will never crack open their computer to put a new HDD, RAM etc. They will buy and plug wires into ports.

If some unfortunate wanna be mac user buys base mac mini with 4gigs ram and antique 5400rpm, it will probably be his last apple computer but, maybe he will have an idea, I will buy more ram/put faster HDD (maybe some of his, as you all say, "nerd" friends will give him this advice) to make this computer scream... just than, apple will get another anti-apple evangelist

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If you know the difference between a 7,200 and a 5,400 rpm hard drive, then you are not the target audience for the Mini.

If you know how much RAM your devices have, you are not the target audience.

If you know which version of the OS you are running, you are not the audience.

Apple is now selling the mini like an expensive piece of chewing gum. It is a short term buy, requires no obvious technical understanding or ability, and performs only simple basic tasks.

so, who the hell is audience for mac mini now?

 

[cfedu]

lol @ all the nerd rage.

You guys have NO idea that absolutely no one gives a crap about upgrading RAM.

How many women do you know have ever upgraded their PC?

Face it, dweebs, but PCs these days are appliances, not a rubble-bucket of low-margin tinker-tailor nerd parts.

Get used to it.

What does being a woman have to do with upgrading ram on a computer? Are women inferior and incapable of twisting an 8 inch circle? Are women incapable off removing 2 ram sticks? Are women incapable of using a teardown video? Are women incapable of communicating with another human being to ask them to upgrade the ram for them?

I bet a Human with no arms could get Ram upgraded on a Mac mini if they put their Wonderfull human mind to the task!!

 

[H2SO4]

Just wait lots of people will buy old mac minis because of quad core but oh boy when apple will don't support the hd 4000 graphic with next OSX !

This statement wiped the smile clean off my face.

 

[cfedu]

Who else is waiting for the iFixIt tear down before making a decision?

That would be a wise decision but I would not keep my hopes up!!

 

[kalex]

lol @ all the nerd rage.

You guys have NO idea that absolutely no one gives a crap about upgrading RAM.

How many women do you know have ever upgraded their PC?

Face it, dweebs, but PCs these days are appliances, not a rubble-bucket of low-margin tinker-tailor nerd parts.

Get used to it.

You are a USDA Choice moron

 

[blairh]

Happy the comments here are almost entirely negative. Only apologists will attempt to defend this move.

Please keep in mind that 4 GB of RAM may not be enough for updated Mac OS's in the future. When I bought my Mac Mini (1 GB of RAM) I was told that it was plenty for basic computing. When Lion rolled out not long after, I couldn't upgrade. Not only that, my Mac has struggled for quite some time with 1 GB, and I have an old Mini where it's a huge pain to manually upgrade the RAM.

A ton of consumers will opt for the base model Mini because right now 4 GB probably is enough for what they may need to do. But moving forward they might be stuck either running a specific edition of OS X and/or their Mini will slow down or become a pain to use down the road.

I can't believe anybody would make the case for losing the option to simply twist the bottom of your Mini open and do something simple to increase the performance of your investment. People defending this move by Apple in this thread are either ignorant or trolling.

 

[psymac]

I predict when the benchmarks come in, the 2014 mid range mini will demonstrate significant improvements over the 2012 for essentially the same cost.

Notwithstanding the dubious dual core vs four core distinction for most users, the new generation CPU/GPU/motherboard, along with a most likely upgradable PCIe bus for SSDs, will most likely make this 2014 mini a great value overall.

I especially can't yet see paying for a 2012 i7, although ram and SSD upgradable, and lose the very significant GPU advantage.

 

[stuffradio]

If you know the difference between a 7,200 and a 5,400 rpm hard drive, then you are not the target audience for the Mini.

If you know how much RAM your devices have, you are not the target audience.

If you know which version of the OS you are running, you are not the audience.

Apple is now selling the mini like an expensive piece of chewing gum. It is a short term buy, requires no obvious technical understanding or ability, and performs only simple basic tasks.

You just threw out 100% of the market.

 

[DaveN]

That would be a wise decision but I would not keep my hopes up!!

I'm going to keep my hopes up only because I won't have to do so for more than a couple of days. I want to see the tear down and speed test results before deciding yea or nay.

If I decide 'nay', I may call the local Apple Store to find if they have any quad core 2012s remaining in stock, look at small hackintoshes, or just wait. I'm really just looking for a media server that is good at encoding videos plus something for photo storage and retouching.

 

[bergmef]

I'm fine with the low end mini, but I always thought the high end mini was meant to be an imac without the screen. We lost that ... and it's what I was hoping for.

 

[MrGuder]

People are forgetting that this is an entry level PC to get the public into their first Mac....most Americans are still hurting with the economy and just trying to make ends meet....most can't afford a $2500.00 PC. The Mac Mini fits the bill, I know it did for me, the late 2012 model works perfect for me and what made me happy the most is that I saved a lot of money by doing the upgrades myself, putting in more ram and an SSD increased the life of my Mac Mini by several more years. It makes no sense to solder the ram, I mean really how much money was Apple losing all those years on prev mini's when it let the public change parts. It's an entry level PC. I can understand doing it for the higher end iMac but doing it to the Mini is just wrong.

We are up to over 1000 posts now, do you think Apple will change production and un-solder the ram and say we are listening to our customer's and change the production due to our responses. Sometime the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[BCWorld]

This is a sad post. Over 1200 comments and counting......
No quad core i7 version
No 256ssd upgrade from the base model
No server model
No upgradable ram
SAME FORM FACTOR

I would be surprised if you can put 2 hdds in this thing.

how can anyone "defend" this? I mean really apple???!!!!

 

[6r4ff3r]

If you know the difference between a 7,200 and a 5,400 rpm hard drive, then you are not the target audience for the Mini.

If you know how much RAM your devices have, you are not the target audience.

If you know which version of the OS you are running, you are not the audience.

Apple is now selling the mini like an expensive piece of chewing gum. It is a short term buy, requires no obvious technical understanding or ability, and performs only simple basic tasks.

I know all of this, i worked with hardware in my free time, and i would buy the basic version, instead of spend 100 euros to change RAM or more to change to ssd or go to other versions.

I do things which the basic version is sufficient. And more than that, computers are not built to last. One short-circuit or personal accident when insurance time or warranty time is gone, and all money wasted go to trash-can.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Don’t be ridiculous. If car manufacturers decided to make it so that certain parts couldn’t be changed you would take notice and there would be public uproar. Imagine if they welded the block, bottom end and head together.

What’s happened here is that Apple have managed to find that place where their average buyer considers the price as ‘throwaway’.
That is to say that it’s priced as highly as possible but also at a point where most will just concede that when it fails they need to get a new one rather than learn about or repair it themselves.

You honestly believe that most people would know if the block, bottom end and head were welded together? For 99.5% of car owners, they'll never touch any of those parts. Look at how many people have been effected by some car makers casting the turbo manifold and heads together. Very few will ever have an issue because of this. The enthusiasts that would modify their vehicles make up a faction of the total percentage of people that will buy these vehicles.

Arguments about part failure are fairly moot. Most failure happens within the first year when it's covered under warranty. RAM rarely fails. Of the millions of computers Apple sells, a very very small percentage of people will ever experience RAM issues. We're talking less than single-digit percentage.

You honestly believe that diagnosing RAM issues is something the average user is capable of? Not a chance. Going back to car comparisons, that's like most vehicle owners being able to diagnose a knock or other issue with their vehicle. They don't know how and they aren't going to learn. They're just going to bring it to someone else to deal with it.

 

[H2SO4]

UK Buyers……..

For all you UK buyers. I was looking for a 2012 mini on the refurb store but couldn’t find any.
It’s your choice of course and each will have their own reasons for choosing either model but John Lewis have dropped the price of their older Minis to match the price of the entry level updated models. Disclaimer - I don’t work for John Lewis or any of their subsidiaries.

I’ve just picked up this £400 i5 model while I decide what to do. There is a 90 day return policy so I’ll keep it unopened till I’m sure whether to keep it or not.
2 Year guarantee & free delivery. Oh, and there 8 left after my purchase.

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You honestly believe that most people would know if the block, bottom end and head were welded together? For 99.5% of car owners, they'll never touch an………....

Missed the point completely but never mind.

 

[dighn]

If you know the difference between a 7,200 and a 5,400 rpm hard drive, then you are not the target audience for the Mini.

If you know how much RAM your devices have, you are not the target audience.

If you know which version of the OS you are running, you are not the audience.

Apple is now selling the mini like an expensive piece of chewing gum. It is a short term buy, requires no obvious technical understanding or ability, and performs only simple basic tasks.

I would argue that audience is better served by the iMac or a laptop. You don't even need to buy a monitor and plug that in. Mini was one of the last power user friendly machines, and now you've got only the Mac Pro which is extreme overkill for all but a specific type of power users. It's quite obvious that Apple doesn't care about power users though.

 

[melendezest]

Quite simply put, the days where performance was a selling point for Apple is way over.
(a 'blast' from the past): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYuCNv1-80Y

We're talking about things the consumer can see as major selling points - thinness to products, a 5K display and anything to do with iOS integration. Oh, and that logo has worldwide credibility so ANYTHING with the logo slapped on it is already desirable, regardless of any drawbacks it may have.

You forgot to mention: GOLD!!!

 

[Sangoma]

If you know the difference between a 7,200 and a 5,400 rpm hard drive, then you are not the target audience for the Mini.

If you know how much RAM your devices have, you are not the target audience.

If you know which version of the OS you are running, you are not the audience.

Apple is now selling the mini like an expensive piece of chewing gum. It is a short term buy, requires no obvious technical understanding or ability, and performs only simple basic tasks.

And how do you know this?

I would argue that if the target audience is not the above, why has Apple offered 3 versions, with upgrade possibilities. It is hard to make a buying decision under such conditions if you do not know these things!

 

[melendezest]

People are forgetting that this is an entry level PC to get the public into their first Mac....most Americans are still hurting with the economy and just trying to make ends meet....most can't afford a $2500.00 PC. The Mac Mini fits the bill, I know it did for me, the late 2012 model works perfect for me and what made me happy the most is that I saved a lot of money by doing the upgrades myself, putting in more ram and an SSD increased the life of my Mac Mini by several more years. It makes no sense to solder the ram, I mean really how much money was Apple losing all those years on prev mini's when it let the public change parts. It's an entry level PC. I can understand doing it for the higher end iMac but doing it to the Mini is just wrong.

We are up to over 1000 posts now, do you think Apple will change production and un-solder the ram and say we are listening to our customer's and change the production due to our responses. Sometime the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The problem is, people are not forgetting anything; they're remembering that the outgoing machine is superior to the new.

The only advantage of Apple doing this is short-term financial gain.

Make no mistake: Apple is no longer interested in making the BEST products.

They are only interested in making the most popular ones.

Hence their latest foray into the fashion world.

 

[Poisonivy326]

Another thing: Apple's engineers (both software and hardware) aren't kiddies who just graduated college. Apple has a reputation for being a kind of "old" workforce in the Silicon Valley. These people are certainly experienced enough to remember when the Macbook Pro could be opened up and upgraded at the drop of a hat, when the Mac Pro had a panel door that could be fitted with slots, when the iMac was cleverly held together by magnets.

The decision from the top to make everything sealed shut and soldered comes from people who KNOW the value of being able to upgrade a device. They're not liberal arts majors who want to write papers on their Macbook Air. These decisions are being made by the "geeks" and "dweebs" that people are deriding in this thread. So it's ultra-cynical.

 

[DaveN]

I predict when the benchmarks come in, the 2014 mid range mini will demonstrate significant improvements over the 2012 for essentially the same cost.

Notwithstanding the dubious dual core vs four core distinction for most users, the new generation CPU/GPU/motherboard, along with a most likely upgradable PCIe bus for SSDs, will most likely make this 2014 mini a great value overall.

I especially can't yet see paying for a 2012 i7, although ram and SSD upgradable, and lose the very significant GPU advantage.

That is what would make the decision tough for me. One of the programs I use makes great use of every CPU core and needs RAM for big image manipulation. It is a secondary, but important, need (want) for me.

 

[vixster1901]

lol @ all the nerd rage.

You guys have NO idea that absolutely no one gives a crap about upgrading RAM.

How many women do you know have ever upgraded their PC?

Face it, dweebs, but PCs these days are appliances, not a rubble-bucket of low-margin tinker-tailor nerd parts.

Get used to it.

Man, you are a freaking Jerk.. What century are you from? Get over yourself!

 

[databanka]

Double-Speak Down-Grade

The new "Upgrade" is a DownGrade!
No Quad-Core option?
And no more RAM than 2012 models?
What were they thinking?
Oh, yeah: They want us to shell out for an iMac, of course...

 

[bergmef]

That is what would make the decision tough for me. One of the programs I use makes great use of every CPU core and needs RAM for big image manipulation. It is a secondary, but important, need (want) for me.

I run my old, early 2009 mini headless. So I am trying to find an old one (late 2012) in a local store. I think handbrake, iVI and iflicks will run better on the quad core.