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

subsonix said:
Of course not, but where did you get the 40% figure from? The error made here is comparing multicore performance to single core performance.

All the current models perform BETTER, core for core! If you were planning on getting the $10k quad core model, it's of course unfortunate that the quad option is gone. But let's try to be honest with the comparissons here, your claim is factually wrong.
Click to expand...

Clearly you're not familiar with what constitutes a "fact." Welcome to ignoreland!

It is a fact that the Late 2012 $699 Mac Mini is faster than the 2014 $699 Mac Mini. You appear to try to gloss over that inconvenient fact by "discounting for multi-core performance," which shows you to be either uneducated or disingenuous.
 
Marketing 101

The Downgrade of the Mac Mini is an obvious way to steer customers toward other - More Expensive - products. This is classic "Bate & Switch" tactics.
Those of us who maxed out the options on our previous mac minis are now forced to go to iMacs to get to the next level of performance.
It's as nasty as it gets. But that's reality.
 
Wild-Bill said:
Wrong. :rolleyes:

Benchmarks have conclusively proven its a dog compared to last year's model.

Just because someone posts thousand-word replies doesn't mean they know what they are talking about. ;)
Click to expand...

Yep, I wonder who got the CEO to sign off on this thing'. I suspect the sales figures for the first quarter will suck, and someone will have to explain why it was such a good idea.
 
Digital Dude said:
Yep, I wonder who got the CEO to sign off on this thing'. I suspect the sales figures for the first quarter will suck, and someone will have to explain why it was such a good idea.
Click to expand...

Someone will eventually have to explain why there are a plethora of 2014 minis sitting in the refurb store while all the 2012 refurb minis sell within minutes.
 
Wicked1 said:
I hated the fact they did that with the Retina Display MBP's as well, forces you to always spend more up front.
Click to expand...

To be fair, removing the user-upgradable slots from the rMBP allowed it to be thinner, a good trait for a laptop to have (same reason the MBA had soldered RAM all the way back in 2008). In the case of the 2014 Mac mini there was absolutely no reason for it other than a monetary one.
 
Removing the user-upgradable slots from the rMBP allowed it to be non user serviceable, which in my book is not a good trait, and worst having proprietary drives which cancels any 3rd party choices now or especially in the future.

I suppose the reality distortion of *thin* by Apple has most everyone believe that in their perfect world, ram never fails, nor do drives or other components. However the reality check happens when incidents happen and faced with the resulting bill.

In Apple's *perfect world*, we do not get to keep our computers longer than *AppleCare* that you have to pay for in addition to the Apple premium, nor do you have any choice but to spend a huge sum should any accidents cripple your computer.

Another bonus for the greedy corp- limited life of the soldered and glued everything computers (much lower cost- and quality), is the ability for macs to have their traditional resale value continue after Applecare is gone..no secondary market after 2 years...sweet!

In other words you are paying a premium price for a computer that you will not be logically able to own for very long and is destined to fill the landfills even more, while Apple promotes *we are green* sales marketing strategy.

Brilliant marketing hype really..*thin*, *retina*, *green*, *we care about work conditions* (like Apple can change China policy?) .

From inspired to corp greed- how times have changed Apple co.
 
Last edited:
Bumping this thread...

I ordered a '14 Mac mini, stock 2.6 GHz model, except to increase the RAM to 16 GB, because (as we all know) it's not field upgradable.

Turns out there is a lead time of 3-5 business days for that one customization. Pay no attention to the fact that Configure your Mac mini says: "Available to ship: 1-3 business days", once you submit your order, the order status page says: "Available to ship: 3-5 business days". Plus whatever time shipping requires.

What's really maddening though, is that there isn't actually any "customization" to be made from a CTO perspective. The motherboard for the 16 GB mini is a unique part, with the only CPU and RAM it can ever have. But none of these minis are being built in advance, and (with the exception of Mac Mall) these "customized" minis can only be ordered via the usual sources for in-store pickup. Certainly not stocked at an Apple Store near you.

So ordering a stock Mac mini, but with maxed out RAM, means someone at a Foxconn plant has to pull a 16 GB motherboard for an otherwise stock Mac mini build, then have that shipped across the Pacific to the US of A. For what is likely the single most common configure-to-order option. All to prevent stocking a few additional SKUs in a warehouse, available and ready to ship to customers.

SMH, Mr. Cook. You really make it hard to be a Mac user.
 
  • Like
Reactions: robotica
John.B said:
Bumping this thread...

I ordered a '14 Mac mini, stock 2.6 GHz model, except to increase the RAM to 16 GB, because (as we all know) it's not field upgradable.

Turns out there is a lead time of 3-5 business days for that one customization. Pay no attention to the fact that Configure your Mac mini says: "Available to ship: 1-3 business days", once you submit your order, the order status page says: "Available to ship: 3-5 business days". Plus whatever time shipping requires.

What's really maddening though, is that there isn't actually any "customization" to be made from a CTO perspective. The motherboard for the 16 GB mini is a unique part, with the only CPU and RAM it can ever have. But none of these minis are being built in advance, and (with the exception of Mac Mall) these "customized" minis can only be ordered via the usual sources for in-store pickup. Certainly not stocked at an Apple Store near you.

So ordering a stock Mac mini, but with maxed out RAM, means someone at a Foxconn plant has to pull a 16 GB motherboard for an otherwise stock Mac mini build, then have that shipped across the Pacific to the US of A. For what is likely the single most common configure-to-order option. All to prevent stocking a few additional SKUs in a warehouse, available and ready to ship to customers.

SMH, Mr. Cook. You really make it hard to be a Mac user.
Click to expand...

MacMinis, MBA/MBP and iMAC line is not manufactured at the Foxconn, China. It may be the Quanta Computers, again based in China.

I'm not so sure that it happens as you describe when ordering upgraded Macs. It may be that somewhere in the USA they may be keeping raw stocks of the necessary components to build the upgraded Macs. When I had a iMAC (which I sold recently) it was one of those upgraded versions and it was indicated on a striker "made in Ireland". Ireland is where Apple International is located, which is the main logistics and distribution Apple subsidiary for all EMEA ops. I'm pretty sure my iMac was upgraded in Ireland, Europe. (Fyi: that iMac I had purchased from the stocks of a local APR, at the time when there were no Appylestores in Turkey and no on-line sales...)
 
Perhaps it's because I am still a tad newish to the Mac world, but reading through this thread has me more confused than I was when I got here with my question!

Here is the question I have:

Is it possible to upgrade my Mac mini's RAM from 8GB to 16GB?

Thank anyone patient enough to respond! :)
 
Laisha said:
Perhaps it's because I am still a tad newish to the Mac world, but reading through this thread has me more confused than I was when I got here with my question!

Here is the question I have:

Is it possible to upgrade my Mac mini's RAM from 8GB to 16GB?

Thank anyone patient enough to respond! :)
Click to expand...

The sad answer is: NO !...:eek:

As the RAM comes in soldered on the MB (or whatever they call it), you can either get the 8GB standard version, or order for the step-up version with 16GB at the cost ıf $ 200 + taxes (in the USA).
 
Laisha said:
Thanks, Mafaky. I was afraid of that.

Life is not fair, I guess. Nor has Mac been.
Click to expand...
Every computer I have ever owned outlived its ability to increase its RAM.

Sell it on eBay; purchase the model with more RAM! Chalk off the difference to experience! :)
 
Freyqq said:
You can get low power CPUs like atom and i3. Hard drives would be the main power draw. 230w for a sever sounds really high.
Click to expand...

Well I'm talking about total - a 2012 i7 quad core mini running multiple apps constantly draw is probably ~20-25W but variable, my i5 based pfSense router (draws 13W running), a Pegasus R6, Pegasus R4, Drobo S, SmartStor DS4600 (which collectively draw the majority of the load) and my HP Procurve switch and Airport Extreme (802.11ac) which use only a few W each.
 
Digital Dude said:
Yep, I wonder who got the CEO to sign off on this thing'. I suspect the sales figures for the first quarter will suck, and someone will have to explain why it was such a good idea.
Click to expand...

It is indeed a very poor performed. I opted for the 8GB RAM 1TB HD model and regret it very much. I didn't realise that Apple have started to try to make it impossible to swap components and the RAM is soldered to the board so this machine is obsolete out of the box.

Similarly I bought a 12" Macbook because they no longer sell the best machine they have ever made: the 11" Macbook air. My Air needs a new battery and Apple won't even sell me one after it has gone out of warranty. Customer service: bye bye. Customers : bye bye

The Macbook 12" only has a single USB C port so I even had to buy an adaptor to connect a USB memory stick. It's utterly crap.
 
Garmit said:
It is indeed a very poor performed. I opted for the 8GB RAM 1TB HD model and regret it very much. I didn't realise that Apple have started to try to make it impossible to swap components and the RAM is soldered to the board so this machine is obsolete out of the box.

Similarly I bought a 12" Macbook because they no longer sell the best machine they have ever made: the 11" Macbook air. My Air needs a new battery and Apple won't even sell me one after it has gone out of warranty. Customer service: bye bye. Customers : bye bye

The Macbook 12" only has a single USB C port so I even had to buy an adaptor to connect a USB memory stick. It's utterly crap.
Click to expand...
They need to disable replies after like 6 months. Stop browsing page 40
 
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