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

Laird Knox

macrumors 68000
Jun 18, 2010
1,956
1,343
What a complete and utter rip-off. How can they justify such a price. No thanks! Come back with £100 per stick and you have a deal, that's just blatant overcharging and I get great performance with 8GB thanks.

I understand there's development costs, marketing, and manufacturing, but c'mon really that much? You guys need your head seeing to.

Higher density chips have lower yields. Once the process gets better the price will go down. Heck, I once paid $1100 for a 32MB SIMM.
 

tdar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2003
2,097
2,516
Johns Creek Ga.
Good for a Server

Where this would be reasionable is in the Mac Mini Server.
For $2949 you can build a core I7 quad server with 128 GB of SATA 3 SSD storage (RAID 1) and 16GB's of Ram. The Mac Mini in this config will deliver disk data rates of over 1000MB/S. A very impressave mid level server for a good price at that server level. But what it has over it's other server compeditors is it's power draw. This config draws around 40 watts. Low watts = low heat = Low noise. Plus it has thunderbolt.
 

paulrbeers

macrumors 68040
Dec 17, 2009
3,963
123
if 8gb sticks cost so much im not surprised that we don't see an 8gb option for macbook airs, imagine how much one would cost from apple o_O

Ummm, the MBA still uses a 2x2GB setup for the 4GB so you would need to compare what it would cost for 2x4GB worth of memory (or about $50 more).

Seriously, reading and comprehension on this board is severely lacking.
 

mdriftmeyer

macrumors 68040
Feb 2, 2004
3,826
2,004
Pacific Northwest
I'll wait for a year when the 8GB RAM Chips drop rapidly and then reconsider through NewEgg.

Higher density chips have lower yields. Once the process gets better the price will go down. Heck, I once paid $1100 for a 32MB SIMM.

In 1996 before leaving for NeXT I sold 32MB SIMMS for DEC PCs that were $1600. Only the Animation and Engineering departments at the University or the department heads would fork over that kind of money so they could be the latest.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

gglockner

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2007
413
52
Bellevue, WA
FWIW, I've heard mixed messages about whether or not swapping the disk really invalidates an iMac's warranty. The thinking is that disks need to be user-servicable because they do fail, and so long as you take care, your warranty should be fine. I would try an get official confirmation before I went ahead, mind...

Standard IANAL disclaimer applies...

Once you crack the case of your iMac or Mac Mini, you are putting your warranty at risk. Perhaps you might prevail in a lawsuit, but that's a lot of trouble just to upgrade your hard drive. Again, if you want the SSD, you're better off purchasing it from Apple at the time the system is built. If you want to customize freely, you are better off buying a Mac Pro, which is designed with component swapping in mind.
 

IzzyJG99

macrumors 6502
Oct 26, 2007
336
6
Sheesh. Reminds me of the time I paid $400 for a 512MB chip for my first gen White iBook G3.
 

macosxuser01

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2006
602
141
Sacramento, CA
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

I can't wait till 8GB sticks cost as much as 4GB sticks. When I bought my MBP in Janurary, I upgraded to 8GB (2X4GB) for $109. It was a steal and a must for anyone running 4GB of RAM. You will really notice a difference even if you dont use high end applicatons. I told my brother he should do it on his 13" MBP considering he does some editing projects on the side.
I can see in 2-3 years upgrading to 16GB (2X8GB) will cost $150-$300.
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
I'd rather have the older 'fat' Mac Mini and have it with 6 or 8 RAM slots. That way we could get away with the cheaper 2GB sticks.

I suppose having Apple force people who want 16 GB to buy 2 8GB sticks is good in the long run though. Some idiots with money to burn will buy them, causing the price to the rest of us to drop in a couple of years ;)
 

smchan

macrumors member
Jul 22, 2008
96
1
I can buy a whole new ThinkPad with 16GB RAM for little more than that price of RAM!

I have a ThinkPad w520 with 16G memory in my lap right now. The cost of the memory through my employer was $33 per 4G or $132 total. :)

I asked for a 15" MacBook Pro but unfortunately needed 16G memory for my work - and the cost of the MBP shot to over $3500 by the time the memory was considered, ergo I got stuck with a ThinkPad. (My ThinkPad is a 2.2GHz i7 quad with a 1920x1080 monitor - so pound for pound it meets or beats the 15" MBP. It just doesn't run OS X, dang-it!)

I believe the ThinkPad can go up to 32G using 8G DIMMs, but that would be a pricey upgrade. Hopefully 8G DIMMs will be a lot cheaper by the time I'm ready for my next upgrade and I can go back to Mac.

Sam
 

macosxuser01

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2006
602
141
Sacramento, CA
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

smchan said:
I can buy a whole new ThinkPad with 16GB RAM for little more than that price of RAM!

I have a ThinkPad w520 with 16G memory in my lap right now. The cost of the memory through my employer was $33 per 4G or $132 total. :)

I asked for a 15" MacBook Pro but unfortunately needed 16G memory for my work - and the cost of the MBP shot to over $3500 by the time the memory was considered, ergo I got stuck with a ThinkPad. (My ThinkPad is a 2.2GHz i7 quad with a 1920x1080 monitor - so pound for pound it meets or beats the 15" MBP. It just doesn't run OS X, dang-it!)

I believe the ThinkPad can go up to 32G using 8G DIMMs, but that would be a pricey upgrade. Hopefully 8G DIMMs will be a lot cheaper by the time I'm ready for my next upgrade and I can go back to Mac.

Sam

What do you for work that requires 16GB of RAM?! Wow. You a graphic designer or video editor?
 

Arcady

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2002
402
24
Lexington, KY
With all the room they saved by removing the optical drive, you would think there's enough room for four RAM sockets.

Anyone remember when they used to sell SIMM Doublers or DIMM Doublers or something like that? Where you would take two lower capacity sticks of RAM and put them in this adapter that fit into each socket on your motherboard? I remember using them on something like a PowerMac 8100 or 8500. It was a great use of old memory sticks. There's no way something like that could fit in a mini, I guess.
 

winston1236

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2010
1,902
319
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)



What do you for work that requires 16GB of RAM?! Wow. You a graphic designer or video editor?

I need about double that but i'm an animator
 

wizard

macrumors 68040
May 29, 2003
3,854
571
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Raptura said:
Yeah, ....... No thanks.

LOL! That was gonna be my exact comment! You beat me to it.

Why would anyone do this unless they're loaded with cash?!

If I had the cash it might be worth it. I don't so I will just ignore it.

However this does highlight one thing, this is a major Mini update. The little box is far more capable than the previous generation. One can now have a rather impressive computational platform in a little package.
 

wizard

macrumors 68040
May 29, 2003
3,854
571
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

jonathandlopez said:
What's the point in having so much RAM in a simple desktop that's not meant to be doing a whole lot of work. The whole point is to save money with the Mini--honestly, the 2.4GHz 2GB model ran Photoshop CS3 just fine for me when I was working with 90mb files. :confused:

That is your impression of the machines. Frankly I see them as far more capable, especially with this new release. You can reasonably run OpenCL and OpenGL code on the model with the AMD GPU for example.

In fact I'd be willing to say the new Minis are a very cost effective workstation for less demanding work. Without spinning tall tales they are more powerful then any computer I've owned in the past.

So I think your opinion of the Minis is out of place. They are now very capable little boxes.
 

4God

macrumors 68020
Apr 5, 2005
2,132
267
My Mac
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

$2000 for a Mini and 16 gigs of RAM? I think I'd rather get an iMac and take a three day vacation.
 

marksman

macrumors 603
Jun 4, 2007
5,764
5
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I remember many years ago I needed a 64 MEG SIMM for a server and it was $1079. Fortunately the guy at the store told me the price was going to drop tomorrow and I got it gor 519.

I remember my first hard drive was a 5 MEG drive for an apple ii and was 800.
 

nylonsteel

macrumors 68000
Nov 5, 2010
1,555
492
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

$2000 for a Mini and 16 gigs of RAM? I think I'd rather get an iMac and take a three day vacation.

sounds good to me
 

mdriftmeyer

macrumors 68040
Feb 2, 2004
3,826
2,004
Pacific Northwest
The Mini uses laptop memory (SO-DIMMs). OWC's price isn't that far off what it would cost you from Amazon or Newegg, and OWC is promising that it will work.

Newegg doesn't even offer 8GB SO-DIMMS.

Crucial, Corsair and Kingston don't offer them.

Crucial doesn't even have memory targeted for a recently released Mac mini and Crucial has nothing for any of the SO-DIMM based Macs.
 

parapup

macrumors 65816
Oct 31, 2006
1,291
49
I have a ThinkPad w520 with 16G memory in my lap right now

So I was considering getting a w520 off of eBay. Since you seem to be using it on your lap - I take it heat or weight are not that big of an issue?

Care to comment on the machine a bit? My use will be as a development workstation - lot of compiles etc. TIA.
 

Rocketman

macrumors 603
Where this would be reasonable is in the Mac Mini Server.
For $2949 you can build a core I7 quad server with 128 GB of SATA 3 SSD storage (RAID 1) and 16GB's of Ram. The Mac Mini in this config will deliver disk data rates of over 1000MB/S. A very impressive mid level server for a good price at that server level. But what it has over it's other server competitors is it's power draw. This config draws around 40 watts. Low watts = low heat = Low noise. Plus it has thunderbolt.
6 months or so from now the prices will be about half or more for the RAM and the SSD. At that point for a bit more than the price of 2 maxed minis now you could buy 4 and set them up as a grid.

4 w/ i7Q SSD RAID in each, 8gb in each, TB to connect them. I would love to see numbers on that from colo. It's gonna be faster and smaller than 2U of X-serves.
 
Last edited:

skellener

macrumors 68000
Jun 23, 2003
1,786
543
So. Cal.
Where this would be reasionable is in the Mac Mini Server.
For $2949 you can build a core I7 quad server with 128 GB of SATA 3 SSD storage (RAID 1) and 16GB's of Ram. The Mac Mini in this config will deliver disk data rates of over 1000MB/S. A very impressave mid level server for a good price at that server level. But what it has over it's other server compeditors is it's power draw. This config draws around 40 watts. Low watts = low heat = Low noise. Plus it has thunderbolt.
Yessssssss! :D
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.