Its been one of their more popular models, I hope it doesn't disappear. I'm disappointed in apple hamstringing it so much.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Did Apple Just Shoot themselves in the Foot?
- Thread starter ggibson913
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Its been one of their more popular models, I hope it doesn't disappear. I'm disappointed in apple hamstringing it so much.
If you take the 27" iMac as an example, an upgrade to 16GB costs £160 from Apple and 32GB costs £480.
Crucial charges £123.59 for a 16GB upgrade but this will actually give you 24GB because you can still use the standard 8GB as the iMac has 4 memory slots. They charge £247.18 for the 32GB upgrade with is almost half the cost from Apple.
It still makes sense to do it yourself if it's possible.
Because of "planed obsolesces" and the new Mac Mini not being repairable user friendly , the resale value of these will plummet compared to older versions that people can buy to repair or upgrade to their preferences.
This is now a use it until it dies and throw it in the trash.
Your average user that is mostly surfing the web and normal photo editing will never see the difference.
I wouldn't call it "planned obsolescence". It looks like Apples is trying to push to a smaller product and this is a change that could not be avoided. Plus LPDDR3 is only available as a point to point chip package.
----------
That was my point as well.. I'm not complanning a they decided to go to a higher spec RAM to me that is a moot point cause they do offer more RAM but you have to decide now if you think you may need it in the future.
You keep saying this as if it has any practical benefit to the end user.
----------
That is the problem. And, given the way Apple sells these systems, the only way to get that additional RAM is to order the system directly from Apple. I cannot stop into Micro Center and get it. I can't even stop into an Apple store and get it.
It does benefit the end user.. LPDDR3 is different from your DIMM style RAM for one it has a larger bandwidth than because it's a point to point solder package. Plus it allows Apple to move to a smaller foot print and to run with less power consumption.
Given this:
"Your average user that is mostly surfing the web and normal photo editing will never see the difference."
It doesn't benefit the end user. Few things will benefit from increased memory bandwidth. This is not to say I'm against forward progress. But when it comes at the cost of something else that forward progress needs to make sense. In this case it does not.
And how does it not benefit the end user?
----------
Apple is also the one that get's the call when the computer is functioning correctly. Throw in 3rd party ram.......
Because the applications used typically are not memory bandwidth constrained.
And?
When something goes wrong with the new 2014 mini it's all on Apple. They can't blame my 3rd party memory.
OK...so they can't blame it on 3rd party memory. Still not seeing an advantage here.
The advantage is Apple designs the software to fit their hardware configuration. I don't really see the advantage of cheaper memory if it's going to be unreliable. What did I save if I use third part memory and get kernel panics caused by 3rd part ram?
All RAM is 3rd party. Money is saved because of the very high mark-up Apple applies.
I agree with you.
The mac mini is usually the first computer a non-regular-apple-user would buy, especially the skeptics. They would drop $500 for the new mac mini model; if they didnt like it, they can just sell it again, but if they do like it, well now all the can do is upgrade the HDD or buy a new mac if they want to upgrade it.
By disallowing 3rd party RAM, the mac mini seems to have a shorter life span as software will be utilizing more and more RAM in the future, but the mac mini RAM is now set for its life-span. The old ones could last longer by upgrading the RAM and HDD as needed. I for one am going to stick to the 2012 model until they give me a good reason to upgrade.
Again, Apple designs their software to a certain configuration of hardware. It may be true that all ram is 3rd party, but Apple knows which one works as it's the one they choose. For the other ram it can be hit or miss.
----------
The ram limitation has more to do with the processor anyway. Each core can only access so much ram anyway.
RAM in spec is RAM in spec. There are several high quality producers of RAM at value prices compared to Apple. They absolutely don't choose bases on configuration of hardware alone: supply chain and the pricing they receive is a huge reason they go with he suppliers they do. Buying RAM from Apple only amounts to a bigger hole in the pocket book.
I think the base model just went up several hundred bucks and the "100 less" model is just like the low end iMac. profit baby
We don't like it and what else is new?
Just because they go with a certain supplier doesn't mean that they don't hold an even higher tolerance and rejection of certain components. That in and of itself will drive the cost up. That supplier will charge for that higher standard.
In a perfect world that would make sense. Unfortunately it just doesn't work that way. The suppliers get squeezed to the point that they are making very little on the items that they sell to Apple. Apple says we need this part at this price can you do it, and suppliers say yes or no. No higher standard is met.
If there is an issue, they likely won't be in the supply chain for the next go around as nobody wants recall issues, which makes your point to a degree, but largely not.
I'd say that unless you bought the most bottom of the barrel memory third party memory is just as reliable as Apple memory. Given Apple can buy in bulk and just the chips (as opposed to a module) Apple is charging a lot for a memory upgrade.
Unfortunately LPDDR3 RAM doesn't come in a DIMM style package and is only sold as FBGA, UFBGA, VFBGA, and WFBGA packages so there is no 3rd party that is applicable to this application