Why does the iMac have soldered RAM?

[cynics]

Of cause I mean as an after purchase upgrade. Not everyone has money to dump on the highest configuration iMac out the door.



...and we all know that Apple is operating on slim margins and has to cut every corners just to make a profit. /s



Of cause all-in-ones would work. Why wouldn't they?

I am in college and my room isn't very big, so I don't want to have a big box in the room.

They may not have narrow margins but they are still a business and like all businesses want to maximize profit.

A Hackintosh requires a very narrow set of hardware for compatibility I wasn't aware of any all-in-ones that meet the criteria (especially when it comes to wifi BT connectivity) I haven't been actively looking though.

 

[tubeexperience]

They may not have narrow margins but they are still a business and like all businesses want to maximize profit.

Making profit and having happy customers are not mutually exclusive.

If Apple sold a Mac with 4 GB soldered RAM and it ran like **** in a couple of years, do you think that that person want to buy another Mac?

A Hackintosh requires a very narrow set of hardware for compatibility I wasn't aware of any all-in-ones that meet the criteria (especially when it comes to wifi BT connectivity) I haven't been actively looking though.

What you are thinking of is OBO (out-of-the-box) compatibility. You can get a lot of other hardware to work, if you spend time tweaking it.

 

[cynics]

Making profit and having happy customers are not mutually exclusive.

If Apple sold a Mac with 4 GB soldered RAM and it ran like **** in a couple of years, do you think that that person want to buy another Mac?



What you are thinking of is OBO (out-of-the-box) compatibility. You can get a lot of other hardware to work, if you spend time tweaking it.

I feel as if the topic is changing to support an specific side. IMacs have 8gb unless we are talking the Mac Mini or previous years?

Regardless if you are too ignorant to not know how much RAM you need then you probably don't need much anyway. Am I supposed to feel sorry for the poor Mac buyer and their RAM problems?

You clearly know better so what is your point? You want Apple to make a product you aren't going to buy a specific way while eating any additional cost so the uninformed can upgrade it down the road?

 

[tubeexperience]

I feel as if the topic is changing to support an specific side. IMacs have 8gb unless we are talking the Mac Mini or previous years?

Regardless if you are too ignorant to not know how much RAM you need then you probably don't need much anyway. Am I supposed to feel sorry for the poor Mac buyer and their RAM problems?

First, how you feel about people who need more RAM has nothing to do with this topic although I am annoyed by your indifference.

Second, things change. New programs come out and need more RAM. People get new jobs and need to run programs that they never used before. etc.

You clearly know better so what is your point? You want Apple to make a product you aren't going to buy a specific way while eating any additional cost so the uninformed can upgrade it down the road?

And how do you know I wouldn't buy it?

 

[cynics]

And how do you know I won't buy it?

You should buy it. I feel it would be the perfect for you.

 

[tubeexperience]

You should buy it. I feel it would be the perfect for you.

I hope you are being sarcastic.

 

[Clix Pix]

I think Apple observed that a lot of people -- not all, but perhaps the majority -- who purchased a 21.5" iMac were doing just what Maflynn noted, purchasing it as an appliance, so to speak -- something they could take home, set up and start using right away for their email, web surfing, iTunes library and that was about it..... Stock RAM, not replaceable? Not a big concern to this type of customer. They are not going to be interested in tinkering with their machine after they've got it home and set up, they just want to use it for five or six years and then start thinking about a new one when the one they have has slowed down significantly, is throwing beach balls all over the place, etc. So......with the retina iMac 21.5" Apple decided to just make the thing something that these people could take off the shelf at the Apple Store and set up at home -- no fuss, no muss......

I have a couple of friends like that, actually, who over the past several years have been perfectly happy with whatever the baseline 21.5" iMac is at the store, and with the size for various reasons......it simply has not occurred to them to want something where they could later upgrade the RAM or do anything else. When their iMac starts showing signs of slowing down their thinking is indeed, "guess it's time for a new machine." One friend is at that point now and another is coming close to it. The 2013 21.5" iMac with the baseline 5200 rpm "platter" drive just doesn't seem to be cutting the mustard any more, and the (I think) 8 GB RAM, ditto......too many beachballs showing up ......

Some of this is how the person uses his or her machine, of course, which is different for everyone. I have the feeling that in a few months I'll be accompanying the one friend to the Apple Store so she can buy the latest retina screen 21.5" iMac with whatever the baseline specs are at that time........

 

[tubeexperience]

I think Apple observed that a lot of people -- not all, but perhaps the majority -- who purchased a 21.5" iMac were doing just what Maflynn noted, purchasing it as an appliance, so to speak -- something they could take home, set up and start using right away for their email, web surfing, iTunes library and that was about it..... Stock RAM, not replaceable? Not a big concern to this type of customer. They are not going to be interested in tinkering with their machine after they've got it home and set up, they just want to use it for five or six years and then start thinking about a new one when the one they have has slowed down significantly, is throwing beach balls all over the place, etc. So......with the retina iMac 21.5" Apple decided to just make the thing something that these people could take off the shelf at the Apple Store and set up at home -- no fuss, no muss......

I have a couple of friends like that, actually, who over the past several years have been perfectly happy with whatever the baseline 21.5" iMac is at the store, and with the size for various reasons......it simply has not occurred to them to want something where they could later upgrade the RAM or do anything else. When their iMac starts showing signs of slowing down their thinking is indeed, "guess it's time for a new machine." One friend is at that point now and another is coming close to it. The 2013 21.5" iMac with the baseline 5200 rpm "platter" drive just doesn't seem to be cutting the mustard any more, and the (I think) 8 GB RAM, ditto......too many beachballs showing up ......

Some of this is how the person uses his or her machine, of course, which is different for everyone. I have the feeling that in a few months I'll be accompanying the one friend to the Apple Store so she can buy the latest retina screen 21.5" iMac with whatever the baseline specs are at that time........

Back in the day (before college) I have had quite a few people brought to me their iMac and had me upgrade the RAM and HDD/SSD.

The demand is definitely there.

I charge a flat rate for labor (for each particular model) and put in whatever RAM and HDD/SSD they wanted.

For the Late 2013 21.5-inch iMac, both the memory and the hard drive are upgradable.

---

That particular iMac (that you are talking about) would feel like new iMac with a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO and a 16GB RAM upgrade.

1TB Samsung 850 EVO - $310
16GB DDR3 1600 - $55

 

[Clix Pix]

I'm sure it would......but the point I am making is that neither of my friends would be interested in doing that, having their machines updated, as they really are not all that savvy in the first place and interested in the second place. They aren't like me, someone who really considers everything before even making a purchase in the first place and looks ahead into the future. They just don't. As I said, my guess is that in the next few months the one friend will call or email me one day and say, "I've just GOT to get a new iMac!" She'll have become so frustrated with the beachballing and such.....without really understanding that, yes, an upgrade to the RAM and to her hard drive would make all the difference. Sigh...... And, yes, I've tried to explain this but it falls on deaf ears. There are just some people out here like that, and I think this is the audience Apple is targeting with that 21.5" iMac......

 

[curmudgeonette]

The soldered memory iMacs use LPDDR3 memory. LPDDR3 is not available in plug in memory modules (SO-DIMM or otherwise.)

Why would Apple use LPDDR3? Lower power consumption for one. But maybe the biggest reason is this quote from Wikipedia:

The mode registers have been greatly expanded compared to conventional SDRAM, with an 8-bit address space, and the ability to read them back. Although smaller than a serial presence detect EEPROM, enough information is included to eliminate the need for one.

That lets Apple save the cost of sockets, separate circuit boards, and a (two actually) 25 cent* SPD chip.

And another reason: I suspect that, via AppleCare servicing, Apple has received back plenty of logic boards that have been killed by static electricity while the owner was attempting to upgrade the RAM. A board damaged that way can't be repaired. You never know what other components are working now but will fail soon from static damage. Eliminating upgradable memory keeps novice's fingers out of the computer.

* WAG on the price.