Corey Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 The iPad mini might have stolen the show at Apple’s (AAPL) Tuesday event, but the new redesigned iMac easily comes in second. With 5-millimeter thick edges and a 60% boost in graphics performance, the new iMacs make desktops computers look very attractive again. There’s just one thorn in the 21.5-inch iMac’s side: upgrades. To get the iMac to such a thin profile, Softpedia notes that Apple chose to remove the optical drive and laminate the glass face to the LCD panel. That’s great and all, but the ability to pop off a few screws and add more RAM to the 21.5-inch model is now gone. Sure, 8GB of RAM is more than sufficient for many users, but if you want to add more RAM down the road, it’s impossible to do so. The only options are to either buy a 21.5-inch with 16GB of RAM and future-proof your iMac at checkout or buy the more expensive 27-inch iMac that does have user-serviceable RAM modules. The 21.5-inch iMac now joins the MacBook Air and 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display as computers with soldered RAM. Having soldered RAM in a notebook was already pushing it, but Apple’s decision to do the same on the desktop is a little bit unsettling, especially since desktops are replaced less frequently. View the full article 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnl Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 how do you upgrade ram in something like that anyways.. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolf Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 ^^ That 5mm depth is only at the sides, at the center it'd be thicker. So default memory modules should be possible, other than that Apple placed them directly on the motherboard. Even more importantly, I can't find any reason/way how to upgrade the storage drive. And an SSD is not even a default option... Anyway, terrible 'progress'. For a laptop/ultrabook it would be alright, but upgrading a fairly expensive pc is now impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoGooD Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 This is an issue with the current Mac laptop lineup as the article stated. As much of an Apple fan as I have been...soldering RAM to the motherboard pretty much ensured I will never have another Mac laptop. It's an interesting gamble on Apples part. The next 2-3 years will be interesting to see how their stock does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolf Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 ^^ soldering RAM to the motherboard in saving space is fine, e.g. for a laptop. Not that I'd buy it for my main laptop, but more because 16GB isn't enough for me For only design I'd not recommend it. But people will start complaining when I say that they buy Apples for their design... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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