01-10-2012, 12:54 PM

Is all memory created equal? I want to max out the memory on my new iMac. Should I purchase the more expensive memory from Apple or will any memory chip that is compatible with the iMac be just as good?
Thanks

01-10-2012, 02:25 PM

First... this post has been moved to this forum (Desktops) as it has nothing to do with iPad hardware.

Now to answer your question: Do not buy Apple memory as it is over priced and is the same memory that can be purchased much less expensive from Crucial or OWC.

I use OWC for all my memory needs.

01-10-2012, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by chscag

First... this post has been moved to this forum (Desktops) as it has nothing to do with iPad hardware.

Now to answer your question: Do not buy Apple memory as it is over priced and is the same memory that can be purchased much less expensive from Crucial or OWC.

I use OWC for all my memory needs.

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry for the wrong forum post. But I could have sworn I posted it in the hardware forum. I'll be more careful.

01-11-2012, 12:16 PM

I too am getting some confusing information.

I just bought a 21.5-inch iMac i5 on 12/28, with 4 gigabytes of RAM. According to Apple's site, the memory can only be expanded to 8 gigabytes. Tech specs from Best Buy say it can be expanded to 16. The hardware profile is showing four RAM slots with 2gb in two of them. And yet another site I found says that some iMacs can actually run off 32 gigs of RAM even though Apple's claim is 16.

So I just don't know.

(And according to everymac.com, my iMac doesn't even EXIST!)

BTW, not all memory is necessarily equal. Crucial has been getting some dings lately for faulty RAM...

01-11-2012, 02:42 PM

The Mid 2011 iMac can be expanded to 16 GB according to Apple and 32 GB according to MacTracker and OWC.

If you have a Late 2011 iMac which is known as the educational model it can only be expanded to 8 GB according to Apple and MacTracker.

So which model 2011 iMac do you have? Check your model number.

01-13-2012, 08:25 AM

Well, obviously, mine's not the educational model -- I just added 8 gb RAM and it's now showing 12 total, so all is good....and oops, yes, my model DOES exist -- the identifier is iMac12,1; I thought it said iMac12,2.

01-13-2012, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by chscag

The Mid 2011 iMac can be expanded to 16 GB according to Apple and 32 GB according to MacTracker and OWC.

If you have a Late 2011 iMac which is known as the educational model it can only be expanded to 8 GB according to Apple and MacTracker.

So which model 2011 iMac do you have? Check your model number.

How can I find out if mine is the education model or not?

01-13-2012, 10:45 AM

Pull down the apple menu and select "About This Mac." if you have Lion, you'll need to make a couple of additional clicks as well...like maybe "Hardware Profile" or "System Profile" (I'm not at my Mac now)...it'll tell you the model identifier and such. You can compare that to what's listed at everymac.com.