New Mac Mini No Upgradable Ram

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A new low from apple they updated the mac mini only to tell you sorry you have to buy it with enough ram from apple because we soldered the ram to the board.

How is this a good idea....
 

pigoo3

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I'm not necessarily surprised? It's just another step in the same direction that Apple is already doing with 21" iMac's, MacBook Air's, and retina MacBook Pro's.

I agree:)…I wish we could still upgrade ram after purchase…but this certainly is not anything new overall.

- Nick

p.s. 27" iMac's are next!;)
 

chscag

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@John:

This does not qualify as a "Community Announcement". Moved it here to the "Desktops" forum.
 
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A new low from apple they updated the mac mini only to tell you sorry you have to buy it with enough ram from apple because we soldered the ram to the board.

How is this a good idea....

It's a brilliant idea if you are a stock holder.:Cool:
 
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Has this been officially confirmed? It doesn't make since for them to change the design unless there were multiple reasons for this..I say this because changing the design cost the company money and requires modifications to the production line.
 

chscag

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Has this been officially confirmed? It doesn't make since for them to change the design unless there were multiple reasons for this..I say this because changing the design cost the company money and requires modifications to the production line.

You're kidding right? Since when did Apple worry about costing the company money to change certain designs? They've done this over and over again throughout the years so this should come as no surprise to anyone. And yes, it's been confirmed; memory is soldered on to the logic board in the Mini same as the retina and Air MacBook Pros.

Right now only the 27" iMac and Mac Pro have removable memory modules. And yes, the 2012 MacBook Pro which is still being sold also has removable modules.
 
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chas_m

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I'm not a fan of un-upgradable RAM, so consequently I am unhappy about this decision on Apple's part.

Having said that, the non-removable RAM has not turned out to be a big issue in the MacBook Air nor the MacBook Pros thus far, and Apple's been doing it to them for quite a few years now.

The truth of the matter is that the mini is intended as a starter Mac, and so by the time you notice that 4GB or 8GB or whatever isn't cutting it anymore, you're likely in the market for a more powerful machine anyway. It's just like the non-removable battery in the MBPs --- they last about five-six years, barring defects, and it has turned out to be a total non-issue for almost all owners. They move on -- on their own accord -- usually quite some time before the sealed battery has breathed its last. Ditto the iPad, which isn't really upgradable/openable/repairable at all.

Power-nerds and tinkerers are never going to be happy with these sorts of decisions, but the VAST majority of Mac buyers (I'm thinking higher than 90 percent) are not at all troubled by the trend, as they never get to the point where they would notice it to be an issue for them.
 
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I was having troubles with the announcement, also. I was hoping that it was bad info that was being given out.

What we have now, is the Apple version of an IBM PC junior - and if you are old enough, you know how that came out. Same reasoning - "We don't want a lot of people buying this cheapie that works as well and almost as fast as our big machines."

The low end version is almost exactly a MacBook air without the screen and IO.

First commandment in the laws of business (successful business, that is.) NEVER, NEVER put an MBA in charge of a company.
 

dtravis7


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I am not as against the $499 model (Except for the RAM). For $499 it reminds me of the entry level FIRST mini with that G4 1.25Ghz CPU or the Core Solo when the Intel Mini came out. For $499 it's not bad, just hate I can never upgrade RAM.

What more bugs me is even if you pay $1000 you have NO option for a Quad core i5 or i7, Nothing at all. That plus RAM is what bugs me.

People were getting the higher end Minis and not the iMac so apple made sure that will not happen this time. My opinion anyway.
 
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Well why on earth buy it?
 
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i am giving up on apple from now on.....they are big brother and a different company this year
this control tactic were we cannot upgrade our products proves just so.
 
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It seems like they are taking the success with gadget hardware and OS, and applying it to traditional desktop and laptop PCs. I enjoy me Apple experience less as time goes on. Every HW and OS upgrade I dread as I lose things I like (granular customization), and gain things I don't really want or need (social media, cloud services). Such is life, they can certainly do what they like to "maximize shareholder value". The shareholder is the customer anymore, not the consumer.
 
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It seems like they are taking the success with gadget hardware and OS, and applying it to traditional desktop and laptop PCs. I enjoy me Apple experience less as time goes on. Every HW and OS upgrade I dread as I lose things I like (granular customization), and gain things I don't really want or need (social media, cloud services). Such is life, they can certainly do what they like to "maximize shareholder value". The shareholder is the customer anymore, not the consumer.

i feel the same way 100%
 
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As a shareholder I agree with them. This started way back in 2010 with the iMac heat sensor HD and no user memory update in 2012 with the 21.5" iMac so really nothing new.

Really think this is the way of the future. Now if we want to complain ~let's bring the floppy back!
 
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As a shareholder I agree with them. This started way back in 2010 with the iMac heat sensor HD and no user memory update in 2012 with the 21.5" iMac so really nothing new.

Really think this is the way of the future. Now if we want to complain ~let's bring the floppy back!


I can't agree with this. Killing sales destroys company value. When companies start focusing entirely on operational feasibility, the customer is forgotten, customers stop caring and move onto something that meets their needs.
 
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Well last quarter's results had nothing to do with the new products did they?

It sadly seems that you care more about about making a profit from Apple than actually using their products....
 

pigoo3

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I can't agree with this. Killing sales destroys company value. When companies start focusing entirely on operational feasibility, the customer is forgotten, customers stop caring and move onto something that meets their needs.

I don't really think that we've hit this point yet. When it comes to Apple computers…it is really more about the experience with the Mac OS…not really with the hardware (other than the hardware being very stable compared to the mish-mash of parts in a typical Windows computer).

If someone is happy with their hardware (amount of ram & amount of storage) which they absolutely should be when the first buy the computer…then they really don't give a hoot 99.9% of the time they are using the computer. 99.9% of the time that they are using the computer…they're interacting with the Mac OS.

It's only if their situation changes…and they need more ram or storage space…when the non-upgradeability is a sore point. But…folks should really be aware this when they buy the computer…and that's why they NEED to configure the computer with future needs in mind. Then there's no regret or "soreness" later on.:)

I agree…upgradeability is nice. But many many many users don't upgrade (the percent of folks who actually do this sort of upgrading is a lot fewer than you would think)…especially Apple computer owners. The average Apple computer owner doesn't "tinker" with their computer nearly as much as the average Windows computer owner. And even a lot of Windows computer owners don't do much "tinkering".

And when they reach the point of needing to upgrade…the computer is probably 3-4 years old…and they want a newer & faster one anyway.:)

- Nick

p.s. All someone needs to do is look at Apple's stock price, quarterly reports, and annual reports…to know there's no problem with Apple and their customers!:)
 

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