I'm in awe of how clean and modular the internals of the iMac Pro are. I've opened up and upgraded iMacs in the past and I'll tell you this, if that video is even remotely complete, it is far easier to upgrade the iMac Pro, than the earlier models. What made the earlier ones a pain to work on was the LCD display and the rats-nest of microscopic cables and easily-damaged ribbon cables. This one looks almost pleasant to work on. The older models would only allow for a 1/2" lift of the LCD panel before the cables would begin to strain. Looks like Apple finally got a clue and allowed for plenty of elbow-room to lift the panel and safely disconnect the cables.
In my experience, the main issues with an iMac after years of use are the fans failing and dust/dirt clogging up the fins over time. This looks easy. With eh system having much larger vents in the back, it might be unnecessary to open the Mac to clean and just a good blast of compressed air would be enough to flush the dirt contaminate back out. Would be nice to see more closeup of how the vents are to determine this.
So I don't understand the headline. This iMac looks like a breeze to upgrade the RAM and SSD compared to older models. I could definitely see myself cracking one of these babies open with no worries.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
Who do you think has more accurate figures for the number of people who buy machines with the memory maxed out, as opposed to people who upgrade later? You, or Apple?
These are machines for people who make their living from them. They’re not for hobbyists.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
You may call this this semantics (the way one may say you can't make things colder, you can only remove heat), but I don't think Apple made upgrading RAM difficult.
I think they made the most powerful iMac they could, which included 4 slots with desktop-grade RAM, and there was simply no good solution go having two, very large, easily accessible RAM-doors cut into the upper and lower ends on one side (read; asymmetrical) of the primary support framework.
Note that on the standard 27" iMac it's laptop-grade RAM, it's in the center of the casing, and it's hidden behind the support arm.
Lol what typical apologists’ responses!
Yes, people who use reason to counter your hater narrative should be called names, since you can't argue against their reasoning. Brilliant.
So Apple puts memory slots in a pro product but makes it stupendously difficult to get to should be considered as a plausible reason? Are we expected to believe a narrative where Apple was not able to place memory-slots on their own custom made boards and make them accessible like they’ve done in the past?
The more plausible answer is that this design is meant to force customers to pay for their outrageously priced RAM and to encourage early obsolescence. Aka planned obsolescence.
If this was designed around NOT being able to update RAM as opposed to designing around being the most powerful machine they build into an iMac then why the fuck didn't they include a soldered a soldered CPU and RAM that would make it impossible—not just mildly difficult and inconvenient—to upgrade with aftermarket components? Why did thy ever allow notebook-grade RAM to be upgraded on the 27" iMac if Apple's stupidly diabolical plan to make money is from RAM upgrades and not from making great devices?
It is all spelled out in their design requirements under upgradeability, memory. Design always begins with a requirements document.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
Who do you think has more accurate figures for the number of people who buy machines with the memory maxed out, as opposed to people who upgrade later? You, or Apple?
These are machines for people who make their living from them. They’re not for hobbyists.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
You may call this this semantics (the way one may say you can't make things colder, you can only remove heat), but I don't think Apple made upgrading RAM difficult.
I think they made the most powerful iMac they could, which included 4 slots with desktop-grade RAM, and there was simply no good solution go having two, very large, easily accessible RAM-doors cut into the upper and lower ends on one side (read; asymmetrical) of the primary support framework.
Note that on the standard 27" iMac it's laptop-grade RAM, it's in the center of the casing, and it's hidden behind the support arm.
Lol what typical apologists’ responses!
Son, we live in a world that has physical limitations, and those limitations have to be balanced carefully by clever engineers. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Bloggerblog? Apple has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for a RAM hatch and you curse newer versions of the iMac with increased performance at the expense of convenient user-upgradability. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what Apple knows, that making a faster machine that generates a lot more heat, while tragic, probably increases professional users' iMac value from being able to get more work done in a shorter timeframe . And Apple's existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, lowers customers' TCO! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want Apple to keep being the pinnacle for consumer electronic quality. You need Apple to keep pushing engineering boundaries. Apple uses words like "performance", "usability", "quality". Apple uses these words as the backbone of a life spent creating something better. You use them as a punchline. Apple has neither the time nor the inclination to explain itself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the technology that it provides, and then questions the manner in which they provide it! Apple would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you start a CE company, and create something in the market void you claim that exists. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!
So if someone wanted to build a “homebrew” Mac, how hard is it to buy just the main logic board? Can you just buy it from any authorized dealer or does Apple make it difficult?
In order to get a part you need to be an Apple Authorized Service Center, and they will not ship you a part to install unless you (or someone else in your company assuming you had one) is an ACMT Certified Technician.
I suppose you may be able to go to www.welovemacs.com or some place like this and pay out the ass for a MLB. Is it really worth the hassle? The amount of time you've spend researching everything, making it fit into a case, etc is way more time and money spent on just paying an Apple Service Center to install upgraded RAM into your Mac. You gained very little in the end.
Soli said: Son, we live in a world that has physical limitations, and those limitations have to be balanced carefully by clever engineers. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Bloggerblog? Apple has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for a RAM hatch and you curse newer versions of the iMac with increased performance at the expense of convenient user-upgradability. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what Apple knows, that making a faster machine that generates a lot more heat, while tragic, probably increases professional users' iMac value from being able to get more work done in a shorter timeframe . And Apple's existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, lowers customers' TCO! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want Apple to keep being the pinnacle for consumer electronic quality. You need Apple to keep pushing engineering boundaries. Apple uses words like "performance", "usability", "quality". Apple uses these words as the backbone of a life spent creating something better. You use them as a punchline. Apple has neither the time nor the inclination to explain itself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the technology that it provides, and then questions the manner in which they provide it! Apple would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you start a CE company, and create something in the market void you claim that exists. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!
Oh please. Give us a break. ... How many times does you need to beat a dead horse? Most will NEVER upgrade their computer after the initial purchase. FACT. Get over it. Move on.
Plus, most people who do third-party RAM upgrades do them immediately, just to save money. So even that approach fits into the fact of most people not upgrading after the initial purchase. Having to buy it from Apple at a premium price isn't the end of the world. It sucks, but if the end result is a more efficient, finely-tuned machine, then so be it.
The only thing people actually upgrade later on is storage. Thunderbolt mitigates that need.
Since there's one controller on the T2 that's just handling two physically separate banks of NAND, I don't think it makes sense to call this a RAID. That would be a T2/controller on each NAND bank. This is just one controller looking in two places and unifying the NAND away from the OS, as it would for multiple chips, just more physically separated now.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
Who do you think has more accurate figures for the number of people who buy machines with the memory maxed out, as opposed to people who upgrade later? You, or Apple?
These are machines for people who make their living from them. They’re not for hobbyists.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
You may call this this semantics (the way one may say you can't make things colder, you can only remove heat), but I don't think Apple made upgrading RAM difficult.
I think they made the most powerful iMac they could, which included 4 slots with desktop-grade RAM, and there was simply no good solution go having two, very large, easily accessible RAM-doors cut into the upper and lower ends on one side (read; asymmetrical) of the primary support framework.
Note that on the standard 27" iMac it's laptop-grade RAM, it's in the center of the casing, and it's hidden behind the support arm.
Lol what typical apologists’ responses!
Son, we live in a world that has physical limitations, and those limitations have to be balanced carefully by clever engineers. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Bloggerblog? Apple has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for a RAM hatch and you curse newer versions of the iMac with increased performance at the expense of convenient user-upgradability. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what Apple knows, that making a faster machine that generates a lot more heat, while tragic, probably increases professional users' iMac value from being able to get more work done in a shorter timeframe . And Apple's existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, lowers customers' TCO! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want Apple to keep being the pinnacle for consumer electronic quality. You need Apple to keep pushing engineering boundaries. Apple uses words like "performance", "usability", "quality". Apple uses these words as the backbone of a life spent creating something better. You use them as a punchline. Apple has neither the time nor the inclination to explain itself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the technology that it provides, and then questions the manner in which they provide it! Apple would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you start a CE company, and create something in the market void you claim that exists. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!
Oh cry me a river. This has nothing to do with tech limitations and everything to do with an overly closed system. They could've made the front screen hinged with natural magnets: Hinge screen, hinge board, access memory. But instead they adhered it to the point where you'd void your warrantee if you wanted to upgrade your Mem. We've seen what Apple is capable of when they put their mind to it.
They can do it, they just don't want to. It's not part of their requirements.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
Who do you think has more accurate figures for the number of people who buy machines with the memory maxed out, as opposed to people who upgrade later? You, or Apple?
These are machines for people who make their living from them. They’re not for hobbyists.
Well, good that the memory can be upgraded, but total fail by the design team for making it so difficult to do, as Memory is the one thing a significant number of people are likely going to want/need to do. Would it have killed them to make an access hatch like other iMacs have?
You may call this this semantics (the way one may say you can't make things colder, you can only remove heat), but I don't think Apple made upgrading RAM difficult.
I think they made the most powerful iMac they could, which included 4 slots with desktop-grade RAM, and there was simply no good solution go having two, very large, easily accessible RAM-doors cut into the upper and lower ends on one side (read; asymmetrical) of the primary support framework.
Note that on the standard 27" iMac it's laptop-grade RAM, it's in the center of the casing, and it's hidden behind the support arm.
Lol what typical apologists’ responses!
Son, we live in a world that has physical limitations, and those limitations have to be balanced carefully by clever engineers. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Bloggerblog? Apple has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for a RAM hatch and you curse newer versions of the iMac with increased performance at the expense of convenient user-upgradability. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what Apple knows, that making a faster machine that generates a lot more heat, while tragic, probably increases professional users' iMac value from being able to get more work done in a shorter timeframe . And Apple's existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, lowers customers' TCO! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want Apple to keep being the pinnacle for consumer electronic quality. You need Apple to keep pushing engineering boundaries. Apple uses words like "performance", "usability", "quality". Apple uses these words as the backbone of a life spent creating something better. You use them as a punchline. Apple has neither the time nor the inclination to explain itself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the technology that it provides, and then questions the manner in which they provide it! Apple would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you start a CE company, and create something in the market void you claim that exists. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!
Oh cry me a river. This has nothing to do with tech limitations and everything to do with an overly closed system. They could've made the front screen hinged with natural magnets: Hinge screen, hinge board, access memory. But instead they adhered it to the point where you'd void your warrantee if you wanted to upgrade your Mem. We've seen what Apple is capable of when they put their mind to it.
They can do it, they just don't want to. It's not part of their requirements.
Apple can also make toaster ovens if they wanted to. You still fail to understand that it's their goddamn company and they get to make what they goddamn please. Your only role in all of this is to decide if their business decisions are worth your money. Or, are you anticapitalist, because it sure sounds like you're talking about communism the way you're say what Apple should do for the people.
Comments
In my experience, the main issues with an iMac after years of use are the fans failing and dust/dirt clogging up the fins over time. This looks easy. With eh system having much larger vents in the back, it might be unnecessary to open the Mac to clean and just a good blast of compressed air would be enough to flush the dirt contaminate back out. Would be nice to see more closeup of how the vents are to determine this.
I suppose you may be able to go to www.welovemacs.com or some place like this and pay out the ass for a MLB. Is it really worth the hassle? The amount of time you've spend researching everything, making it fit into a case, etc is way more time and money spent on just paying an Apple Service Center to install upgraded RAM into your Mac. You gained very little in the end.
The only thing people actually upgrade later on is storage. Thunderbolt mitigates that need.
They can do it, they just don't want to. It's not part of their requirements.