Just checked MacSales/OWC and their RAM for this model costs $169.99 vs the $200 upgrade price Apple charges ($188 if you qualify for their EPP and (possibly) educational discounts). I use MacSales all the time but regardless of the warranty, the price difference doesn't make sense to me considering the lack of ease in replacing it. Using cheaper RAM is not something I do or recommend so for those who just have to be able to change or upgrade RAM, good luck.
disclaimer: OWC charges $1079.99 for a full 64GB of RAM vs Apple's $1316 (EPP price) so it might be worth it if you really want to spend that much money on a Mac mini.
from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205041 Couldn't quickly find actual warranty but when Apple says something like this, it sounds to me like they aren't allowing it.
Because you are looking in expensive place. Go to Crucial or Kingston website and not to OWC and buy from them. Your cost estimation is like comparing one expensive place to another. Both places (Appl and OWC) have them, from manufacturers like Samsung, Crucial or others.
Mike Wuerthele said: Also as the forum software doesn't always catch all of the main site's images, if you're following along, you're best off doing so with the video or from the main page.
Hi Mike, is that going to be resolved in the future? Cheers.
Remember when Apple used to be user-friendly? Flip the entire motherboard on a Powermac out into the open with just the flip of a latch. Likewise pull out all the guts in a G4 Cube with the pull of a handle. RAM slots quickly accessible in a Powerbook just by pulling the battery, no tools at all required. Ah, the good, old days. What's wrong with doing that again, Jonny Ive? Are looks the only things that matter now, with no regard for function?
You mean DIY-friendly? In the good old days computer users were expected to tinker with them. Nowadays, vast majority of people use computers as an office appliance. So it needs to be shiny and sleek, fit in with the decor, look modern. Apple and Jonny are just doing what appeals to (majority of) their customers.
I think this is Apples way of sending a message to the 1% that want to upgrade their own RAM. Time to move along old dogs.
This procedure is actually quite a bit easier than upgrading the HDD to an SSD in the 2014 Mini which many of us did to get a bit more performance out of it.
Mike Wuerthele said: Also as the forum software doesn't always catch all of the main site's images, if you're following along, you're best off doing so with the video or from the main page.
Hi Mike, is that going to be resolved in the future? Cheers.
I think this is Apples way of sending a message to the 1% that want to upgrade their own RAM. Time to move along old dogs.
This procedure is actually quite a bit easier than upgrading the HDD to an SSD in the 2014 Mini which many of us did to get a bit more performance out of it.
But incredibly more intensive than adding RAM to the 2012 mini, which was tool-less.
We have a dozen or so 2012 minis at the office, and all have been maxed out on RAM & swapped to SSD by myself, it has definitely brought theses machine many more years of use over the base configurations.
Melgross that is incorrect. Read the article. It explicitly states this process does NOT void the warranty. Only if you break something do you have a problem...
Your last sentence (question) is a good one though. Seeing how involved this is, I'd consider just biting the bullet and getting "more" RAM at time of purchase.
What did I say? “If you screw up”. Read more carefully.
Since Apple isn’t advocating doing this, it voids the warrantee if you screw up. Don’t forget that. Is it worth it for cheaper RAM?
It does not explicitly void the warranty.
Also as the forum software doesn't always catch all of the main site's images, if you're following along, you're best off doing so with the video or from the main page.
If something goes wrong, and the computer stops working, I can pretty much guarantee, they will charge for the repair. They could also take your new RAM, and charge for the RAM they put in. This has happened before. Usually people will deinstalled the RAM they bought, and reinstall the RAM that came with the machine before bringing the computer to Apple. But if it doesnt work with the original RAM, they will know you screwed up, and charge for the repair. That’s been policy going back forever. If you’re really lucky, you may get someone in the store to be k8nd. But don’t bet on it. Apple isn’t marketing this machine as being do it yourself RAM or drive upgradable.
Since Apple isn’t advocating doing this, it voids the warrantee if you screw up. Don’t forget that. Is it worth it for cheaper RAM?
It does not explicitly void the warranty.
Also as the forum software doesn't always catch all of the main site's images, if you're following along, you're best off doing so with the video or from the main page.
If something goes wrong, and the computer stops working, I can pretty much guarantee, they will charge for the repair. They could also take your new RAM, and charge for the RAM they put in. This has happened before. Usually people will deinstalled the RAM they bought, and reinstall the RAM that came with the machine before bringing the computer to Apple. But if it doesnt work with the original RAM, they will know you screwed up, and charge for the repair. That’s been policy going back forever. If you’re really lucky, you may get someone in the store to be k8nd. But don’t bet on it. Apple isn’t marketing this machine as being do it yourself RAM or drive upgradable.
FTA: "But look, here's the basic deal —you can break things and you will be sorry. You can destroy your new computer if you aren't careful, and it is not our fault. Read the procedure in full before you decide if this is something you want to do.
Importantly: this procedure does not void your warranty, however anything you break in the process does.
Also, keep the old RAM chips. If you need to bring your Mac mini back to Apple for any reason, they won't do a thing with it if your RAM is installed. So, if that's the case, put the RAM back in, before you head off to the Genius Bar."
Since Apple isn’t advocating doing this, it voids the warrantee if you screw up. Don’t forget that. Is it worth it for cheaper RAM?
Yes it is. Apple memory is rebranded quality memory that you can get 50% cheaper elsewhere. I prefer to order their Mini with minimum memory they offer and then get Crucial or Kingston memory that serves for years stably. I have even upgraded processor to 64-bit on their old Mini (pull-out from Dell laptop) It reviewed that Mini for few years more. Was it worth? Sure it was (making 32-bit hardware into 64-bit at higher clock for $50 cost). Same happened with Mini Server 2012. Getting basic version with 4GB RAM and upgrading it to 16GB right away made quad core server running faster than most of newer dual core Minis until today. The original memory was also nice extra for present for someone who was happy to upgrade iMac 5k (as it used the same memory type) from 8GB to 12GB RAM for free.
If you are scared then you should not do this however few of us have past experience even with building PCs.
I’ve modified and upgraded literally hundreds of computers over the years, including over 2 dozen Mac Minis. I’ve repaired the tiny sockets for the antenna that people broke while trying to reinsert it after having tried to install another drive, often under the microscope, because they bent the connector, and sometimes even broke the circuit board at that spot while trying to push the connector in with excessive force.
i understand the difficulty most people will have with this. It’s a needed warning, over and above the warning AI itself gave. I’ve had people go halfway through the upgrade on the older models, and give up, bringing it to me to complete. I’ve also had them put the screws in the wrong holes, stripping the screw head, the screw and the screw hole. There are tricks to replacing tiny screws, and if you aren’t aware how easy it is to mess it up, particularly with the wrong screwdriver head (hint - it’s rarely a Phillips screw, usually a cross point, or a JAS).
Since Apple isn’t advocating doing this, it voids the warrantee if you screw up. Don’t forget that. Is it worth it for cheaper RAM?
It does not explicitly void the warranty.
Also as the forum software doesn't always catch all of the main site's images, if you're following along, you're best off doing so with the video or from the main page.
If something goes wrong, and the computer stops working, I can pretty much guarantee, they will charge for the repair. They could also take your new RAM, and charge for the RAM they put in. This has happened before. Usually people will deinstalled the RAM they bought, and reinstall the RAM that came with the machine before bringing the computer to Apple. But if it doesnt work with the original RAM, they will know you screwed up, and charge for the repair. That’s been policy going back forever. If you’re really lucky, you may get someone in the store to be k8nd. But don’t bet on it. Apple isn’t marketing this machine as being do it yourself RAM or drive upgradable.
FTA: "But look, here's the basic deal —you can break things and you will be sorry. You can destroy your new computer if you aren't careful, and it is not our fault. Read the procedure in full before you decide if this is something you want to do.
Importantly: this procedure does not void your warranty, however anything you break in the process does.
Also, keep the old RAM chips. If you need to bring your Mac mini back to Apple for any reason, they won't do a thing with it if your RAM is installed. So, if that's the case, put the RAM back in, before you head off to the Genius Bar."
I’ve said most of that. But the problem you’re not addressing is the one I mentioned where your machine no longer works with Apple’s memory put back in. If it’s a software problem with not recognizing the memory, which does happen, it should be all right. But if it’s a hardware problem that Apple knows couldn’t have happened on a factory new machine, then there’s a problem.
If I were to buy a new mini I would go with the 16 GB with the knowledge that I could update in the future if needed. I did this with my Mac Pro. I bought it with 16 GB of RAM with the idea that I could update it later if needed. (The upgrade for the Mac Pro is significantly easier than this.) It turns out that it was never needed. 16 GB has been adequate for nearly 5 years of use.
I applaud Apple for making an upgrade possible. I don’t believe they should have compromised their design in any way to make it easy. For most people, the purchased RAM will be fine for the life of the computer.
I just bought a 2018 Mac Mini from Adorama. Still back ordered with no approximate date. Maybe with AI’s connection with Adorama, they can suggest to Adorama to give more information on delivery
Remember when Apple used to be user-friendly? Flip the entire motherboard on a Powermac out into the open with just the flip of a latch. Likewise pull out all the guts in a G4 Cube with the pull of a handle. RAM slots quickly accessible in a Powerbook just by pulling the battery, no tools at all required. Ah, the good, old days. What's wrong with doing that again, Jonny Ive? Are looks the only things that matter now, with no regard for function?
Those days are long gone. Time to move on. The reality is most people will never crack open their PC after purchase. Never. There is no point in doing the extra engineering for these machines to accommodate the < 1%. I'm okay with that.
Exactly. I'm sure those who know how to do their own car repairs/upgrades complain about the specialized tools and difficulty these days compared the days where you could store extra luggage under the hood of cars there was so much space. For the rest of us, it's much nicer to drive smaller cars which are far more efficient, less noisy, etc. Technical minded people just can't seem to fathom that the rest of the population doesn't have the same interests they do.
Just checked MacSales/OWC and their RAM for this model costs $169.99 vs the $200 upgrade price Apple charges ($188 if you qualify for their EPP and (possibly) educational discounts). I use MacSales all the time but regardless of the warranty, the price difference doesn't make sense to me considering the lack of ease in replacing it. Using cheaper RAM is not something I do or recommend so for those who just have to be able to change or upgrade RAM, good luck.
disclaimer: OWC charges $1079.99 for a full 64GB of RAM vs Apple's $1316 (EPP price) so it might be worth it if you really want to spend that much money on a Mac mini.
from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205041 Couldn't quickly find actual warranty but when Apple says something like this, it sounds to me like they aren't allowing it.
Because you are looking in expensive place. Go to Crucial or Kingston website and not to OWC and buy from them. Your cost estimation is like comparing one expensive place to another. Both places (Appl and OWC) have them, from manufacturers like Samsung, Crucial or others.
Just make sure the specs on the RAM you're looking at are identical. I remember in the past getting some cheaper RAM for my Mac Pro, only to find that applications (and sometimes the OS) crashed more frequently. Turned out that the RAM I bought didn't have error correction/ECC and the heat sinks on it were much smaller, one of which was the cause of my crashes. This was the reason that the RAM Apple used was a lot more expensive. The devil is in the details.
I received my Mac Mini 512GB/16GB yesterday to replace my 2008 Mac Pro. As an aside, I updated my wife's 2011 Mac Mini with a new HD and upgraded RAM to 16GB a few years after i bought it (i think it was a 4GB ram unit when it was new), and then eventually switched her to an external Thunderbolt 4TB hard disk and Thunderbolt 6TB Time Machine drive. I use the Thunderbolt Time Machine drive on my 2011 Macbook Air as well. The ability to upgrade these computers extends the usable lifetime. I understand the scary dangerous update procedure and thus ordered my new Mini with 16GB, instead of the minimum. Doing the work to upgrade the computer after it has already paid for itself for 4 years is much more tolerable, plus the cost of upgrade parts may even fall in that time.
On my new Mini, 512GB is no-where near enough storage for my purposes, but it will be nice to have the OS, Apps and the /users/tadd/Library folder all on that really really fast Flash drive. I thought the 2TB build-to-order SSD was way too expensive. I could put much of my less-speed-needful material on a spinning disk. That will be in a JBOD Thunderbolt USBc chassis. I bought the Thunder3 QuadX Akitio chassis. I haven't finished migrating my 'user' to the Mac Mini yet so I haven't set up the chassis yet. In my old 2008 Mac Pro I had my user space on a different drive from the OS and I have to figure out how to get my Library over to the new Mac. After trimming my user space down to 100GB, just the Library folder, I tried using the Migration tools and it barfed on the fact that /user/tadd is a linked directory from boot_hd/user to the separate drive. I think I used the "ln" command to set up the link. it's been several years.
Does anybody have any recommendation for a Terminal command to copy the Library folder without losing the interesting permissions and metadata? My current plan is to build an El Capitan boot disk for my Mac Pro which contains the OS and my User space, then use the migration tools to move from the 2008 Mac Pro to the 2018 Mac Mini.
Since Apple isn’t advocating doing this, it voids the warrantee if you screw up. Don’t forget that. Is it worth it for cheaper RAM?
It does not explicitly void the warranty.
Also as the forum software doesn't always catch all of the main site's images, if you're following along, you're best off doing so with the video or from the main page.
If something goes wrong, and the computer stops working, I can pretty much guarantee, they will charge for the repair. They could also take your new RAM, and charge for the RAM they put in. This has happened before. Usually people will deinstalled the RAM they bought, and reinstall the RAM that came with the machine before bringing the computer to Apple. But if it doesnt work with the original RAM, they will know you screwed up, and charge for the repair. That’s been policy going back forever. If you’re really lucky, you may get someone in the store to be k8nd. But don’t bet on it. Apple isn’t marketing this machine as being do it yourself RAM or drive upgradable.
From Apple's October keynote: "Not only is this memory faster, but it's also in SO-DIMMs, something we know our Mac Mini customers will really appreciate."
What part about that says Apple isn't marketing this machine as supporting user-upgradeable RAM? Apple obviously gave that feature to customers because they appreciate user-upgradeable RAM.
Pro tip: Buy some white plastic ice cube trays. (like: https://www.amazon.com/Kitch-Tray-Release-White-Trays/dp/B06VTWQTQ9/, two for $6) As you remove the tiny screws for each step in the computer's disassembly process, put the screws into the ice cube tray. That way they won't roll away, you won't lose them or mix them up, and you know exactly which screws correspond to each step in order when you put it back together again.
Comments
We have a dozen or so 2012 minis at the office, and all have been maxed out on RAM & swapped to SSD by myself, it has definitely brought theses machine many more years of use over the base configurations.
If something goes wrong, and the computer stops working, I can pretty much guarantee, they will charge for the repair. They could also take your new RAM, and charge for the RAM they put in. This has happened before. Usually people will deinstalled the RAM they bought, and reinstall the RAM that came with the machine before bringing the computer to Apple. But if it doesnt work with the original RAM, they will know you screwed up, and charge for the repair. That’s been policy going back forever. If you’re really lucky, you may get someone in the store to be k8nd. But don’t bet on it. Apple isn’t marketing this machine as being do it yourself RAM or drive upgradable.
Importantly: this procedure does not void your warranty, however anything you break in the process does.
Also, keep the old RAM chips. If you need to bring your Mac mini back to Apple for any reason, they won't do a thing with it if your RAM is installed. So, if that's the case, put the RAM back in, before you head off to the Genius Bar."
I’ve modified and upgraded literally hundreds of computers over the years, including over 2 dozen Mac Minis. I’ve repaired the tiny sockets for the antenna that people broke while trying to reinsert it after having tried to install another drive, often under the microscope, because they bent the connector, and sometimes even broke the circuit board at that spot while trying to push the connector in with excessive force.
i understand the difficulty most people will have with this. It’s a needed warning, over and above the warning AI itself gave. I’ve had people go halfway through the upgrade on the older models, and give up, bringing it to me to complete. I’ve also had them put the screws in the wrong holes, stripping the screw head, the screw and the screw hole. There are tricks to replacing tiny screws, and if you aren’t aware how easy it is to mess it up, particularly with the wrong screwdriver head (hint - it’s rarely a Phillips screw, usually a cross point, or a JAS).
I applaud Apple for making an upgrade possible. I don’t believe they should have compromised their design in any way to make it easy. For most people, the purchased RAM will be fine for the life of the computer.
What part about that says Apple isn't marketing this machine as supporting user-upgradeable RAM?
Apple obviously gave that feature to customers because they appreciate user-upgradeable RAM.