Thinking of buying Apple’s new Mac mini? Make sure you get plenty of RAM when you place your order. Unlike its predecessors, the new machine’s RAM is soldered to the logic board, so you’re unable to add your own later on.
Macs have never been the most flexible machines when it comes to replacing and upgrading parts yourself, and in recent years, Apple has been taking steps to make that even harder. However, the Cupertino company has been allowing users to upgrade the Mac mini’s RAM and storage themselves… until now.
Several sources has confirmed that the Mac mini’s RAM is soldered to the logic board this time around, so you’re stuck with what you buy. You can, however, still upgrade the hard drive yourself — but in doing so you will void your computer’s warranty, which is a shame.
Apple does allow you to add up to 16GB of RAM to the Mac mini when you buy online, but the company famously charges more than third parties. To add 8GB of RAM to the base model Mac mini, it’s an extra $100. To add 16GB, it’s an extra $300, pushing the price of the machine up to $799.
Source: iFixit
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
26 responses to “You can no longer add more RAM to the Mac mini”
#MacFail this is why and many other reasons I do not like Mac’s this just cements on many reasons why
James,
I am sure you have many reasons to post your hatred of Macs. And by all means, feel entitled to and claim your own opinion. I’m just not sure why you decided to come on a pro-Mac informative site to post your anti-Mac tendencies.
Side note: I don’t know that I’ve ever run into anything that actively requires more than 16 GB of RAM to operate correctly and smoothly. And that’s running Adobe Suite products, Final Cut, and Logic Pro all simultaneously. So, just suck it up and upgrade at purchase. OR OR the better idea, settle for last year’s model and configure to your liking.
I said I don’t like them never hated them and I have my reasons behind my reasoning. Mac’s have some good qualities same as PC’s. Mac is no better. Mac and PC both have there good and bad
It depends on the user’s preference.
Don’t like, hate, whatever your word choice, you posted this in a negative mindset. Which is fine to have. I hear that you “have your reasons behind your reasoning”. Most people do. What I’m saying is, you came to a pro-Mac informative website to post that you don’t like Macs. And not only that, you chose it on a topic that is was fixed. Just wondering what your end-game was by posting “don’t like” on a Mac website.
I have all Macs and iOS devices but even I, Kyle, like to buy cheaper ram than what Apple sells it for.
Don’t feed the troll.
Lol, on a side note… I’m beginning to question that this is indeed a pro-mac site. There’s like a freaggin’ plethora of ‘anti-apple’ posts. But what-evs Cult of Mac, I’ll keep reading 9to5 and MacRumors
Troll much? If you don’t like Macs, I’d say avoid a web site called… Cult Of Mac.
Luckily OSX has decent memory management. You can’t upgrade the RAM on other Apple products easily any more either.
I am sure some hackers or enterprising 3rd party sellers will come up with a solution.
There is no other solution. You can’t buy LPDDR3 chips from any places like OWC, and trying to de-solder the old ones and re-solder new ones is EXTREMELY risky anyway. In the PC-world past, there have been PCI RAM expansion cards, but that’s not going to work here either.
Simple (and only) solution is to max out the RAM when you buy it.
Yeah, I just looked at the Ifixit teardown. You’re completely right.
It’s an interesting move and falls in line with Apple’s philosophy of building the best products for very narrowly defined use cases. It’s Tim Cook’s “refridgerator toaster” argument.
I am a Windows user who has been seriously thinking about getting a Mac. I have been waiting on the Mac Mini announcement for a couple of months. But this is a real turn off, along with the decreased performance of the top of the line CPU model Mini. $300 plus whatever the base 4 gb built in cost is for 16 gb of RAM? Really? This along with other issues such as Macbooks having built in batteries has really soured me on making the switch. Maybe Windows 10 won’t be so bad after all.
More anti-consumer practices from Apple. No surprise but it is a shame. I don’t like Mac desktops but the Mini is nice. I was looking forward to this refresh but the price gouge on the RAM is a big problem.
I have a 2011 mini and ipad 3, Ive been watching Apple for a while and I see the gates of their walled garden closing more ever so slightly over time, my windows machines are all of a sudden are starting to look better, Im going to seriously start looking for alternatives, it looks like the fashionista’s and the Bono’s have gotten their foot in the door at Apple, only time will tell whats going to happen.
This is why I hate BMW’s. Oops, wrong forum.
Not saying I apporve this move by Apple, but it makes sense based on who their target consumer is. I worked at an Apple Authorized reseller, and majority of customers don’t know what RAM is to begin with. The only thing they may know of it is more is better, that’s what magazines and online articles lead them to believe, look at the tag, bigger number = better. Besides that, the few who do know and want a RAM upgrade, is a huge afterthought. 4-5-6 years down the road from the original purchase. Which at that point it’s time for a new machine anyways. That’s what Apple is betting on. Albeit, this new Mac mini, should at least be smaller and thinner if their gonna pull that since there’s not a room constraint in the new body, since it’s exactly the same as previous generations… Who knows, Apple is Apple.
I’m glad I got my Mac Mini in Feb with the i7 now and upgraded the RAM to 16 . Everyone said to wait I decided not to .
If you can’t fix it, you don’t own it.
Extrapolation much?
When the only option is to exchange the item that needs upgrades or repairs, then you are only renting it. You do not have the right to do with it as you please.
That’s not how that works. That’s not how any of this works.
I am disappointed. I was looking forward to getting a new mini and doing various upgrades myself as needed over time but now I am not so sure. If the Apple price jump was not so high for the extra RAM and the SSD it would be easier to jump in and buy.
Also let’s say 8GB is fine now but in two years I am working on something that could really use 16GB. All I can do is get a new mini in a year which is silly. That means I better plan for the future and get the 16GB now even though I might not need it. This is why user upgradability really helps.
Stupid… the form factor is the same, so there is not a single reason why users should be locked out from upgrading memory.
This makes sense on the MacBooks, but makes NO sense in the Mini at all. I have a 2012 Mini, which IS upgradeable (and I maxed it to 16 right after I bought it). It’s a darn shame they don’t allow this anymore.