Just yesterday Apple unveiled a new iMac in their lineup that would cost $1,099. This is $200 cheaper than the base model from before, but at the same time there were some compromises that one had to make in order to make it cheaper. For starters the processor and GPU were somewhat downgraded, and now it seems that the 8GB of RAM that comes with the computer is not upgradeable.
This is according to the folks at Other World Computing who had gotten their hands on the new iMac and did a teardown. Now if you were to select the $1,099 iMac via Apple’s online store, you’ll discover that you are unable to upgrade its memory to 16GB via the customization page. If you thought that you could just do it yourself, OWC has found that this will be pretty much impossible.
In their teardown they discovered the RAM for the new iMac had been soldered to the motherboard, meaning that users will be pretty much stuck with 8GB of storage. If you think that 8GB is enough to get by for your day-to-day activities then we guess it’s not a big deal, but if you’re a power user looking to boost your memory, then you’ll probably have to look elsewhere.
This is in contrast to the previous base model that allowed users to add more RAM, although a DIY effort would involve the removal of the screen which would be a tricky process. This is also a stark contrast to the 27-inch model which has a small door on the back that allows the easy installation and removal of RAM. So, anyone else bummed out by this?
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