“The electronics website iFixit on Friday downgraded the new 21.5-in. iMac’s repair score to 3 out of a possible 10, calling servicing the computer ‘an exercise in disappointment,'” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld. “Explaining the iMac’s low score, iFixit cited the copious amounts of ‘incredibly strong’ adhesive that bonds the LCD and front glass panel to the frame. Earlier iMacs fixed the display in place with magnets rather than the hard-to-dislodge glue, which is even harder to replace.”
“Just as damning was an Apple design decision that makes it practically impossible for users to upgrade the iMac’s RAM. The 21.5-in. iMac comes standard with 8GB of memory — and can be upgraded to 16GB — but because the RAM is buried beneath the logic board, owners must ‘take apart most of the iMac just to gain access,’ iFixit said,” Keizer reports. “Apple mentions the impracticality of memory upgrade only in a side note hidden on the iMac’s options page. There, Apple said: ‘Every 21.5-inch iMac comes with 8GB of memory built into the computer. If you think you may need 16GB of memory in the future, it is important to upgrade at the time of purchase, because memory cannot be upgraded later in this model.'”
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Keizer reports, “The not-yet-available 27-in. iMac will continue to sport four external memory slots.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: These are entry-level iMac models. If not maxed out at purchase, how many of these will ever be used in a manner requiring more than 8GB of RAM? How many entry-level 21.5-inch iMac users upgrade the RAM post-purchase (or guess would be it’s a negligible number). The type of user who’d put 16GB RAM into a 21.5-inch iMac would likely be tech savvy enough to know to order it upfront from Apple. It’s unfortunate those users have to pay Apple’s inflated RAM prices, but that’s the price of buying that machine and how Apple keeps the price of these sleek new desktops affordable. Obviously, if you want post-purchase RAM upgradability, get the 27-inch iMac model.
