$50 to go from 8GB to 16GB on the new iMac. Really? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Allegedly according to this website it only costs $50 more to go from 8GB to 16GB.

For $200 more you get a different 16GB configuration. Not certain why that would be better or worse.

Hoping that this is the final pricing that Apple will give when building the iMacs.

Any difference in the memory combinations that I should be aware of? $50 is better than $200.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Doesn't the new iMac have 4 slots? I'll bet the cheaper configuration is 4x4. (I would make sure that it is 2x8, so you can add 2x8 later should you decide if you want 32 gig).

 

[Craig S]

Ron, for the $200 upgrade, it looks like this company is just taking the stock Apple 16 GB config (2 8 GB modules) and reselling it to you. $200 sounds like what Apple would charge for this upgrade.

For the $50 upgrade, they are taking the stock base Apple 8 GB config (2 4 GB modules) and adding their own 8 GB module before they ship the machine to you. Last time I checked 8 GB modules are going in the $30-$40 range, so again this sounds about right - they're adding a modest markup to cover labor and a bit of profit. Note this config leaves 1 memory slot open. You usually want to add memory in matched pairs, so if I were you I might go with the $100 upgrade to 24 GB - that will fill both slots that Apple leaves open with 8 GB modules. Or heck, go for the $200 32 GB upgrade and max the thing out.

There should be no difference between the expensive memory from Apple and the modules this company is putting in. Memory is memory.

Want to save even more money? Get the lowest stock memory config (8 GB), and buy your own 8 GB modules from Crucial, Amazon or Newegg. As I said, they'll run you at most $40 apiece. For $160 you could bump the machine to 32 GB. You just have to do the install yourself - luckily on the new 27" iMac the memory is still user-installable - including pulling the existing 4 GB modules if you want to go all the way to 32 GB.

However, if you're uncomfortable doing the memory install yourself, this company's upgrade prices are very reasonable, IMO. Again, I'd say pay the $200 to go to 32 GB, and then you don't have to think about it again. With the kind of things (video editing, right?) you do on your Mac you can never have too much memory!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Aahh, okay, I see. Thought those prices were Apple standard.

I am hoping...praying....that Apple charges a nominal fee to go from 8GB to 16GB.

With the Retina Macbook Pro they only charged (I think) $100 or $200 more. I am leaning
towards $100 more as I know it was a deal that I could not resist.

If it is more expensive to add ram via Apple you can bet I will go through Crucial. I have
upgraded memory in my iMac before.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Any difference in the memory combinations that I should be aware of? $50 is better than $200.

Yes. If you're buying a current-generation 21.5" iMac, memory is non-user-upgradable. On the Apple site, expanding the help in the custom-order screen reveals Retina-MBP-like text saying that it is important to order the amount of RAM that you want when you get the machine because you will not have a chance to expand it later. (I don't know if this means that the RAM is soldered in, or "just" that there are sockets sealed inaccessibly inside.) Apple's price for upgrading the 21.5" iMac to 16 GB of RAM at order time is $200, which is not especially a great price given that 8 GB modules now go for something like $36 to $50 elsewhere and are now at rough price parity (cost per byte) with 4 GB ones.
If you're buying a 27" iMac, then you have 4 user-accessible RAM slots, which you can fill with 4 GB or 8 GB modules from the likes of Crucial and OWC. One third-party 8 GB module plus the factory RAM, and you're up to 16 GB very inexpensively.