If 8GB will be a bottleneck for many today, imagine the performance of that non-upgradeable laptop in a few years’ time.
Apple used to sell an iMac with non-upgradable RAM:
we found this iMac has the memory soldered to the motherboard removing any possibility of adding additional memory. Users will be permanently locked in to the 8GB of memory, as there is no Apple factory upgrade option.
It didn't say so in the post but I suspect 8GB RAM were just not enough and an upgrade was necessary anyway? And future upgrading was mentioned. In my opinion this is a valid point actually and should be very much considered when buying any of the modern all-fixed-no-upgrades machines, I mean its not just the Apple machines.
Apple is smart for soldering their RAM and making it non-upgradeable, but I don’t want to get screwed for not having the budget to buy a new machine every time I need more memory.
8 GB RAM is not even enough to do Pro-level web-browsing, so I do agree, this new 14" Macbook Pro is a joke - and let's not forget that swapping can't be good for the storage you can't replace.
I don't think upgradable RAM is coming back to Apple Silicon Macs. Upgradable storage, maybe; and there might be a use for standard RAM as a faster Swap, e.g., in a Mac Pro, to have 256 GB of super fast unified RAM and additional TBs of DIMMs for workloads that need that.
Nitpick: Something is off with the timeline of M2 Pro Macbook Pro ownership mentioned in the article ("Two years ago, I got a 14” MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro processor and 16 GB of RAM.") M2 Pro Macbook Pro were only introduced in January 2023.
re: RAM, I bought a 2015 iMac with a 1TB drive on Craiglist last month, thinking it might be the perfect machine to edit and store/serve family photos (mac --> Google Photos and mac --> BackBlaze).
It never in a million years would have occurred to me that 1) 8GB on a 2015 machine would be utterly, pathetically underpowered for even browsing the web, or 2) that an iMac would be sold in 2015 that would not let you upgrade the RAM.
I quickly re-sold it to another person who I bet also hadn't imagined these things.
> Is this the year where Apple increases the memory on the base model above 8GB
Nope, the opposite. They're doubling down.
> In an interview with IT Home, Mac marketing executive Evan Buyze spoke in favor of Macs equipped with 8GB of RAM. According to Buyze, the 8GB of RAM in entry-level Macs is enough for most of the tasks that most users do with these computers. He used web browsing, media playback, light photo and video editing, and casual gaming as examples.
None of the rMBPs, nor the minis have upgradeable ram. If I had to put money on it I'd bet a dollar the next-gen iMacs will be in the same boat. Just too hard to pass up that 400% markup.
A first world problem sure, but it's really frustrating that all the deals are for 8 GB versions. With non-upgradable memory, I'd never buy 8 GB laptop I intend to keep 5+ years. Not even with macOS's famous memory frugality.
The fact that RAM cannot be upgraded, even on the 16" MBP, will keep me away from buying another Mac laptop. It is so nice just not having to worry about whether or not I have enough when I buy the machine.
I do wonder why so many manufacturers are moving away from user-upgradable RAM. Perhaps the failure rate is lower or it is easier from a manufacturing standpoint. It can't all just be to save space or to make more money by selling marked up RAM, can it?
Apple used to sell an iMac with non-upgradable RAM:
we found this iMac has the memory soldered to the motherboard removing any possibility of adding additional memory. Users will be permanently locked in to the 8GB of memory, as there is no Apple factory upgrade option.
https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/25084-teardown-of-lower-cost...
Lots of returns and refurbs on that model.
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