Apple’s new Mac Mini won’t be as user upgradeable as past models

If you paid attention to last week's Apple announcements then you probably know about the new 5K iMac and the upgraded version of the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini didn't get much stage time at the event but it has been confirmed that it won't be as user upgrade friendly as past models.

Users can still upgrade their Hard Drive/ SSD if they wish but RAM will now be soldered on to the board, forcing buyers to pay for Apple's rather expensive RAM upgrade. Choosing a RAM upgrade will also set back the delivery date a fair bit from three days to seven.

Buyers of the base line £399 Mac Mini will have to pay out £80 for an upgrade to 8GB of RAM or £240 for 16GB. The higher end models come with 8GB standard but an upgrade to 16GB will set you back by £160.

In the past, users were able to buy cheaper, third-party RAM kits from the likes of Corsair or Kingston and upgrade the mini PC that way. The Apple support page seems to confirm the move to soldered on RAM, stating that: “The memory for Mac mini (Late 2014) computers isn’t user accessible and is integrated into the main logic board. You can configure your computer’s memory at the time of purchase.”

Past Apple support pages for the 2012 Mac Mini and older would tell owners exactly which RAM to buy.

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KitGuru Says: It's a shame to see Apple slowly moving away from user upgradeable options, £160 for 16GB of DDR3 laptop RAM is pretty steep. What is the most you guys would pay for a 16GB RAM kit?

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