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Teardown of New iMac Reveals Upgradable Processors, RAM (macrumors.com)
According to an iFixit teardown, Apple's new 4K 21.5-inch iMac has both removable RAM and a Kaby Lake processor that's not soldered onto the logic board. Whereas the previous models had soldered memory modules, the new iMac's memory sit in two removable SO-DIMM slots. MacRumors reports: iFixit made the discovery by disassembling Apple's $1,299 mid-range 3.0GHz stock option, which includes 8GB of 2400MHz DDR4 memory, a Radeon Pro 555 graphics card with 2GB of VRAM, and a 1TB 5400-RPM hard drive. After slicing through the adhesive that secures the 4K display to the iMac's housing and removing the power supply, hard drive, and fan, iFixit discovered that the memory modules aren't soldered onto the logic board like previous models, but instead sit in two removable SO-DIMM slots. Similarly, after detaching the heatsink and removing the warranty voiding stickers on the backside of the logic board, iFixit found that the Intel SR32W Core i5-7400 Kaby Lake processor sits in a standard LGA 1151 CPU socket, making it possible to replace or upgrade the CPU without a reflow station.
Having to slice the adhesive securing the screen to the housing, remove the power supply, hard drive, and fan, and tilt out the logic board to swap memory modules isn't exactly user-friendly. It still gets only a 3/10 for repair-ability.
1) Buy lower end system
2) Upgrade using cheaper 3rd party components
3) ???
4) Error 53
You aren't wrong, but here's the thing. When apple merely stops doing something insidious that most computer makers never do and never have done, that's not a plus for apple. That's one less negative at best. At BEST. I work as a video editor and I won't be paying for one of these. PCs are just more competitive. Companies have bottom lines and that's really the hard fact they can't solve.
Looks nice. Which 4K monitor did you get in this build?
"removing the warranty voiding stickers on the backside of the logic board"
We've got case law that explicitly forbids this. Quit spreading this fucking rumor.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Why does theirs cost more? Off the top of my head?
- They include a 4K IPS monitor
- They weren't able to get a nerd to build it for free on his own time
- They warranty their work for a year
- They provide telephone, email, and in-person customer support
- They have fixed costs for scaling their operation so they can do more than one at a time
- They need a profit margin to stay in business
All-in-all, that's a pretty good deal for the $400 or so that you've said they're charging over you.
All of which is to say, you can build one-offs for cheaper than the big players if you're willing to work for free, disclaim any responsibility for problems, and keep no inventory on hand. They don't get to do those things if that want to stay in business.
No you won't.
The cost of the computer is a trivial expense in professional video editing. Less than 1% of the annual cost. So your company should simply be choosing is the best equipment, whatever it is.
> Apple needs to get back to it's roots for PC, computers as a hobby.
Apple could do that if somehow their products completely failed and they were in survival mode. Apple is currently the largest computer company in the world and the ninth largest company in the world. They sell 17 MILLION Macs every year, for 23 BILLION dollars in Mac sales.
The entire "computers as a hobby" market is maybe a 23 million dollars each year, one tenth of one percent of Mac sales. They would literally give up 99.9% of their sales by focusing on people who want to tinker with their computers. To make it worse, they'd lose most of their margin. Hobbyists aren't going to buy Apple-branded RAM for $300 if they can get similarly speced RAM from Kingston for $200.
Yup, as predicted, there's a comment whining about Apple's significant upgrades to the iMac line. Grow up, kiddies.
Enough with the childish references. Finding 5400RPM spinning rust in 2017 Apple hardware is like buying a million dollar home and finding vinyl flooring. There is simply no other excuse other than being very cheap. I also wouldn't call 8GB worth of memory a 2017 "wow" factor either.
The actual significant event here was finding that Apple managed to get help for their solder addiction to revert back to the old way of building hardware. One hell of an "upgrade" path.
And everyone should be thankful Apple did this, for I can assure you the amount of obscene profit Apple was demonstrating with a sealed-box design full of solder was moving to become the standard for every other maker of hardware.
Now let's hope they continue to downgrade their laptops.
Cor.
It's almost as powerful as the laptop I bought many years ago, though it obviously has a later generation of processor. It might even be "as upgradeable" but I think it's unlikely unless it has a SODIMM slot underneath a flap on the back of the case (you shouldn't need to "dismantle" in order to "upgrade").
I still don't get the Apple thing at all.
If you want to replace the hard drive, you're certainly able to do so.
After slicing through the adhesive that secures the 4K display to the iMac's housing and removing the power supply, hard drive, and fan... Similarly, after detaching the heatsink and removing the warranty voiding stickers on the backside of the logic board... making it possible to replace or upgrade the CPU ...
So you basically have to deconstruct the whole thing and lose any kind of warranty, but it is technically possible I suppose.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
Pray you never have to use one of these things with a 5400 drive in it. They are so slow you really do wonder if there is something wrong with it. The fusion drive should be the minimum spec, and even that is only just useable
In the days of every laptop coming with an SSD they still can't manage to put it in every desktop.
Good work Apple
Normal people worry me!
If that's the problem, you can wipe the OS and install a linux distro, then the 5400 rpm HDD will be fast enough. Even with things bloating up (GTK3 instead of GTK2, etc.) it's stayed reasonable and this kind of hard drive does above 100 MB/s.
I don't think I would be getting another MBP or iMac.
For a company with a quarter of a trillion in assets to offer their users 16GB MBPs, shitty Radeons, and no 10nm CPUs (sure, blame Intel on your supply management issues), is just beyond acceptable level for me. And the price markup is just insulting, its like I'm being trolled by mediocracy.
Apparently you don't value your time. You had to research and price out each component, purchase each one, wait for shipping (or drive around town and pick them up putting miles / wear on your vehicle). You had to assemble each and every part. You had to do any troubleshooting. You had to install the OS, and each driver. And, should anything go wrong, it's your time to figure out what it is and fix it.
How many hours did you spend doing all of that? That's the "magic applesauce" that every OEM includes in the price.
Note: I say this having a 6-core X99-based i7 under my desk that I self-assembled, which is dead silent while working full bore. I did it because I get exactly what I want in the box, and at the time no OEM was delivering anything close to what I wanted; not because I believe in some fallacy of saving money, because I actually value my time.
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