Apple charges a tad too much to service your Mac

Oct 28, 2014 23:23 GMT  ·  By

If you’re the happy owner of one of the new 5K iMacs and you’ve suddenly realized that 8GB of RAM just doesn’t cut it for your video editing habits, perhaps it’s high time to consider an upgrade.

But whatever mileage you decide to go with, consider one that doesn’t involve taking the Mac to your local Apple store. Or if you’re thinking build-to-order, leave the extra RAM out and pay OWC a visit. Here’s why, and here’s how to swap that RAM yourself at home.

32GB of memory is what your shiny new iMac deserves

YouTuber Danny Winget is an early adopter of the all-new iMac with 5K Retina display. He’s put together a five-minute video to explain why it’s best to resist Apple’s build-to-order temptation and just take home a standard configuration that you can upgrade yourself later. Why? It has to do with the costs.

Apple charges an extra $600 (€470) in the States for full RAM throttle up to 32GB worth. With third-party RAM vendors like Other World Computing (OWC), you can get there with only $400 (€314), saving you a cool $200 (€157).

Of course, if you’ve already paid $2,400 (€1,885) for that awesome new iMac, that $200 (€157) extra is leftover change. But why not spend it on something useful? Like a trackpad, some rechargeable batteries for your mouse and keyboard, or an iPod for your kid.

Point is, if you go with OWC, not only do you save some serious dinero, you also get to swap the RAM yourself. I don’t know about you, but I get an awesome feeling from pimping out a Mac with my own hands.

How to do it

Apple has you covered with RAM-swapping guides for all iMac models over on its Support site. Here’s the document for all 27-inch iMacs. But here’s something better. Embedded below is Danny’s video showing you not only how to replace the RAM inside the Mac, but also how the Mac performs after it’s had the RAM implant.

A fun test that many power users like to perform after upgrading their computers, Danny launches all the apps on his Mac at once to see how fast they all spring into action. It’s amazing to watch, but probably even more amazing to experience yourself.

Danny also takes the Mac for a quick video test drive. All good stuff in the five-minute clip below. Enjoy!