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Comment by there4 | Hacker News Reader

Can anyone explain why they don't put more RAM in modern Mac computers? I think I can remember debating 8 versus 16 almost ten years ago. Why are they still stuck on 8?

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Because not everyone is a techie that reads HN. Most people I know, even many developers, could easily get by with 8g of RAM.

Its a struggle with 10.10 and 10.11. The RAM requirement went up and it is a lot more sluggish. I got a lot of complaints and we ended up putting 16g in every iMac. The airs just became painful.

I doubt it. In 2005 a 1GB Corsair stick was $189 [1]. Going to 16GB from 8Gb would have set you back an extra $1500, even assuming your motherboard could have taken it.

[1] http://www.statisticbrain.com/average-historic-price-of-ram/

I had 16GB in my Hackintosh 3 years ago. I noticed that 8GB seem to be enough for more of the things I do, even with some big apps such as XCode and Final Cut Pro X in simultaneous use. I think my next Macbook will only have 8GB. Apple tends to charge a huge premium on extra RAM and SSD space anyway.

The 27" iMacs aren't using soldered RAM and has 4 slots. So it would probably be cheaper to buy and install RAM separately. 32GB would be about $180 instead of the ridiculous $600 Apple wants.

Can you actually install additional RAM? I didn't know you could take apart an iMac; i thought that changed after their "unibody" one piece aluminum design.

Apple has a guide at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201191

Yes, the 27" model has a panel and slots for upgrading RAM.

You can't take apart the iMac, but the 27" model does have user-accessible RAM.

Funnily enough, it's probably easier to replace the RAM in one of those Mac than any other consumer PC. https://youtu.be/1nQp_Yb8YW0?t=55

It is by far the easiest! It is a very thoughtful design, nothing like your average PC where upgrading the RAM is the same experience as it was 20 years ago.

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