Addng ram to iMac 2017

Yes that is possible. The 2017 iMac supports up to 64GB (4x16)

The order does not matter. You can place the new 16GB modules in slots 3 and 4 if you want to.

The only suggestion is to make sure the RAM is good quality RAM meant for Macs. Macs are very picky about RAM modules, and are known to have issues with "Value" or "discount" RAM meant for PCs.

Follow OWC's recommendation for optimal performance. Memory must be installed as pairs of matched RAM for dual-channel use. If a pair is mismatched the iMac will run at 50% bandwidth in single-channel mode. (This only slows your system by ~10% in practice so it typically isn't a big deal if you get it wrong).

You add RAM into matching slots, either 1 & 3 or 2 & 4 it does not matter which.

If you do decide to upgrade PLEASE only use Crucial.com or Macsales.com, as mentioned iMacs are VERY sensitive to using quality RAM and both of these vendors only sell high quality parts and do so for reasonable prices and also have excellent service. In short, there is no reason to not use one of them.

I recommend getting the RAM modules from either Crucial.com or MacSales.com (OWC). Macs are very fussy about RAM modules and these two suppliers are proven quality and reliable vendors.

Hello, Apple geniuses,

I appear to have a iMac (3.60 GHz, Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) with 8 GB RAM running very slow on Adobe Creative Cloud and probably need more for Illustrator, (purchased in 2019 at Best Buy.)

Also have Finder extension running for CC and Dropbox, and MS Office 2019 for minor project work.

I'm hoping to stave off any move to Catalina or another machine until my project is over in 2021.

EveryMac.com claims the exact RAM kit depends on an identifier and installation is hard. After reading this I will use another source to buy the RAM.

1. In isolation, is it difficult for a complete newbie (without tools) to get to these slots or do I drag the thing in and pay to have the Geek squad do it?
2. Do I pour megabucks in now, or will just doubling to 16 speed up Illustrator's crawl as it opens? No issue with other apps, though my HD is filling fast.
3. Can I get relief by doing some disk utility clean up? If so, send a link.

Jeez Louise, there are so many settings now! Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

PS-Feeling ancient in tech these days, but been a user since 1980.

I still have my original 512K Mac SE that boots Duck Hunt and Dark Castle, and my Apple Education dealer mug and canvas briefcase, but feeling I'm in over my head.

21.5" iMacs between 2012 and 2019 do not have any user-upgradeable parts. Your iMac would not be worth disassembling and installing RAM, many Apple Authorized Service Providers will not to this service as it entails a 100% dissaseembly of the computer and many hours of work. If you need additional RAM your only reasonable choice is to replace the computer with an iMac that has a minimum of 16GB of RAM (more is better) and a SSD installed.

If you want to see how difficult they are to work on please click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh8wQVLhe_Q The guy that thinks its not that difficult, I think he's nuts.

Unfortunately that model of iMac doesn't allow the user to add additional RAM. I believe the screen is adhesived to the frame and would be difficult to remove. One would have to have experience and the correct tools to get to the RAM modules and replace them. Check with Crucial.com for instructions needed to do it yourself if you're willing to try. That model can utilize up to 16 GB of memory so you'd have to get two 8 GB modules.

You would be best served to find an Apple Authorized Service Provider to do the work for you.

HOWEVER, additional RAM won't speed up the launching of amps, opening and saving of files. That's controlled by the speed of the hard drive and if you got the basic 21.5" iMac at Best Buy you have the slowest drive available, 5400 rpm. You could get an external SSD drive with USB 2 capability and boot from it.

I have an internal SSD and it boots in 25-30 seconds. When I boot from an external SSD it takes about 55-60 seconds. Once booted I really can't tell the difference in performance.

To keep cost down I use this setup: a bare SSD derive from MacSales and a SATA to USB 2 adaptor from Amazon:

The SSD drive will run you about $155. In it's own enclousure it'll be considerable more.

Hmm. My machine is booting plenty fast enough, but just Illustrator is crawling when booting. Both it and InDesign 2020 take forever to shut down vs. 2019 versions.

So I'm thinking I just need to dump some files on an external 1TB SSD and see what happens if I clean up my internal drive first. Affordable and less invasive. Yippee!

Thanks again!

2010Kat wrote:

Hmm. My machine is booting plenty fast enough, but just Illustrator is crawling when booting. Both it and InDesign 2020 take forever to shut down vs. 2019 versions.

That could be due to low free space and Indesign has to find enough fractured free space to save the file to. Illustrator has to search all over the HD when it's opening a file.

Try freeing up plenty of space so that the files can be saved unfractured. That will go a long way in speeding up their opening and saving.

You're welcome, good luck.

Don't worry, they already said they would use OWC. OWC is MacSales.