iMac 2020 (RAM Upgrade)

Question

Level 1

6 points

iMac 2020 (RAM Upgrade)

The new 2020 iMac has user accessible RAM, meaning it is something that you can upgrade yourself. Even for the less tech savvy, this upgrade is easy to achieve.

OWC and Crucial sell RAM suitable for this computer for a third of the price that Apple will charge you. Don't fall for their overrated sales pitch, there is nothing to justify their disgusting price mark-up. There is absolutely no difference between the RAM that OWC or Crucial sells, compared to Apple.

Type of RAM needed for the iMac 2020:

DDR4 2666MHz SODIMM RAM Non-ECC and Unbuffered in 8, 16 or 32 GB variants.

[Edited by Moderator]

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Aug 6, 2020 7:11 PM

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Answer 1

kenj44

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2020 3:39 PM in response to BDAqua

The RAM showed up today. It was installed in less than 3 minutes of my receiving it. The task could not have been simpler. Heck, it took longer to unplug and replug cables than remove the cover and seat the cards. My iMac is humming along swimmingly. Thanks again for your assistance.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

149,022 points

Aug 31, 2020 10:39 PM in response to kenj44

This is what is installed in mine: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/imac-2019-27-inch and here are the actual speeds.

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Answer 3

pmiles

Level 6

16,014 points

Sep 1, 2020 10:09 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Can someone explain dual channel for me? I was under the impression that in order to get dual channel support, the pairs needed to be set up with one on channel A and one on channel B. So that would be 4GB in slots 1 and 3 and 16GB in slots 2 and 4.

Rules to enable dual-channel modeTo achieve dual-channel mode, the following conditions must be met:

Same memory size. Examples: 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB.
Matched DIMM configuration in each channel.
Matched in symmetrical memory slots.

Configurations that do not match the above conditions revert to single-channel mode. The following conditions do not need to be met:

Same brand
Same timing specifications
Same speed (MHz)

The slowest DIMM module populated in the system decides memory channel speed.

Above quoted from: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005657/boards-and-kits.html

The reason that I ask is because on the new 2020 iMacs, there seems to be all sorts of issues getting the ram to read at the correct speed AND support dual channel. Tons of posts on Macrumors about this issue with ram. Apple doesn't seem to address dual channel in their support docs, just how to install a RAM module, not how to properly install RAM configurations if adding just one stick or different RAM sizes together.

Anyone?

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Answer 4

kenj44

Level 1

4 points

Aug 31, 2020 7:32 PM in response to Matt Warne

I find the compatible RAM at both OWC and Crucial--with one exception. Apple calls for PC4-21333. What's available (and showing compatible by manufacturer's sites) is PC4-21000. What is the discrepancy?

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