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I have a late 2013 imac 3.2GHz i5 core. It is currently running 2x 4GB elpida ram and i am wondering if i can upgrade my ram by adding 2 x 8bg ram from a different manufacturer (like Crucial - i am in Europe or Corsair? Any opinions on Corsair?). do i have to run 4x 8GB? what about DDR3L - can my machine run at a lower voltage? Or will it just run at 1.5v regardless of ddr3L or ddr3?
thank you!!
iMac 27″, macOS 10.15
If your 2013 iMac is a 21.5" model, RAM is not upgradeable at all. The RAM is soldered in.
If your iMac is a 27" model, please use either Crucial.com RAM or Macsales.com RAM. Macsales has distributors in Europe, to find one please click OWC Resellers to find one in your general area.
Corsair RAM is not recommended, the reason experienced users use Crucial.com or Macsales.com RAM is because it works, it is reasonably priced and comes with a lifetime guarantee. iMacs are VERY sensitive to using quality RAM and both vendors only sell very high quality products.
Good luck.
If your 2013 iMac is a 21.5" model, RAM is not upgradeable at all. The RAM is soldered in.
If your iMac is a 27" model, please use either Crucial.com RAM or Macsales.com RAM. Macsales has distributors in Europe, to find one please click OWC Resellers to find one in your general area.
Corsair RAM is not recommended, the reason experienced users use Crucial.com or Macsales.com RAM is because it works, it is reasonably priced and comes with a lifetime guarantee. iMacs are VERY sensitive to using quality RAM and both vendors only sell very high quality products.
Good luck.
Thank you!
Unfortunately I need to use referencing software and it seems the one I need is Mendelay and it only works properly with Word. I am fine with pages though - wish I could just use that!
My keyboard is finally working - maybe the new batteries I put in were not good? Another set of new batteries fixed the problem!
Any ideas about my outstanding questions re the RAM and the voltage?
An excellent Word alternative is the free LibreOffice . It can open, edit and save Word files in either Word format or it's own format.
Another possibility is Apple's Pages. It can do the same but sometimes not as format compatible as LibreOffice.
As far as the keyboard is concerned, if it has rechargeable batteries plug it in with the charging cable and Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support a couple times in succession. Then disconnect the cable and see if the keyboard is discoverable.
Thank you both!
If anyone wants to know, here’s what Crucial said:
I can mix and match the DDR3 and DDR3L modules without any issues (no need to space out the 4GB modules and the 8GB modules. Apparently DDR3L run better than DDR3 (due to low voltage) but more RAM (having 24GB as opposed to 16GB) trumps so no need to get rid of my existing 8GB of DDR3.
Thanks again for the help!!
Apple uses which ever RAM vendor they want, of course we cannot speculate on why they decided on that vendor but apparently they did because they met their needs.
You can mix RAM but only install in mixed pairs. For example, it came with 8GB of RAM (2 x 4GB), if you want to add an addition 16GB then add 2 x 8GB DIMMs in the empty slots.
Ensure the RAM you decided on (Crucial or OWC) meets the specificaitons. Do not get overly analytical, just use what Crucial or OWC specify for your year and model iMac and you are fine.
RAM is used by the applicaitons being run on your system. Adding 32GB would be fine but may not be necessary, we simply don't know how you use your computer, every user is different. You can monitor RAM useable by using Activity Monitor which is pre-installed on your system. Apple explains how to use AM in hhttps://support.apple.com/guide/activity-monitor/view-memory-usage-actmntr1004/mac
The best antivirus, cleaning app, and overall maintenance app for Mac OS is Mac OS itself. All you need to do with Mac OS to keep it secure and running well is to keep it up-to-date and do periodic (about 1x per week) restarts. Other than that, leave it alone. Adding third party antivirus, cleaning, security and other types of maintenance apps to Mac OS adds no additional level of security. The only thing these apps do is have the opposite affect users want. They make Mac OS slow, unstable, generate odd behavior (much like you may be experiencing) and make Mac OS appear buggy.
Please locate the developers uninstall instructions for Clean My Mac and any similar products and follow to the letter. Then restart in Safe Mode per the directions in Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac and then restart normally.
Thank you!
it’s 27” 😅
Just wondering why it came with Elpida RAM... is that not good?
and how about mixing 2x 4GB and 2 x 8GB?
and what about getting rid of the 4GB ram and installing only the 8GB? Is that better than having the 8GB sit next to 4GB?
and the voltage question? If I use ddr3L will it operate at a lower voltage and be even faster?
how do I know if I need to go all the way up to 32GB? Is more always better? Am not a gamer or a graphic designer/ video editor (but might do the home video editing thing in the future)🤷🏻♀️
Thank you, again!
I know I seem pedantic... I guess I am... are there many apple product users who do not want the “best”?! 😉. I’m not after a quick fix. I am a MSc student (nutrition not computers obvs) and can’t upgrade to a new computer so need this one to last another 2 years so I can finish my dissertation and the. earn some money...
I am genuinely curious as to whether the iMac intel from late 2013 would use lower voltage to run the RAM if I removed the 2 x 4GB DDR3s and installed 2 x 8GB DDR3Ls dual voltage DIMMs or would the computer still run them on 1.5v? In which case I might as well stick with the DDR3s...
Good to know re pairs but do you know why? I have seen on this forum someone adding just 1 x 8GB to a machine running 2 x 4GB and people thinking it was OK... others said all DIMMS should be equal value e.g. all 8GB...
I will for sure check out the Activity Monitor - thanks for the link - I had a quick look when I was using Clean My Mac yesterday and it seemed green and OK at that time but would be good to see percentage of time it is near its 8GB capacity limit.
Good to know - thanks - I’ll try that! However, the programme really seemed to help... my husband downloaded Catalina and then nothing 32bit worked so I have been suffering a lot - no Word, no air printing, etc... and my computer was running out of memory... I save almost everything to iCloud...
I would only use RAM from Crucial.com or MacSales.com that they recommend for your particular model. Macs are very finicky about RAM and some may work for a while and then go south.
Thanks for the feedback.
RAM upgrade for late 2013 imac 3.2GHz i5 core 1600MHz
