Memory - Apple says 16GIG, everyone else says 32GIG Upgrade?

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Memory - Apple says 16GIG, everyone else says 32GIG Upgrade?

So I want to upgrade the memory in my Mid 2011 iMac i7 computer from 4 gig memory to the max possiable. From The apple documents it says the max is 4x 4GIG memory cards for a total of 16GIG, but from when I read online this computer will accept 4x 8GIG memory cards for a total of 32GIG.

Has anyone had any issues going up to 32GIGs? Will it effect anything in my computer on the negative side?

I was going to buy either OWC or crucial brand.

What I dont get is when I called Apple support and asked how much memory I could use they said "well the enginners documented 16gig max and felt that was the specs"

But when I told apple support that I read about people installing 32GIGs they did not have anything bad to say about it, but just mentioned they dont offer support for anything over 16gigs and if I had a issue with my iMac I would have to pop in my old 4gigs to get support.

If 32gigs work why wont apple just embrace it?

Thanks for any suggestions.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Apr 6, 2013 8:01 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 6, 2013 8:05 PM in response to swcollector

I think they gave you a valid reason. What more do you want?

If you want 32 GBs of RAM then purchase an upgrade kit from OWC or DataMem.

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Answer 2

swcollector Author

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Apr 6, 2013 8:20 PM in response to Kappy

What more do I want? Trying to find out if anyone had any issues exceeding 16gigs. I already know were to buy.

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Answer 3

Niel

Level 10

726,869 points

Apr 6, 2013 8:22 PM in response to swcollector

Apple didn't test those computers with more than 16GB of RAM when compiling those specifications and doesn't update them after the computers were released.

(80345)

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Answer 4

MichelPM

Level 10

80,968 points

Apr 6, 2013 8:25 PM in response to Kappy

OWC consistently tries out Macs to see if they are capable of using more RAM than recommended by Apple.

Your iMac can and does work fine with a total of 32 GBs of RAM. There are no issues.

Only OWC has the 32 GB kit. So, order the RAM from them.

Good Luck!

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Answer 5

swcollector Author

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Apr 6, 2013 8:51 PM in response to MichelPM

Any brand better then the others? seems like these are the top 3 suggested in these forums

1. OWC

2. Crucial

3. Samsung (oem)

They are all priced pretty close and they all offer 4x 8gig cards for 32gigs.

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Answer 6

Apr 6, 2013 9:20 PM in response to swcollector

I reccomend crucial... I got them on amazon for bout 90 bucks for 32 GBs xD

Just follow the instrcutions on how to insert ram

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Answer 7

Apr 7, 2013 4:43 PM in response to swcollector

I'd go with the OWC. I've been using Apple computers for about 9 years now and, any time I've needed something, I've bought it from OWC - not just memory but other accessories/peripherals as well. Their quality and customer service are very good - before, during, and after the sale.

Dennis

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