iMac 2017 Retina 21,5" Memory upgrade possible?

Question

iMac 2017 Retina 21,5" Memory upgrade possible?

Hello,

I just bought a iMac with 21,5" 2017 Retina Display 8 GB memory and the Apple dealer told me that a memory upgrade up to 32GB is possible.

Now the iMac has no accessible memory slots and the MacTracker tells me:

Built-in Memory	8, 16, or 32 GB PC4-19200 (2400 MHz) DDR4
Maximum Memory	32 GB
Memory Slots	2 - 260-pin PC4-19200 (2400 MHz) DDR4 SO-DIMM (Non user-accessible)

So what does this mean? No memory upgrade? Noone in Germany (Apple Store, ...) could really answer my question.

Anyone knows?

Would be nice to know.

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017), macOS High Sierra (10.13), 8 GB Memory

Posted on Oct 20, 2017 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

Oct 20, 2017 1:32 PM in response to Dieter Pauler

It is upgradable however it should be done by an Apple Authorized Service Provider. DO NOT attempt this on your own. Here is a video that illustrates why it should not be attempted by the user: OWC Video Installation Guides for memory, hard drives, SSDs, and more... at MacSales.com

OWC (www.macsales.com) makes an upgrade kit. That kit is available at: Memory Upgrades for iMac 21.5-Inch 2017

In Germany this may be too expensive, you can also use Crucial (buy it direct from Crucial) RAM and have your AASP install it or you can ask the AASP to source the RAM and also install it.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

Oct 20, 2017 1:43 PM in response to Dieter Pauler

21.5" iMacs have not had user upgradeable RAM since 2012. However if you had purchased a 27" they have user upgradeable RAM. You should consider yourself fortunate though, 2017 21.5" iMac are the first 21.5" iMacs since 2012 that can accommodate 32GB of RAM and are relatively easy to upgrade by an AASP. Some years of the 21.5" iMacs made after 2012 cannot have the RAM upgradeable at all since the RAM was soldered into place.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

91,402 points

Oct 20, 2017 1:32 PM in response to Dieter Pauler

It means that the 21.5" iMac can be upgraded, but it requires complete disassembly to do the upgrade.

For upgrade kits, see > Memory Upgrades for iMac 21.5-Inch 2017

For their video, see > OWC Video Installation Guides for memory

For another upgrade guide and kit, see > iMac Intel 21.5" Retina 4K Display (2017) RAM Replacement - iFixit

Another option is to return that model and select another from the configure-to-order line up.

see > Buy iMac - Apple

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Answer 4

Oct 20, 2017 1:32 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Yes this completely answers my question.

And yes you are right, this will be too expensive to be done in Germany at an Apple Store, as I gues they will charge me 100$/hour easily + the cost for the memory.

This is sad, as in the past it was so easy to upgrade the memory on a Mac, which really helps if it is a few years old to get it running another few years at an aceptable speed.

If I ever will do this, this might be a task when I will be retired and have nothing else to do :-)

Thank you very much for showing me this video.

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