Shop Around for RAM Before Buying a Mac

For years I told people asking for computer buying advice: out of RAM size, hard disk size, and CPU, buy as much RAM as you can afford (and more disk space than you think you’ll need )

But that was in my PC days. The same does not always apply on Macs. In fact, the opposite even. On Macs I’d suggest buying as little RAM as possible and then upgrading through a third party.

Long-time Mac owners probably already know that, but if you’re new, or looking at switching, then at least compare third-party RAM before you lash out on Apple’s RAM.

I’m not bagging Apple. It does packages, and the customer expects some constancy. The customer doesn’t want to see the price of an iMac drop three times in two weeks—as the RAM I’ve been watching did. Apple customers, with their limited choice, don’t want to look on the Apple store next week and see the Macs have dropped in price—after they’d just purchased. There’s comfort in seeing my iMac still selling for the same as I paid for it.

We Maccies like to think that we’re all paying the same price.

Likewise, it wouldn’t be good for Apple to keep lowering its price as then people would put off purchasing—as they do any time there’s speculation of an upgrade coming.

To the point though, if you are in the Mac market, and aren’t afraid to open up your Mac, then check the price of third-party RAM before finalizing your Mac purchase; you could save a bundle.

For example, lately I’ve been considering upgrading my iMac’s RAM. I only bought this computer last October, so it does bother me a bit that it feels like it needs a RAM upgrade. As I’ve said previously, I used to be able to run 20 apps open comfortably on my G4 1GHz with 1GB RAM. And for the first few months my iMac Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz with 1GB RAM skipped along and had no trouble with 20 apps open. But since about March, it’s fallen in a heap. I suspect something in Mac OS X 10.4.9. When I rebuilt it in May with 10.4.7 I reckon it ran better. I had to return to 10.4.9 (and now 10.4.10) to be able to run Safari 3.

Anyway, to the example which, before you gag on the prices, is in Australian dollars. I’m using the online retailer ePowerMac as my reference because I’ve bought memory from it previously and had no issues.

Firstly, from the Apple Store:

To buy an iMac, you will pay the following for extra RAM:
- Upgrade to 2GB adds $270 for 2x1GB
- Upgrade to 3GB adds $870 for 2x1GB and 1x1GB

Checking the Internet Archive, this is the same price Apple was charging last October. Despite what I said above, I do think one price cut could have been justified in the last 10 months, Apple.

And if you do decide to buy RAM from Apple at a later date, sit down, because 2GB RAM for an iMac costs a whopping $569!

Now, at ePowermac, you will pay the following for additional RAM for an Intel iMac:

- To add 1GB $89 (brings your system to 1.5GB)
- To add 2GB $198 (brings your system to 2.5GB)
- To upgrade to 3GB, 1x1GB plus 1x2GB, $287

I originally began this piece at the end of June. Since then the 2GB RAM at ePowerMac has come down from $249 to $219 and now $198. Also, in October last year, it was $165 for the 1GB RAM. So the price of RAM has halved in the last ten months. Which also means Apple’s profit margin on the iMac has skyrocketed.

The small drawback of upgrading after purchase is you will have to ditch one or both of the existing 512MB RAM sticks. But you might be able to sell them on eBay for a few dollars. However, even if you can’t, you will still be miles ahead.

So, right now, if I was buying an iMac and wanted 3GB, I would save nearly $600 upgrading after purchase!

Also, to add 2GB to my existing iMac, I’d save $371 buying the third-party RAM.

Bear in mind though, all memory is not created equal—which is one of Apple’s justifications for charging a premium—so do your homework, otherwise you might find your Mac’s stability compromised.

One final point to remember is the proximity to the release of the Mac in question. In October last year, there didn’t seem to be much point, as either way, 2GB was expensive. But if you can live with less memory for a few months, you can save a packet.

So if you’re purchasing a recently released Mac, to benefit, you might have to wait a few months before upgrading.