I now have 40GB of RAM in my iMac


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Well that was easy

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I ordered some more RAM for my iMac a few days ago and it was delivered today. I didn't really appreciate the 64GB of RAM that I have in my laptop until I tried editing photos and doing other stuff on my iMac which only had 8GB installed from the factory. RAM is one of the cheapest and easiest ways you can upgrade your computer to be able to handle more tasks.


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If you have an iMac or MacBook and want to upgrade your RAM, check out MacSales here for some really great deals. The screenshot above is from the Apple website where you can order your computer and get your RAM installed from the factory. As you can see, it is extremely pricey. I ordered 32GB (2X16GB)from MacSales for $129, and Apple was going to charge $600 for the same thing. I am sure that they would have given me 4 of the 8GB sticks as well, but I went with the 2 16GB sticks so that if these work out well, I will be able to order another 32 GB to bring my total up to 64GB. All in all, if I were to get 64 GB from MacSales, it would be $260, instead of $1000.


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Installing the RAM is very simple as well. Just make sure to lay your iMac face down on a soft surface so you don't scratch up the screen. I also let it sit while unplugged for about 15 minutes to let any static electricity discharge out of the computer as well. That step may or may not be necessary, but I don't want to take any chances of frying anything.


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There is a button where the power cord plugs in that releases the access door to your RAM slots, so you will need some sort of a plastic tipped object to press the button down. I use a plastic tipped object to reduce any chance of scratching anything and puncturing into the button.


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Once you press the button in, it releases the door. The door is held in place by friction from the sides, so just be careful to make sure that it is all disengaged from the sides as you remove it.


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Inside is where the four RAM slots are. The two handles on the side release the RAM when you push outward on them.


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Once they pop up, you can easily remove the old RAM sticks and replace them with the new ones.


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Now when you are putting the new ones in, there are certain spots to put them to get the most out of the speeds. If you are only installing two sticks, you will want them in slots 2 and 4. Since I have two different sizes of RAM, I needed to put the first set in slots 1 and 2 and then the second set of RAM in slots 3 and 4. If you don't do it that way, you won't be utilizing the full speed of the RAM.


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I am going to see how well 40GB of RAM does for the workload that I am going to be putting my computer through, but I think I am going to be ordering another 32GB pretty soon so I have can all matching RAM.

When I was editing the photos for this post, I did notice that Lightroom was a lot faster at loading up the different images. Before I put the new RAM in, it would take a few seconds for all of the pixels to load in correctly. My camera is a 30.4 megapixel, so the images have a lot of information in them, and having just 8GB of RAM was pretty slow to work with. I haven't tried any video editing yet, but I am sure once I begin doing that, I will notice if I need to upgrade again and by another 32GB.

Overall, I am glad to see that Apple has made it a lot easier for their customers to upgrade stuff on their computers. I don't think that they will ever be as easy as upgrading components on a normal Windows machine, but I don't have any plans on upgrading anything else. Now it is time to try and max this thing out and see what it can do.



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Wow, I've been going for years with just 8GB of RAM, it blows my mind to imagine what I could do with 64GB 😂 Enjoy the well-deserved upgrade! Loved the shots by the way, you manage to leave your imprint and unique view, no matter the subject of the photo. That's amazing.

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Order some more RAM. It really does make your computer work so much faster and efficient and it is pretty cheap nowadays as well.

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Yeah, it's on my pending list! Haha. I'll take the opportunity to comment to you that I'm looking to buy a new phone, more suitable that the one I have for smartphone photography. Of course I would love to buy all kinds of specific equipment for each specific use (aka a camera) but it's not actually a possibility right now. Therefore I'm trying to cover some bases with just one acquisition. I want to stop putting off learning the things I love just because I don't have the means to do it! So, long story short, do you happen to have any recommendations on that matter? Like specifications or actually brand/model. Not-so-expensive but sufficient kind of thing. Thank you!!

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For a phone? I have no idea. I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max and it takes really great photos. But I still prefer my DSLR for photography.

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Awesome! I really miss this with the M1 processors. If you want a RAM upgrade you need a new logic board 🤣 which means = new mac 🤣🤣

40GB sounds so awesome!

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Ya, that would kind of suck not being able to upgrade anything. Hopefully the processor and ram combo in make them efficient at least.

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As far as I can tell that M1 is pretty fast. Editing 4k footage in real time without a single loading time

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Why, are you sending rockets to space?

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Wow! , 40 gig ram ???, Seriously , what do you need that for, I've really not met anyone physically having a system with such huge ram size , 32 gig is even monstrous to me. But enjoy yourself bro

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