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Re:New iMac with M4 by randmeerkat on Monday October 28, 2024 @11:43AM (#41972291)
> Then again, the rest of the industry has figured out a way to make slottable RAM almost as fast and compact as soldered RAM…

Just be patient, the EU will take a large stick and force Apple to allow users to replace their RAM soon too.

Re:New iMac with M4 by gjsman-1000 on Monday October 28, 2024 @11:45AM (#41972328)
Very unlikely. Apple can argue that less than 1% of computers users ever upgrade their memory (which is true), and after all, did the EU intervene when GPUs dropped their slotted memory?
Re:New iMac with M4 by jsheard on Monday October 28, 2024 @11:47AM (#41972349)
> did the EU intervene when GPUs dropped their slotted memory?

The difference there is that slotted GPU memory is demonstrably impactical, but the memory on the M4 isn't demonstrably better than the LPCAMM2 module above. It's literally the exact same spec. Not that I expect the EU to do anything either when they didn't act on Apples soldered-in SSDs, which definitely aren't any better than standardized M.2 drives.

Re:New iMac with M4 by gjsman-1000 on Monday October 28, 2024 @12:06PM (#41972649)
Actually, incorrect. On some scenarios, you’d need up to 4 CAMM2 slots to do what Apple does. This is due to CAMM2 maxing out at 128 bit busses; but M3 Max chips are currently at 512. Needless to say, battery life most affected.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40287592

Re:New iMac with M4 by jsheard on Monday October 28, 2024 @12:10PM (#41972705)
Yes, the higher end Max and Ultra chips would still need soldered memory. Two CAMM modules flanking opposite sides of the SOC is probably doable though, so I think the M Pros could practically have socketed memory.
Re:New iMac with M4 by mmastrac on Monday October 28, 2024 @11:51AM (#41972415)
GPU memory is 20 MT/s+, Apple is ~6 MT/s, LPCAMM supports ~7500 MT/s.

Easy heuristic: if your memory transfer rate is more than 1.5x the standard, you can solder RAM. If not, you must use the standard.