The IT Nerd

Something that I hear a lot about in terms of complaints is the fact that Apple solders both RAM and storage to the motherboards of the computers that they sell. And the people who complain about this cite greed as the reason for this. As in Apple wants to force you to spend money either up front, or via replacing the computer if you needs go beyond the configuration that you get. Now to be clear, it’s not that simple as I will show you shortly. And Apple isn’t the only company that does this. But it is an irritant that I think that computer manufacturers could address easily. So, with that out of the way, let me explain why companies do this:

1. Space: By getting rid of sockets for RAM and storage, a computer manufacturer can make smaller motherboards and thinner laptop and desktop designs. You can take a look at laptops like the LG Gram or the MacBook Air as examples of what is possible when you solder everything to the system board. Those laptops are thin and light and consumers buy a lot of those laptops. Thus if you’re a computer company, it validates that this decision is a good one.
2. Reliability: I can’t count the number of times that someone has called me with help with their laptop, and after doing some troubleshooting I found that re-seating the RAM will fix the issue. By soldering the RAM and storage to the motherboard, that problem goes away and reliability increases. Which means warranty costs and customer satisfaction go up. And that’s good for a computer company.
3. Speed – Part One: Apple’s M series processors are designed to have the RAM and storage as part of the SOC or System On A Chip. By doing that, it increase performance substantially. That’s part of the reason why computers with M series processors are so quick. I should also note that Intel does the same thing with some of their processors for the same reason. Which is a win for Intel as well.
4. Speed – Part Two: By soldering RAM and storage to the system board, it gives companies the ability use faster RAM and faster storage. For example, Apple is now able to use faster DDR5 RAM which helps their computer perform better. A side benefit of this is not only speed, but power efficiency. As in you get longer battery life as a result. Again, Apple aren’t the only ones who do this a a number of PC manufacturers do the same thing for the same reason.
5. Profit: Computers with soldered RAM and storage are cheaper for computer companies to produce. Though to be clear, there is zero chance that this cost savings is passed along to the consumer. But it’s a plus for computer companies, and their shareholders. Another angle of this is the fact that because everything is soldered to the motherboard, consumers have to choose carefully in terms of how their computer is configured. Because if they screw this up during the purchasing process, they’re stuck and they may have to buy a new computer to get something that better fits their needs. Or they may buy more computer than they need up front to avoid that. Which means that in either case the computer companies and their shareholders win.

So after reading this, you might be thinking that Apple and everyone else who does this such as Dell, ASUS, and HP are pond scum. Well you can’t blame computer companies for wanting to find any way to increase performance and make products that consumers want while increasing their profit margins. Which means that you as a consumer have to make sure that you do your homework before whipping out your credit card so that you get the computer that not only fits your needs, but lasts for four or five years.

Manufacturers can help to reduce or make this noise about soldered RAM go away by better educating consumers about the benefits of different configurations for different workflows. That way consumers get the computer that they need without an issue. Apple specifically could really do itself a favour in terms of this by also not selling the fantasy that 8GB of RAM is enough RAM for most people. This is something that has been disproven time and time again, and it isn’t a good look for Apple as consumers will view them as acting like a car dealer who has a “starting price” for a car knowing full well that you’re going to spend way more than that “starting price”.

What do you think? Is soldered RAM and storage bad or it’s a non-issue? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.