When using your iMac or Apple, there is a need to customize the system at times to suit your needs. Given that new upgrades are released at an exceedingly fast rate, it would not be economically viable to upgrade your iMac with every new release or upgrade.
However, the way in which to get the most out of your iMac or Apple is to increase the speed. This is through an upgrade of the RAM (Random Access Memory). For the newbie, upgrading your iMac ram or even Apple ram may be an odious task.
However, the process is very easy and in the end, it guarantees that your machine is significantly faster.
The first step in upgrading your iMac Ram is identifying the model number. This can be easily identified. It is important to get the correct model number as acquiring one of a different model number will be incompatible with your Apple product.
With the OS X or previous versions, the way to go about it is first on the menu bar under the apple icon to click about this Mac. In the window that pops out, click on the more info, the model identifier is present under the hardware overview.
However, the method is slightly different for the Lion (OS 10.7 X version). In the step above after clicking on more info, click the button labeled system report. The model identifier is subsequently listed under the hardware overview option.
The next step is looking for the available upgrade of your iMac or Apple ram model. Given that all iMacs have multiple memory slots, depending on the iMac model, it is easy to learn that iMac ram can be installed in each slot.
However, it is important to note the 2006 iMac model supports only 3GB total memory, so one can combine a 1GB with a 2GB SO-DIMM iMac in the two slots. The models of late 2009 to mid-2011, can support up to four slots of SDRAMs, taking either 2GB or 4GB SO-DIMM iMac rams.
The 21.5 inch model of 2012 sadly does not have any installable user Apple ram slots. The 27 inch model of 2012 however has four slots of either 8GB SO-DIMM or 4GB iMac ram.
The 27 inches 2012 model, for example, has a memory access port that is very easy to access on the back. It ejects by using a button that is located just above the power input. To access the panel, switch the power off.
Unplug the power cord and simply push the button above the power input. Once open, plug in the iMac ram into the slot, close the panel and plug the cord back on and switch on.
The same cannot be said of previous iMac versions as the process is relatively complex. The upgrade procedure is relatively the same in all Mac versions except for the number of memory slots.
The Apple Support Site offers a comprehensive guide on how to install or remove the memory. By following that guide, one is thereby able to upgrade their iMac ram or Apple ram.
