Apple says 10 gigs is possible but say they do not support it.  (Why they will not say)  (Apple does say it is supported as well as 6 and 12 but not how well)

They also say if you send the unit in for repair that it can only have Apple installed memory i.e. not memory you install or memory installed by Best Buy for instance)  (I was told all this on the phone with Apple)

Does it work or will the Mac only recognize 4 of the 10 or is it a slow combination.

I can not find information on the web about this combination

Does anyone have experience with a 2 gig stick and a 8 gig stick rather than the usual matched 2 x 2 or  4 x 4 or 8 x 8.

Yes I am eventually going to 16 but the money is not there now  (the doctor got it)

All I know is I put 16 in mine and it runs great, but... The parts that hold the RAM in are extremely flimsy and delicate, so I broke it in 2 seconds flat, then had to rig it...  Because the suggested repair is... Get this... A new Mac mini.

Let someone else do it.

It doesn't SEEM like it would take more than a 4th grade education to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuGBMvlcS5Q



Maybe you have an older style Mac Mini.  I have an original and it was like breaking into maximum security to open the damn thing, but once I was in, it was pretty easy to change out the ram.

I upgraded mine to 16 Gb. as soon as I got it.  The install was very easy and it was just over $100.00.  Just save the memory you pulled out to put back in if you need service.

I can't answer the question asked, but I can say that Apple has a long history of machines that actually work just fine with more RAM than officially supported. I'm on a 2008 Macbook Pro that is officially supposed to only have 4 Gb, but I'm running 6 in the form of a 2 and a 4 instead of the official 2 + 2. I've had others in the past the same way.

Apple comes out with a machine, tests for some max, the machine gets discontinued in the course of the normal product cycle, and after that, customers start pushing the limits and find it'll do more, but Apple has no interest in testing those limits, since the machine is discontinued, their interest is in having you buy the newer model.

It is left to companies like Other World Computing and users to figure out what the real maximums are.

Not sure what model mac mini you have but I upgraded mine to 16gb of ram with no issues whatsoever. I also dropped in an SSD which helps tremendously

I have one bought in March.

Here is the math.

To upgrade to 6

2 plus 4 = $40

4 plus 4 = $80  8 gigs total  to go to 16 you have to throw away $80 of sticks

2 plus 8 = $80  total 10

but if you upgrade any of the 4 plus 4 to 10 or 16 you have to throw $40 worth of memory away.  but if you buy a 8 gig stick you do not have to throw a 4 gig stick away.

It is unclear how well the asymetrical memory works.

by the way it takes a guerrilla to open the back of the Mac mini the first time.  Mine was on there really tight and Best Buy had to have two guys open it.

Which is why I know know it has 2 x 2 gig sticks in there after being told at Best Buy it had one 4.  They then sold me another 4 but it was the wrong speed etc.

You'll take only a small small speed hit by using RAM chips of difference sizes.

Thank you.

As I understand it,  increase in speed for more ram but not quite as much as if it was paired.

Apple isn't the only one that does this. Asus says my laptop can hold 8 GB max, but the hardware itself can run 16 GB just fine.

No idea why they do that.

Go to the Other World Computing (OWC) web site.

They will explain how to find out which model Mac you have (I suspect you have a "Macmini6,2").

They will tell you what type of memory you need, what configurations work, and they are even happy to sell you the proper memory (with a lifetime guarantee).

They even have a program where they will give you a rebate for your existing memory.  In your case that may be only about $14.


You will get better memory performance by installing two DIMMs of the same size.  In most situations, the difference won't be noticeable (particularly if you don't have a SSD).

Although I have had good experiences buying from OWC, you may be able to find the memory cheaper from other sources (like Amazon).