In a recent engadget article, Jon Fingas points out the following:
If you're planning to snag the new Mac mini and load it up with aftermarket memory, you may want to reconsider your strategy. Macminicolo owner Brian Stucki (among others) has discovered that the RAM in Apple's latest tiny desktop isn't upgradable, much as you'd expect with the company's laptops and the 21-inch iMac.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 20 2014, @01:22PM
You will see more and more of this as we move closer to SoC systems. With only specialty 'server class' MB's having the ability to install TB size memories.
Desktop/laptop has peaked feature wise. 4-8gig is good enough for 98% of the people out there and not be hitting the swap drive. The rest of us will have to make due and get out our soldering guns apparently. All the innovations we see are basically revisions to existing ideas. The only 'new' thing they have added in the past few years is the ability for touch screens.
For Apple it is a matter of feeding in a few extra chips for the pick and place machine. Instead of 2 stages of pick and place and paying a person to pop the memory in and testing the memory socket works correctly. I fully expect the flash drive to be next.
You will see more and more of this. Especially in the 'want to be thin look' laptop/tablet market.
Not that I would ever by an apple product. Still sort of bitter they basically ended one of the best jobs I ever had thru their cost cutting and style marketing.