Soldered RAM upgrades are a terrible deal per GB.

Around $50-75 per GB for soldered, versus $5-10 per GB for socketed. You’re paying 5-10x more for the exact same performance.

Manufacturers charge a premium for soldered upgrades because they have to swap the entire motherboard or use a different SKU. They know you’re stuck. A socketed stick you can buy yourself for cheap. For example, adding 8GB of soldered RAM from Apple or Dell might cost you $200-300, while a comparable 8GB SODIMM is $30-40. Same speed, same latency, same real-world benefit.

Unless you have no choice (e.g., a laptop with all RAM soldered and you bought the base model), never pay for a soldered upgrade. Buy socketed yourself and save the cash. If you’re buying a new machine and you know you’ll want more RAM later, get the model with at least one accessible slot.

Future you will thank you for not spending $400 on