If you need to purchase a new Mac, get your memory now. You can’t upgrade later.
Imagine how humbling…Years of bragging about how dependable macs are, and incredibly superior to PCs…and my mac died on me.
I wasn’t worried at first, thinking the guys at the genius bar will fix whatever it is…
…then the bomb. My motherboard was dead. (Mother is right!) A new one costs around $1,000.00. 
Thinking $1,000.00 is cheaper than a whole new system; I asked if my laptop would be okay going forward if I just bought a new board.
“You’re system is 6 years old. The life on those is about 5 years, so it’s likely more parts will start to fail on you,” genius said.
Poor guy. I wonder how many people break down in tears right there at the genius bar. The gentleman next to me asked if I needed a tissue and I said “yes.” As I’m coming to terms with the fact that I am most likely in the minority of those who break down emotionally in front of strangers, I was also wondering why a man had a mini-packet of tissues on him…it was all too much to take in. My beloved mac was a goner. I packed up and went home.
The next day, I borrowed a computer and logged on to order a new mac. I called a few friends for advice, and by the time I was ready to check out, my friend, Marc pointed out an interesting note regarding the Memory.
The message under Memory reads: “If you think you need more memory in the future, it is important to upgrade at the time of purchase.”
In other words, buy now or you’re screwed.
That was pretty alarming, because, in trying to keep costs at a minimum, I was going to go with the 8 GB, thinking I can upgrade later. If I hadn’t called my friend one last time and did the screen-share, I would have been in a bad pinch down the road. Thank you Marc Pitre, for the valuable nugget that would have cost me dearly!!! (Oh, and thanks mysterious man who totes tissue.)
I hope this helps the next guy!!!
~Peggy
