512gb SSD, a rip off?

[Ptdr]

I'm definitely going for the 8gb of ram, also thinking about the 512gb storage option, it's $500 for the top 13".

What do you guys think, is it really too expensive? Shall i just go for the 256gb and an external USB3 drive?

I sold my macbookpro and the 500gb storage was really convinient, would love to have the same capacity on my future Air but it is so expensive and so tempting at the same time

 

[maflynn]

512GB SSDs are expensive regardless of where you buy them at this point. The fact also remains that you pay a premium when opting for apple's SSD. check out the after market SSD storage drives for the MacBook Air's on OWC's website. They may be a bit cheaper (though I don't think that much)

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I just checked OWC and their 480GB SSSD upgrade for 2010 and 2011 MBAs are 749.99. so 500 is not all unrealistic.

 

[kodeman53]

None of the SSDs at OWC will work in the new MBAs.

 

[palpatine]

A rip-off? No. Expensive? Yes.

With Google Drive ($5 a month for 100GB), Dropbox, Sugarsync, a 32 GB thumb drive, and a 1 TB external drive as needed, I have more than enough memory. I bought the 128 GB 11", but I am thinking I would have been fine with the 64 GB version as well. There is no way I would buy a massive SSD. It's like having a 12 cylinder jaguar in NYC. Fun to look at, but you have so many other transportation options that are far more convenient and inexpensive, so not much point.

 

[dcorban]

Considering it is $300 to go from 128 to 256, I'd say $500 for an extra 256 is a deal.

I really wanted 256GB in my new Air, but $300 is just too much at this price range. If it were around half that, I'd bite.

 

[palpatine]

Considering it is $300 to go from 128 to 256, I'd say $500 for an extra 256 is a deal.

I really wanted 256GB in my new Air, but $300 is just too much at this price range. If it were around half that, I'd bite.

No, no, no
It is marketing.

The price points for Apple products are really smart. Look at the iPad. 499 gets you in the door. For just another 100 you double your memory. It looks like a great deal, and if you accept this logic (consciously or unconsciously) you set the "fair" price in your mind. Then, you see that for just another 100, even though you probably don't need it, you can double your memory again. It seems like such a deal! That's because they "set" the price in your mind. If someone had asked you if 4 dollars per GB was a good deal before you went to the store, you probably would have laughed. You came in planning to spend 499 and you walked out after spending 699

The Air is the same, and at the border between each option (11" 128 GB or 13" 128 GB) you have only a small difference. Before you know it, you came in for a 999 11" and you walk out the door with a 1499 13"

That is good marketing. They are upselling us.

 

[Ptdr]

A rip-off? No. Expensive? Yes.

With Google Drive ($5 a month for 100GB), Dropbox, Sugarsync, a 32 GB thumb drive, and a 1 TB external drive as needed, I have more than enough memory. I bought the 128 GB 11", but I am thinking I would have been fine with the 64 GB version as well. There is no way I would buy a massive SSD. It's like having a 12 cylinder jaguar in NYC. Fun to look at, but you have so many other transportation options that are far more convenient and inexpensive, so not much point.

The thing is i'll be using the jaguar not only in NY, the macbook air will be my main computer laptop.
I have about 80gb of itunes music and i'm into music production, a software like logic pro needs 50gbs for example, i need at least 256gb (for recordings...)...

Thanx you for your answer

 

[KylePowers]

Just get the 256GB and update in a year or two when third parties come out with compatible solutions (and when flash memory prices are down)

 

[palpatine]

The thing is i'll be using the jaguar not only in NY, the macbook air will be my main computer laptop.
I have about 80gb of itunes music and i'm into music production, a software like logic pro needs 50gbs for example, i need at least 256gb (for recordings...)...

Thanx you for your answer

You should definitely get the right machine for your use-case. I am sure there are users who could benefit from the 512 as well. However, for most of us, the 64 GB or 128 GB models are more than sufficient. This has been made possible by the advent of wonderful cloud services, inexpensive external storage, and massive storage in thumb drives.

 

[mattopotamus]

No, no, no
It is marketing.

The price points for Apple products are really smart. Look at the iPad. 499 gets you in the door. For just another 100 you double your memory. It looks like a great deal, and if you accept this logic (consciously or unconsciously) you set the "fair" price in your mind. Then, you see that for just another 100, even though you probably don't need it, you can double your memory again. It seems like such a deal! That's because they "set" the price in your mind. If someone had asked you if 4 dollars per GB was a good deal before you went to the store, you probably would have laughed. You came in planning to spend 499 and you walked out after spending 699

The Air is the same, and at the border between each option (11" 128 GB or 13" 128 GB) you have only a small difference. Before you know it, you came in for a 999 11" and you walk out the door with a 1499 13"

That is good marketing. They are upselling us.

the 13" is where they were really smart....not letting you get the i7 with 128 SSD...forcing at extra $400 to jump to the i7 in the 13" (b.c you have to get at least 256 SSD). GGRRRRR

 

[sarah11918]

Agreed that it's expensive, but I don't think a rip-off.

The 512GB would mean I wouldn't need any external storage for what I have.

And, I could actually use some of the cloud storage solutions the way they're intended to be used (synching with what's stored locally, which I can't do now with 128GB) so that's another benefit even if you take advantage of cloud storage.

I would be less willing to pay a premium if I *still* needed an external storage solution (other than my bootable backup, of course). But since this will be large enough even to future-proof me for a while, I will gladly fork it over to Apple. The prices don't seem terribly out of line compared to OWC, and I can just get it right from the beginning.

 

[Vudoo]

I installed a 256 GB SSD in my MBP. I'm only using 26 GBs of it since 418 GBs data is on my 1 TB drive. So if you manage space well and plan to use an external drive, then even 128 GB SSD is sufficient.

 

[theSeb]

I'm definitely going for the 8gb of ram, also thinking about the 512gb storage option, it's $500 for the top 13".

What do you guys think, is it really too expensive? Shall i just go for the 256gb and an external USB3 drive?

I sold my macbookpro and the 500gb storage was really convinient, would love to have the same capacity on my future Air but it is so expensive and so tempting at the same time

Let's compare it to the Mac Pro

512GB solid-state drive [+ £730.00]

vs

512GB Flash Storage [+ £400.00]

No, I think it's ok for Apple's prices considering what they used to charge.

UK £ 400 = 620 U.S. dollars

 

[leman]

Well, a fast 512GB SSD drive is between $400-$800. So $500 for an SSD upgrade is not that much.

 

[dona83]

The price difference between a 240GB and 480GB SSD at OWC is $450, so Apple is definitely not ripping anyone off.

 

[danetello]

It is much cheaper to buy 3rd party ssd but unfortunately they have made the MBA unupgradale by soldering the flash memory

 

[dona83]

RAM is soldered, SSD is in a proprietary slot and can be removed and replaced. Seeing how third party solutions came for the 2010/2011 Airs, they'll come up with a 2012 product soon.

 

[bogatyr]

I just checked OWC and their 480GB SSSD upgrade for 2010 and 2011 MBAs are 749.99. so 500 is not all unrealistic.

The cost from Apple is $800 + value of the 128GB drive. Remember, the 256GB is a $300 premium already over the 128GB model, so you're paying $300 to go from 128GB->256GB, then you're paying ANOTHER $500 to go from 256GB to 512GB, plus you don't get back the drive you're upgrading over top of so the 128GB drive cost needs to be added in and is a ? in value right now.

Total cost $800 + ?.

Definitely more than the OWC drive, especially after you sell your previous drive. But this could change if the price for the 2012MBA compatible SSDs from OWC cost more when they are released.

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It is much cheaper to buy 3rd party ssd but unfortunately they have made the MBA unupgradale by soldering the flash memory

The flash memory (SSD) is not soldered in, just the RAM is. The SSD however is using a new slot so no one makes a compatible module yet. OWC Is working on this.

 

[cosmolee]

$800+ for 512GD SSD

Nice analysis. Yes, $800+ for a 512GB SSD seems like a tremendous rip-off when 2.5" 512 GB SSDs can be had for less than half the price!! This is the kind of thing that earns Apple the reputation of being severely over-priced.

Even though the Air SSD is a custom design, they are mass producing these things in large quantities, so it doesn't seem like there should be THAT much of a premium.

 

[Higgs1]

I have gone back and forth and back again. I originally ordered 13"/i7/8gb/256gb but really wanted the 512gb. My machine will be here Tuesday and I've already almost purchased the 512 varient 3 times lol, but when I figure the extra $500+tax its really hard to bite.

Plan now is to utilize my 1.5tb external and only carry necessary files on my drive, and when the 3rd party ones eventually do come out I'll snag one at a reasonable price.

Unless absolutely necessary, stick with 256 and below, save the $$$

 

[DVD9]

No, no, no
It is marketing.

The price points for Apple products are really smart.

That is good marketing. They are upselling us.

Apple buyers seem really easy to upsell to $3,800.

Where does all the money come from? Posting that would make this forum very interesting.

 

[Smartie]

Apple buyers seem really easy to upsell to $3,800.

Where does all the money come from? Posting that would make this forum very interesting.

Hard work and a good education.

 

[justit]

It seems like such a deal! That's because they "set" the price in your mind.

Well said!

 

[Stetrain]

As far as I know all of the 256GB and 512GB SSDs in the 2012 model Airs and Retina MBPs are actually Samsung 830 drives (just in Apple's own form factor). A 512GB Samsung 830 runs about $700.

 

[bogatyr]

A 512GB Samsung 830 runs about $700.

If you bought a Samsung 830 to put in a laptop, you still retain the old drive to use or sell. So there is more value in buying aftermarket.

I would wait until OWC releases their drives and buy one of those.