17" Macbook Pro unibody Not user upgradable.

Wow, that seems like a very bad decision given the ease of upgrading the 15".

Yeah, strange they would trumpet the fact that the 15" is so easy to upgrade, and then turn around and make the 17" near-impossible to upgrade. you'd think, given that, they'd at least offer a 500GB drive as a BTO. The biggest drive you can get is 320GB, and with only one Firewire port, that doesn't make it a very viable machine for mobile video editing...

iisarenotnobody said:

Confirmed from apple chat (Pic:http://twitpic.com/109j8 )

That the new 17" Macbook pro can not be upgraded Hard drive or RAM wise without removing the entire casing like the new macbooks. Sure, longer battery, but i want to add more RAM without paying 1,200$ thanks..

Click to expand...

This is a problem why?

In before take aparts galore.

Eidorian said:

This is a problem why?

In before take aparts galore.

Click to expand...

Hard drives get full. And die. It'd be nice to be able to swap in a 500GB drive, or even a 1TB drive when they release a 2.5" 1TB drive eventually. 320GB is pretty limited for video editing (especially if editing in HD) or storing lots of photos. And only one Firewire port means you can't capture video to an external (in my experience, cameras do not play well when daisy-chained).

iisarenotnobody said:

Confirmed from apple chat (Pic:http://twitpic.com/109j8 )

That the new 17" Macbook pro can not be upgraded Hard drive or RAM wise without removing the entire casing like the new macbooks. Sure, longer battery, but i want to add more RAM without paying 1,200$ thanks..

Click to expand...

you wont be able to add more RAM for less than $1,200 even if you could do it yourself and buy your own RAM seperately, a 4GB DDR3 stick costs around $600 anyway, so 2 x 4GB DDR3 = $1200

iisarenotnobody said:

considering it already has a 2Gb DDR3 stick all i would need is a 4GB DDR3 Stick for 6GB of Ram, $600.

Click to expand...

Thats true, but i prefer to pair mine, anyway im sure it will only be a matter of unscrewing the bottom, removing the battery, and voila RAM access.

Demosthenes X said:

Hard drives get full. And die. It'd be nice to be able to swap in a 500GB drive, or even a 1TB drive when they release a 2.5" 1TB drive eventually. 320GB is pretty limited for video editing (especially if editing in HD) or storing lots of photos. And only one Firewire port means you can't capture video to an external (in my experience, cameras do not play well when daisy-chained).

Click to expand...

You didn't even read my post.

Eidorian said:

This is a problem why?

In before take aparts galore.

Click to expand...

I think the big problem is that Apple doesn't like customers mucking around inside the laptops. If you damage something while it is all open, Apple won't do service on the laptop without you paying for it.

So, just having to open a little bay to upgrade ram in the old 17 or the 15 inchers is a lot easier and safer than taking the whole thing apart.


On another note, people can just get a Firewire Express Card to make up for the single Firewire port and lacking FW400.

kastenbrust said:

you wont be able to add more RAM for less than $1,200 even if you could do it yourself and buy your own RAM seperately, a 4GB DDR3 stick costs around $600 anyway, so 2 x 4GB DDR3 = $1200

Click to expand...

RAM prices will fall in time, though. If Apple adjusts the cost of the BTO option, then it's not such a big deal. But I'll bet they quietly leave it at $1200 even after RAM prices fall to half that, like they did for the previous-gen MacBooks.

Eidorian said:

You didn't even read my post.

Click to expand...

You asked why the lack of user-upgradability was a problem. Or does "This is a problem why?" have some other meaning, now?

If the battery lasts at least 4 years on average, I think having the internal battery is OK for nearly everybody.

However, what they should have done is made an external battery accessory for the 17-inch MBP that's also compatible with the 15" MBP.

Demosthenes X said:

RAM prices will fall in time, though. If Apple adjusts the cost of the BTO option, then it's not such a big deal. But I'll bet they quietly leave it at $1200 even after RAM prices fall to half that, like they did for the previous-gen MacBooks.



You asked why the lack of user-upgradability was a problem. Or does "This is a problem why?" have some other meaning, now?

Click to expand...

Sure DDR3 will at some point drop...but we all know that Cupertino isn't usually the best bargain in town. The fact that they are making it not user upgradable is frustrating for the obvious reason that Apple charges for installation of ram, when normally if you have a Phillips screw driver you could do it yourself. However, while they have closed the gap a little (since the Intel transition and the overall price gap closure), the fact is they still charge for installation, like everyone else, and the stigma in the Mac community about them overcharging leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

As for the hard drive - not really an excuse, its a pain in the ___.

socamx said:

I think the big problem is that Apple doesn't like customers mucking around inside the laptops. If you damage something while it is all open, Apple won't do service on the laptop without you paying for it.

So, just having to open a little bay to upgrade ram in the old 17 or the 15 inchers is a lot easier and safer than taking the whole thing apart.


On another note, people can just get a Firewire Express Card to make up for the single Firewire port and lacking FW400.

Click to expand...

If you watch the video about the battery it seems like this would be a pain given the way the new battery is. I'd imagine that, like they said in the keynote presentation, they have gotten rid of a lot of gaps that were normally there because of the removable battery...However having a ram compartment wouldnt really add that much extra weight...

Abstract said:

If the battery lasts at least 4 years on average, I think having the internal battery is OK for nearly everybody.

However, what they should have done is made an external battery accessory for the 17-inch MBP that's also compatible with the 15" MBP.

Click to expand...

No one is talking about that. The topic is the lack of user upgradable hard disk and RAM.

iisarenotnobody said:

Confirmed from apple chat (Pic:http://twitpic.com/109j8 )

That the new 17" Macbook pro can not be upgraded Hard drive or RAM wise without removing the entire casing like the new macbooks. Sure, longer battery, but i want to add more RAM without paying 1,200$ thanks..

Click to expand...

I think Apple Chat are wrong. As this makes no sense; every Mac for a long time has had user replacable RAM.

you know what, after looking at that video and seeing how the battery fits in the computer, i dont even think you will need to remove it to gain RAM acess, i think its just a case of undoing 4 screws on the base and your there.

Just wait and see what it looks like when it's in a users hands. I would wager it won't be that difficult.

Wouldn't it be just like upgrading the RAM in the 15" unibody? You have to take off the bottom case for that to access the RAM aswell. I would imagine upgrading the HDD in the new 17" would be like upgrading the RAM, you just unscrew the bottom case and swap them out.

NC MacGuy said:

Just wait and see what it looks like when it's in a users hands. I would wager it won't be that difficult.

Click to expand...

Judging by the pic of the internal structure I would also definitively say so. That tells me a lot more than a screenshot from apple chat.

Just because there's no easily removable cover doesn't mean RAM and HDD aren't easily replaceable.

No story here - from Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/article/138..._of_the_17inch_macbook_pro.html?lsrc=rss_main - last paragraph.

Also, according to the Apple spokesperson on the show floor—and contrary to what some of the commentators have been saying—you can indeed replace the hard drive and memory on it yourself, even though the battery isn't user-replaceable. Since the bottom of the case is screwed shut, you’ll have to unscrew eight screws and remove the entire panel before you can get to the hard drive and memory. Although that does mean that replacing the hard drive is more complicated than on the MacBooks and 15-inch MacBook Pros, upgrading the memory is pretty much the same procedure on all these products.

Click to expand...

It'll certainly be easier to replace the HDD than in the Mini or iMac.

plinden said:

Just because there's no easily removable cover doesn't mean RAM and HDD aren't easily replaceable.

No story here - from Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/article/138..._of_the_17inch_macbook_pro.html?lsrc=rss_main - last paragraph.



It'll certainly be easier to replace the HDD than in the Mini or iMac.

Click to expand...

Geez that sounds terrible.

Apple's support documentation on the new 17" is still slow to show up. Normally it's their on launch day to read over in PDF.

well, even right now people are having trouble with 3rd party ram (even from crucial and OWC)

but that news about the hard drive being user replaceable, that's awesome.

However, it could be a point of contention when it comes to warranty. even though there isn't a sticker that says "breaking this sticker will void the warranty"

i think everything is going to be exposed when the bottom cover is removed, making it more prone to accidents.

However, if the processors aren't soldered on, it could make it more upgradable (yes i'm aware that the processors have always been soldered on for the portables)