15-Inch MacBook Pro With Touch Bar Has Non-Removable SSD

[tubeexperience]

With less than a quarter of the performance.

And what do you do with all that speed when the SSD is full?

Sometimes, having a bigger slower SSD is better than having a faster slower SSD.

 

[AltecX]

...a form factor which wouldn't fit in a MacBook Pro anyway.

That's Apple's fault for not using standards unless it's convenient for them or they can figure a way to make money from it *cough* dongles *cough*

 

[cube]

Missing the point. The fact is that it's nowhere near the performance, so it's not comparable. A lot of people see vast real-world benefits from 2GB/s+ read/write speeds.

It is comparable. Some people will not buy a laptop that is limited to 2TB.

 

[fuchsdh]

It is very fast already.

Then you should be fine buying old Apple hardware where you can upgrade the components, and thus this doesn't matter to you.

 

[RedWing512]

This. This is where computers are going, like it or not. One day we will have friggin Minority Report-style glass panels for computers and people will complain "I can't swap the hard drive out?"

Different strokes for different folks. I very seriously doubt that your average Joe would care whether or not everything is soldered in place.

But for professionals, for whom the MacBook Pro has traditionally been marketed to, it's a deal-breaker. A pro-level machine means being able to do pro-level things, like swapping out modules.

 

[cube]

Then you should be fine buying old Apple hardware where you can upgrade the components, and thus this doesn't matter to you.

It matters to me that there's no foreseeable upgrade path since years.

 

[Hanzu Lao]

Wrong again.


"Why is it that some people can walk into their local Apple Store with a broken MacBook and walk away with a free replacement, and other people are turned away, with Apple claiming the repair is due to user error… even if it isn’t?

It has less to do with whether or not you actually voided your warranty than if Apple thinks they can prove you voided your warranty. And the most important tool Apple uses to prove you’re responsible for the damage to your own machine? It’s a tool that inspects dents.

The guys over at Tested spoke to an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician, or ACMT. An ACMT is a technician who works at an Apple Authorized Service Center, where people can get warranty service when they don’t live near an Apple Store. In other words, this is a person with an intimiate familarity with how Geniuses determine whether or not to replace or repair a product in-warranty.

So here’s how it works. When a Genius or ACMT looks over an Apple product to see if it qualifies for warranty repair, what they are really doing is trying to prove it doesn’t qualify for warranty repair. The most obvious way to deny someone warranty service? Dents! And Apple has issued its Geniuses and ACMTs a special tool called the Dent Inspection Tool to help measure dents."

Yes it's very common for people being denied because of "dents". Very sad.

 

[tubeexperience]

This is once it's out of warranty, and if the part fails. Do you expect Apple to give you free parts for life? The part, on the open market, costs more than $310. If it was slotted instead of soldered, you would still have to replace it, and buy a replacement, and it would cost you more than $310.

I don't understand what's going on in this thread.

$310 flat rate repair is only offered at Apple's discretion.

Do you have a dent on your computer? You may no longer be qualified.

 

[DCINKC]

This thread is insanity. The SSD is very expensive. Apple will fix it, even out of warranty, for less than the cost of you purchasing one and doing it yourself. And that is assuming there even was a supply of these since they use a unique form factor and connector. If the SSD fails,


This is insanity. Of course it would cost more than $310. And they used a custom controller for speed and power, and it shows in all the benchmarks.

People just want to be outraged, apparently. Martyrs everyone.

Well put. Thank you.

 

[keysofanxiety]

It is comparable. Some people will not buy a laptop that is limited to 2TB.

And some people would rather spend the same amount of money on a 2TB SSD with 3GB/s read/write speeds, than the same amount of money on a 4TB SSD with SATA speeds.

 

[jclardy]

Just plug in an external SSD via dongle via USB-C.

Or do what a sane person would do and just get a micro-b -> usb-c cable for $5 off amazon. Or a USB-C SSD that has already been out for over a year.

 

[zaaach48]

After you paid 4k for a machine, all of a sudden $310 to replace ONE component seems fair? Okay.

yea basically...when things break and they are out of warranty, you pay for them. You can thank the Federal Trade Commission for regulations governing consumer electronics warranties https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0252-warranties

when your super nice TV breaks after 3-4 years, what do you do? when your car needs new brakes, do you expect that the dealership will just cover that for free?

 

[uknowimright]

So we shouldn't be angry when an idiot man child becomes our president, or Apple rapes once-great products in the quest for thinness? Making our voices heard may or may not make a difference, but yes, that's what freedom of speech is all about.

I guess they were forced to come into this forum and read people's complaints, must be rough for them

 

[Thunderhawks]

Man, Apple are TRYING to lose customers, aren't they?!

For now: Yes, in my case.

Stretching my 17" (sniff) 2008 MBP to the max and will do the same with my 2014 MBP into which I just installed an OWC 1TB SSD and it flies. So, that makes me a 2020-22 buyer.
May even buy another MBP of the last what I consider "good" generation, similar to the 2014 MBPs.

I don't care about SSD speed, like others I want as much capacity as possible on it and having to take as little in dongles and cables as possible. I have a few seconds I can wait.

Recommending to listen and act upon Cuban Missiles' post about not having anything of importance without back up on an MBP. SSD or HD.
Every storage device will eventually fail. It is only not known when.

I am not a cloud fan, but dropbox has saved my butt plenty of times for all my business info, tax returns etc. iCloud is not for me, but between a time capsule and dropbox I should be okay for my important stuff.

One can only hope Apple will come to their senses. If not, I have the courage to look for other solutions.

 

[masteroflondon]

After you paid 4k for a machine, all of a sudden $310 to replace ONE component seems fair? Okay.

If that's the cost of the component then, umm, yes. Good lord... If you're going to grasp at straws to drag this argument out of the swamp, at least make sure it has SOME substance.

 

[kildraik]

That's probably why it's so fast. Cool.

Why is it an issue to use external storage? Doesn't every proffesional use something in that medium? I use TB's of external storage for audio.

Oh yeah... We have consumers criticising this. Lol. Any smart professional would never keep their working files on a boot disk.

 

[cube]

And some people would rather spend the same amount of money on a 2TB SSD with 3GB/s read/write speeds, than the same amount of money on a 4TB SSD with SATA speeds.

Then give people the option of upgrading to a laptop with a 2.5" SATA Express bay.

 

[a.gomez]

Hmm, well i don't think the ssd is fixed on my Canvas but there is no visible way to get to it. I'm not going to take a point off for this - this is just part of project management. I always archive past projects.

Just get a 512. It is a 200 upgrade - an 850Pro is 212 so the price for the upgrade is not insane. Well if you forget the laptop pricing is insane to strat with

 

[avanpelt]

Nope. In fact, both OWC and Traninternational now sell SSD upgrades for all mac laptops 2013 to 2015.

I'll be damned! I'm glad to know I can bump the storage up to 1 TB down the road. And here I've thought for the last two years that the SSD was not replaceable. Thanks for enlightening me!

 

[tubeexperience]

Missing the point. The fact is that it's nowhere near the performance, so it's not comparable. A lot of people see vast real-world benefits from 2GB/s+ read/write speeds.

And what do you do with all the speed when the SSD is full?

 

[markfc]

I'm really not seeing a problem here to be honest. It's not like you can just go and purchase a new SSD for the 2015 Retina MacBook Pros even though they are removable. It's a proprietary connector anyway.

The only ones that word are the OWC's which are a hell of a lot slower then the Apple SSD's.

 

[Digital Skunk]

This wouldn't have hit so hard if Apple wasn't charging so much for the upgrades.

Now I'm not sure if the prices they have are in line with external SSD prices of the same caliber, but $1400!

 

[69Mustang]

It's not ideal of course, but it's the way it's going. Worth bearing in mind that the speeds on these SSDs are very, very quick, so it's not quite like soldering in a 5400RPM SATA drive. Plus it will prevent people swapping over with an older SSD and reselling as a misrepresented model.

There was a forum member here who bought a used 2015 15" rMBP with a 512GB SSD to ensure longevity. However it transpired that the seller had the SSD swapped over with a one from the 2013 13" rMBP, which was only hitting 700MB/s read/write, rather than 1.5-2GB/s.

Again, it's not ideal, though I don't think it's the absolute end of the world as some people here are saying.

First lemme say this hasn't been verified so the panic in this thread could be unjustified. With that out of the way, your response to non-removable SSD makes no sense at all. You're conflating SSD speed with the lack of "removability" and coming up with some unified reason why this is not as bad as some are saying. One has nothing to do with the other. It sounds like unintentional deflection. AFAIK, the SSD speed is not dependent on being soldered to the board.

Your anecdote about swapped drives? I can say with darn near 100% certainty that scenario played no part in Apple's decision to allegedly solder the SSD. It only serves to build a narrative and definitely doesn't provide any justification.

To be fair, maybe I missed something in your quote. Can you tell me how you think the faster SSD somehow justifies the rumored soldering? My inside the box thinking says one has nothing to do with the other, but I'm more than willing to listen to a differing opinion.

 

[MTShipp]

Speaking only for myself and not judging others for their choices I am now glad I chose the 2TB, glad I got AppleCare, and happy I back up my important data using CrashPlan and use Time Machine to external storage.

 

[tubeexperience]

I'm really not seeing a problem here to be honest. It's not like you can just go and purchase a new SSD for the 2015 Retina MacBook Pros even though they are removable. It's a proprietary connector anyway.

The only ones that word are the OWC's which are a hell of a lot slower then the Apple SSD's.

You can buy an original one from eBay.