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Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

mansplains said:
Apple Intelligence isn’t even necessary for this, simple conditional logic can prevent impossible combos. If M5 selected, hide 96GB RAM, etc. Or let 96GB be chosen, then display a modal with CPU change information, let it be changed without going back a step.
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This is exactly what they've done. If you go through the buying process, they aren't sending you back a step. They make it clear that picking a different option triggers a chip change and price difference, then show a modal with a 'before and after' to review before moving forward to the next option.

This just looks like design pattern consistency to me with the other products (eg. iPhone, iPad, Watch as others have mentioned), the previous Mac online store pages were an OLD design. I'm pretty sure they've been structurally the same since the online store launched!
 
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Dwalls90 said:
But surely they are still stocking pre-config models for in-store and other retailers, right?
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I have never bought a pre-configured model. So I always end up ordering directly from Apple.

Hopefully this will encourage other retailers to stock a wider range of devices.
 
This new design is slower and harder to compare overall specs but maybe that’s apples idea. Prefer it how it was to be honest but I’m probably in the minority.
 
Billy_Bob said:
This first attempt was done sloppily. After you've selected your CPU, it still offers you RAM options that are incompatible with the CPU you've selected, then asks you to go back and change your earlier choice if you don't want to change your selected RAM. Shouldn't this process be able to use enough Apple Intelligence to avoid offering an impossible choice?
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This is exactly how it should work. if I want more RAM and don’t know exactly what processors support which RAM amounts, then I would think that it just isn’t an option, because I selected the wrong one.

This way if I wanted 48GB of RAM and selected the base chip, I get the option to change the chip, vs thinking the option doesn’t exist.
 
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Wonder if it makes Macs cost more like this? Rather then deselecting the pre built options and adding to them?
 
BigKahunaBurguer said:
I think this is better.
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Yeah, I'm basing this on a pretty wobbly foundation since I haven't spec'ed out the machine I'd buy in quite a while, but when I tried this new system it was actually less expensive than the last time I looked into a new MBP estimate. The strange thing is that the process doesn't seem that different to what I remember, so I'm not sure where the savings would have come from... But it also tells me that the higher price on my previous attempt was probably because I'd been forced into a spec that didn't matter to me—and a fairly pricey spec at that. So, I think this is a good change. I suppose if their assembly automation has come far enough they may be able to save money by only using higher cost/lower margin components for those who actually want them. So maybe—and I realize I'm being very optimistic here—this is actually win-win. Wouldn't that be miraculous! Haha...
 
Bad flow. iMac's 32 RAM option doesn't become available/shown until after you select a larger SSD size below it. Makes it look like 32 GB RAM can't be configured at all.
 
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This is super bad! It means retailers won't have standard, but higher end configurations that are then heavily discounted at the end of each product cycle.
 
Nick_P said:
This is super bad! It means retailers won't have standard, but higher end configurations that are then heavily discounted at the end of each product cycle.
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That's a good point. How will retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H Photo handle this?

Will 3rd-party retailers need this type of configurator on their websites now?

Or is this just for Apple.com... while every other retailer still gets pre-built models?

🤔
 
Plutonius said:
I guess Apple figures people will spend more money this way.
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Spot on. There used to be slight discounts associated with buying the pre-config "bundle". And you can be sure there was no guesswork on Apple's part making this determination. They have developed a science around splitting hairs and nickel-and-diming their customers. This is a Tim Cook approach. Driving efficiency is not a bad thing unless it is in the pursuit of greed.
 
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mpuk said:
There used to be slight discounts associated with buying the pre-config "bundle"
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Huh? There were "discounts" on Apple.com?

I remember choosing a $999 Macbook Air and adding a $200 RAM upgrade and $200 SSD upgrade.

And it was the same $1,399 as the middle pre-configured model.

Yes... you could always find discounted models on 3rd-party sites like Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H... but I don't recall any "discounts" from Apple themselves.

🤔
 
It's not intuitive at all. If you change processors then some of the later options you may have changed are undone without telling you. While not new, the step up from 4TB to 8TB required an upgrade to the M4 Max chip. This can add on more cost than the price difference between 4TB and 8TB (which is already huge).
 
So much comments for a minor thing imho.
It reminds me the way we configurated a Dell laptop back in the days Pretty straightforward actually
 
I hardly noticed this was new when I checked the store the other day. That probably means it's a good change.

I was, however, taken aback when I couldn't select another RAM configuration for Apple Studio unless I went back and chose a different CPU. There wasn't a clear indication that I had to, so I had to make an educated guess.
 
Baseiseough said:
Tried to configure a Mac Studio.

Can’t select the size first like shown above for the MBP.

This is trash. Old way was better.

/s
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Indeed, if you want the basic processor and a RAM upgrade, you used to be able to see your options straight away, but now you have to try out each of the RAM options available for that processor one by one, and also keep rejecting the “Processor upgrade” that keeps popping up. So, before you could configure a computer in a couple of minutes, and now you need 10 or 15 minutes, getting annoyed.
In short, the website's accessibility and usability are terrible. We're going backwards, with an excess of marketing hype at the expense of an acceptable user experience.
 
How will this change affect 3rd party vendors?

Will Apple still make preconfigured models available for them or will a base display size unit be the only option outside Apple’s stores.

Myself I don’t mind the change, like to be able to customize, but I like choices as well for the ones who dislike the custom routes. Also know of companies who rely on 3rd party offering, as these often have better prices due to competitors and in markets where Apple Store isn’t available (apple store or apple online store).

Hope Apple sticks to preconfigured models for 3rd party. But rising ram, ssd costs, this could seem like a way to save those costs and build less “prebaked” options
 
Please please PLEASE just revert to using standard drives as it was in the past for all Macs.

I can understand and I appreciate the need for soldered / embedded RAM but there's no good reason for embedded SSD. Absolutely no good reason. Prove me wrong.
 
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Expect minimal RAM with added cost for sufficient RAM. I'm guessing this is how Apple will hold device prices down without being affected by the rising cost of RAM.
 
Yeah but having RAM as a constraint means one can code more efficiently.

Parkinson's Law: "Data expands to fill the space available for storage."

If you put more RAM into a computer, people will find some dumb way to use it all, and then you're "out of RAM" and you "need a computer with adequate RAM."

I just keep thinking back to the Apple II era, when 64 kilobytes of RAM was common, and all the dang near amazing stuff people would do with 64K.

And now base Macs have eight gigabytes of RAM and somehow this is some terrific crippling burden ... it just kinda blows my mind.
 
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