Apple Doubles the Price of RAM Upgrade on Entry-Level 13-Inch MacBook Pro

[malkovich87]

Windows 10 is one of the best Windows.
[automerge]1591022320[/automerge]

That's one thing we agree on. But if you love Windows so much - why are you posting in a Mac-only forum?
[automerge]1591089069[/automerge]

Well we have been using Windows for a very long time then; I suspect I am older than you. So if it is "utter crap", you must have been rather stupid to be still using after the best part of 35 years or is because you "are forced" to use it because the perfect [limited?] MacOS is not able to run all of your programs?

I've been working in IT since the late 80s. I administer a Windows environment for 7 public schools and roughly 650 users plus 5500 students. Trust me, I know how to use it. I'd just never want that abomination at home.

 

[KPOM]

I work in finance and have never heard it. Must be a FMCG reference. It also means "active server page" in some dark realms of history 😄

It’s most common when measuring the performance of companies selling mobile devices. Apple’s ASP for iPhones is much higher than most other companies’ for example.

 

[0924487]

Omg 250 Euro to go from 8 to 16 GB of ram? What are they smoking. Double that and you can already get a low budget laptop for that money.

Also is Apple aware of the upcoming world wide recession at all? If anything they should prepare for things to get cheaper for people to even consider buying overpriced electronics.

In a recession, prices go up, not down. Recession leads to inflation, not deflation.

 

[compwiz1202]

If they only just let you upgrade it yourself none of this would matter. That's the way it used to go. You would buy from Apple and upgrade the RAM yourself as it was much less expensive that way.

Apple wants to be eco-friendly. Well here's a comparison when it comes to replaceable parts. My Power Mac G4 Cube (think i got it in 2000) is still running because I was able to *very* easily replace the graphics card in it when it went bad. My white Intel iMac (I think ca. 2007 or so) is inoperable because to fix anything on that machine you pretty much have to destroy it first.

It's going to be the same years later with all these machines that have the SDD and RAM soldered onto the logic board. People will have their data trapped on the machines.

Edit: Don't expect the iCloud to be there, either. Apple is mercurial with cloud services. If you had been on a deserted island several points in the last decade and come back to civilization hoping your data was still on Apple's cloud services, you would have found it gone. Yes, they gave transition time, but it's not the same as having peace of mind that it's there for good. Have found Time Machine to be untrustworthy as well. That's why I personally rely on cloned back ups (which as in a recent article the developer of Carbon Copy Cloner pointed out is having problems with Apple's APFS file system).

Exactly! If you at least had the option to do it yourself, then it would be more justifiable to charge ridiculous pricing to buy it already upgraded. Even PC laptops have gotten worse with the soldering, and even if you can DIY, there are no freaking access panels anymore. I shouldn't have to half disassemble my laptop just to upgrade memory or drives!
[automerge]1591108367[/automerge]

I understand. TBH I’m actually a bit sad as Macs have never let me down. I remember 12 year old me being very excited when my dad brought our first ever Mac. We didn’t mind paying a little more back then as the price wasn’t ridiculously expensive but now I think to myself what’s the point?

Yea before the last price hike a few years ago, I was at least considering a MacBook once my PC laptop died. But over time they just keep getting more out of range. Can get a PC Laptop that does what I need with a bigger screen for half or less of a MacBook. Plus if I buy the right model I can get the base and upgrade myself for even cheaper.

 

[deeddawg]

People should stop assigning their own emotional worth as a person to what computer they own and seek some therapy instead of simply abusing Apple.

LOL. Don't hold your breath on that one...

The whole mac / pc who can pee higher on the wall thing's been going on for decades.

 

[Zdigital2015]

I've been working in IT since the late 80s. I administer a Windows environment for 7 public schools and roughly 650 users plus 5500 students. Trust me, I know how to use it. I'd just never want that abomination at home.

Once I managed to move out of Windows system administration, I never looked back and I never saw Windows in the same light, forgive the pun. It’s a spaghetti monster nightmare most of the time, although I’m sure the tools and some of the reliability is a bit better than it was with Windows XP and Vista. You have my sympathies.

 

[Henk Poley]

Once I managed to move out of Windows system administration, I never looked back and I never saw Windows in the same light, forgive the pun. It’s a spaghetti monster nightmare most of the time, although I’m sure the tools and some of the reliability is a bit better than it was with Windows XP and Vista. You have my sympathies.

There is still quite a large difference in reliability between Windows and Mac: https://www.jamf.com/resources/pres...roductivity-and-employee-satisfaction-at-ibm/

 

[ani4ani]

There is still quite a large difference in reliability between Windows and Mac: https://www.jamf.com/resources/pres...roductivity-and-employee-satisfaction-at-ibm/

I truly find much of that article hard to believe, at least in the magnitude of the variance. The article suggests that in 2018, IBM have 277,000 Macs looked after by 78 IT staff, by 2019, it was 290,000 Macs, but now they only needed 7 engineers to look after 200,000 Macs. Supposedly 40% of the at least 200,000 Windows PC users sought help from the 20 Windows IT support engineers, suggest each of those guys speaks to 4,000 PC users? Really? Even each Apple IT support aparently speaks to 2,100 Mac users even if only 5% call them...hmm really?

It also suggests that IBM has ~ 600,000 PC's and Macs, not bad for a global workforce of 350K.

The reality is the typcial Windows PC is running more applications, typically lots of legacy software that is always being updated and so it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The article of course is presented by the worlds largest Mac outsourced support IT organisation!

 

[oldtime]

There are quality laptops out there running Windows. I’d rather buy a quality ThinkPad over a MBP and i’d save money. I still have a ThinkPad T60 which I purchased in 2006 that is running the most current build of Windows 10 with 3GB of ram and it runs great. The only thing i’ve replaced is the battery and ThinkPad‘s still have some of the best keyboards.
I’ve been eyeing on Amazon a ThinkPad with 8GB of ram, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro and AMD 3500 CPU for $639.

It seems a good deal if the RAM and SSD are upgradeable. But even w/ all the pooping on Apple people here have been doing lately, fact is the two-year failure rate of their laptops is almost comically low compared to a company like Lenovo. Macs aren't perfect, but they are still about half as likely to **** themselves to death as a Dell, Lenovo, Surface, etc. For me, it's that + the fantastic trackpad + the OS that keeps me hanging in, if only by a thread at this point.

 

[compwiz1202]

It seems a good deal if the RAM and SSD are upgradeable. But even w/ all the pooping on Apple people here have been doing lately, fact is the two-year failure rate of their laptops is almost comically low compared to a company like Lenovo. Macs aren't perfect, but they are still about half as likely to **** themselves to death as a Dell, Lenovo, Surface, etc. For me, it's that + the fantastic trackpad + the OS that keeps me hanging in, if only by a thread at this point.

Yea my Lenovo is great except for the fact I might have to figure out how to clean/replace the fan(s) because they are getting loud.

 

[unoporfavor]

In a recession, prices go up, not down. Recession leads to inflation, not deflation.

Not always do prices increase. Sometimes they go the other way - drastically! Examples: Real Estate, commodities, equities
[automerge]1591166528[/automerge]

That's one thing we agree on. But if you love Windows so much - why are you posting in a Mac-only forum?
[automerge]1591089069[/automerge]


I've been working in IT since the late 80s. I administer a Windows environment for 7 public schools and roughly 650 users plus 5500 students. Trust me, I know how to use it. I'd just never want that abomination at home.

I also avoid Windows at home and in the greater family. iPads replaced a lot, raspberry pi for local storage, and for those that need computers - Linux. My Mum has been using Mint Linux for years 🥳

 

[high heaven]

They charge $200 for LPDDR3 just because they need to match the price for other Macs? Sigh...

 

[unoporfavor]

They charge $200 for LPDDR3 just because they need to match the price for other Macs? Sigh...

Yeh such a bulshit corporate non-response isn't? Marketing double-speak. They should be held accountable for saying nothing and wasting all our time.
"I've decided to charge more to match how much I charge elsewhere"

 

[0924487]

Not always do prices increase. Sometimes they go the other way - drastically! Examples: Real Estate, commodities, equities

Price refers to depreciable products in Economics. What you listed are not measured in price but in valuation.

 

[unoporfavor]

Price refers to depreciable products in Economics. What you listed are not measured in price but in valuation.

Think you're being overly economics major there and not genuine to what was being referred to in this discussion. Real estate capital improvements absolutely depreciate. Computer memory is a commodity and pretty sure has a price. Not sure I've heard of oil valuation per barrel but could be wrong.

 

[WordsmithMR]

If you are a smart consumer, the base models can be found easily for $200.00 less than the MSRP. Best Buy currently has them on sale, and I believe Amazon had them on sale as well a week or two ago. So in actuality Apple is now charging $400 USD for the upgraded RAM... but let's not point that out...

 

[avz]

Not always do prices increase. Sometimes they go the other way - drastically! Examples: Real Estate, commodities, equities

I think you might be right. Some might even say that the whole point of any crisis is to deflate "bubbles" and other "fake wealth". The importance of deflating is that so you can start your dance with inflating once again.

 

[Veinticinco]

"Price correction"?

And the Oscar for most blatantly transparent p*ss-taking euphemism goes to...
[automerge]1591486515[/automerge]

It's going to be the same years later with all these machines that have the SDD and RAM soldered onto the logic board. People will have their data trapped on the machines.

Not strictly true. This happened to me in 2015 when I stupidly had my head turned by the sleek space grey but thermally-challenged 12" MB, which blew a logic board during a routine backup (insult to injury) taking the SSD with it to its fiery grave. When they released the new form MBP in 2016 though, Apple quietly added in a built-in SSD rescue port on the board for just such an eventuality. Apple Store techs were given the apparatus to utilise it and provide bypass power to the hard drive for data recovery.

 

[adrianlondon]

Not strictly true. This happened to me in 2015 when I stupidly had my head turned by the sleek space grey but thermally-challenged 12" MB, which blew a logic board during a routine backup (insult to injury) taking the SSD with it to its fiery grave. When they released the new form MBP in 2016 though, Apple quietly added in a built-in SSD rescue port on the board for just such an eventuality. Apple Store techs were given the apparatus to utilise it and provide bypass power to the hard drive for data recovery.

Apple then quietly removed this in 2018 (due to the T2 security chip rendering it useless).

Apple Seemingly Unable to Recover Data From 2018 MacBook Pro With Touch Bar When Logic Board Fails

In 2016, when Apple introduced the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, the repair experts at iFixit discovered the notebooks have non-removable...

www.macrumors.com

 

[G4DPII]

If you don’t want or need MacOS, you can usually save money buying a PC. It’s been that way for decades.

No it hasn't, up until recently to get the same level of performance the cost was pretty close. It's only in the past 3 or 4 years where a PC build has been a serious alternative.

Maybe stop sniffing the Apple Glue for a while and learn about the company you blindly defend all the time.

 

[Veinticinco]

Apple then quietly removed this in 2018 (due to the T2 security chip rendering it useless).

Apple Seemingly Unable to Recover Data From 2018 MacBook Pro With Touch Bar When Logic Board Fails

In 2016, when Apple introduced the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, the repair experts at iFixit discovered the notebooks have non-removable...

www.macrumors.com

I completely missed that. Thanks.

Given the type of data I lost (medical) I approached one of the big data recovery boys (Kroll) but they weren’t able to help either. In the end, I claimed on insurance and stripped out/kept the logic board with SSD in case of any future development.

 

[unoporfavor]

I completely missed that. Thanks.

Given the type of data I lost (medical) I approached one of the big data recovery boys (Kroll) but they weren’t able to help either. In the end, I claimed on insurance and stripped out/kept the logic board with SSD in case of any future development.

You had unbacked up medical data on a portable consumer device? I hope it was encrypted!

 

[Veinticinco]

You had unbacked up medical data on a portable consumer device? I hope it was encrypted!

Not my medical data, patients, but deidentified and yes encrypted.

 

[unoporfavor]

Not my medical data, patients, but deidentified and yes encrypted.

I hope you are backing it up now!

 

[Veinticinco]

I hope you are backing it up now!

Naturally. I always have though religiously just that crappy MB self-immolated during one such backup after a large import of data which was lost.