Apple SSD and RAM prices are Ridiculous

[Macbooks Rock]

I was checking the 2019 Apple Macbook pro prices, since I wanted to "upgrade" to the New Macbook Pro 13" that starts for around $1300 which i thought was a reasonable price for a quad core laptop in 2019, Until I discovered that it comes with 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM, what kinda company sells a laptop with 120GB SSD in 2019, then i started to look at the price of SSD and Ram Upgrades, I was shocked to discover that a 1TB SSD and an extra 8GB of ram upgrade costs $800 , You can literally get 1TB NVME SSD (2000MB/s read and write) for 89$ and Apple is charging $600 for it? and you can literally get a similar 8GB RAM stick for 35$, so an upgrade that would cost you $124 Apple is charging you $800, I heard a lot about the Apple Tax, but a 6.5X Tax is just too much, I really hope Apple get their act together with the new 2020 Macbooks, they can't just expect us to buy 2020 Laptops with 2010 prices.

 

[docprego]

Except that they do and people will.

 

[Howard2k]

I would comment to Apple directly. You can do so here:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/

 

[sracer]

I was checking the 2019 Apple Macbook pro prices, since I wanted to "upgrade" to the New Macbook Pro 13" that starts for around $1300 which i thought was a reasonable price for a quad core laptop in 2019, Until I discovered that it comes with 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM, what kinda company sells a laptop with 120GB SSD in 2019, then i started to look at the price of SSD and Ram Upgrades, I was shocked to discover that a 1TB SSD and an extra 8GB of ram upgrade costs $800 , You can literally get 1TB NVME SSD (2000MB/s read and write) for 89$ and Apple is charging $600 for it? and you can literally get a similar 8GB RAM stick for 35$, so an upgrade that would cost you $124 Apple is charging you $800, I heard a lot about the Apple Tax, but a 6.5X Tax is just too much, I really hope Apple get their act together with the new 2020 Macbooks, they can't just expect us to buy 2020 Laptops with 2010 prices.

Apple's act is is very much together. Their extensive market research has shown them exactly how to configure and price their Macbooks to maximize the number of people who will not be satisfied with the base model. Every industry does it (especially automotive)... advertise some entry-level model with a low price to get people's attention, and then when they walk through configuring the device they want to buy, the sticker shock kicks in... but often by then, the customer has an emotional investment in the product, so they roll over and buy it.

You've just discovered that the Apple Tax is a real thing, not just hyperbole.

 

[curmudgeonette]

You can literally get 1TB NVME SSD (2000MB/s read and write) for 89$ and Apple is charging $600 for it?

When Apple introduces new models, I go through an exercise of assigning a CPU/RAM/SSD prices to even the base configuration. I add a price for each base feature and reduce the system price accordingly. This makes it easy to compare a MBAir to an MBP15.

With Apple's recent SSD price cuts, they are charging $200 per each 512GB of SSD across all laptops. 256GB of SSD is thrown in for free, and 128GB nets you a $200 discount.

AFAIK, Apple uses MLC flash in their SSDs. These store two bits per cell. That means cells store four "voltages". The Crucial P1 you linked is a QLC flash which stores four bits per cell. That means 16 "voltages". Thus QLC has double the data density, but MLC has better reliability and life. So - at least double the $89 to $178 when comparing to Apple's $400 for 1TB. Now Apple's pricing doesn't look so bad.

 

[xb2003]

I was checking the 2019 Apple Macbook pro prices, since I wanted to "upgrade" to the New Macbook Pro 13" that starts for around $1300 which i thought was a reasonable price for a quad core laptop in 2019, Until I discovered that it comes with 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM, what kinda company sells a laptop with 120GB SSD in 2019, then i started to look at the price of SSD and Ram Upgrades, I was shocked to discover that a 1TB SSD and an extra 8GB of ram upgrade costs $800 , You can literally get 1TB NVME SSD (2000MB/s read and write) for 89$ and Apple is charging $600 for it? and you can literally get a similar 8GB RAM stick for 35$, so an upgrade that would cost you $124 Apple is charging you $800, I heard a lot about the Apple Tax, but a 6.5X Tax is just too much, I really hope Apple get their act together with the new 2020 Macbooks, they can't just expect us to buy 2020 Laptops with 2010 prices.

So you made an account, named it "Macbooks Rock", and complained about Apple's pricing? Not to say I entirely disagree, 256GB really should be the smallest SSD in most of our opinions.

Based on your post I'm thinking you must not think *MacBooks* rock too much.

 

[FFR]

Apples prices reflect the performance and quality of thier components.

 

[x-evil-x]

Apple just lowered their ssd prices too. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.macrumors.com/2019/03/19/macbook-pro-ssd-upgrade-options/amp/
I agree these machines should start at 500gigs. Also soles ssd’s are the fastest on the market. That one you found for 100$ probably isn’t up the level you get with apples. Ram I’m not too sure about.

 

[Macbooks Rock]

So you made an account, named it "Macbooks Rock", and complained about Apple's pricing? Not to say I entirely disagree, 256GB really should be the smallest SSD in most of our opinions.

Based on your post I'm thinking you must not think *MacBooks* rock too much.

Macbooks Rock, Their prices, not so much.

 

[maflynn]

I really hope Apple get their act together with the new 2020 Macbooks, they can't just expect us to buy 2020 Laptops with 2010 prices.

LOL,
Apple has its act together and they're prefectly happy charging a premium for ram/storage upgrades.

One thing you may not be aware, but Apple has always charged an exorbitant fee when upping the ram or storage, I mean from nearly day one. I remember people complaining about this very topic on power macs (PPC) Back then though you could put your own ram/drives into the computer.

Apple will charge what the market will bear, people have been willing to pay the apple tax, so there's absolutely no incentive for apple to lower the price.

 

[Macbooks Rock]

LOL,
Apple has its act together and they're prefectly happy charging a premium for ram/storage upgrades.

One thing you may not be aware, but Apple has always charged an exorbitant fee when upping the ram or storage, I mean from nearly day one. I remember people complaining about this very topic on power macs (PPC) Back then though you could put your own ram/drives into the computer.

Apple will charge what the market will bear, people have been willing to pay the apple tax, so there's absolutely no incentive for apple to lower the price.

Lol yeah, I know Apple has been charging premium for a long time, It's just those prices were justifiable, but now that SSD and Ram prices dropped hard it just looks weird.

 

[maflynn]

It's just those prices were justifiable,

They never were though that's the thing.

I remember buying a power mac back in the day, I got the minimum amount of ram, and then upgraded that myself.

but now that SSD and Ram prices dropped hard it just looks weird.

No argument, and its a money grab pure and simple, BUT if people are willing to do that, why should apple lower the price? Why should they lower their profit margins when they already have people willing to buy it. That's money out of their pockets if they do

 

[Smeaton1724]

Hate comparisons like this, the upgrade cost isn’t anywhere near like for like. Comparing one type of storage that’s a product in its own right, versus one that is soldered/physically part of a wider system and all the integration and support that entails of managing the wider system. Also they are different in the way they store data.

Whether Apple should have gone down the route of soldered parts rather than standard sockets/connectors etc can be debated - ultimately it means they have to have the capacity to build and support these machines, rather than hobbyists adding RAM and storage themselves and that adds cost to everyone. In the iOS ecosystem you don’t even get RAM options.