Hello fellow general consumers...

[Krazy Bill]

Now that Apple has clearly laid the groundwork for a complete, non-upgradeable laptop lineup, how do you feel about being told you don't need to get inside your MacBook anymore?

When 3rd party SSD prices hit rock bottom and you salivate over those $399 1TB drives, will you pry your machine open (setting off alarms in Cupertino) and install one anyway while voiding your AppleCare? Oh wait... 3rd party SSD's won't fit.

Ok, I'm ranting. But this decree by Apple really hits home for me. In the past I thoroughly enjoyed the flexibility to upgrade my RAM from 4gb to 8 and finally 16 when I could afford it and when a good deal was found. Same goes for the stock 128GB HD drive I upgraded to 512, then 1TB and finally to a sweetly priced 512GB Crucial M4.

Seriously. What is this crap? I could understand this concept in the Air line because those are general consumer machines and one could skip them altogether and just trade up to the pro line. I can also understand what they did to the new Retina 15"... pricing aside, it specs out pretty well... but to seal the damned thing off? In a "pro" machine? Forever?

It's clear Apple wants to move away from internal expansion for everything they sell so when our drives fill up we can all merrily start paying for iCloud accounts but did they have to make that motive so obvious? It kind of pisses me off.

Two days ago I pictured being a Mac user the rest of my life because of the amazing engineering and build quality. Not so sure anymore. Never dreamed they would keep me from looking under the hood.

End rant. Remember, I'm Krazy. Carry on!

 

[mleary]

I'm sure the reason they went this way was to get the case as small as possible. The case would have been bigger with dimm slots and a standard 2.5" ssd. The market will decide if they continue down this path. If consumers reject the rmbp (seems unlikely at this point) they will probably bring back user replaceable parts in the next release.

 

[CausticPuppy]

Seems like that's the trend for a lot of things these days, including cars. It's not just Apple either, the newest Asus Zenbooks also have soldered RAM and proprietary SSD's and you can be others will follow in Apple's footsteps to release super-thin portable workstations.


BTW, you should be able to at least upgrade the SSD at some point; OWC makes an SSD for the Macbook Air and surely they'll have one that fits the new RMBP. They're kinda pricy though.

 

[Stetrain]

It isn't a dictation or a decree. It's a choice. You don't even have to go outside the world of Apple products to choose a product with more expandability and serviceability.

Everything's a compromise.

 

[Krazy Bill]

You all make reasonable points and seem to have thicker skin than me. And by the delayed shipping times for the new Retina15 it seems you're right and this doesn't bother anyone. But how the hell anyone can live with 256GB storage for the life of their mac is beyond me. (Assuming most aren't taking the BTO extortion options). And god help those who need more RAM 2 years from now.

 

[therealseebs]

I'm sure the reason they went this way was to get the case as small as possible.

That was probably part of it.

I just wish they'd have the honesty to just call it the "MacBook Retina", and not call it a "pro" model when it's obviously not.

 

[Krazy Bill]

I just wish they'd have the honesty to just call it the "MacBook Retina", and not call it a "pro" model when it's obviously not.

You have to admit though... during WWDC using FCP and Aperture to demo it was carefully crafted. They intentionally avoided all the consumer "i" apps.