Is there massive fluctuation in RAM Prices, Looking to buy

[Chris3125]

The general concensus seems to be to get your ram from crucial and not apple as they charge extra, I done a bit or searching and couldnt really find any price for 4gm ram upgrade for a 13" MBP cheaper than apple.

when searching i came across this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/719236/
and noted someone payed £45 for 4gb, now the link shows £93 :S

with HE Discount its only an extra £70 for 4GB direct from apple

Just looking for advice on what do do really

 

[RedTomato]

Thread from last year about RAM in the UK

RAM is expensive at the moment. Several major RAM factories closed down in the recession, others converted to Flash, which is where the demand and money is at the moment.

There was a large expansion in capacity a few years ago to prepare for Vista, which was expected to lead to a surge in RAM demand, which in the end didn't happen. That bit the factories in the ass. Now we're seeing the knock-on effects of that.

Look at www.crucial.com/uk - that shows £76 for about the same RAM, in DDR2. Go through their memory advisor tool, and it'll give you the best RAM for your system. Different models of MBP need different types of RAM.

At the end of the day, if you can get it cheaper from Apple, then stick with Apple.

 

[JonLa]

Thread from last year about RAM in the UK

RAM is expensive at the moment. Several major RAM factories closed down in the recession, others converted to Flash, which is where the demand and money is at the moment.

Crucial bumped their prices up by nearly double between the summer and the launch of Windows 7, as I was tracking some DDR2 for a laptop. When queried, they said that memory prices are a market, rather than a fixed cost-price, so the prices reflect demand - and new OS obviously boosted demand. They charge the maximum the market will bear.

Can't really argue with the logic - that's capitalism, after all, but I chose not to buy memory from them...

 

[alent1234]

Crucial bumped their prices up by nearly double between the summer and the launch of Windows 7, as I was tracking some DDR2 for a laptop. When queried, they said that memory prices are a market, rather than a fixed cost-price, so the prices reflect demand - and new OS obviously boosted demand. They charge the maximum the market will bear.

Can't really argue with the logic - that's capitalism, after all, but I chose not to buy memory from them...

DDR2 is going to go up in price this year and DDR3 will drop. Reason is that DDR2 production is going away in favor of more DDR3.

once in a while i have to price RAM for older HP servers and it's always expensive. Right now I can buy 32GB of DDR2 for around $1300. 4GB of older RAM will run over $2000

 

[Le Big Mac]

with HE Discount its only an extra £70 for 4GB direct from apple

Just looking for advice on what do do really

Although I agree with the general proposition, Apple's memory prices have become a lot more reasonable and close to "market". You pay a bit of a premium (especially considering that you don't get the memory that's swapped out--i.e., the 2GB if you get 4GB if you bought 3d party), but it does save you installation time (which isn't a lot, but hey), and it's covered by the warranty.