Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New Macbook Pro upgrades
- Thread starter cook.675
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Not really, as it is noted in the online store:
A scam would be not telling the customers. If the customer is not bright enough to read, then that is not Apple's fault.
I expect one of the reasons is to help make it as thin as possible, no need for the extra room that dimm sockets take up.
Barney
Barney
Not sure I'd call it a scam...it's somewhat poor form maybe, but then again with an ultra thin design and everyone wanting things lighter and sleeker and smaller, sacrifices have to be made somewhere. Mounting hardware adds both weight and size to a device from a hardware perspective. Soldering it directly to the board could mean it takes up almost zero extra space. I would imagine most if not all of the ultra portable notebooks have or will go this route, not just apple.
Last edited:
Definitely not a scam. Apple tells us about the rMBP configurations. It is up to us as consumers to have "stuff" together enough to know which CPU, GPU, and memory config we need BEFORE we order.
If you don't like Apple's approach, vote with your dollars.
If you don't like Apple's approach, vote with your dollars.
You might want to refer to a dictionary. As indicated above, this is disclosed by Apple prior to purchase so it's not a scam.
Not a scam, but very customer unfriendly to make $3k disposable machines. I'm not a fan of this direction at all, and I'm holding on to my 15" mid-2012 cMBP as long as I can.
With 16Gigs of RAM and a 500Gig SSD, I think I'll be good for a long time. Mwahahahaha. Screw Ive and his thin at the customers expense. Expect the thinnest, least upgradeable Mac mini in it's next release - STUPID!!!
Buying computers is more like buying cars now, you can't buy a car then later upgrade the fuel tank, or add seats (technically you can but no one generally does).
You want those extra features you buy a suitable model at the beginning. If you need to change after a while, you sell what you have and get a more suitable model. New or used.
This is why Apples model is working.
I have always bought max specs even when I was on Windows PCs for 20 years, just made sense, an extra $1000 now would last an extra 3 years in my experience. Much better value.
You want those extra features you buy a suitable model at the beginning. If you need to change after a while, you sell what you have and get a more suitable model. New or used.
This is why Apples model is working.
I have always bought max specs even when I was on Windows PCs for 20 years, just made sense, an extra $1000 now would last an extra 3 years in my experience. Much better value.
So much wrong with that last paragraph, IMHO. You maxed out the specs of every PC for the last 20 years? So instead of waiting a year or two for prices to come down on the components, you spent the max amount right away? Well then I can understand why you think the apple model is perfect. For those of us who upgraded later, when RAM became a bottle neck, and storage prices dropped dramatically since we bought our PC/Mac, we got a MUCH better bang for our buck.
I'm happy this model works for you, but it doesn't work for all. We used to have a choice, now we don't. I prefer the choice, and will vote with my $$$ to NOT reward apple for their foolish, anti-consumer approach.
Well it certainly makes them money
No need to
about apple making money. Tey are great at getting people to pay more for something than it's worth. It was one thing when it was an apple tax and consumers had the ability to service their own machines. At that point, you could still get a Mac, but you could purchase a base model it to make it more palatable with later upgrades. Now, apple has gone to the extreme. It's not just an apple tax, now it's an apple arm and a leg. Sorry, I'm willing to pay more, just not to buy a disposable computer for $3K.Then switch to Dell, HP, Lenovo or any other Windows system and quit complaining.
rMBPs are ultrabooks (ultra thin & light PCs). Most Windows ultrabooks do not include user upgradeable parts either. I think this will be the norm for future laptops in general and is not exclusive to Apple.
The Dell 7000 series is 2cm thin and has a user upgradable mSSD as well as 2 DIMM slots for RAM. It's an anti-consumer decision by Apple, not because it's "too thin".
No need to
A comparable rMBP to what you have, and are happy with, will not be 3k. You keep saying 3k, but then talk down to the next guy for buying maxed out machines. Only a fully maxed 15" would command 3k. Are you just here to argue or actually stress a valid point?
Not switching, just upgrading my cMBP until it dies. Seeing people happy about being taken for a ride just drives me a little batty.
----------
You are right, a 15" with 16gigs of RAM, 500gig SSD, and dGPU, only costs $2.6K. My bad. I "talk down" because of the willingness to be happy about being taken for a ride. In reality, I'm expressing my great displeasure with the midge to glued in everything.
Cheering for Ive's folly is something I generally don't like seeing. So forgive me for commenting.
So keep upgrading your computer which costs money. Even the best consumer SSD is 200mb/s slower than the flash in the rMBP and will cost you $400 itself (Samsung 840 Pro). The RAM in the rMBP is decently priced from Apple as well. So, in the end, you will have a heavier and slower computer for not much less than the most current model. Oh yeah, still no retina display. Oh yeah, I forgot, thicker still. Oh wait, worse battery life too.
Truthfully, this iteration of the MacBook Pro Retina is a major improvement in many major categories.
Truthfully, this iteration of the MacBook Pro Retina is a major improvement in many major categories.
While it does suck for folks that like to have the liberty to upgrade parts themselves (I'm in this category), it is totally worth it. I had a 2011 cMBP (2.5Ghz 16gb 256GB SSD+750GB HDD) and my mid 2012 (2.7Ghz 16gb 756GB SSD) blows it out of the water and it's even lighter in weight.
But if you buy cheap out of date components (which means you get a second rate computing experience) and then spend additional money down the track for something that prop is wasted on the cheap out of date computer anyway, means you spending a lot more money for a lot less and suffering he experience for longer.
It is much better to buy state of the art every 5-10years then, half assed **** every 1-2 years.
Get the best there is straight away and enjoy!! It will feel awesome for many many years to come.
For example, I bought the first Nehalem Core i7 920 running at 2.7GHz and it must be close to 5 years old. It has 12GB of RAM and GTX240 3D card 240GB SSD. It cost over $3k and hasn't missed a beat. It hasn't been powered off in 5 years, and works hard 10 hours a day. That is a lot of work! My last PC was a P4 and it lasted 5 years before the MB fried.
If I bought a Core i3 and 4GB ram and 512GB HDD I would have upgraded twice in that time to keep if feeling relevant at a cost of $1500 each time, just doesn't make sense.
That's your right but most buyers of laptops didn't upgrade, so locking it down further was a natural progression. I understand the idea of being able to upgrade the ram, storage and what not, and I'm not against it. but I've rarely upgraded my laptop and I'm someone who has built computers in the past.
To each his own and spending your money where you choose is your right - good luck.
everyone of my family members, for whome I am tech support, has had their RAM upgraded, and a couple have had their HD upgraded as well. I'm talking 3 MBPs, 2 iMacs, and 2 minis. For family members who tend to keep machines longer, being able to upgrade components is HUGE. I now can no longer advise them to purchase macs. They will have to pay A LOT more upfront now and I can no longer help them out when the components are the log pole in the tent.
You, and the pro non-serviceable macs are more than happy to let my family pound sand. Because that is basically what is happening. My mom is up for a new computer soon - here is the C2D with a GPU that apple refuses to support past 10.6.3(search for it on iMac forum ). I am presently sitting here backing up her files, so I can downgrade her machine back to 10.6.3 because she accidentally upgraded to 10.6.8, and now has the spinning beach ball every 5 minutes that lasts for a solid 5 minutes. Anyway, I will tell her to go back to windows, because she will laugh when I tell her that she will now have to spend at least twice what she did before , to get a machine that will last as long as this one has - because I can't upgrade the machine like I used to.
My only hope is for a new mini that is still upgradeable. If Ive F's this up, like he has the iMac, then I'm 1000% telling my family to get out.
I am not agreeing with the other guy, but buying entry level vs buying a maxed out computer all works out to be the same except you get a new computer every year or two NOT buying maxed out.
Just because you don't buy maxed out doesn't mean you are getting outdated tech. It's all newer tech with the current offerings. Not to mention, most people won't notice a difference between maxed out or entry level.
Have you ever heard of the time value of money? The money you save should be invested which means it will be worth more in the future. Therefore, not buying a maxed out model is actually smarter.
To each their own.