Next MacBook Air to Adopt Faster, More Power Efficient SSD?

[Sackvillenb]

This type of upgrade would be very nice, in general. Better battery life on the air would be great (not that the battery life is bad, but more is always better). More than that, a faster SSD would be better, as I've been reading that the mac SSD's are not really that fast compared to other SSD's (but that's just what I've heard... I haven't bothered looking up the numbers yet, but I've read that claim many times). Of course, the current SSD is way faster than a disk drive, but still, faster is always better! Especially when you're charged the Apple tax! My only concern is having the drive memory soldered into the computer... it makes repairs very very expensive.... and the air is already very expensive to fix if you have a SSD problem. But I suppose that's what applecare is for...

 

[Ubele]

I don't know anyone that's upgraded anything on their MBs (Pro, Air or otherwise) after their initial purchase.

I bought a 15" MBP in March 2008 and soon thereafter upgraded the RAM from 2 GB to 4 GB. A year or so later, when 7,200 RPM 320 GB hard drives dropped in price to just over $100, I replaced the stock 200 GB drive with a 320. While I'd love to be able to justify the purchase of a new computer, the truth is that my 2008 MBP still does everything I need it to, and it isn't feeling slow to me with the programs I use, unlike every other three-year-old computer I ever owned previously. If 256 GB SSDs drop to $250 or so in another year, I'll probably replace my HDD, because I've read that would give my MBP a substantial speed boost -- enough to tide me over for another year or two. Similarly, I upgraded the RAM and HDD in my wife's MacBook, and both of her sons did the same in their MacBooks. I suspect that plenty of people make those two upgrades.

That said, lack of ability to upgrade the SSD in a MBA wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me -- which is probably the computer I'd get if I do find a way to justify a new computer, because I love the portability. I've never gone above 220 GB of "gotta have them with me" files on my MBP or the G4 Mac Pro I owned before, so 256 GB should be the sweet spot for me for the foreseeable future. By "gotta have them with me" files, I include all my software, music, photos, text documents -- everything except my ripped DVDs, which I keep on an external HDD. I expect it's going to be a few years before 1 or 2 TB SSDs become cheap.

 

[bocomoj]

They take machine 1 back to factory fix it and resell it to recover some of the cost of giving you machine 2 for free. How is this nearly all profit?.

You're right; that's true. A follow-up question to all: Do you think a refurb sale amount covers Apple's wholesale cost plus cost of service? I'm not sure what Apple's margin on hardware is, but with $75 billion in the bank, I expect it's healthy.

 

[AidenShaw]

You're right; that's true. A follow-up question to all: Do you think a refurb sale amount covers Apple's wholesale cost plus cost of service? I'm not sure what Apple's margin on hardware is, but with $75 billion in the bank, I expect it's healthy.

I suspect that Apple's financial's include a provision for a certain percentage of warranty replacements - so that's already accounted for in the margins.

I also doubt that the failed units are shipped back to China for repair. I assume that there are repair centers around the world stocked with replacement parts, so that the "refurb" units are more or less local.

I also wouldn't be surprised if a fair number of the failed units are deemed "not repairable" and are sent to the toxic waste dump instead.

 

[KingCrimson]

About the SSD being soldered directly to the motherboard - who cares? Just choose the right capacity of SSD & memory the time you order and you'll be fine. Upgrades are past-thinking in PC-land. You know PCs that run Windoze, blue-screen, malware, viruses and general hassle and heartache.

 

[FluJunkie]

Yeah, my concern is less expansion (which puts it in the realm of irksome) but the addition of yet another point of failure that's directly on the motherboard, rather than removable/swapable.

 

[peskaa]

I also wouldn't be surprised if a fair number of the failed units are deemed "not repairable" and are sent to the toxic waste dump instead.

They'll recycle. Aluminium can be easily re-used, and working components taken out. I highly doubt Apple will just stick stuff in the bin, total waste of money.

 

[kingtj]

re: upgrades

Not always true.... Some people are on a tight budget and buy a minimum configuration with plans on upgrading it later, as finances allow.

Others simply don't KNOW what the "right capacity" is for them. They don't want to pay for more than they wind up using, but may get stuck having to do that, to avoid potentially being put in the opposite situation -- if future upgrades aren't even an option.

I'm not completely against the Air being non-expandable, given its especially thin design (and honestly, a relatively reasonable price-tag too). But I hope this doesn't become a trend that extends to the rest of the Apple product line!

About the SSD being soldered directly to the motherboard - who cares? Just choose the right capacity of SSD & memory the time you order and you'll be fine. Upgrades are past-thinking in PC-land. You know PCs that run Windoze, blue-screen, malware, viruses and general hassle and heartache.

 

[guan]

You're right; that's true. A follow-up question to all: Do you think a refurb sale amount covers Apple's wholesale cost plus cost of service? I'm not sure what Apple's margin on hardware is, but with $75 billion in the bank, I expect it's healthy.

My guess is a healthy chunk of the refurbished Mac population consists of lightly used returned units. The losses on these probably outweigh any profit they make on the refurbished units that were originally replaced under warranty and then repaired.

(All of this is speculation, maybe returned Macs are actually sold as new?)

 

[AidenShaw]

They'll recycle. Aluminium can be easily re-used, and working components taken out. I highly doubt Apple will just stick stuff in the bin, total waste of money.

Of course the people running the toxic waste dumps will attempt to recoup any materials that they can.

 

[revelated]

About the SSD being soldered directly to the motherboard - who cares? Just choose the right capacity of SSD & memory the time you order and you'll be fine. Upgrades are past-thinking in PC-land. You know PCs that run Windoze, blue-screen, malware, viruses and general hassle and heartache.

Wow. Talk about overcompensating. Let me hit you with some realities.

• AppleCare maxes out at 3 years. What if your SSD fails after the 3rd year? You're forced to buy a whole new machine JUST because the drive is shot AND it's likely you have lost that data if you haven't backed up (think Grandma).
• What if you don't get AppleCare and the drive fails the second year? You're forced to buy a whole new machine.
• What if you're like me, unwilling to pay Apple's outrageous prices for components when third party offerings are just as good if not often superior?

The ability to fix and upgrade is and always has been paramount. Taking that way is asking for problems. AppleCare will only get you so far and SSD technology still hasn't been pushed for the long run. For all we know these soldered SSDs might only last the 3 years and then conk out. People shouldn't have to buy a whole new machine just to replace a failed drive.

 

[cmaier]

Wow. Talk about overcompensating. Let me hit you with some realities.

• AppleCare maxes out at 3 years. What if your SSD fails after the 3rd year? You're forced to buy a whole new machine JUST because the drive is shot AND it's likely you have lost that data if you haven't backed up (think Grandma).
• What if you don't get AppleCare and the drive fails the second year? You're forced to buy a whole new machine.
• What if you're like me, unwilling to pay Apple's outrageous prices for components when third party offerings are just as good if not often superior?

The ability to fix and upgrade is and always has been paramount. Taking that way is asking for problems. AppleCare will only get you so far and SSD technology still hasn't been pushed for the long run. For all we know these soldered SSDs might only last the 3 years and then conk out. People shouldn't have to buy a whole new machine just to replace a failed drive.

By that logic nothing on the motherboard should be soldered.