Apple are making an attempt to turn generic computers into disposable appliances with moves like these. I would never accept a compromise like that with a computer that I owned.
My rationale is as follows: If I pay £1800 for one of those machines, I expect to be able to repair common problems easily. That's a lot of money sitting in one component waiting to fail and considering the warranty is a year (or 3 if you are extorted for even more cash by Apple for their expensive AppleCare service).
First it was the batteries - now no longer replaceable by mere mortals, then the SSDs were brought in with proprietary interfaces, now the RAM is soldered on the board.
In the average 5 year life span of a computer, I have found that you will need to replace the battery between 1-2 times, the memory will need to be upgraded at least once and the disk will need to be upgraded. These are observations but rational ones.
I'm now sitting on a Lenovo T61 which is 5 years old. EVERY component in this machine can be replaced for literally nothing and very rapidly.
Sorry but stuff like this is just pandering to consumerism if it is disposable by design.
The design is retarded.
EDIT: It appears the battery is GLUED in so that's not replaceable any more either, even with the aid of a screwdriver.
If you want replaceable components, go buy a computer for which that is a feature - and know that you will get a machine which is larger, heavier, and more expensive (all other factors being equal). Swapable components require additional casing, connectors, testing, sales channels, etc. You're not going to get a 3/4" 5-lb 7-hour 256GB-SSD 8GB-RAM MBA Retina for $2200 and be able to swap out darn near everything; something's gonna give.
Some of us DON'T want to replace components, having learned over the years that by the time we're replacing components we'd rather replace the whole computer outright. If I need more RAM, it's best matched with a new CPU. If I need more storage, I'll need more RAM to throw around more data. When the battery dies, all those other components are gettin' obsolete anyway. I also know from experience that upgrading parts doesn't always go as planned, and time wasted upgrading can very quickly add up to the cost of a new machine outright. I'd rather have a notebook which is very thin, very light, very fast - and just replace the whole package when the time comes as I see fit.
You're welcome to a different POV, and there is a market happy to serve our different needs & desires.
However, just because we have a different POV doesn't make me a f*ing idiot.
Now, this isn't necessarily a typical case, but if you were a regular consumer and your battery died, it isn't that hard to buy a replacement battery for the majority of laptops, though this kind of thing is becoming more prevalent. I would also like to mention that it's not just Apple (I'm looking at you, Ultrabooks), though I would say that they are the trendsetter.
I'm genuinely curious - do their stated reasons for using Macs differ from how you think they are actually using their machines?
Life used to be different: I spent a lot of time with extensible PCs, tweaking and running Linux, etc. I have come to realize that this "fun" had an opportunity cost that I am no longer willing to pay.
I also tend to replace Apple gear more often but it is easy to find relatives or friends who appreciate being given slightly outdated gear.
I like having an easily replaceable commodity laptop in sort of the same way I like server assets sold like electricity (e.g., AWS, Heroku, AppEngine).
Ultimately time is the most precious resource. The older I get the more I care about using it wisely.
Besides it is well understood in technical circles where Apple is headed. Make no mistake. Their goal is to kill general purpose computers, and replace them with appliances they control.
This is true. I for one do all my computing with a goofy grin on my face, while riding a unicycle.
In all seriousness, this product will be perfect for me. The lower weight will help with my unicycling, and the 4-core i7 will look great with my butterfly wings.
The elitism here is just disgusting.
I suppose all the graphic designers, photographers, programmers, and even just plain old novice users who love Apple products should just pack their bags and go back to pencils and paper. After all, if they're not doing any kind of serious computing, we really ought not cater to their needs, wants, or desires.
Computers are obviously only for people running batch processes with 95%+ CPU and I/O utilization.
Yeah,... Astro-Physicist here. 90% of my colleagues use Macs and we write most of the software that controls satellites and earth bound observatories on Macs.
Just an old science, entertainment, with no real or useable results :o).
The computer in front of me is basically just an appliance now. That has no bearing on the actual work I do.
Um, you missed the last line of the post you replied to.
Last I checked typing text files and compiling them is more serious than most users and doesn't require massive clusters to accomplish.
This design decision has nothing to do with reducing "volume, weight and cost". It has everything to do with hosing the customer on memory, as that has been a very lucrative business on the iPad.
Great, I'll go buy ANY computer that isn't made by Apple.
To make a laptop this small and thin with this much stuff inside, you have to get rid of certain elements. Before calling people names I'd suggest you check if it is at all possible to fit two (you'd want TWO, right?) SODIMM slots in the space available.
Same goes for the battery — when I saw the first pictures of the internals, I said "well, they finally got rid of the integrated battery pack": you have to, if you want to get that much mAh into that little space.
It's a natural progression — an externally replaceable battery takes the most space, an internal (but still a single one) battery pack takes less, and a bunch of cells glued all over the place take even less.
I think it's a good compromise. I'd order a laptop with the amount of RAM and storage that I'll need over the next 2 years, which is the time I amortize the purchase over.
And — if you don't like it, just don't buy it.
Well, it depends. If someone says "hey, did you check out the new MacBook?" say "yeah, I didn't really like the weight vs. upgradability trade-off" and move on. If someone says "you are required to buy this computer with your own money even if you prefer another one," laugh in their face and move on. If someone says, "wow, this computer is perfect for my needs," say "that's awesome" and move on.
Incidentally, this formula actually works any time any product is offered for sale and you don't want to buy it.
(Personally, I try not to stress about how much computers cost. In two years I'll probably put in north of 4000 hours on the thing. If there's a meaningfully better option, I'll take it even if it's more expensive. Not that I have a ton of spare cash, or that $2200 is a reasonable figure for most people yet, but this is one area where I think it's a false economy to focus on the cost.)
There are other computers on the market. They're available from a range of manufacturers. Many people recommend a few of the Lenovo range.
There might be legal issues if you want to run OS X.
New hard drive. New RAM. New battery. Probably want a new CPU, but that's not upgradable. Ditto display. Can't add Thunderbolt, USB3, or whatever nifty new interface.
May as well just get a new computer at the 2+ year point, seeing as you replaced half of it and want to replace the other half.
"This here's a good axe. It's had nine handles and three heads."
Whenever I get the urge to write something like that, I ask myself: "Am I in the target market for this?"
A product built to these tolerances is not one that a rational person (even a competent one, with experience fixing computers) should want to crack open. Make the professionals worry about getting in and out of it, and enjoy the fact that they'll be liable for anything they break in the process.
"Not user serviceable by design" != "disposable by design." You're not wandering across a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland with this thing; take it to a f'ing Apple Store and grab a coffee while the infrastructure wrenches on it.
I would expect for that price a lot of people would like their MacBook to outlast the warranty with an option to fix it at a reasonable price. I can guarantee if the RAM fails they will replace the MB, and they won't do that for the price of the RAM chips.
The bigger problem to me is that the general consumer is unaware of these 'gotchas' until it's too late. That's where I have a problem with it. Have had to inform a few friends with Apple products that no, as much as I wanted to I could not help fix their notebook like I used to with their PCs.
Audis are notoriously difficult to work on, as were Saab's, and good luck finding somebody certified to service a Porsche in your area that doesn't work at a Porsche dealer.
Not to mention, people that spend that much on a car usually want performance parts or factory parts [not your average "OEM equivalent" parts] and a competent technician that specializes in working with their specific make of car. Why? Because they're uncompromising in the quality of the vehicle they just purchased.
To people like this, they don't care if they have to pay extra for an AAA membership because it's too difficult to jump-start their own car.
Why is it so unreasonable to expect that there are some computer users that hold a similar attitude about their "luxury" computer brand?
To me that makes all of the difference.
I think people should educate themselves on the product and if it doesn't fit within their use case then they should find a product that does. I personally think that this is a terrific looking laptop and has enough local processing power that combined with my increasing cloud reliance could be a good fit for a number of years.
Apple have made the perfectly reasonable decision to maximise portability for the 99% of users who never upgrade any component, over the 1% for whom upgradability matters. To dismiss people with different priorities to yours as idiotic is, to be frank, the reason nobody liked you at school.
The benefits of Apple's approach are obvious - they have substantially reduced the bulk of each generation of machine, whilst still improving performance and battery life.
We've already been through this debate in the automotive industry. Cars used to be readily maintainable and modifiable, but miserably unreliable. Electronics and sealed units hugely increased reliability. Auto enthusiasts lamented this change as an assault on the amateur mechanic and the march of disposable consumerism, but the market never looked back. Most people don't care that they can't remap the ECU in their car and most people don't care if their RAM isn't replaceable. That's a perfectly reasonable viewpoint.
My current machine got its RAM upgraded once, the day I bought it, and will never see an other RAM upgrade in its life because I'm at the chipset's capacity. It's in the exact same position as the new mbp. Has it suddenly become a "disposable computer gadget" where it was an "expensive professional tool" between the moment I received it and the moment I put the new ram sticks in? Even though I hadn't even booted it up at that point, and it's my day-to-day workhorse now?
In particular, note: Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation.
I'm, like, a slobbery fanboi and I can tell you, occasionally, Apple makes one that's rotten.
I've since switched to another laptop manufacturer.
There need to be more wrong people to ask that question to.
For some people (some being the vast majority of MBP users) this design actually makes a lot of sense.
Not any worthy portion of society then.
As I said in reply to your parent comment, please read the guidelines here. We appreciate civility. If you keep it up, you will eventually be hellbanned.
I have a couple Toughbooks from the 90's, I'll probably never throw them away, but instead keep using them for more years yet, because: fully user upgradable.
http://www.google.com/search?q=panasonic+toughbook+cf25&...
Though slow by 'modern standards', they are still perfectly usable computers, still quite adequate for most needs, which haven't really changed terribly much. Slow-ass Pentium 133's with a nice, tight, Linux distribution, no driver worries whatsoever, and workable for my needs. One is an offline Wikipedia/Doc-dump that can be easily road-tripped, powered from a cross-bike battery, chucked up the cliff and so on, and the other is a general-purpose debug device for various embedded projects back in the lab, where-in such things as standard serial and parallel ports are still .. a bit useful ..
You know why these computers are still in use? They kick ass.
3 Open PCMCIA slots per device. Magnesium-Alloy cases that take a real beating, and can yet still be opened with a coin, in case you want to put a different component into the gel-protected insides. In the lab-bench toughbook there is room for its disk as well as various shields, arduinos, proto pcb's, and so on. It functions very nicely as a carry case in that regard, too: I have room for my DS-one scope, when I need it.
Oh, its got standard strap mounts as in I can take one off a gun and strap the toughbook behind me as I ride off into the desert.
If Apple ever make something like this, i.e. the complete other end of the spectrum, I would be very surprised. There are places, though, an iPad and a Macbook and an iMac and an iPod .. well maybe my iPod would fit along the DS-1 .. but anyway, there are places that the 'elite delicate consumer electronics' can't go.
My point is, there are alternatives to the Macbook cult.
Apple don't have ANYTHING that competes with the toughbook in terms of user servicibility, but then: that is another arbitrary choice being made by the Apple Super-power. Apple is so big now that if it decides to build a walled-garden, then such shall the field grow. If they WANTED to make a computer that could seriously benefit future generations, it wouldn't be out-dated in a decade, or two decades, or even three. It'd be useful for a Century.
You are kind of right.
We use our 7 year old G4 Powerbook with the 4th battery. Its a pity that there is no real operating system available for a Thinkpad.
What would constitute a real operating system? Last time I checked Windows/Linux/BSD are very much real operating systems.
If you want to know my most important point:
backup and play back (bootable) EASILY.
I'm getting one with 16 GB of RAM. Pretty sure I won't want to upgrade that before I upgrade the whole machine in ~2 years.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-T60-MOTHERBOARD-BASE-FRU-42T0116...
It's relatively easy to replace the invertor. There are service manuals on the Lenovo/IBM site that tell you how to replace all things that are replaceable.
Newegg actually sells barebone laptop kits.
This is just technology marching on, it is cutting edge engineering and manufacturing and Apple care is next to none in the industry. To call a person buying this a fucking idiot is akin to an old timer smacking down the youngsters about modern TV's because you can no longer swap out the valve tubes.
The thing with modern TV's is that they don't need RAM upgrades, don't have any user-fillable storage built in and have external power supplies.
They have always been a PIA to upgrade since Day 1:
I hope other manufacturers won't follow suit, though...
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-with-Retina-Displ...
Actually, looking through the entire teardown, I think the battery being glued in is worse than anything as levering it out is likely to cause the Li-Ion cells to blow up.
Also consider how hard it is recycling that machine!
Their summary:
1. Proprietary pentalobe screws prevent you from gaining access to anything inside.
2. As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.
3. The proprietary SSD isn't upgradeable either (yet), as it is similar but not identical to the one in the Air. It is a separate daughtercard, and we’re hopeful we can offer an upgrade in the near future.
4. The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it'll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.
5. The display assembly is completely fused, and there’s no glass protecting it. If anything ever fails inside the display, you will need to replace the entire extremely expensive assembly.
The whole machine is a joke. PLEASE DON'T BUY ONE!
Well, there's not much inside for a normal user to replace any more.
> 2. As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.
Just like CPUs and graphics cards have been for years.
> 3. The proprietary SSD isn't upgradeable either (yet), as it is similar but not identical to the one in the Air. It is a separate daughtercard, and we’re hopeful we can offer an upgrade in the near future.
External drive, bro. It's an effing superportable laptop. Do you really need your entire 200GB porn collection available to you at all times?
> 4. The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it'll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.
There is no battery removal process. And you know what? That's okay! I'm over 2 years in on my 2010 MacBook Pro, and checking the battery right now I see its designed capacity was 6,000mAh while its current, fully-charged capacity is… 5,786mAh. The sky has steadfastly refused to fall, and the four horsemen have failed to ravage the countryside.
> 5. The display assembly is completely fused, and there’s no glass protecting it. If anything ever fails inside the display, you will need to replace the entire extremely expensive assembly.
Wow! If an expensive thing fails expensively, it's expensive! Please tell me how this situation is any different than for dozens of other devices you currently possess, including your HDTV display and the engine in your car.
> The whole machine is a joke. PLEASE DON'T BUY ONE!
Your whole post is a joke. If the machine doesn't meet your own personal criteria, that's awesome. But you appear to be taking it personally if other people have a different metric of value. Chill out, for fuck's sake.
Tell Apple and they'll send you a shipping label. Just like any other Mac.
Apple's task is to create a laptop with the features they think users will like, and not have to worry about the support for third party component vendors. If you think iFixit is your source for recommendation, don't buy the MBP. :)
I am sure apple has thought of how to recycle these machines because they take that stuff seriously. They don't expect you to recycle it, technology is complex stuff and the whole life cycle needs people with expert knowledge and that includes the reuse and recycling stage.
Now I need to get back to my Starbucks latte and wave things around..l lighten up... Life's too short to take on a cause like this.
Apple expects consumers to replace hardware every two to three years. Often this is encouraged by their practice of only supporting a single version of their operating system and their practice of making new versions of their operating systems incompatible with hardware more than a few years old.
To put it another way, Apple doesn't want you to keep your Macbook for three years because there's no money in that, just support costs.
Knowing that there are upgrade options makes it easier for me to pay up for an expensive machine. But years later I never actually buy an upgrade because it feels like a waste to put money into a machine that is nearing the end of its useful life anyway.
I don't even want to know how much money I have wasted on buying "future proof" hardware. So if anything I have to thank Apple for making this perfectly clear to me and saving me from sinking $2200 into a laptop ;-)
You do realize all the "new" limitations of the MBP come straight from the MBA right? And that the MBA's been a raging success?
Also, the SSD makes you need less memory, since reading from it is so fast
So 16Gb will go a long way really.
You wouldn't be able to either way, depending on the chipset's hardware limitations. 2010 MBPs won't recognize 16GB RAM for instance.
* Finally, if it really is a problem, buy the Thunderbolt to GigE adaptor.
So the point is, it might be called the MacBook Pro, but is it really geared towards professional users? Not even AV professionals anymore, with no Firewire and no disc drive.
Finally, if it really is a problem, buy the Thunderbolt to GigE adaptor.
You shouldn't have to buy accessories on a $2200 laptop which come standard on even a $200 netbook.
I think the point is valid. One of the things "pros" need is ports. Ports that hardware assumes you have because its standard on most machines. This thing about ports is that you don't need them unless you do. Maybe you never use ethernet, but a lot of people do. Maybe you need to plug in to set up a router. Maybe a hotel room only has ethernet. Maybe your office environment requires ethernet.
I've been using a mac at work for years and ports have always been a pain. Need to plug into a projector? Connect to a TV? More than 2 USBs? As often as puling out adapters, the solution is use someone else's machine.
I currently use a Macbook Air which does not offer a GigE port either and I'm doing just fine.
And guess what. 99% of people would trade thinness over ability to use third party RAM.
This is the (top line) pro, not the laptop bought by people who want it because it is silver and has an apple logo. And it is not 'just' third party use, it is no upgrades, ever. So i think plenty of mac pro users would have preferred the imperceivable (<1mm) thickness increase necessary, if it even was.
For most here considering this, I imagine it adds $200 on to the cost, because they will feel the need to top up the extra 8gb to future proof themselves. NB +8gb sodimm is ~$50.
For MBP buyers, I doubt it. Lots of them are desktop replacements that don't move much.
Of course now i read that Mac Airs do the same, so i feel silly. (Edit)
I was amazed at how much they got off the macbook in size and weight - EDIT: everywhere, off the whole machine - and they're idiots for not putting this right next to the "retina display" in the tagline announcing it -- e.g. at www.apple.com now -- The headlines (here and elsewhere) didn't even emphasize the new sleek lightweight form factor.
This shows Apple doesn't currently remember what Apple is. Apple makes, and should make, a big deal out of even a marginal reduction in weight or thickness. What this is is a miracle.
we've just seen a miracle of engineering and Apple doesn't even think it worth mentioning on the front page. idiocy.
Now the screen IS the display module. The metal shell is the actual backing of the LCD module, and the glass is the actual LC-retaining surface.
As for not touting improvements in depth & weight: there's only so much trumpeting of awesomeness that the audience can take before they glaze over. While not the only selling point, the screen is a major factor their advertising group is focusing on. Even without prominent declaration, you & I & others "get it" that it's lighter & thinner. It's not that Apple is neglecting a miracle of engineering, it's that flouting too many miracles at once numbs the audience and degrades the experience ... which methinks is why we did not see new iMacs: one piece of overwhelming awesomeness is enough for the month.
The integrated display isn't really a miracle of engineering. In my opinion it's more a miracle of business that they convinced their display manufacturer to make the retina display modules in the shape of the MBP's display assembly. This sort of thing has actually shown up in smartphones for a while but this is the first time we've seen it in a notebook computer.
Most people who knows the big deal about size & weight can see it on the details page and in the movie ads.
The retina screen is what the competition can't match, not fully nor partially.
Until I clicked the video and found out the extent of the reduction here. They have completely blown the announcement in my opinion. Even something as little as "The All-New Macbook with Retina Display" would have been enough to draw attention to it. ('all-new')
It's not everyday that something gets reengineered so thoroughly. they blew playing this up. apple fans live for these big announcements, and put up with a lot of crap that really shouldn't be press coverage but are (marginal bumps) just so they can get at the juicy unveilings. This is one of them - and should be presented as such.
it's not too late, and the front page should be changed to reflect the extent of this miraculous reengineering right in the 6-word announcement; at least add "all-new" (copout) or something more descriptive right in the blasé sentence "Introducing Macbook Pro with Retina display", which sounds like...a macbook with a Retina display.
The "It's a whole new vision for the notebook" underneath it in that ugly grey doesn't do justice to the redesign, since that's exactly what they would say about a bump to retina display with no other reengineering.
Just another factor to think about when you decide what and how much to trumpet ...
This picture shows the difference: http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/23da9d8f6b.jpg
I think Apple have somewhat of an aversion to having price be the only or main differentiator between products. That's why the old macbooks were scrapped. Pros were more powerful & Airs were more portable. Macbooks were only cheaper. Cheaper models can exist, but they have to have some unique advantage that'd make some users buy them regardless of price.
The existence of a Macbook pro & a Macbook pro retina bends this rule. If a 13" air and a just-as-thin 13" pro retina both existed, it would break it.
It most definitely is, they're going to deprecate the older design over time. Just look at the specs, CPU and GPU are the same between old-style and Retina, but only the Retina gets a 16GB RAM option (with 8 base, versus 4 base for old-style), a retina display, Retina gets HDMI (and a second TB, which is the future as far as Apple's concerned), an updated Magsafe design.
The old-style remains to clear inventory and to wait for the cost of making/buying retina panes to get lower.
This is a transition product just like the original Macbook Air was, which incidentally also looked like an odd duck compared to the clarity of having Macbook and Macbook Pro lines.
It's likely just a typo in your comment, but the Pro Retina is a 15.4" model, not 13".
I can also view many pros who view the thinner size as far more important.
As it turns out Apple also makes a not thinner "pro" laptop you can upgrade the RAM on so what's the big deal?
Considering the for $400 more over the price of a standard Mac Pro notebook you get the new screen, 4g more memory, light weight, and SSD, it really comes off as a good deal in the scheme of Apple pricing. Yeah you lose the DVD, which I cannot recall when I last used one.
My suggestion is just order it maxed out in memory, if the $200 is something to quibble about in a $2200 laptop the you should not be buying one in the first place.
For this laptop? 16GB likely is the maximum the chipset can handle (in hardware) and Apple offers the BTU option. BTU RAM is considered a sucker's games for individuals, pros have much lower a reason to care.
http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/
You can only fit so much in a product name.
Consider their entire product line. The MacBook Air is thinner than this, and it's old news. The next-generation MacBook Pro is their first Mac with a Retina display.
But you're right, I read somewhere that it weighed almost as much as a macbook air. But didn't see that advertised on Apple's website. Which was for me the biggest news next to the new display.
You read some bullshit then, it's not even close to the Air in terms of weight. 4.46 pounds for the Retina and 2.38-2.96 pounds for the Air (11 or 13")
700 g difference. It's pretty close. My guess is you might have a hard time telling which is more heavy if you blind your eyes and weigh one in each hand.
thinner = less mass = less weight = portability. A laptop is designed to be a portable machine, no?
Desktops however, I do not care if there is a massive tower under my desk. I don't move it unless I'm plugging in something new, or upgrading components.
So ultimately, no it's not regardless of the use case.
The counter-intuitive thing to me about using memory-down (at scale orders of magnitude smaller than Apple) is that it can end up being way more expensive over the lifetime of the product. Module vendors can constantly shop and swap between DRAM manufacturers in order to lower their costs and module competition is fierce.
RAM can now be tested in one package on the motherboard and people can't accidentally change it. In the long run it may open some abilities w.r.t using RAM for other things since you know its exact clocking.
The production is cheaper since the MB does not need an extra "install ram" step which is probably a human.
You can probably win some height space by a couple of millimeters.
You have more control over heating.
I suspect that's not true. I reckon it's more likely they're changing a "slot RAM into place" step with a "solder RAM into place" step.
That said they'll probably be able to simplify the case and design the mainboard however they place, since they'll no longer need to provide easy access to the RAM slots.
Apple have a habit of charging fairly outrageous prices for extra RAM - $375[2] for 16GB in the current Mac Pro, and that's not even for 8GB sticks. With that in mind, $200 for the upgrade to 16GB is not that bad, which is probably on purpose.
[1] https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1270#link1 [2] http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MD770LL/A
A pretty healthy 300% mark up.
They aren't charging you for an extra 8GB module, they are replacing your 8GB module with a 16GB module. What's the price difference between a single 8GB stick and a single 16GB stick?
edit: But looking at the hardware pics it looks like it is single module but more than that, it looks like the RAM chips are soldered directly to the motherboard. Not a RAM module soldered to the board but the actual chips which means the cost to apple would be even less since you just double the ICs.
I'd be much more worried about the Flash that is, just as the RAM, also permanently soldered to the motherboard. With the wear-leveling most chipsets do nowadays, these things will just simultaneously drop dead in three years.
edit: Took another look: http://imgur.com/x0I9x It seems that they might indeed be exchangeable. Looked a lot like they were soldered on with the rest on a first glance.
OWC says that it is similar but probably not exactly the same as the one in the Macbook Air, they are looking at providing an upgrade model like they do for the Airs:
http://blog.macsales.com/14090-not-a-lot-of-options-for-macb...
The App Store only makes this worse, since at any given time you can only download the most recent version of any app. So if you don't upgrade iOS, you find yourself increasingly unable to install any new apps.
And all in all it seems very successful. There have only been 5 iterations of the iPhone over about 5 years, but how many people do you know that owned at least 3 of them?
Barring a temporary bug in iOS3, every time an iOS update has come through my phone has felt faster afterwards.
I can name a ton of people who've owned only 1 or 2 iPhones since they've released. However that isn't even what I'm arguing about.
Apple makes (in my opinion) a very smart decision to limit some features to only newer phones. Think about when iOS4 came out, it was only fully supported for the iPhone 4 and 3GS. Backgrounding on the 3G was a nightmare to memory and performance... so they cut it. You're saying they automatically lump in apps that make the device seem slow? I think they do the exact opposite. They make smart decisions to keep even 2 year old devices running like their brand new.
Of course they want you to update to a new device every two years (every single manufacturer does, don't just blame Apple here) but they are the only company I've seen that doesn't hold a gun to your head to upgrade just to get a new OS.
One thing I can always depend on with my iPhone, I'll likely see at least 3 major OS upgrades during my ownership. My Android phone (I own both) has only seen 1 major OS upgrade and very very very few incremental upgrades as well. The only reason why I have ICS on it is because of CyanogenMod.
- MacBook Pro with Retina Display 15" Mid 2012 Repairability Score: 1 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).
- Proprietary pentalobe screws prevent you from gaining access to anything inside.
- As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.
- The proprietary SSD isn't upgradeable either (yet), as it is similar but not identical to the one in the Air. It is a separate daughtercard, and we’re hopeful we can offer an upgrade in the near future.
- The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it'll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.
- The display assembly is completely fused, and there’s no glass protecting it. If anything ever fails inside the display, you will need to replace the entire extremely expensive assembly.
EDITED: got rid of scroll per comment below
* MacBook Pro with Retina Display 15" Mid 2012 Repairability Score: 1 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).
* Proprietary pentalobe screws prevent you from gaining access to anything inside.
* As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.
* The proprietary SSD isn't upgradeable either (yet), as it is similar but not identical to the one in the Air. It is a separate daughtercard, and we’re hopeful we can offer an upgrade in the near future.
* The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it'll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.
* The display assembly is completely fused, and there’s no glass protecting it. If anything ever fails inside the display, you will need to replace the entire extremely expensive assembly.
Have you ever tried to claim the warranty from other companies? If you rely heavily on a piece of equipment, $350 for really good support is a bargain.
These days, if I wanted more RAM, I'd just buy a new machine.
>These days, if I wanted more RAM, I'd just buy a new machine.
Seems like a waste of money for something that's an easy $100 upgrade on pretty much every other computer in use today.
Though with 8GB RAM and an SSD, the CPU has suddenly become my slow-point.
Apple has been slowly migrating all of their devices in the direction of appliances. The mass market doesn't upgrade the device, they replace it. That is where Apple is headed: the mass market.
It's hard to argue that they're wrong when they're selling so many units as everyone else is in decline.
It's also soldered on the Air, unsurprising that they'd do the same on a small-factor MBP.
- I gave up non-Mac machines as I had no interest in replacing components and fiddling with hardware, so it being non-replaceable is fine for me. Sell it on eBay as spares/repairs, someone will be able to fix it. - Continue using the most 'general computing' laptops Apple make, which for me is the MBA. It handles all the general dev work I need to do. - Have a couple of cheap VPS' that have more computing capacity than I need on a general basis handy. Offsite the work there.
I'm happy buying one because the way of the future is going to be almost the way of the past in my eyes. Sweet workstations that can handle the bulk of my daily digital needs, and big heavy stuff I can connect to happily that I don't need to do anything beyond pressing the shiny 'upgrade' button when I need to.
Now, if you want "maxed storage", you'd better buy it at the time of purchase of the unit, from Apple, at Apple's price.
You may agree or disagree; regardless, one should remain cognizant of the fact and how it contributes to Apple's monolithic presence within its segment of the market.
P.S. This is not to discount the relevance of design decisions that limit physical accessibility: Slimness, edge-to-edge glass, etc., etc.
