Apple is Robbing People with SSD Upgrade Prices...

[Krizoitz]

The point is Apple has the money to take risks. You can't expect Apple (or anyone) to constantly create new markets with revolutionary products. I was quoting a post that suggested he was happy paying more money to Apple to allow them to take more risks with new innovative products. Apple has the money, more then enough money to take risks and not even notice them financially if they fail.

Not sure I would say the M chips are a huge risk, it is a big change, but Apple is not new to having their own CPU. They knew what they were getting into with this shift, they have been here before, except they are in a much stronger place then they were with the G4's and G5's.

We have no idea what money Apple is spending on R&D projects that are pushing the envelope because unlike Samsung or Google they dont rush half assed products to the market (with rare exceptions) or worse preview pie in the sky projects that never see the light of day. Plus not all the advances Apple does spend money on are going to be flashy or highly visible. The investments they have made in processor design have been significant for example. Its not cheap to do what they have done in that area.

 

[editfmah]

We have no idea what money Apple is spending on R&D projects that are pushing the envelope because unlike Samsung or Google they dont rush half assed products to the market (with rare exceptions) or worse preview pie in the sky projects that never see the light of day. Plus not all the advances Apple does spend money on are going to be flashy or highly visible. The investments they have made in processor design have been significant for example. Its not cheap to do what they have done in that area.

I was very "meh" when it was suggested that they are working on some VR goggles. But the reality is, if they really push the envelope on quality and really concentrate on fixing the irks people have had up until now, it "could" be quite a leap forward for consumer use.

Gamers will always be dissapointed as it won't be bleeding edge. But if it has genuine utility, it could be brilliant.

 

[Lioness~]

The only way Apple are 'robbing' people are through the want factor.
We just want more of the Apple stuff 😂
My MacStudio and my Studio Display looks and works so fine on my desk. Now I want another Studio Display.
The time between my old iMac 27" 2013 went downhill and I was in a limbo before knowing what new stuff would come from Apple, was my worst Apple period 😢
Now there's more Apple stuff I want again.

Have a nice black keyboard, not that old, since before Apple Silicon, but new touch-ID keyboard arrives today 😁
Apple's want factor 🥰

 

[AlphaCentauri]

I have no idea how to put it nice, but I’ll try 🤣🤣🤣

Apple products were always pricey. If one feels Apple is too expensive for them, one should vote with their wallet. Same like with TVs, fridges, furniture or cars - there are other choices there, cheaper ones.

“But I can buy comparable PC, SSD, RAM, whatever for less” - go and buy it then, what’s stopping you? 😎

 

[wonderings]

I have no idea how to put it nice, but I’ll try 🤣🤣🤣

Apple products were always pricey. If one feels Apple is too expensive for them, one should vote with their wallet. Same like with TVs, fridges, furniture or cars - there are other choices there, cheaper ones.

“But I can buy comparable PC, SSD, RAM, whatever for less” - go and buy it then, what’s stopping you? 😎

Yes, Apple has been a premium product for a long time and generally more expensive. What has changed though over the years is the ability to repair your computer and the ability to upgrade simple things like hard drives and RAM. Apple has created where we are now, they design and develop the hardware and software and have been in complete control of the entire process, they have chosen to take away choice and option from the consumer if not done at the time of purchase. Unfortunately others follow suit with this as well as it generally seems to be the way, Apple paves the way and others follow when they realize people will continue to pay for less. The 2 basic and simple things are storage and RAM. I wish more people would make the conscious decision to walk away from Apple, but I do know it is hard when you are invested in an eco system. I use both Mac and PC, used to be entirely Mac but am slowly moving away from anything outside of work, and even that we are looking at moving away from Apple. Of course when people pay outrageous amounts for a sneeze rag with he Apple logo on it you know Apple has the general consumer right where they want them.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

You want to upgrade your computer after purchase. Apple of today is not for you then, sorry.

I buy the best configuration I can afford and after 4-5 years, it goes on eBay and I buy a new one. If I wouldn’t be able to afford Apple computer with 32-64GB Ram and 2-4TB SSD at the moment of purchase - I would have switched to PC long time ago.

Apple’s paradigm is “computer as an appliance” - you’re not supposed to tinker with it after purchase 😉

 

[Lioness~]

I can't see anything bad with actually use your braincells before your Apple purchases.

If you don't know what you need and want from your Apple products when you buy them. Then by all means, don't buy them. You will have no use of them.

Anyone who buy new Apple products, Macs in particular, have to give it a lot of thought. It's not done over a night. It's planning, estimating, and dreaming maybe for the coming decade.
If you can't figure out what you will need of your Apple stuff, then you have to learn to sharpen your mind more so you can use these wonderful products.
If you don’t know, we’ll then it’s not your dream to buy and step into.


Most people focus on the money and the profits, but it is not the money that will make you rich, it is your passion and the progress you have been through that truly count. - Steve Jobs

 

[Jackpaultechnab]

nothing to say

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I call total BS on your phrase "like most people do". There is no way that most people do that. Most people have no clue how to do that. Most Apple Mac users don't have the skills set to swap out an SSD. You can't just throw out a term like "most" simply because "you" do that. Most people aren't you! For computers that are built to allow easy access to and upgrades of SSDs, then people can make those upgrades. But Apple goes out of its way to make it difficult, and that takes "most people" out of the category of the "few who can do such upgrades". Apple fully well knows that "most people" either cannot or will not attempt to upgrade the SSD, and thus they can charge ridiculous prices for more RAM and more SSD capacity.

This is not a new business practice at all. The auto industry has been doing this for decades and decades. Here is the $25,000 new model, but this is base price only. To get it with a few upgrades you might wind up paying $30,000. To get it fully loaded it might cost over $50,000! Welcome to capitalism... How do you think Apple became a $3 trillion company?

This is a really good point. I have swapped out cards in laptops —mainly to get a hackintosh going. I have swapped out SSDs in laptops and added RAM. My parents, parents-in-law, kids, neighbors on both sides, all of my wife’s friends, and most of my co-workers have never done so and probably couldn’t.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

@pastrychef Turns out, @Analog Kid has a cellular Series 3 AW according a thread they posted.

The cellular S3 includes 16GB of storage and not affected by the OS update issue. Apple no longer offers this model in their current AW line up.

The Series 3 that Apple currently sells is the non-cellular model with only 8GB of storage.

The newer AW OS takes up too much space preventing OS updates on the Series 3 (8GB) AW. If you update the OS on your iPhone that is paired with the 8GB Series 3 AW, your AW will no longer work until it updates the AW OS.

Since you cannot update your AW the normal way, the only way to get your AW working again is to do a factory reset, which is a really long process.

Basically, it is broken out of the box.

The fact that Apple still sells the Series 3 AW new, knowing full well about the problem with the OS updates that break the AW, and the fact that they constantly push the update notifications, is unethical, imo.

I literally have the AW3 and have never had a problem updating it—without cellular. Is it slow? Yes, does it do its thing if you leave it long enough? Also yes.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Macbook isn't mil-spec like Thinkpad so it's comparable to Yoga.

I returned two Yogas before the M1 line (I wanted inking) and it isn’t remotely comparable to the crap Yoga line. They are completely HORRIBLE.

 

[TVreporter]

Buy the base and get an external SSD if you don't want to pay extra for their internal drives - an easy solution to vote with your wallet.

Or if you really don't approve of them "robbing" you, buy a PC laptop!

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Or Chromebook, if money is really slim 🤪

 

[Juicy Box]

I literally have the AW3 and have never had a problem updating it—without cellular.

That is great, consider yourself one of the lucky Series 3 owners that are not affected.

Is it slow? Yes, does it do its thing if you leave it long enough? Also yes.

I guess not too lucky for everything, as my AW isn't really slow.

 

[dylanthomas]

Just came here to blindly defend Apple charging exorbitant for simple hardware upgrades but it looks like many people already beat me to it!

 

[Sun Baked]

Buy the base and get an external SSD if you don't want to pay extra for their internal drives - an easy solution to vote with your wallet.

Or if you really don't approve of them "robbing" you, buy a PC laptop!

Close one, on Mac Studio release day, I saw the Apple Store employees lurking in the doorway waiting to pounce on customers and take all the money in their pocket.

The guy at the door actually tried to ask how much SSD I wanted with my Mac Studio, so they could take even more money.

But I escaped with the base model Mac Studio, and enough cash in my wallet to buy an external SSD.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

That is great, consider yourself one of the lucky Series 3 owners that are not affected.



I guess not too lucky for everything, as my AW isn't really slow.

Slow to update, not slow in use.

 

[hans1972]

It’s obvious your mind is fixated on something that is not the core issue with most people. Its not that they can’t buy into a higher configuration at the point of initial purchase… its the inability to improve what they already own once they are owners of it… the ability to improve (or repair for that matter) is the problem.

And it's still about the money.

Let's say the higher configuration were priced lower the more SSD and RAM you configured, none would complain about this.

If Apple guaranteed a free upgrade to the newest machine if it stopped working for 20 years, no one would complain about repairability.

It's all about spending as little money as possible for hardware configurations and repair.

 

[jav6454]

Just came here to blindly defend Apple charging exorbitant for simple hardware upgrades but it looks like many people already beat me to it!

Seems you missed some arguments not defending but calling out the entire industry then.

 

[hans1972]

Willing to pay and having to pay because it’s all someone can afford because they need to get into the Apple ecosystem are different things. Apple is charging what the market will bear, yes. But most people aren’t buying the bottom config because they’ve dreamt of having 8 GB of RAM or something. It’s what they can afford.

They WANT to get into the Apple ecosystem.

As a private individual you would do fine with Windows PCs or Chromebooks.

 

[jav6454]

They WANT to get into the Apple ecosystem.

As a private individual you would do fine with Windows PCs or Chromebooks.

As a private individual you get to choose your own. That includes the Apple ecosystem.

 

[hans1972]

it is using a little swap memory...

does this mean I need 16GB?

No, macOS on M1 aggressively uses swap.

You should look at the colour of your memory pressure.

Green = Don't need more memory
Yellow = Consider more memory, especially if you notice slowdown
Red = You need more memory if this occurs regularly and for prolonged time

 

[hans1972]

As a private individual you get to choose your own. That includes the Apple ecosystem.

Yes, and Apple decides the price. That's their privilege.

There is no need which can't be fulfilled with other ecosystem. Yes, they might offer a worse experience but that is fine.

 

[hans1972]

this makes me wonder why both my machines are averaging 12-14 GB of use if all I do is open 20 safari tabs, keep WhatsApp, messages, mail Spotify open, stream some 4k YouTube videos, Facebook, maybe 3-5 excel workbooks...this is casual use and it even makes my 16 GB M1 Pro warm and my MacBook Air even warmer but I keep hearing how ram is meaningless on apple silicon and only hardcore video editors need a Pro machine or 16GB of ram in an air

Having free physical memory available should be treated as a serious error condition.

If you have free memory available, you either have way too much memory or macOS was poorly designed or coded.

 

[jav6454]

Yes, and Apple decides the price. That's their privilege.

There is no need which can't be fulfilled with other ecosystem. Yes, they might offer a worse experience but that is fine.

Agreed on the first and second point. The third point is debatable as that's down to each person.