Apple is Robbing People with SSD Upgrade Prices...

[TightLines]

Besides, there are plenty of applications where the base storage is acceptable. I’m sure they’re selling well enough. Again, it’s a small number of people complaining about storage being inadequate because they want their particular machine to be cheaper and they’re taking their personal problem and trying to frame it as a global one.

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. Apple still has products in it’s lineup that can be upgraded by the owner of the machines… for the time being, as all the intel chip based machines can be added to and upgraded, along with all the other machines prior to the M series configurations.

There is no sense in going back and forth with you on it any further, as you’ve demonstrated that you’re not even looking at or wanting to look at the underlying problem most people have with what Apple is now doing… as far as i am concerned, they charge what they want for the storage RAM, and GPU’s - as long as they let others come in and charge what they can and want for what are widely considered user replaceable parts in the rest of the industry… but no, Apple doesn’t want to compete, they have taken steps to prevent competition, and that is not only unethical, its considered a violation in the anti-trust regulations… they are just enjoying the fact that those things aren’t being enforced any more in the U.S. and also the fact that that they can and will afford long drawn out protracted litigation just to avoid having to compete… not the good corporate citizen they want us all to believe they are…

Again, this behavior isn’t coming from the good parts of Apple (the creators and innovators) but the dark side and bad parts of Apple that are being directed by the vampire squid types of parasites that permeate so many of the public companies in this world…

 

[MauiPa]

id love to see lower prices, of course. what makes it difficult to tell is the really slow SSDs that Dell and others use. sure the prices are lower but so is security and performance. a lot of manufacturers don't even post their speeds, then you dig out a benchmarked review and go really, in 2022? So let's agree that Apple should charge less and other manufacturers should have transparency of their crappy SSds. I did find some that were comparable to Apple but they were on uber expensive laptops. of course you can get Samsung suds that are rated fast, but will they really be that fast in a Dell which has a rep of using cheap and slow parts?

 

[Juicy Box]

I don't know how widespread the problem you experienced with the Apple Watch is...

Just do a search, it won't take long to find many complaints about it.

If you don't want to believe the many results out there, then listen to Apple's own words. They added special instructions to the Series 3 owners who are having issues updating their OS:

If your Apple Watch storage is full - Apple Support

Learn what to do if your Apple Watch storage is full or if you need more available storage to install a watchOS update.

support.apple.com

The special instructions basically say to skip the troubleshooting step offered for newer models, and just unpair and reset the AW.

Need more info? Check out the tech sites that are reporting on the issue, here is one from The Verge titled "Updating an Apple Watch Series 3 is a nightmare in 2021":

Updating an Apple Watch Series 3 is a nightmare in 2021

There’s just not enough memory to go around.

www.theverge.com

So, if it's only a handful of people who have this issue, I'd hardly call it "unethical".

I think it is more widespread based off of all the articles on it. I think it is unethical because Apple is still selling it knowing it has this issue.

@Analog Kid stated above that he's never had this issue. So, if it's only a handful of people who have this issue, I'd hardly call it "unethical".

@Analog Kid may have the cellular version, which has more storage, 16Gb versus 8GB.

FWIW, I own a Series 3 and a 13 Mini and have never had a problem updating my watch.

Do you have the cellular or non-cellular Series 3?

 

[Analog Kid]

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. Apple still has products in it’s lineup that can be upgraded by the owner of the machines… for the time being, as all the intel chip based machines can be added to and upgraded, along with all the other machines prior to the M series configurations.

There is no sense in going back and forth with you on it any further, as you’ve demonstrated that you’re not even looking at or wanting to look at the underlying problem most people have with what Apple is now doing… as far as i am concerned, they charge what they want for the storage RAM, and GPU’s - as long as they let others come in and charge what they can and want for what are widely considered user replaceable parts in the rest of the industry… but no, Apple doesn’t want to compete, they have taken steps to prevent competition, and that is not only unethical, its considered a violation in the anti-trust regulations… they are just enjoying the fact that those things aren’t being enforced any more in the U.S. and also the fact that that they can and will afford long drawn out protracted litigation just to avoid having to compete… not the good corporate citizen they want us all to believe they are…

Again, this behavior isn’t coming from the good parts of Apple (the creators and innovators) but the dark side and bad parts of Apple that are being directed by the vampire squid types of parasites that permeate so many of the public companies in this world…

You’ve been throwing elbows at me since I joined the discussion. To answer my comment to someone other than you only to say it’s not worth going back and forth with me suggests maybe you’re a little triggered by the fact someone might have a different opinion than yours and would like that opinion to go away so you don’t have to face it?

I think you’re of the opinion that by telling me over and over that I’m not worth talking to, you’re going to bully me into leaving the discussion, but I’m just not that easily intimidated….

You want to be angry and express your anger rather than accept that other people might see it differently. That’s fine. It’s worth remembering I‘m not the source of your frustration though…

I obviously can’t force your mind open, but you might try harder to not assume that something’s wrong just because you don’t understand it. There are plenty of good engineering reasons to solder RAM and storage, so it’s probably reductive to divide Apple into Light and Dark. And maybe be a little slower to jump to assumptions about what people are “fixated” on and what “most people” care about.

 

[akidd]

And breathe...

 

[Enclavean]

My daily driver has 128gb. It's a pain in the ass but with external drive, cloud storage and some creativity you can get around it. You get very efficient at managing files though so I'm looking at the bright side.

 

[Analog Kid]

Yeah, that's along the lines of what I wrote in post #44:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-is-robbing-people-with-ssd-upgrade-prices.2348507/page-2?post=31195443#post-31195443

I suppose, more or less, but I still see it more as market segmentation and using the value that high end customers see in the product to subsidize the purchases of budget customers. As you say, to bring more people into the ecosystem and also because bringing those people in bring the overall costs down by economies of scale..

 

[bobcomer]

I don't see that as an indicator of laws being broken but governments trying to squeeze companies for money.

Wow, just wow. You ought to try working for some of those corporations you're defending...

 

[Analog Kid]

I don't see that as an indicator of laws being broken but governments trying to squeeze companies for money.

With some good old fashioned populism mixed in— big tech is the boogeyman of the moment….

 

[jav6454]

My daily driver has 128gb. It's a pain in the ass but with external drive, cloud storage and some creativity you can get around it. You get very efficient at managing files though so I'm looking at the bright side.

I would find that too painful.

 

[Juicy Box]

Wow. I've never owned an Apple Watch and have never heard of this...

FWIW, I own a Series 3 and a 13 Mini and have never had a problem updating my watch.

@Analog Kid stated above that he's never had this issue. So, if it's only a handful of people who have this issue, I'd hardly call it "unethical".

@Analog Kid may have the cellular version, which has more storage, 16Gb versus 8GB.

I've got a S3+LTE

@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.

 

[pastrychef]

Wow, just wow. You ought to try working for some of those corporations you're defending...

Like being fined for not including a charger with iPhones? May they burn in hell.

 

[collin_]

You are 100% correct. I understand why their laptops aren't upgradable, but the base capacities and upgrade prices are absolutely insane.

A 512GB SSD on a laptop that starts at $2,500. $400 to go from 256GB to 1TB. $800 to go from 256GB to 2TB. I can't even put into words how ridiculous that is. And this is coming from someone who sides with them on the charger situation.

I straight up refuse to pay their upgrade prices at this point. I just buy the base model and make a DIY M.2 external SSD. Cheap, fast, and usable with all my devices.

 

[NT1440]

You are 100% correct. I understand why their laptops aren't upgradable, but the base capacities and upgrade prices are absolutely insane.

A 512GB SSD on a laptop that starts at $2,500. $400 to go from 256GB to 1TB. $800 to go from 256GB to 2TB. I can't even put into words how ridiculous that is. And this is coming from someone who sides with them on the charger situation.

I straight up refuse to pay their upgrade prices at this point. I just buy the base model and make a DIY M.2 external SSD. Cheap, fast, and usable with all my devices.

How about $581 to go from 256 to 1TB on a Lenovo?

 

[bobcomer]

Like being fined for not including a charger with iPhones? May they burn in hell.

I'm talking about worse stuff than that, if that indeed did happen. I know it didn't happen in the U.S.. But yeah, if it's the law that they include a charger, then they better include a charger or they'll be fined or even shut down. Just because you don't believe the law is fair, it doesn't make any difference.

But that said, I remember what you're talking about now and it wasn't a government that fined them, they lost a civil case. (and rightly so, this is one of the evil things apple does, they sell something that can't work by itself out of the box, so if you don't happen to own a charger, you are *illegally* forced to buy one in the country this suit was brought -- no forced add-ons.)

 

[bobcomer]

How about $581 to go from 256 to 1TB on a Lenovo?
View attachment 2020968

Try the non OPAL one's they're cheaper, and yes, available.

 

[mi7chy]

How about $581 to go from 256 to 1TB on a Lenovo?

Only noobs pay Lenovo list price. They always have sales, coupons, corporate and id.me discounts.

 

[roygnelson]

In my opinion, only buy the base M2 MacBook Air. If you start adding upgrades, the machine becomes way too expensive for what you are getting.

That’s fine. The question then becomes, is it enough? The next question is, is it worth it?

 

[NT1440]

Only noobs pay Lenovo list price. They always have sales, coupons, corporate and id.me discounts.

Yea, I have a work account.


This is what I don’t get about you guys, all this hemming and hawing, but when you get a real comparison from other vendors who are doing the EXACT same thing it’s nothing but excuses about shopping around for lesser models or DIY. WE ARE TECH NERDS, *none* of that applies for regular people unless WE lend an hand and offer to replace drives or RAM on their behalf.

Outrageous markups on RAM and SSD’s are *industry standard*. The fact that you personally have a workaround does not change that fact.

 

[NT1440]

Try the non OPAL one's they're cheaper, and yes, available.

Not on Lenovos site, you get to pick capacity for the Thinkpad lines, that’s it.

 

[Mimiron]

The fact that none of Apples current laptops are SSD upgradable, still ship with a measly 256GB on base configs in 2022, and force 200 dollars for a 250gb upgrade is ridiculous.

1TB drives go for under 100 bucks now, there is no way apple is not getting 1TB chips for over 50 USD. They are literally robbing people with these upgrades.

I would understand a 1TB base config and then charge 200 per extra terabyte. But 200 for an extra 256?? Seriously??

Kingston A400 240GB M.2 2280 SSD | HDD Replacement$27.99$35Kingston Shop - US

Dont understand how more people are not up in arms about Apples storage policy.

Always have been. Remeber 16 gb and 64 gb iphones?

 

[You’re not me]

Always have been. Remeber 16 gb and 64 gb iphones?

Remember the first iPhone 4GB and 8GB?

 

[bobcomer]

Not on Lenovos site, you get to pick capacity for the Thinkpad lines, that’s it.

Not on any laptop I've bought from them and I've bought quite a few for work. OPAL SSD's have extra security built it, that is not the only SSD's they sell on all laptops. Some models do limit you, but not all.

 

[NT1440]

Not on any laptop I've bought from them and I've bought quite a few for work. OPAL SSD's have extra security built it, that is not the only SSD's they sell on all laptops. Some models do limit you, but not all.

Absolutely, which is why I was referring to the BTO options currently on the ThinkPad line. I just checked the T15 line right now and it’s OPAL only for the Standard of business standard machines. I’m on that site buying 2 or 3 times a month. Lately we’ve had to disregard BTO entirely because any tweak you want results in 2+ month shipping delays.

I literally picked up an X13 today at UPS which I ordered back in (late) February!

 

[theorist9]

How about $581 to go from 256 to 1TB on a Lenovo?
View attachment 2020968

That's just an artifact of Lenovo's current pricing on their BTO's, which they're actively discouraging people from buying because ship times are 3-4 months (the way they're discouraging them is by making the BTO option non-obvious, and apparently also with an unusually high upcharge for the larger SSD). [And the diff. is $581 – $164 = $461.] But that's not typical. If you instead look at their pre-built models, you'll see the difference is more in line with the (non-Apple) industry standard of <=$100 to go from 512 GB to 1 TB storage.

For instance, here are two otherwise identical Lenovo laptops that differ only in that the $1350 model has a 512 GB SSD, and the $1420 one has 1 TB—so, in this case, we see a $70 difference. And I didn't cherry-pick this pair; it was the first pair I found that differed only in SSD size. Feel free to check the pre-builts on Lenovo's website yourself.