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Why does APPLE RAM cost so much??

Sundance Kid

Sundance Kid

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 16, 2005
194
0
Canada
Why indeed does apple cost so much?? I went to crucial, and the ram which i was looking for costs 200 dollars cheaper, and when i went to canadaram, it was even cheaper. :confused:

Aren't all ram the same? And if crucial is the best, how come apple ram costs so much? :eek:
 
iGary said:
All RAM isn't the same, but Apple charges what they do much the same reason a dog, well you know...because they can.
Click to expand...


iGary! :D I never thought you would drop by. Is the ram all the same then, and it doesn't matter where i buy it? I was thinking either crucial or canadaram
 
Its guaranteed to work and you don't have to install it. Most people have never seen the inside of a computer and have no interest to. I work in a lab and we purchased 20 PowerMacs about 6 months ago. It was much easier to have Apple put in the RAM than for us to worry about it. I could have done it, but why spend the time? That said, I'd never pay for a RAM upgrade when buying just one computer.
 
All RAM is not the same by any strecth.
All chips have different timing and such. The differences are miniscule, but add up. Apple probably do not cut corners by buying cheap chipsets!
Apple charge so much because they are totally liable if something goes wrong!
They are far more likely to replace it if you bought it from them.
This is the price you pay for liability, like the AppleCare plan!
 
It seems to me that a lot of companies do this and not just for RAM.

The base system is reasonably priced so that you think it's cheap, but a simple upgrade - like upgrading the RAM so that you can actually run the supplied OS - is extra profit so it isn't cheap.

I guess that you are also paying for someone's time to customise your system - your time is probably free.

As a general rule, if you can upgrade it yourself, then you probably should (unless you have plenty of money to throw away).
 
Reasoning...

Here's a question...how often do you hear of bad Apple ram? EVER? While other companies (crucial is my fav) have good track records...from what I have seen Apple's track record with ram is nearly perfect.
 
Sundance Kid said:
iGary! :D I never thought you would drop by. Is the ram all the same then, and it doesn't matter where i buy it? I was thinking either crucial or canadaram
Click to expand...

Most people here like OWC, New Egg and Crucial.

I always use Crucial. I've had once bad stick in ten years, and I had a replacement the next day, no questions asked.
 
If you spend a lot of time and effort doing your research it's possible to track down and purchase the EXACT SAME specification and make of RAM that Apple supply. And I mean IDENTICAL. Even to the point where the little stickers on the RAM are the same, with similar serial numbers.

So you can either source out the same RAM apple use, or to save time and effort you could 'take the chance' with RAM from Crucial or another company. The chances of it failing are probably 0.5%, but isn't that worth the massive savings? Apple's RAM is up to 300% more expensive than buying it elsewhere.

At the end of the day, they are a business out to make money. The kind of people that buy RAM from Apple are often the sort that would believe it if they're told they need 4Gb of memory to run Appleworks! It's a bit sad that they take advantage of people like this I do agree.
 
James Philp said:
All RAM is not the same by any strecth.
All chips have different timing and such. The differences are miniscule, but add up. Apple probably do not cut corners by buying cheap chipsets!
Apple charge so much because they are totally liable if something goes wrong!
They are far more likely to replace it if you bought it from them.
This is the price you pay for liability, like the AppleCare plan!
Click to expand...
Hi James, Sundance
Keep in mind that I am definitely biased here...

Apple is liable for one year if anything goes wrong with the RAM, a good third-party RAM seller is liable for the lifetime of the machine.

Of course, Apple puts the right RAM in their machines, and it's up to third party resellers to choose the right models, test and guarantee compatibility in the Macs. Having said that , there is nothing magical about Apple RAM, they buy RAM from Samsung and Hynix (Hyundai), mostly, which are the same modules available to third parties.

Choose a reputable reseller who tests and guarantees compatibility, and you can safely save money.

Grapes911: Another way of looking at "why spend the time" is that an afternoon of time (or even hiring a tech for an afternoon) to upgrade 20 machines, is probably worth $1000 - $2000 in savings on the cost of the RAM for the 20 units - that's a pretty good return on investment.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com
 
TMA said:
If you spend a lot of time and effort doing your research it's possible to track down and purchase the EXACT SAME specification and make of RAM that Apple supply. And I mean IDENTICAL. Even to the point where the little stickers on the RAM are the same, with similar serial numbers.
Click to expand...
Yes you can, with one important proviso: The internal SPD settings of the chip (which are not visible and not marked in the serial or model number) must be correct for your Mac. You can have two of the same chip with different SPD settings, and one will work where the other will not.

That's why it remains important when purchasing RAM that the seller guarantees compatibility with your machine.
 
CanadaRAM said:
Apple is liable for one year if anything goes wrong with the RAM, a good third-party RAM seller is liable for the lifetime of the machine.

Of course, Apple puts the right RAM in their machines, and it's up to third party resellers to choose the right models, test and guarantee compatibility in the Macs. Having said that , there is nothing magical about Apple RAM, they buy RAM from Samsung and Hynix (Hyundai), mostly, which are the same modules available to third parties.
Click to expand...

I know you're right. The thing I was trying to say is If you phone up Apple and say "i think there's a problem..." and they find out that you have installed any 3rd party RAM, that's the first thing they're going to try to blame! (From long experience)
If you get Apple RAM, they can't really say anything (especially if they install it)

The other thing is that when you buy a system and add RAM to it they are also charging for the installation, and on some systems, getting to the "lower" slot can mean installing it as part of the manufacture process (anyone with a G4 iMac who has contemplated adding Ram to the lower slot knows what I'm on about!)
This means that the machine has to be custom-made (not just churned out by a production line) and, as with cars, this ups the price somewhat (but don't get me wrong, i wouldn;t justify the prices apple have!)
 
Anomally of Macbook Pro RAM prices online

Look at the Apple Online store and pretend to order a Macbook Pro.
Check out the ram.
Why is 1GB chip AU$310
but 2 x 1GB chip costs $770
That's $150 extra for 2 minutes more work.:mad:
Apple has no answer for this.
All the OZ Apple Resellers don't order off Apple, and they can offer me 2GB for $585, still a rip, but better than AppleOnline. (and I get to keep the original 512)
Why does Apple Do this?:confused:
Yeah it's a dog and it can, but why insult the mathematics of it's consumers?
I think Apple needs a kick up the bum, regarding this issue.
Let's start ordering via phone, getting to the end of the order finding out they rip u of for ram and then cancelling the order. That should waste their resources, for a while anyway.;)
 
Okay...thanks for dredging up a year-old thread. :rolleyes:

The first GB module is a cheaper upgrade because they get to keep the 512 MB module that would normally be in there. They consider the 1 GB chips to be A$460 a piece...you pay A$310 for the first one because they don't have to give you the stock 512 MB module that they value at A$150.

But yes, Apple's RAM prices are ridiculously high. So what...buy it elsewhere.
 
OEM RAM always has huge overhead.

I don't see what the big deal is. Just buy extra RAM elsewhere for a reasonable price. The CTO RAM is for people who either don't know or don't care (like businesses -- it's much easier from an ordering and support standpoint to spend the extra $150 or whatever per machine to get it from the OEM).
 
I thought Apple uses Crucial modules?

It is not like these are that cheap to start with... and Apple probably tagged on a little deal sweetener (for them!) for their troubles so it is not hard to see why a US$130 stick of memory can turn into A$310..
 
I looked up Crucial's RAM for a Intel Mac Mini and they want $294 for 2 1GB sticks. Apple charges $300 for 2GB of RAM. OWC has a better price at $216. But the Crucial RAM isn't worth it. And remember you still have to take the Mini apart.
 
If you get a new computer from Apple and and upgrade the RAM it's not that expensive. A new iMac comes with a 512MB stick. You can upgrade to 2GB for $300. It's not that bad. I'd rather just have them install it and like it was said earlier not worry about any problems. It also saves time from having to look around for good RAM that costs less that will work correctly.
 
CANEHDN said:
If you get a new computer from Apple and and upgrade the RAM it's not that expensive. A new iMac comes with a 512MB stick. You can upgrade to 2GB for $300. It's not that bad. I'd rather just have them install it and like it was said earlier not worry about any problems. It also saves time from having to look around for good RAM that costs less that will work correctly.
Click to expand...

In the regular US store it costs $500 to upgrade the MBP from 512 MB to 2 GB. I can do it for $150-$200 bucks on my own and still have Apple's stock 512 MB stick laying around.
 
why do a small % of RAM buyers put in the effort to save $?
why do a small % of Mac users participate in forums like these?

very few of posters here are the average consumer. understanding the average consumer is beyond me.

it would be like trying to explain the tampa bay bucs version of the cover 2 defense to my wife.

In both cases, why bother.
 
Apple is an evil corporatoin out to rape the poor of their livelihood. We all have no choice but to succum to teh all mighty steveness.
 
It's because apple makes a big profit, and people are willing to pay the price.
 
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