I'm thinking about buying a MBP very soon, and have just got off the phone with a sales representative from the apple UK education store. The model I'm after is a 15" MBP with the 2.8Ghz CPU, 4GB of RAM and a standard 500GB hard drive. Apple UK store lists that as £1699 to the GP, I was quoted £1444.40 which works out at a smidge under 15% less. For kicks, I clicked "select" on the apple website to see what upgrades there were fot it and how much they were. My question to you all is this: Why is a 4GB (from 4GB installed to 8GB installed) memory upgrade £799?! I couldn't find 8GB of laptop RAM for as much as that anywhere to save my life, so are Apple just really screwing people on this? I love the MB's, the MBP is easily the most beautiful and flawless notebook computer I've ever used, but I want some sort of explanation as to why this memory upgrade is so expensive before my view of Apple as one of the best retaillers ever gets tainted.
I don't think it's Apple screwing people over (which would make a change), as most laptop motherboards only have space for 2 DIMMs I believe, which means that 8GB of installed RAM requires 4GB sticks, and these are incredibly expensive at the moment (especially in SO-DIMM form).
My bad DDR3 ones are around £220 Still paying 2 x the value. http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT51264BC1067&click=true
Yeah, that's cheaper than I thought but still horrendously expensive for what you're getting. If you go through Apple's UK Higher Education store it lists the 8GB upgrade as £680, so less, but still probably more than the cost of the parts depending on what supplier they choose, and let's face Apple aren't not alone in this regard, as Dell have been doing it for years.
Yes but let's face it, on a scale of 1 to 10, Dell are about a 3 and Apple are at about 20. No offence to Dell fans, but I spend half my time doing service work on Dell machines and they're shocking for the most part. Still can't believe it's going to cost about £700 to get 4GB more RAM in my new MBP. Anyone know if it's possible to do it yourself? Google will have the answer. I really want the SSD upgrade as well but the computer is too expensive as it is. For £1700 I could build myself another top of the range but stock looking Unicorn Systems rig EDIT: Would this void the warranty on a new MBP?
It might be possible to do it yourself, you'll have to see if the thing has a removable flap to allow RAM access. If it doesn't you'd have to take the case apart, voiding your warranty. I have to ask though, do you really need 8GB of RAM? Surely 4GB will be enough? It's not exactly a powerhouse anyway.
Here is an Apple knowledge-base topic on the matter http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1270 Scan also has a DDR3 1066 4GB stick http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4Gb-Hynix-Apple-Qualified-SODIMM-DDR3-1066-CL7
I think you're allowed to remove the cover and change the RAM without voiding the warranty. It wouldn't be in Apple's knowledge base if it was an activity that voided the warranty on an Apple product. I don't think I need 8GB of RAM in a laptop, no. 4GB will probably be plenty for any tasks I'll be performing on the laptop anyway. My intention is to get a 30" Apple cinema screen later in the year and run the laptop through that when I'm in the office, making it a desktop replacement setup. None of the tasks I do on my PC in the office at the moment can't be performed on the Mac OS and I even already own the Apple wireless keyboard and mouse for it Thanks, at least I know it's an option if I need it
LOL! Apple have ALWAYS charged completely ridiculous amounts for RAM upgrades. I've always gathered it's because they don't want you customizing that part ;-) Nah. Welcome to the real world mate. It's a matter of making you believe that "original apple ram" has been blessed by the fruit gods. I have the previous MBP 17" (non unibody) and upgraded the RAM myself a year or so ago and have never run into any problems. It's called monetizing on brand value mate
