Teardown of Retina MacBook Pro finds soldered RAM, proprietary SSD

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  • Reply 41 of 194
    applegreenapplegreen Posts: 421member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pjapk View Post


    Glad I went for the 16Gb option. Debated 8Gb until I saw the (comparitively to previous costs) cheaper upgrade option and went for it without knowing it was soldered on. Had I ordered the 8Gb and then found about the soldering I'd definitely have cancelled & reordered 16.


     


    I chose not to bother with SSD premium as I'd rather spend the £400 difference on Thunderbolt options (the seagate adapter rocks!) When it boils down to it, the difference between 512Gb & 768Gb is a couple of decent CF memory cards capacity only so I simply won't be storing huge amounts of data locally, only a "working set".



    Actually, Apple has lowered the RAM upgrade prices on the old-style 13 and 15 MBPs as well.  Upgrade to 8GB from 4GB is now $100.  It used to be $200.  The old-style MBP's can be upgraded to 16GB if you want, although Apple does not say that 16GB is supported and it is not a BTO option.

  • Reply 42 of 194
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member
    I'll have to go back and check but I assume the SSD is replaceable in the future as higher capacities arrive and priced fall?

    s4mb4 wrote: »
    i dont see that option in the pics above....

    The problem is that Apple Care only covers issues caused (during the performance of repairs) by Apple Authorized Service Providers. I see quite a few shops that aren't Apple Authorized Service Providers though which is unfortunate for the average consumer who may not know better. I should further add that Apple is not accepting applications for Apple Authorized Service Providers nor have they for some time. Essentially, Apple is cornering the market on Apple Authorized Service.

    I should further add that the Samsung SSD used in the MacBook Pro is proprietary although the controller is standard.

    The reduction in RAM prices from Apple is an excellent move. Thank you, Apple.
  • Reply 43 of 194
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    neo42 wrote: »
    Ouch, soldered ram.  I much prefer the 4 slots/32GB in my asus bricktop.

    And you are in the ittsy-bittsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka dot minority. Thank god Apple ignores this insignificant market of know-it-all tech wannabes who go on and on about this and that spec. I can't even imagine how bad a device designed by this crowd would be.
  • Reply 44 of 194
    doh123doh123 Posts: 323member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mcarling View Post


    When I predicted here that the next MacBook Pro would have RAM soldered directly onto the motherboard, no one believed me.  This means lower cost, higher reliability, better performance, and a more compact design.  All manufacturers will follow Apple's lead on this.



    really?  who was that.  I think it was a vast minority that thought they could make a macbook Air thin style Pro without having soldered in parts... you may think no one believed you, but you were in the majority.


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Neo42 View Post


     


    I put 32GB of DDR3 in my laptop for less than the cost of the 16GB upgrade for the RMBP.  If you want to look at 8gb as a "gift from apple due to lower prices", well then, enjoy the blinders.



    really, and your laptop is what... 4 or 5 times bigger than this thing?


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sleepy3 View Post


    EWWWWWWWWW


     


    SAMSUNG PARTS???!!!


     


    NOT GONNA BUY!!!



    You must not own any Macs... or most other brands of computers?  Samsung parts are in almost everything.


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Not sure about this ... but even if you waited till the last day of the 1 year coverage wouldn't the three years of the extended be dated from date of purchase still?


    its always 2 years added to the original 1 year.  The savings comes from the fact you keep the money in the bank and get some interest on it?  or just you get to keep the money in pocket for an extra year.  You do lose the 1 year of extra phone support you get when purchasing it within the first 90 days.

  • Reply 45 of 194
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,226member


    The 2013 Mac Pro will also have soldered RAM.

  • Reply 46 of 194
    lwslws Posts: 9member


    The view of the insides Apple put on their site and into their video is much more beautiful without all those labels an stuff.


    The SSD looks different in iFixits machine, maybe because of the 512 GB.


     


    See for comparison (mouse over):   http://thtouch.leberwurstsaft.de/mbp/

  • Reply 47 of 194
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member
    lkrupp wrote: »
    I can't even imagine how bad a device designed by this crowd would be.

    Come on, now. Don't be ridiculous. I have some of their paperweights and doorstops, exceptional although grossly overpriced. I should admit that I will probably just go outside and find a rock next time though. I can't imagine the market is huge since customer retention is exceptionally low.
  • Reply 48 of 194
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member


    I have purchased my last Macbook. RAM soldered onto the logic board with no way to upgrade later on? I guess I will buy a couple of refurbs or nice used systems for the near future.

  • Reply 49 of 194
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mausz View Post


    Cost : Why would it be lower ? Support/replacement is more expensive


    Reliability : Maybe, because you won't have badly seated ram, but wat happens when at QC you find a bad memory chip....


    Performance : No difference between soldered/non-soldered


    Compact design : The only plausible reasong in my opinion.



    Cost: will be lower because there are fewer parts and fewer assembly steps.


    Reliability: One QCs memory chips before soldering them to the motherboard.


    Performance: Future JEDEC specs will support higher bandwidth and lower latency ONLY for directly soldered RAM.


    Compact design: At least one out of four benefits was obvious.

  • Reply 50 of 194
    scartartscartart Posts: 201member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Neo42 View Post


     


    While I'd love to have one for the cool factor, I am having trouble understanding the practicality of retina display on a notebook.  Right now i'm sitting about 32" from a 17" 1920x1080 display and there's no way to see individual pixels.  It makes a little more sense for a phone or a tablet (since you hold those much closer to your eyes), not so much otherwise.  



     


    you normally sit much closer than that to a notebook, otherwise you can't type on it. People used to say the same thing about the 'new' iPhone 4 when it was announced, thought the 3GS screen was good enough.


     


    Aside from the pixel density, the biggest improvement is the screen is IPS so won't have the contrast/colour shift issues of the existing MBP screens.

  • Reply 51 of 194
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member


    Apple now has the power to go proprietary, and consumers will back them all the way. 

  • Reply 52 of 194
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Not sure about this ... but even if you waited till the last day of the 1 year coverage wouldn't the three years of the extended be dated from date of purchase still?


    That used to be the case with the iPhone and iPad. How long until Apple requires the purchase of AppleCare for their computers within the first 30 days of purchase? I give it a year.

  • Reply 53 of 194
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    davesmall wrote: »
    Moral of the story: Get AppleCare if you're going to keep the laptop beyond the one year warranty period. You can wait until the year is almost up to purchase AppleCare. There isn't any real benefit to buying it when you buy the Mac.

    Last I checked you get one call to Apple Care in the first thirty days and then they charge or phone support. With Apple Care you get all you need/want for free. For one that is reason enough to buy right away
  • Reply 54 of 194
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    lamewing wrote: »
    That used to be the case with the iPhone and iPad. How long until Apple requires the purchase of AppleCare for their computers within the first 30 days of purchase? I give it a year.

    If they decide to put some kind of damage coverage in there, they will reduce the time. But I don't see them doing that any time soon
  • Reply 55 of 194
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member


    My question is do the NON-Retina Display Macbooks (new 2012 Models) have upgradeable RAM or do they also have the RAM soldered to the mobo?

  • Reply 56 of 194


    I'm sticking with my 2011 MacBook Pro for right now for several reasons:


     


    1 - Lack of app support for the Retina Display - This will obviously increase over time, but there's no point in rushing out to buy the latest and the greatest if there's little support (unless you're a media professional using Aperture or Final Cut).


     


    2 - Retina will be included with more models in future updates - I'd like to have the choice to get a 13" Retina Display model, or an Air with a Retina Display.


     


    3 - Spensive - Hopefully the 13" models mentioned previously will lead to lower prices.


     


    4 - Current "legacy" MBP models still have the same form factor, so I don't feel like I'm behind the times too much. 


     


    :)


     


    Love,


     


    Tom

  • Reply 57 of 194

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    My question is do the NON-Retina Display Macbooks (new 2012 Models) have upgradeable RAM or do they also have the RAM soldered to the mobo?



     


     


    Legacy MBP models still allow upgradeable RAM.  Up to 16 GB, I believe...

  • Reply 58 of 194
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    ttollerton wrote: »
    Legacy MBP models still allow upgradeable RAM.  Up to 16 GB, I believe...

    The new Ivy Bridge ones should allow 32GB.
  • Reply 59 of 194
    zachb10zachb10 Posts: 59member


    Eh.  No thanks.  I'll go ahead with one of the new 15" models with the anti-glare display.  I like my 2011 model, but the 2012 with the better GPU / USB 3 is worth it.  Gaining retina display isn't really worth the loss of being able to upgrade my laptop as I see fit.

  • Reply 60 of 194
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ttollerton View Post


     


     


    Legacy MBP models still allow upgradeable RAM.  Up to 16 GB, I believe...



    Then I might sell my 2011 and upgrade to the 2012...before Apple redesigns it as well...:/

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