Apple doubles memory upgrade cost for entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro [u]
Apple has made it more expensive for customers to upgrade the memory on the 13-inch MacBook Pro, with the price of the option doubled on the entry-level model as part of a change quietly made on Saturday.
On Friday, buyers of the entry-level model of the refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro were able to upgrade the memory on the device from 8 gigabytes to 16 gigabytes for $100. In an update first spotted by Reddit users on Saturday, the cost of the upgrade has gone up to $200.
The change in pricing is not just limited to standard customers in the United States, as the Education Store pricing for the same upgrade has also increased from $90 to $180. Customers in other countries are also affected, with UK customers now paying 200 for the upgrade instead of 100, and in Canada the same upgrade has increased to $250.
Apple has previously made adjustments to pricing of its products and upgrade options, altering them based on fluctuations in exchange rates and of the components themselves. The pricing can go down as well as up, such as in the SSD upgrade price drops observed in July 2019.
At this time, it seems that only the entry-level model of Apple's MacBook Pro is being affected by price changes. Given it uses different memory from the unaffected higher-specification variants, it is probable that Apple is altering the price due to the high demand for that particular type of memory.
For the best MacBook Pro deals, be sure to visit the AppleInsider Mac Price Guide where shoppers can save up to $250 on the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro, plus $70 off AppleCare.
Update: In a statement to The Verge on June 1, Apple claimed that the price change is actually a price "correction" meant to bring RAM upgrades on the 13-inch MacBook Pro in-line with those on other Macs. The company added that it will honor pricing for customers who purchased RAM upgrades prior to the change.
On Friday, buyers of the entry-level model of the refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro were able to upgrade the memory on the device from 8 gigabytes to 16 gigabytes for $100. In an update first spotted by Reddit users on Saturday, the cost of the upgrade has gone up to $200.
The change in pricing is not just limited to standard customers in the United States, as the Education Store pricing for the same upgrade has also increased from $90 to $180. Customers in other countries are also affected, with UK customers now paying 200 for the upgrade instead of 100, and in Canada the same upgrade has increased to $250.
Apple has previously made adjustments to pricing of its products and upgrade options, altering them based on fluctuations in exchange rates and of the components themselves. The pricing can go down as well as up, such as in the SSD upgrade price drops observed in July 2019.
At this time, it seems that only the entry-level model of Apple's MacBook Pro is being affected by price changes. Given it uses different memory from the unaffected higher-specification variants, it is probable that Apple is altering the price due to the high demand for that particular type of memory.
For the best MacBook Pro deals, be sure to visit the AppleInsider Mac Price Guide where shoppers can save up to $250 on the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro, plus $70 off AppleCare.
Update: In a statement to The Verge on June 1, Apple claimed that the price change is actually a price "correction" meant to bring RAM upgrades on the 13-inch MacBook Pro in-line with those on other Macs. The company added that it will honor pricing for customers who purchased RAM upgrades prior to the change.
Comments
Here's the XPS 13's upgrade costs for comparison:
But surely Apple isn't ripping us off because the MBP runs macOS, right?
The other possibility is that their original pricing was simply wrong and once their purchasing and sales analytics machinery kicked into high gear and the data started rolling in they realized their mistake and fixed it. Yeah, fixing it for them kind of un-fixed it for customers, but that's how profitable businesses work.
Comparing Apple to Dell in this area isn't really a valid comparison because Apple does not engage in the multitude of silly games that Dell engages in. Some of the product configurations that Dell pushes through promotions are really crap, with low resolution screens that harken back to the early 2000s, to cheap plastic builds and disposable Chromebooks, to making you pay for Windows 10 Pro rather than Home. Dell can lowball some upgrades because they can regain the profit elsewhere, like selling you a crap WiFi adapter, 3 hours battery life, sub-HD screen, and loading up you new machine with all manner of Crapware, like McAfee AV, that you cannot delete from the build.
Apple doesn't have the broad range of products at various price points that Dell has. This means that Apple doesn't have a lot of levers to pull to manipulate buying behaviors and move profits around from one product to another. Buying from Apple is a straight-up deal with no used-car salesmanship BS going on. I vastly prefer to buy something using Apple's straight deal sales model than having to wade through a bunch of BS both up-front and after delivery, like figuring out how to scrub all the crapware off a brand new machine or pay to upgrade the operating system to minimal acceptable configuration. Too often, the hundred bucks you saved through Dell assumes your time and effort is worth nothing, and that's even before you run into driver problems or have to call tech support.
In one of the original threads on the new model I actually commented on how good the RAM upgrade was. I think it was 50€ (I can't find that comment now) but the new pricing is 250€.
That stings.
BTO options are never a good value. The best approach is to look for the best configuration that is available from a vendor. On the Appleinsider price guide you can either get 8GB/256 SSD for 1225 or 16GB/512 SSD for 1499 from Adorama. Paying the extra 250 for double ram and double SSD is worth it.
...yes, it would be yet another $100, but then not only do you get the 16GB/512GB SSD, you also get the faster, 10th gen CPU and four TB ports.
Even before the RAM price increase, AI was recommending the higher spec version:
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/05/21/review-the-13-inch-macbook-pro-with-10th-generation-processors-is-the-one-to-buy