One of the most absurd things Apple has ever done...

bodhibodhi
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I received a 12" PB for a client last night. I open it up and begin setting it up for him. I decide to go in ASP to see what brand HD he has and low and behold:



The new 12" Powerbooks ship with 256MB of RAM...which are TWO 128 CHIPS, ONE BEING SOLDERED ON THE MB <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[surprised]" />



I realize that one would have been soldered but I find this to be the most petty cheap ass thing Apple has ever done, why didn't they just solder 256 on the MB? I mean for anyone to upgrade the ram they are stuck with a 128 chip...christ, just ship it with 128 and make it cheaper.



Sorry...I just found that to be the most ridiculous thing I have seen Apple do in a long while.



<img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Yeah, and 640 is the max for the same reason. They've been doing the same with the iBook for quite some time. What's particularly stupid about it with the 12" PowerBook is that you can't even buy it with 128MB of RAM. They ought to just solder 256 in there to begin with.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Exactly my problem too. Hell solder 512MB.



    I hope when the 1GB DDR SoDIMM modules come out, they will be supported.
  • Reply 3 of 47
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    I agree. It is the stupidest thing I've heard of in a long time. I mean it's "for real" stupid, not just a gripe stupid. WTF am I supposed to do with this 128 chip? Everyone who has a 12" powerbook has one, so it's completely useless. I can't even sell it. At least the 512 I put in to replace it wasn't too expensive.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    It really is pathetic.



    I guess you could sell it to a new 1GHz iMac owner who has an empty slot that will hold it... to bump their memory to a mind-blowing 384 MB. :/



    Or hey, you could BTO a 512 in there from Apple... I wonder if they thought of that...



  • Reply 5 of 47
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    When I upgraded my iBook from 256 to 640, I just slapped the extra stick in my Titanium PowerBook.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    bodhibodhi Posts: 1,424member
    But this is DDR ram...
  • Reply 7 of 47
    mimacmimac Posts: 872member
    Sh!t.. I realise that just about every company "cuts a few corners" to save on production costs abeit without much detriment to the final product, but I can't understand Apple (for which one of their main product selling points is build quality) producing a cheap ass solution inside one of their most coveted machines :eek:



    Exactly how much in $$$s are they actually saving doing this given that RAM is pretty cheap at the moment?
  • Reply 8 of 47
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    [quote]Originally posted by Bodhi:

    <strong>But this is DDR ram...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well.... ****!
  • Reply 9 of 47
    frostymmbfrostymmb Posts: 131member
    Such anger for such a petty thing. As mentioned before, this is also the state of the iBook, and has been since it's introduction (the white iBooks). So it's nothing new. I wouldn't call it the most absurd thing apple has ever done (that title is reserved for charging for .Mac), and it doesn't anger me, but I agree that it should be 256 soldered on with the slot open. It's a waste to put that 128 in the slot when everybody replaces it, and who will you sell it too? This sort of thing sure doesn't belong in a Pro machine.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    Let's see.



    640 - 512 = 128



    Yep. 128 is soldered to the board. Did this really need a thread?



    Apple infomercial is the most absurd thing Apple has ever done.
  • Reply 11 of 47
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    The anger is more over the fact that they stick you with a useless 128 MB chip, not the soldered-on 128.



    If you want to up the RAM, you're stuck with an expensive drink stirrer.
  • Reply 12 of 47
    objra10objra10 Posts: 679member
    serrano..

    yeah you seem to be missing the point. like murbot said.. why even include the second 128, or at least offer the option of not having it in there since it's just going to get thrown away anyway!
  • Reply 13 of 47
    ir0nmanir0nman Posts: 1member
    Probably because they're overstocked. I guess Apple bought tons of 128MB sticks a couple of year ago when they thought it would be standard for some years. It seems they were wrong



    it's that or they are just ****ing stupid <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 14 of 47
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    [quote]Originally posted by murbot:

    <strong>The anger is more over the fact that they stick you with a useless 128 MB chip, not the soldered-on 128.



    If you want to up the RAM, you're stuck with an expensive drink stirrer.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I see now, I still vote for Apple infomercial.



  • Reply 15 of 47
    icruiseicruise Posts: 127member
    [quote]Originally posted by IR0NMAN:

    <strong>Probably because they're overstocked. I guess Apple bought tons of 128MB sticks a couple of year ago when they thought it would be standard for some years. It seems they were wrong



    it's that or they are just ****ing stupid <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>



    They bought tons of 128MB DDR RAM years ago? Impressive, since no mac laptops used DDR until the new Aluminum models.



    I agree it is dumb, but I ordered mine from Apple to get the hard drive upgrade and superdrive, so I just had them install the memory at the same time. Didn't have to throw anything away.



    [ 02-14-2003: Message edited by: icruise ]</p>
  • Reply 16 of 47
    agent69agent69 Posts: 88member
    I just want to point out the max supported may actually be higher. According to Apple's 12" PB technote, it could support a 1GB stick of memory if someone was to manufacture such a beast.
  • Reply 17 of 47
    i-bent-my-wookiei-bent-my-wookie Posts: 326member
    Dont mind me saying most crappy laptops in the wintel world are exactly like that, if they are upgradeable at all (some really crappy ones arent). Only the better laptops have two fully accessable sodimm slots.
  • Reply 18 of 47
    cosmocosmo Posts: 662member
    My confusion comes with the fact that a consumer machine (the imac) has the capacity to hold more ram than a pro machine (the 12" Al)



    I'm sure rev. B 12" will have 2 fully accessable slots. and if the timing is right hopefully i will be the owner of one such machine :cool:
  • Reply 19 of 47
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    Jeeze, people. Just sell the 128 to someone with one of the new iMacs.
  • Reply 20 of 47
    frostymmbfrostymmb Posts: 131member
    [quote] My confusion comes with the fact that a consumer machine (the imac) has the capacity to hold more ram than a pro machine (the 12" Al)



    I'm sure rev. B 12" will have 2 fully accessable slots. and if the timing is right hopefully i will be the owner of one such machine <hr></blockquote>



    Where's the confusion? The iMac isn't packing all the internals into a tiny rectangular enclosure. There's room in the dome of the iMac and room on the motherboard for more than one slot. Not the case for the PowerBook. I disagree with the certainty you have that the next revision will add another slot. Extremely unlikely; this would require a new motherboard and some serious reworkings of the arrangment of the components, among other issues.



    [ 02-15-2003: Message edited by: FrostyMMB ]</p>
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