Fair enough but Apple is not just selling you the RAM they are installing and presumably testing it as well.
Not a big deal, especially if it is being done in the assembly line.
I doubt it's anywhere nearly that expensive to test or upgrade memory, especially give that the cost difference is enough for more than an entire ipod nano.
I don't doubt that there are those that will pay it, but I really don't think they are getting their money's worth on the upgrade.
I try to picture the lazy/slow witted/gullible/fearful/overpaid users who think it is a good idea for Apple to install simple upgrades for them.
I think it's a great idea for a large majority of the Mac community. Not for me or people on this forum, but for the time poor/non-technical users who would rather have the encompassing warranty of the Apple factory install than having to save a $100 buying looking on online for a cheap electronics seller, then either reading countless reviews or just making a purchase without knowing the quality or legitimacy of the online store when they give their CC info over, and then figuring out how to install it correctly. What may be the right for you and me isn't necessarily the right choice for everyone.
I doubt it's anywhere nearly that expensive to test or upgrade memory, especially give that the cost difference is enough for more than an entire ipod nano.
I don't doubt that there are those that will pay it, but I really don't think they are getting their money's worth on the upgrade.
Anyone care to do a cross comparison to what Dell charges for their "upgrades?
I always have trouble getting onto their US website, it redirects to the local one.
This is one point PC users do win. Apple does gouge on extras. In Australia it goes well beyond just gouging, it eviscerates.
That doesn't give you the price for the SODIMMS though.
I too thought the line at the bottom of the story was a bit silly:
More reasonable being in terms of previous pricing and not in comparison to what you might be able to buy the same kind of memory from what might be the same supplier. As it is, the Apple upgrade price is still 3x that of buying the memory upgrade outright.
More like 7x. I just bought a 2GB module for an iMac for $33 from Newegg. Shipping was a couple of dollars.
I think it was a mistake to not add a Blu ray reader. In a year's time, not having a Blu ray reader will be like not having a DVD reader today. i.e. a major problem.
I don't think so. Blu-ray is still a footnote to DVD and the cost os still too high. There are still some technological changes that have to happen on the Mac platform before Blu-ray can be added across the line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KernalROM
I guess Apple does keep it's employees in the dark...
Every now and then you'll meet an Apple Store sales clerk who reads these forums, but not often. They, like most people, are not technical and have lives that don't revolve around the latest tech releases. They certainly wouldn't be the fist place I'd look for rumours.
Peace of mind is a powerful selling point. So is simplicity.
If someone thinks that $800/hr is a good rate to pay for that, then so be it. I know some people are really bad and might ruin more than that in an hour, but it's not that hard. I think the instructions are even in the manual.
Australian/US prices (Both ex tax US$ @ A$ = conservative US $0.93.5. The A$ has reached US $0.95.6 last week which should make Australian prices 2.2% cheaper again)
Model / Aus Price / USA Price / Markup
24" 3.0Ghz / US$ 2,915.90 / US$ 1,999.00 / 45.9%
Am I missing something here?
The base price for a 24" 3Ghz in the US is $2199. The listed price in Australia is $2726 ($2554 US)
Is there not a 5% (Australian) custom tariff on goods over $1000 plus shipping and insurance included in the list price? If so, the difference drops from $255 US to $30 ($110 customs plus shipping and insurance $110) The GST is extra.
• Lower power usage (not a big selling point in a desktop)
• Smaller chip and subsequent MoBo
• Blu-ray HDCP support on chip
• Can use Integrated GPU for Blu-ray playback
• Robson 2.0 (2nd version of Turbo memory)
• DDR3 Ram
• Intel GMA X4500 (3 versions)
Is that correct?
So, to all the people cursing Apple for not releasing the Santa Rosa/Penryn iMac. is this a welcome upgrade that Apple jumped to Montevina/Penryn before Intel even officially releases the chip? Or is there other things ot complain about?
Anyone care to do a cross comparison to what Dell charges for their "upgrades?
Dell currently charges $50 per additional GB of RAM.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
If someone thinks that $800/hr is a good rate to pay for that, then so be it.
Where do you get $800/hr? It's $100 per GB which is a huge time saver, keeps the average person from getting screwed on price by the average online website, and gives then them the peace of mind of an encompassing warranty.
You don't seem to understand that the average person doesn't know the RAM from the HDD from the CPU. If I were to walk into any computer repair/upgrade shop I will be paying about the same and perhaps more money than Apple charges for the RAM upgrade.... and I'd have to physically bring the machine in, which is a chore.
I don't take my cars to auto repair shops because I can do the work myself. I also don't need warranties and thus don't waste money on new cars because I can do the work myself. That isn't a luxury most people have because most people know how to drive cars but haven't a clue about them past filling up the gas tank. And the technical people on this forum does not represent thea average Mac user, especially since it's popularity has increased.
This, short of the uber Nehalem release of early '09 is the one for me.
I'm buying this. 8+ years. I've had enough wit the waiting.
It's got the psychological 3 gig.
And.
It's got the 512 meg card. Just shy of the GT's performance. I'll take that bet...
I guess 'heat' or 'cheapo' reasons came to the fore...re not the GT. But hey, the GS is offering twice + the bench of the Pro. So. No arguments there.
But...having looked at the benches...it's not a bad card at all. Well, in a 1 and a half inch closure. That aint too bad.
And a 24 inch screen. Take that away. - £400 and you've got a £900 PC. Dual core 3 gig. 512 megs gpu card. 2 gigs of ram and a 1/2 terra byte HD. That'll do. How much porn can you store on yer HD anyhow? :I
You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal at PC World...
Yep. As long as I can do my pre-vis and play a game of City of Heroes in Boot Camp...
Yeah.
I'm off to Gordy's...
Lemon Bon Bon.
You're really doing it LBB? I never thought I'd see the day! If so, congratulations
YES THEY ARE. Intel is once again giving Apple special preference and giving them the chip not just before everyone else, but also before the official release date scheduled for next month. It's a good time to be a Mac user.
PS: Any assistance on the model number for the 2.66 GHz chip would be great.
PPS: Anyone still think Apple is going to dump Intel for P.A. Semi made PPCs?
That's what it looks like. It's also why I keep saying that we may see Nehalem announced at the ADC for the Mac Pro. I do hope so!
I think that this would be the third time Intel has done this for Apple.
Griffin or some other third party company should create a matching hood and anti-glare film for the iMac to reduce glare from lights and make it more usable by graphics professionals.
Power Support and Photodon offer anti-glare films that can be quickly added or removed to suit the situation.
Yes, for a start you have the conversion around the wrong way, you divide by 0.935.
Quote:
The base price for a 24" 3Ghz in the US is $2199. The listed price in Australia is $2726 ($2554 US)
Is there not a 5% (Australian) custom tariff on goods over $1000 plus shipping and insurance included in the list price? If so, the difference drops from $255 US to $30 ($110 customs plus shipping and insurance $110) The GST is extra.
There is an Australian/USA Free trade agreement in place. To my knowledge there is no customs tariff.
As the goods are ex China and Australian ports are closer to Chinese ports than even the US west coast, I fail to see where there are extra costs involved.
There will be insurance on USA shipments as well so your calculation is double dipping.
The GST has been removed from the calculation to square up the comparison, as the US Apple site does not include USA taxes.
If there is a pro-rata extra cost in freight and insurance that does not explain the radically different price markups for the higher end products and extras. Freight actually wouldn't vary as in most cases the weight of different RAM or HD would not change and the box is the same size.
This is Apple charging whatever it feels it can get away with and shifting profits away from Australia and back to the USA head office. Our previous government was complicit in writing soft laws that prevent parallel or grey marketing of imports to prevent this sort of exploitation.
The so called FTA with the States has opened us up to the kind of abuse that Canada has suffered, where our competitive products are blocked in the US market, whilst the USA does whatever it wants in ours.
This has nothing to do with the engineers. It's a decision made at the top management level? Jobs and Ives.
For most consumers glossy is the best option. Consumers are more likely to watch movies, etc than anything else on their computers. Also, unlike laptops, you wont be lugging your imac out in the sun anytime soon, so there really is no incentive for the additional complexity of adding a matte screen option.
On the other hand, professional designers, or people in graphic related jobs cannot buy the imac. But that is what the mac PRO is for...
In sum, I think its a reasonable decision to offer the matte option on the macbook pro and allow people to attach a monitor of their choosing to the mac pro, and leave the consumer options all glossy.
Comments
Fair enough but Apple is not just selling you the RAM they are installing and presumably testing it as well.
Not a big deal, especially if it is being done in the assembly line.
I doubt it's anywhere nearly that expensive to test or upgrade memory, especially give that the cost difference is enough for more than an entire ipod nano.
I don't doubt that there are those that will pay it, but I really don't think they are getting their money's worth on the upgrade.
I try to picture the lazy/slow witted/gullible/fearful/overpaid users who think it is a good idea for Apple to install simple upgrades for them.
I think it's a great idea for a large majority of the Mac community. Not for me or people on this forum, but for the time poor/non-technical users who would rather have the encompassing warranty of the Apple factory install than having to save a $100 buying looking on online for a cheap electronics seller, then either reading countless reviews or just making a purchase without knowing the quality or legitimacy of the online store when they give their CC info over, and then figuring out how to install it correctly. What may be the right for you and me isn't necessarily the right choice for everyone.
I don't doubt that there are those that will pay it, but I really don't think they are getting their money's worth on the upgrade.
Peace of mind is a powerful selling point. So is simplicity.
I doubt it's anywhere nearly that expensive to test or upgrade memory, especially give that the cost difference is enough for more than an entire ipod nano.
I don't doubt that there are those that will pay it, but I really don't think they are getting their money's worth on the upgrade.
Anyone care to do a cross comparison to what Dell charges for their "upgrades?
I always have trouble getting onto their US website, it redirects to the local one.
This is one point PC users do win. Apple does gouge on extras. In Australia it goes well beyond just gouging, it eviscerates.
That doesn't give you the price for the SODIMMS though.
I too thought the line at the bottom of the story was a bit silly:
More reasonable being in terms of previous pricing and not in comparison to what you might be able to buy the same kind of memory from what might be the same supplier. As it is, the Apple upgrade price is still 3x that of buying the memory upgrade outright.
More like 7x. I just bought a 2GB module for an iMac for $33 from Newegg. Shipping was a couple of dollars.
I think it was a mistake to not add a Blu ray reader. In a year's time, not having a Blu ray reader will be like not having a DVD reader today. i.e. a major problem.
I don't think so. Blu-ray is still a footnote to DVD and the cost os still too high. There are still some technological changes that have to happen on the Mac platform before Blu-ray can be added across the line.
I guess Apple does keep it's employees in the dark...
Every now and then you'll meet an Apple Store sales clerk who reads these forums, but not often. They, like most people, are not technical and have lives that don't revolve around the latest tech releases. They certainly wouldn't be the fist place I'd look for rumours.
Peace of mind is a powerful selling point. So is simplicity.
If someone thinks that $800/hr is a good rate to pay for that, then so be it. I know some people are really bad and might ruin more than that in an hour, but it's not that hard. I think the instructions are even in the manual.
Australian/US prices (Both ex tax US$ @ A$ = conservative US $0.93.5. The A$ has reached US $0.95.6 last week which should make Australian prices 2.2% cheaper again)
Model / Aus Price / USA Price / Markup
24" 3.0Ghz / US$ 2,915.90 / US$ 1,999.00 / 45.9%
Am I missing something here?
The base price for a 24" 3Ghz in the US is $2199. The listed price in Australia is $2726 ($2554 US)
Is there not a 5% (Australian) custom tariff on goods over $1000 plus shipping and insurance included in the list price? If so, the difference drops from $255 US to $30 ($110 customs plus shipping and insurance $110) The GST is extra.
No glossy/matte screen choice. Customer feedback not reaching engineers.
This has nothing to do with the engineers. It's a decision made at the top management level? Jobs and Ives.
So, to all the people cursing Apple for not releasing the Santa Rosa/Penryn iMac. is this a welcome upgrade that Apple jumped to Montevina/Penryn before Intel even officially releases the chip? Or is there other things ot complain about?
Anyone care to do a cross comparison to what Dell charges for their "upgrades?
Dell currently charges $50 per additional GB of RAM.
If someone thinks that $800/hr is a good rate to pay for that, then so be it.
Where do you get $800/hr? It's $100 per GB which is a huge time saver, keeps the average person from getting screwed on price by the average online website, and gives then them the peace of mind of an encompassing warranty.
You don't seem to understand that the average person doesn't know the RAM from the HDD from the CPU. If I were to walk into any computer repair/upgrade shop I will be paying about the same and perhaps more money than Apple charges for the RAM upgrade.... and I'd have to physically bring the machine in, which is a chore.
I don't take my cars to auto repair shops because I can do the work myself. I also don't need warranties and thus don't waste money on new cars because I can do the work myself. That isn't a luxury most people have because most people know how to drive cars but haven't a clue about them past filling up the gas tank. And the technical people on this forum does not represent thea average Mac user, especially since it's popularity has increased.
This, short of the uber Nehalem release of early '09 is the one for me.
I'm buying this. 8+ years. I've had enough wit the waiting.
It's got the psychological 3 gig.
And.
It's got the 512 meg card. Just shy of the GT's performance. I'll take that bet...
I guess 'heat' or 'cheapo' reasons came to the fore...re not the GT. But hey, the GS is offering twice + the bench of the Pro. So. No arguments there.
But...having looked at the benches...it's not a bad card at all. Well, in a 1 and a half inch closure. That aint too bad.
And a 24 inch screen. Take that away. - £400 and you've got a £900 PC. Dual core 3 gig. 512 megs gpu card. 2 gigs of ram and a 1/2 terra byte HD. That'll do. How much porn can you store on yer HD anyhow? :I
You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal at PC World...
Yep. As long as I can do my pre-vis and play a game of City of Heroes in Boot Camp...
Yeah.
I'm off to Gordy's...
Lemon Bon Bon.
You're really doing it LBB? I never thought I'd see the day! If so, congratulations
YES THEY ARE. Intel is once again giving Apple special preference and giving them the chip not just before everyone else, but also before the official release date scheduled for next month. It's a good time to be a Mac user.
PS: Any assistance on the model number for the 2.66 GHz chip would be great.
PPS: Anyone still think Apple is going to dump Intel for P.A. Semi made PPCs?
That's what it looks like. It's also why I keep saying that we may see Nehalem announced at the ADC for the Mac Pro. I do hope so!
I think that this would be the third time Intel has done this for Apple.
Griffin or some other third party company should create a matching hood and anti-glare film for the iMac to reduce glare from lights and make it more usable by graphics professionals.
Power Support and Photodon offer anti-glare films that can be quickly added or removed to suit the situation.
You're preaching to the choir there.
But I'll let Mel come by and explain himself.
I didn't see anything to indicate that the display has been upgraded, and if not, we still get the uneven lighting and color across the screen.
Quick, somebody go buy a 24" model, and tell me that the problem is gone!
Maybe they are giving Apple pre-release chips so that Mac users can help them debug the chips?
Very funny.
Am I missing something here?
Yes, for a start you have the conversion around the wrong way, you divide by 0.935.
The base price for a 24" 3Ghz in the US is $2199. The listed price in Australia is $2726 ($2554 US)
Is there not a 5% (Australian) custom tariff on goods over $1000 plus shipping and insurance included in the list price? If so, the difference drops from $255 US to $30 ($110 customs plus shipping and insurance $110) The GST is extra.
There is an Australian/USA Free trade agreement in place. To my knowledge there is no customs tariff.
As the goods are ex China and Australian ports are closer to Chinese ports than even the US west coast, I fail to see where there are extra costs involved.
There will be insurance on USA shipments as well so your calculation is double dipping.
The GST has been removed from the calculation to square up the comparison, as the US Apple site does not include USA taxes.
If there is a pro-rata extra cost in freight and insurance that does not explain the radically different price markups for the higher end products and extras. Freight actually wouldn't vary as in most cases the weight of different RAM or HD would not change and the box is the same size.
This is Apple charging whatever it feels it can get away with and shifting profits away from Australia and back to the USA head office. Our previous government was complicit in writing soft laws that prevent parallel or grey marketing of imports to prevent this sort of exploitation.
The so called FTA with the States has opened us up to the kind of abuse that Canada has suffered, where our competitive products are blocked in the US market, whilst the USA does whatever it wants in ours.
With friends like this...
Bring on the 3.06 GHz, 750GB HD, nVidia 8800 Mini and I will remodel the bedroom to make room for the Bravia!
And oh yeah, a better yen exchange rate too please.
OOO.. sounds so nice .. might do one myself ,, great idea
This has nothing to do with the engineers. It's a decision made at the top management level? Jobs and Ives.
For most consumers glossy is the best option. Consumers are more likely to watch movies, etc than anything else on their computers. Also, unlike laptops, you wont be lugging your imac out in the sun anytime soon, so there really is no incentive for the additional complexity of adding a matte screen option.
On the other hand, professional designers, or people in graphic related jobs cannot buy the imac. But that is what the mac PRO is for...
In sum, I think its a reasonable decision to offer the matte option on the macbook pro and allow people to attach a monitor of their choosing to the mac pro, and leave the consumer options all glossy.