Apple’s MacBook Pro memory problem is worse than ever::Apple still sells expensive “Pro” computers with just 8GB of RAM and charges a fortune for more.
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Then stop buying it.
Wish I could. I hate working on Macs, but it seems like half of my mission-critical programs at work are Mac exclusive for some reason. Apple really pushed the “we’re built for art and artists” thing, so there are a lot of programs in the fine arts world that are Mac exclusive. Digital art, music, live entertainment, etc are all wholly dependent on Macs, purely because the programs needed to make those things are Mac exclusive.
Look up what a “hackintosh” is. You’re welcome.
The base models (the air’s, not pro’s), should have shipped with 12-16GB standard, and the pro’s should have shipped with 16-24GB standard. I’d argue that a minimum of 24-32GB should really be the standard on something named a “pro” model.
Apple’s M-based laptops are really great - excellent display, best-in-class speakers, good keyboard, industry-leading trackpad…But 8GB of RAM for $1600? Get out of here.
Do they still solder the SSD?
Of course
Well that’s not very “green” coming from a company who stopped supplying customers with chargers “because of the environment.” When a hard drive craps out the only solution is to replace the entire board rather than a single part with an industry standard connector?
They disassemble those replacements and use them to create warranty parts. Apple is one of the few companies that actually does reduce and reuse first. Any parts that fail testing get recycled.
They desolder components and reuse them or they scrap old laptops and scavenge the good bits like the screen and keyboard? Assuming someone brings in a laptop with a bad hard drive, what components later get disassembled?
All of them. They have machines that strip down the components:
This article is about the iPhone robots but they also have machines that do this with Macs too. Every Apple device is made with recycled content but the majority of their components are reused in remanufactured warranty devices (remanufactured rather than refurbished because refurbished reuses existing whole components, remanufacturing breaks down components, tests them, and reuses them to create entirely new components from working parts).
Could just solder a new ssd no?
Removing individual soldered NAND chips directly connected to the motherboard, attaching new NAND chips, and somehow getting a working computer out the other end is so far beyond the abilities of most users that it’s not even funny.
It’s way beyond the skillset of even most computer repair specialists too.
In fact, in terms of “getting it working again” is concerned, anyone outside of an Apple assembly plant is unlikely to be much use.
Yes. There is no internal upgradable parts. I believe you can only replace the battery cells, the fans, and the mainboard (motherboard with soldered CPU/RAM(VRAM)/SSD, and all connected modules like the USB chipsets, audio chipset, etc.).
Replacing the motherboard triggers the screen drm and the screen gets all fucked up and won’t go to sleep.
32gb might have been “pro” 5 years ago but not anymore, not when a run of the mill 32gb DDR5 kit can be had for $100
Also, have in mind that main memory shared with igpu, so if we talking about memory heavy tasks like 8k video render with masks, effects and stuff, then this memory will be eaten not only by app, but also with gpu encoder. 64gb would be more close to “bearable minimum” but oh well, magic apple memory I guess.
Apple won’t even offer that for the 8GB models, the best you can do for those is pay $400 to get them with 24GB included.
And obviously everything is soldered and nothing is upgradeable.I meant as a base spec for a “pro” system.
yes, my opinion is that 32gb was the minimum spec for a “pro” system 5 years ago. Nowadays, if 32gb is actually enough as a minimum spec then you’re in “enthusiast” territory in my opinion, not “pro”. Perhaps that’s more telling about my standards as a PC enthusiast though, and about how far PC hardware has come
Disclaimer: I’m in no way trying to defend Apple here.
Saying that X amount of RAM (or any other component spec for that matter) is not enough for a “Pro” computer is not really a universal truth or something, you can’t compare people running multiple instances of Docker with people doing photo editing or web dev for example.
Either of those can be “Pros” within their field, their hardware requirements doesn’t make them professionals or enthusiasts. I know I’m being a bit tangential here, but arguing about the “correct” spec por a Pro computer has always irked me.
That being said, I agree it’s ridiculous that Apple is shipping $1K+ computers with merely 8GB of RAM. Also, it’s known that Apple’s “pro” devices most of the time just mean they’re just their most expensive tier. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Also, it’s known that Apple’s “pro” devices most of the time just mean they’re just their most expensive tier. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Your lack of knowledge shows. Everyone with at least 2 brain cells and capability to read can understand that this is just plain wrong.
Macbook pro for example has a CPU cooler inbuilt (first ever on a laptop BTW)
That part of my comment was a bit of an hyperbole tbh, but it’s also true that Apple just slaps the “Pro” moniker to their most expensive tier without always making them deserve it.
Before the iPhone 15 Pro series, there wasn’t really much “pro” in the Pro models. Same with the iPad Pro, sure they’re way nicer and higher end, but hardly anything “pro” about them.
And don’t get me started with the new baseline 14 inch MacBook Pro, with a regular M3 and 8GB of RAM.
Yeah I was just joking - since the MBA - MBP difference is basically that MBP has a cooling fan
People could rage about the memory cost all they want but as long as people keep buying the expensive upgrade, Apple wouldn’t give a fuck. Why would they voluntarily shut down the money hose?
Raging about it can stop people from buying it, so I say carry on.
That’s okay, because their 8GB is the same as 16GB on other machines. They are just that better. /s
I mean, I get why people don’t like it but at the same time, no one forces you to buy one. I like Macs, I enjoy using OS X and would use it as my primary OS. I don’t because I don’t find the value proposition of their hardware worth it.
Their loss, they have a market, they just aren’t interested in it.
I’m kinda of in the same boat.
My “main” computer is a M1 iPad at this point. It’s fast, and I can do all my day to day things on it. If I want to play games I do have a PC for that, but Windows isn’t that “pleasant” to use so I don’t spend much time with it beyond games.
I was reminded how much MacOS is just a pleasant experience a couple months ago when I found a sale for old mac minis. They had a 2014 model for $60. I put a new SSD in it, and I’m typing on that machine right now. It can get Monterey, but nothing newer. But that still lets me send texts, and the machine unlocks with my watch when I wake it up.
All that to say is: I’ve now been looking at buying a brand new Mac Mini, but the memory and hard drive charges are insane. They always have been, but it’s just ridiculous at this point.
You can look into this if you want to upgrade to a newer macOS.
Yeah. I use a MacBook for its build quality and being UNIX (cough Windows cough), plus some niceties like iCloud, but the RAM cost is insane.
I really do one want but can’t justify €1800-2000 for one or even €3500 if I actually get the one (14 inch screen).
I can get probably a better laptop or PC with lower costs. Plus I have been told that unfortunately MacBooks don’t do well with Excel (still sad about this).
MacBooks don’t do well with Excel
I’m curious about this. My past experience with Office 365 is that the apps works better on MacOS, but maybe it’s short on more advanced features, like complex macros?
11GB idling?? Maybe not as optimized as it seems…
That’s just cached memory. Pretty common practice for any modern OS to retain memory until 60% usage or so. Costs nothing and is snappier performance.
11GB idling is only after having done other things. When you launch it’ll be less than 2 in my experience.
Wow, people here hate Apple don’t they?
It’s fair if you’re a pro and need the latest new hardware. If not, like me, I got an 18mth old MBP for about a third of the new price. It’s incredible, best thing I ever did. And Apple don’t get my money!
The thing about used macbooks is that you don’t know if the drive is trashed. If the SSD dies, it will take the whole machine down, and you can’t even boot with an external drive because the “Bios” is stored on the SSD. So the machine is bricked.
Laughs in ThinkPad running Linux.
Cries in soldered RAM
That’s a trend that needs to die. I blame MacBook airs and ultrabooks for this nonsense.
Don’t buy Apple. As simple as that. You know when a company gives you the creeps? That’s how I feel about Apple.
I think what Apple has done with their M series of chips is actually incredible and very interesting. However actually purchasing their hardware is just out of the question when I’m just going to run a Linux distro on whatever I purchase.
I recently had the need for some apple hardware due to customer projects - and ended up buying an air with 16GB of RAM when it was available relatively cheaply.
The keyboard is shit - but keyboards are shit on pretty much any notebook nowadays unfortunately.
Both memory and storage are a problem - the rest is surprisingly nice. I also have a Windows arm notebook from HP, same 16 GB storage issue, but at least the SSD is user replacable.
We should get rid of 8GB base models in general - that’s pretty much what you’d expect in a phone nowadays, but not in a computer.
If you think the keyboard is shitty now, the keyboard is even shittier during the butterfly keyboard era. If you get a mac 5 years ago you’ll probably curse the keyboard daily. Their current keyboard is basically the best mac users can get in the past 8 years.
What don’t you like about the keyboard? It’s quiet, low profile, easy to type on quickly, lights up… not sure what else you’d want.
low profile
that is a problem
easy to type on quickly
not really, doesn’t have a clear pressure point, so leads to keys not registering surprisingly often. I also get pain in my hands if I’m working on it for several hours.
I only can do something like 70-80 WPM on that, on a proper keyboard I’m doing slightly above 100.
lights up
Don’t care about that.
Additionally half the useful keys (pgup/pgdown/end/home/insert/delete/…) are hidden behind FN combinations.
Try Linux won’t regret! But needs time like every new learning
nah, linux is too much for this people.
