Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

ichilton.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 319 posts

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#241

Post by mironathetin »

freyrs3 wrote: post #219
mironathetin wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sorry but stuff like this is just pandering to consumerism if it is disposable by design." You are kind of right. We use our 7 year old G4 Powerbook with the 4th battery. Its a pity that there is no real operating system available for a Thinkpad.

> Its a pity that there is no real operating system available for a Thinkpad. What would constitute a real operating system? Last time I checked Windows/Linux/BSD are very much real operating systems.

"What would constitute a real operating system? "

If you want to know my most important point:

backup and play back (bootable) EASILY.

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#242

Post by kamaal »

tsieling wrote: post #217
kamaal wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not elitism. Apple is trying very hard to convert a computer into a washing machine. Which is, giving it a specific use, like a TV or a refrigerator and tightly controlling everything behind that use.

Yeah a washing machine that edits videos, keeps all my stuff together and makes it easy to use. Why don't we just accept that the general purpose, let the user figure it out approach is dead in the water. People are voting with their dollars and they're saying they've had enough of tech that feels like tech. The paradigm changed, we're no longer kings when mom's printer driver is out of date, and it's time to grow up…

Washing machine is general enough for its tasks too. A washing machine can wash nearly all kind of clothes. A refrigerator can preserve anything that needs freezing. The defining characteristics of those machines is companies telling me not to worry anything beyond the knobs and dials. And I don't want to worry anything beyond the knobs and dials.

But no way in the world would I like to throwaway a washing machine if something small went wrong inside it. That's where the tinkering part comes to play. I don't mind the knobs and dials, but claiming that not having user serviceable parts is not a requisite of usability gets really very difficult to believe in.

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#243

Post by [deleted] »

eli wrote: post #130
polshaw wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting an 8GB DDR3 module of laptop RAM is $50. A pretty healthy 300% mark up.

Well, that's not fair. They aren't charging you for an extra 8GB module, they are replacing your 8GB module with a 16GB module. What's the price difference between a single 8GB stick and a single 16GB stick?

[deleted]

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#244

Post by BitMastro »

mironathetin wrote: post #233
BitMastro wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious: what language do you working with? Are you using as IDE (if you are using one)?

java, jython (90% of the time), C, C++, python, Netbeans, some use Eclipse (cough), emacs, bbedit, vim

Thanks!

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#245

Post by jonknee »

baby wrote: post #235
jonknee wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I read somewhere that it weighed almost as much as a macbook air. You read some bullshit then, it's not even close to the Air in terms of weight. 4.46 pounds for the Retina and 2.38-2.96 pounds for the Air (11 or 13")

4.46 pounds = 2.02302197 kilogram 2.96 pounds = 1.34263342 kilograms 700 g difference. It's pretty close. My guess is you might have a hard time telling which is more heavy if you blind your eyes and weigh one in each hand.

Unless you have a handicap you would be able to tell instantly. It's a huge weight difference--the MBP Retina is 50% heavier than the heaviest MBA. That's the additional weight of an iPad sitting on the MBA.

The weight difference between the iPad 2 and the new iPad is quite noticeable and it's just 51 grams. The difference between these laptops is 14 times that.

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#246

Post by da_n »

gouranga wrote: post #84

Sorry but you have got to be a fucking idiot to buy one to be honest if that is the case. Apple are making an attempt to turn generic computers into disposable appliances with moves like these. I would never accept a compromise like that with a computer that I owned. My rationale is as follows: If I pay £1800 for one of those machines, I expect to be able to repair common problems easily. That's a lot of money sittin…

"Sorry but you have got to be a fucking idiot to buy one to be honest if that is the case."

This is just technology marching on, it is cutting edge engineering and manufacturing and Apple care is next to none in the industry. To call a person buying this a fucking idiot is akin to an old timer smacking down the youngsters about modern TV's because you can no longer swap out the valve tubes.

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#247

Post by kamaal »

51Cards wrote: post #230
drbawb wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that many premium cars have exactly this mentality surrounding them? Audis are notoriously difficult to work on, as were Saab's, and good luck finding somebody certified to service a Porsche in your area that doesn't work at a Porsche dealer. Not to mention, people that spend that much on a car usually want performance parts or factory parts [not your average "OEM equivalent" parts] and a competent tec…

I understand the 'luxury item' mentality but if a Porsche breaks out of warranty, you won't have to replace the entire engine to fix a faulty alternator. And you don't have to purchase tires or most maintenance parts from Porsche if you choose not to... in fact usually you buy better tires / brakes / exhaust direct from specialty dealers, not from Porsche. Key is you have the option to go either way, you're not locke…

If Apple were to make Porsche they would make you buy a new every time a tire got punctured. They and their fan boys would market this as though, fixing tires is so difficult that its better to throw away the car and buy a new one instead.

What's troubling about this whole debate is the way, Apple and their fan boys and presenting it. All of sudden overnight, changing RAM is being portrayed as the most difficult thing you could attempt on a computer. So difficult that it would be rather better to buy a new than changing it.

I think we all be thankful that this mentality hasn't spread to other makers, else all of us would be piling laptops like bricks every time the battery went dead or the DVD ROM stopped working.

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#248

Post by kamaal »

drbawb wrote: post #184
51Cards wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... while it's under warranty. Pay through the nose when it's not because it can't be serviced anywhere else. Simply put, would you buy a car that once beyond the warranty had to have brakes, tires, battery, air filter, and spark plugs replaced ONLY at the dealership with parts at factory cost? In addition if any part broke on the engine you would have to replace the entire engine. It's not that much different. I wou…

You do realize that many premium cars have exactly this mentality surrounding them? Audis are notoriously difficult to work on, as were Saab's, and good luck finding somebody certified to service a Porsche in your area that doesn't work at a Porsche dealer. Not to mention, people that spend that much on a car usually want performance parts or factory parts [not your average "OEM equivalent" parts] and a competent tec…

>>Why is it so unreasonable to expect that there are some computer users that hold a similar attitude about their "luxury" computer brand?

Because Apple is trying to make easy things look so difficult that users rather believe in buying a new one rather than fixing it.

C'mon is changing RAM/battery/screen a rocket science? I can understand the Porsche analogy, but that rather fits well into things like tinkering with the engine etc. But will you throw away the whole car if the battery went dead on your Porsche?

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#249

Post by socialist_coder »

tincansandtwine wrote: post #194
ctdonath wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making components replaceable increases volume, weight, and cost. If you want replaceable components, go buy a computer for which that is a feature - and know that you will get a machine which is larger, heavier, and more expensive (all other factors being equal). Swapable components require additional casing, connectors, testing, sales channels, etc. You're not going to get a 3/4" 5-lb 7-hour 256GB-SSD 8GB-RAM MBA R…

Specifically in reply to the battery: I work in an enterprise environment where Macs make up about 50-60% of the installed machines. Of these, about 30-40% are laptops. In my experience, Mac laptop batteries have a high rate of failure, higher than our significantly more dated PC hardware. With the most recent revs, replacing the battery has become a huge problem, since relatively new hardware (1-2 years old) is now…

You should tell your users to unplug their Macbooks more often. If you leave them plugged in 99% of the time the battery will fail a lot faster. It should drain and recharge every once a while.

Re: New Apple Macbook Pro RAM is soldered to the motherboard | Ian Chilton

#250

Post by freehunter »

ctdonath wrote: post #186
freehunter wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well for a pro laptop... my pro laptop (Thinkpad) is hooked into a docking station right now. My external monitor, some USB drives, and ethernet are plugged into the dock. When I undock, I'm going mobile so I don't need an external monitor, USB hard drives, and I can work on wifi. In my ~3000 person office, this is by far the norm. Access to some systems are locked down on an IP address basis, assuming you'll be plug…

$200 netbooks don't come with those standard features, $2200 laptop features, AND cram it all into a 0.71" thick case.

Every netbook comes with ethernet. Generally not with a disc drive, not because the thickness is a concern but because a disc drive is bigger than a 7" computer.

Thickness is the culprit here for both ethernet and ROM, and this drive to thin machines makes no sense on a laptop marketed for professional users.

Post reply on HN