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

ichilton.co.uk

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

#61

Post by danbee »

elderberry wrote: post #46
its_so_on wrote: post #11

The real news is that they could shave as much of the macbook off as they actually did. Did you see the video? The screen display is now 'attached directly' to the unibody with no 'glass layer'. What does that even mean? Whatever it means, it's obviously not user-serviceable. I was amazed at how much they got off the macbook in size and weight - EDIT: everywhere, off the whole machine - and they're idiots for not put…

Does the thinness of your computer really matter?

When you've got to carry it, yes.

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

#62

Post by LinXitoW »

rhysk wrote: post #38
LinXitoW wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, while I understand why thinness might be great for some, I don't understand how they can sacrifice essential features(exchangeable components and ports(GigE)) for a few mms or grams on a laptop that is clearly marked "Pro". I'd think that exactly pros would be the ones that would make use of these features the most.

I'm not certain what constitutes a pro these days, but I do some pretty intensive tasks (building large scala projects, data aggregation, etc) and I think this MacBook is just what I need. With thunderbolt I'll be able to dock the laptop to disk arrays, an external monitor/keyboard/mouse, and Ethernet with a single connector. And being thinner and lighter, I won't think twice about taking it on the road.

Single connector, but not single adapter. Daisy chaining also seems error prone. If all the adapters you have to take with you weigh 400g, you haven't really gained anything. Also, having to reattach everything all the time seems like a hassle if you have a lot of external devices to connect(is there a Macbook dock?). This ad satire is about the Air, but i think it sums up me reservations perfectly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0

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

#63

Post by justincormack »

ChrisLTD wrote: post #48
brudgers wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"after few years" Apple expects consumers to replace hardware every two to three years. Often this is encouraged by their practice of only supporting a single version of their operating system and their practice of making new versions of their operating systems incompatible with hardware more than a few years old. To put it another way, Apple doesn't want you to keep your Macbook for three years because there's no mo…

MacBook Pros from 2007 (and all Macs with 64 bit Intel processors) will work fine with Mountain Lion.

All Macs with 64 bit Intel processors. Not my 64 bit ppc...

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

#64

Post by eugenejen »

Xylakant wrote: post #36
LinXitoW wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, while I understand why thinness might be great for some, I don't understand how they can sacrifice essential features(exchangeable components and ports(GigE)) for a few mms or grams on a laptop that is clearly marked "Pro". I'd think that exactly pros would be the ones that would make use of these features the most.

You can always buy the standard macbook pro which does offer all that you wish for (regular ram, GigE, serviceable harddisk) at about the same price point but at an additional 400g weight. I currently use a Macbook Air which does not offer a GigE port either and I'm doing just fine.

This is not true for all new MacBook pro. All ram modules are soldered even for non retina display.

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

#65

Post by Karunamon »

uzero wrote: post #49
culturestate wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can max it out with 16GB of RAM for an additional $200. I'm not sure I can see myself putting more than that into a laptop during its useful life.

Yes I know but that wasn't the point. The point is that if I now buy the laptop with let's say 8GB because I think I don't need more than that because all I do is code. After 6 months I get assigned to doing work with BIG databases that easily eat 10GB memory. Now I'm stuck with 8GB because it's soldered and even Apple can't upgrade it.

When you buy a PC, you should always get as much memory, disk, and CPU as you can afford. That was sound advice 20 years ago and it still fits today.

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

#66

Post by [deleted] »

ctdonath wrote: post #58
its_so_on wrote: post #11

The real news is that they could shave as much of the macbook off as they actually did. Did you see the video? The screen display is now 'attached directly' to the unibody with no 'glass layer'. What does that even mean? Whatever it means, it's obviously not user-serviceable. I was amazed at how much they got off the macbook in size and weight - EDIT: everywhere, off the whole machine - and they're idiots for not put…

The screen used to be a module that was encapsulated inside a metal shell and covered with a glass layer. This meant the module itself had to have at least some degree of self-containment as an independent module, with some form of backing (however thin/flimsy) and a layer of glass to hold the "LC" (liquid crystal) in. Now the screen IS the display module. The metal shell is the actual backing of the LCD module, and…

[deleted]

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

#67

Post by blablabla123 »

dhimes wrote: post #41
blablabla123 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a matter of budget. When you think a 8 GB RAM Macbook Pro is cheap, maybe you should shop at sgi.com.

I understand the part about the budget. I don't understand the part about the psychological effect. I don't even know what to call it. I find it curious.

In my experience 1 in 4 upgrades are crap. Thinking back 10 or more years ago when I stuffed my PC with expansion cards. Sometimes these cards did not work, particular candidates were Modems and TV cards. Actually even half of my RAM upgrades were adventures, sometimes I had to remove all of the RAM and put it back in. (WTF?)

So this would be one explanation which I do experience. When I buy a Gadget and the cool stuff is hard-wired, this means to me: this Gadget is merged with the cool stuff.

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

#68

Post by taligent »

polshaw wrote: post #56
nicksergeant wrote: post #3

How is this news? I think it's well known that the new Retina-MBPs have made some hardware-upgradeability sacrifices in exchange for portability.

I struggle to see this as anything but a planned obsolescence, anti-3rd party power grab given the minute additional space required to use a replaceable RAM stick. The SSD is on an add in board, also between the main board and base.

That minute additional space would have made the ENTIRE laptop thicker.

And guess what. 99% of people would trade thinness over ability to use third party RAM.

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

#69

Post by masklinn »

> It stands to reason, when they do similar on the iOS products – the iPhone, iPad and iPod’s all have fixed storage and no way of using SD card’s, USB stick’s or change the battery like on competitors products, but RAM has always been upgradable.

It's also soldered on the Air, unsurprising that they'd do the same on a small-factor MBP.

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

#70

Post by taligent »

elderberry wrote: post #46
its_so_on wrote: post #11

The real news is that they could shave as much of the macbook off as they actually did. Did you see the video? The screen display is now 'attached directly' to the unibody with no 'glass layer'. What does that even mean? Whatever it means, it's obviously not user-serviceable. I was amazed at how much they got off the macbook in size and weight - EDIT: everywhere, off the whole machine - and they're idiots for not put…

Does the thinness of your computer really matter?

You know we are talking about laptops, right ? By definition they are supposed to be portable.
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