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Comment by roymurdock | Hacker News Reader

The real question...what is going to be soldered to the frame, and what will be replaceable.

I bought a 2012 MBP last year because I wanted the ability to swap out its guts at will. I doubt this new version will have that capability.

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This comment being the top one, my friends, is why our discussions here on HN are completely irrelevant in the great scheme of the consumer hardware market. This is an opinion shared only by a meager minority of the market that may have a big voice, but basically no power in determining the direction of what we'll see shipped in the future.

Thank you Captain Obvious! ;) Developer-oriented machines (where beefy hardware, specialized requirements and ability to upgrade parts are still taken as granted, and loss of those is quite mourned) and generic consumer-grade machines are most certainly different markets. Although I'm not sure how MBPs are classified those days.

(E.g. ThinkPads used to have a fame of great programmers' laptops and now they became quite less of that... the very same could easily happen to MBPs as well.)

I do love my MPB for dev work, but to be honest, anything with a unix-like userspace and a browser will do and I'd have no qualms switching to another ultra book if Apple starts shitting on the MBP (or switches them to ARM or something crazy like that).

Bit of a shame - the MBP is already pretty expensive, and it would be nice if that had more user replaceable parts (memory, drive mainly) precisely because they're "pro" machine (hence the P). Macbook and Airs - fine - consumer level - soldered, non-replaceable. But for the premium charged... making it easier for me to upgrade/swap my drive would be nice (it's not impossible, I know, but not as easy as it used to be).

You're welcome. Sometimes stating the obvious is still necessary to remember us we're in a comfy bubble, from which we look and judge the world (and business choices). :)

Developer oriented machines are a different market, however, this market has changed; the needs are different and nowadays even most developer oriented machines don't need the ability to upgrade parts. The issues about keyboards, screens and beefy hardware remain, but the actual need to replace hardware is much smaller, and most developers do buy hardware that prioritizes other things.

Duh. Nobody has power enough to determine the direction of what we'll see shipped aside from the top guys at Apple who (if "The Macbook" is any indication (and potential blue iPhone 7)) are less focused/understanding on product devlopment (a comment Steve made about Tim Cook) and more focused on business/profit margin.

I love how your use of a double parenthesis just makes my point stronger :D

It's not a question or a doubt - yes, everything will be soldered to the frame, nothing will be replaceable, and no new versions will have that capability.

nothing will be easily replaceable

Since they made 16GB standard in the 2014 15", who cares? You can't add any more anyway.

The SSD is swappable (buying one can be a challenge, plus they're more expensive than other SSD's)

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