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Comment by mrweasel | Hacker News Reader

I can understand why people want their Macs to be upgradable, but how is Apple suppose to profit from it? Apple is very much a hardware company, so why would they make a computer that can be upgraded with standard components. Customers would just buy the cheapest option and upgrade with third party stuff.

Sure they are absolutely losing pro customers, but does that really matter when they have the iPhones and high-end laptops? It's only the very high-end professionals that aren't able to make due with an Apple product anymore.

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500$ profit from 10 million people beats 2000$ profit from 1 million people. Also, many people don't upgrade, but those who do often make recommendations for those who don't making them a valuable market segment.

I actually was all set to buy a new MBP for around 3k, but the last round's market segmentation pissed me off. They always have one cheap reasonable option and then charge an arm and a leg after that. IMO, they would be better served aiming for a 35% profit margin on everything vs the ridiculous upgrade costs for high end they currently use.

EX: 1TB PCIe-based SSD upgrade from 256GB + $564.00. When 1TB SSD's are running under 300$ and they are saving on the cost of a 256GB SSD. Think about it, if this was a removable drive you would not only save money getting a 3rd party SSD, but also end up with and extra 256GB drive. Which means they would still have a ~40% profit margin if it cost 300$ to upgrade.

Apple is perhaps the most profitable company in the world right now, and yet you believe that they've gotten their pricing model wrong?

You could be right of cause, but it seems a little unlikely doesn't it?

There are huge short vs long term questions when it comes to profit. So, they might be maximizing profit over the next 3-5 years and I am very much an iPad and iPhone customer, but that does not mean their PRO line is optimized for long term profit.

Macs have been upgradeable with standard components for a long time, and they're only just starting to move away from it, so that's a weird argument.

I agree with you that Apple doesn't directly profit from building an upgradeable machine. But from my perspective, upgradability is one of the factors that affect my purchase decision--part of the value for the package, if you will. My current computer is a 2014 MacBook Pro, so I look at it from the laptop perspective.

I am not a power user by any means, so I don't need lots of raw computing power. To me, the values of owning a MBP is design, build quality, good compromise between weight/power, OS X, and longevity. However, longevity is reduced by removing upgradability for RAM and SSD. I don't see MBP as attractive as before, especially with the price premium. I admit that I am cheap, and I try to spend as little as possible. I typically get the lowest spec'd MBP that fits my current need. After a few years, I upgrade RAM and storage (used to be HD, now SSD), and that will last me another few years.

Apple's current offerings doesn't fit my need, and I am exploring other alternatives (currently test driving Asus Zenbook 305 running Xubuntu alongside my MBP). I am not bitter, just disappointed since I much prefer Apple laptops.

Also, the lack of reasonably priced SSD upgrade for Retina MBP due to proprietary interface is driving me nuts. I am running out of storage space and can't do anything about it.

Don't forget the halo effect. If the pros leave Apple, the masses may follow.

It's possible to make a computer that's upgradable with non-standard components. People will hate you for it if they realize you're gouging them, but it's a time-honored strategy.

1. Most people wouldn't have the desire or expertise to upgrade with third party stuff. Most people don't want to muck about in the guts of their PC.

2. Apple could sell those parts themselves at a much more reasonable profit margin than they do today.

3. Better to sell the cheapest option (at a good profit margin) than nothing at all.

"It's only the very high-end professionals that aren't able to make due with an Apple product anymore."

This really needs to be qualified, as there are plenty of high end pprofessionals still served well by Apple products.

There's not a lot of choice in the high end for eg. Notebooks. The Surface Pro Performance Base comes close to the MacBook Pro, for example, but not a lot else on a balance of features. If I really need 32GB RAM (For example) I need to lug a back breaking brick from Razer , or deal with the Dell XPS 15 which can't be charged on an airplane.

Well it's a matter of whether Apple wants the workstation market. Do they want it, warts and all? If they do, then they have to adapt. If it's not worth it for them, then just give it up. People are just not gonna buy non-upgradeable workstation desktop. The world has moved on. It's up to Apple to adapt.

For me: mac -> iPhone & iPad

Non-mac PC -> probably Samsung phone & definitely not iPad

Make do, not due, in this instance.

It saddens me that a perfectly valid question is downvoted into grey here.

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