Fundamental feature – for you. But not for 23% of US computer buyers who choose Apple systems.
This topic reminds me of a story from some relatives. Both relatives are relatively affluent and live in a state with recycling deposits. You save your cans and bottles and return them to the grocery store to get your deposit back, a handful of cents per can.
Relative #1 has done this out of habit and thrift for decades, despite being affluent as I discussed.
When they were over relative #2’s house for a party, they asked where they keep their cans. #2 said “just throw them in the recycle bin.” #1 said, “but what about the deposit?” And the response was basically just laughter.
In the perspective of relative #2, who in their in their right mind cares enough about a bottle deposit to bother wasting their time on it when they can just throw them in the regular recycle bin? It’ll still get recycled, and you save a significant amount of time putting the cans in the deposit machine at the cost of literal pennies per soda can.
This is where reason enters the picture. #2 is correct so long as their high income and busy schedule supports the idea that returning can deposits is a complete waste of time. Imagine a doctor canceling an appointment to take their cans over to the grocery store.
Now imagine you’re a typical Apple user. You make well above median household income. Apple has 23% marketshare, and coincidentally if you’re top 23% of income in the US you make just about exactly $100,000 a year.
Your choice is to buy an Apple system where 1TB of storage costs you an extra $400, but if you bought a PC you could upgrade that storage yourself and only spend around $100, maybe even less.
What life sacrifice did you make to spend this extra money if you’re in this income bracket? The truth is you probably wouldn’t notice that missing $400 you spent upgrading the storage to 1TB.
Heck, if you’re a business rather than an individual, you now have to pay salaries and factor in lost productivity any time you’re taking a computer away from your employee and spending time repairing it. That situation is double jeopardy: pay IT to do the repair, pay your employee to sit there and do nothing in the meantime.
Let’s say you buy a computer every 3 years, which itself is pretty luxurious. In this scenario, that non-upgradable storage basically costs you $100 every year without even considering the sale of your used laptop 3 years later. Basically, getting a laptop with non-removable storage every 3 years like clockwork costs less than a typical streaming service or Amazon Prime.
I see no financial reason why any of Apple’s affluent customers should give a flying fuck about upgradable storage. I think it’s actually closer to the bottom of the list than you realize.
On top of this, if you’re comparing a Mac to a Windows PC, that means you’re comparing things like integration to your phone and other accessories, battery life, fit and finish, software, performance, and customer support/warranty, not just the single feature of storage upgradability.