I assume that they do take this into account and come to the conclusion that the real existing profits from the outrageous prices on RAM and SSD storage outweig

I assume that they do take this into account and come to the conclusion that the real existing profits from the outrageous prices on RAM and SSD storage outweigh the potential profits from people who don't buy their hardware b/c the refuse to pay the hefty markup. I totally bought a MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon, fully knowing that I'm getting ripped off big time with added RAM and storage. Yet, it's still the least painful platform for me, and the hardware is really nice, even a few years on. In the end, I expect get a meaningful lifespan of 5+ years of daily use out of the machine. I wouldn't know any other laptop which could provide this kind of service life while constantly being a joy to work with. Apple know that their user base consists of many people like myself, and milk them accordingly.