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"Once again the premium you pay for the better models is totally ridiculous." Yes, ridiculous for you to pay the premium. But a great opportunity for you if y

"Once again the premium you pay for the better models is totally ridiculous." Yes, ridiculous for you to pay the premium. But a great opportunity for you if you need a top-tier Mac and know how to upgrade RAM & HD -- which is the only way I buy mine. From the company's standpoint, it makes sense: lower entry-level price; higher profit margin for items sold to those with more $ than tech-savvy. ::Keeps the company profit margins high while giving the self-upgraders a nice break.

pmjordan 18y ago
I don't mind too much when it's actually relatively easy to upgrade. (though the attitude annoys me - what the hell am I supposed to recommend to my less tech savvy friends & family?) My white MacBook is currently running a 500GB HDD and 4GB RAM, all of which took me about 10 minutes to install. With a Mac Mini, I'd need to get special tools (some kind of spatula I believe?) to get the damn thing open, and run a serious risk of ruining my warranty. Same thing for my girlfriend's iMac, at least for the HDD (you need to remove the screen with glass handling equipment apparently) - the RAM is easy at least, which was the main worry, there's always gigabit ethernet and the file server for disk space.
- rsayers 18y ago
  If its anything like the G4 and original Intel Minis (I own and have opened both), 2 putty knives will open it right and leaves no marks. From discussion I remember reading way back when the g4 mini was originally launched, this will not void the warranty, but take that with a grain of salt.
- wildwood 18y ago
  Re the Mini - that was my experience, too - I'm more than willing to get out the screw drivers to do my own RAM upgrades, but when I need a putty knife just to open the box, I start to get squeamish.
mtalantikite 18y ago
It seems like on the new Mac Pros they're making this more difficult. Even if you're comfortable snapping in a few more parts you might have some limits. If you notice the new RAM/CPU tray, on the quad-core entry level MP they only give you 4 slots for RAM, whereas on the 8 core they give you 8. I'm not sure if there is an extra socket on the tray to pop another CPU in or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was that you can't. So it seems like you can't just buy the entry level and upgrade it past the top level on the cheap this time around, which is something to be upset about.
- DenisM 18y ago
  It's not entirely their fault - unlike previous Intel CPUs Nehalem has integrated memory controller. Thus if there is no second CPU there is no easy way to hook up the extra RAM.

pmjordan 18y ago

I don't mind too much when it's actually relatively easy to upgrade. (though the attitude annoys me - what the hell am I supposed to recommend to my less tech savvy friends & family?) My white MacBook is currently running a 500GB HDD and 4GB RAM, all of which took me about 10 minutes to install. With a Mac Mini, I'd need to get special tools (some kind of spatula I believe?) to get the damn thing open, and run a serious risk of ruining my warranty. Same thing for my girlfriend's iMac, at least for the HDD (you need to remove the screen with glass handling equipment apparently) - the RAM is easy at least, which was the main worry, there's always gigabit ethernet and the file server for disk space.

rsayers 18y ago
If its anything like the G4 and original Intel Minis (I own and have opened both), 2 putty knives will open it right and leaves no marks. From discussion I remember reading way back when the g4 mini was originally launched, this will not void the warranty, but take that with a grain of salt.
wildwood 18y ago
Re the Mini - that was my experience, too - I'm more than willing to get out the screw drivers to do my own RAM upgrades, but when I need a putty knife just to open the box, I start to get squeamish.

mtalantikite 18y ago

It seems like on the new Mac Pros they're making this more difficult. Even if you're comfortable snapping in a few more parts you might have some limits. If you notice the new RAM/CPU tray, on the quad-core entry level MP they only give you 4 slots for RAM, whereas on the 8 core they give you 8. I'm not sure if there is an extra socket on the tray to pop another CPU in or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was that you can't. So it seems like you can't just buy the entry level and upgrade it past the top level on the cheap this time around, which is something to be upset about.

DenisM 18y ago
It's not entirely their fault - unlike previous Intel CPUs Nehalem has integrated memory controller. Thus if there is no second CPU there is no easy way to hook up the extra RAM.