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Apple To Offer 32GB of Desktop RAM, Kaby Lake In Top-End 2017 MacBook Pro, Says Analyst (appleinsider.com)
AppleInsider has obtained a note to investors from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that says Apple's 2017 laptop line will focus on internal component updates, including the platform-wide adoption of Intel's Kaby Lake architecture. What's more is that Apple is expected to manufacture a 15-inch MacBook Pro with up to 32GB of RAM in the fourth quarter of 2017. AppleInsider reports: Apple took flak in releasing its latest MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models with a hard memory cap of 16GB, an minimal allotment viewed as a negative for imaging and video professionals. Responding to customer criticism, Apple said the move was made in a bid to maximize battery life. Essentially, the Intel Skylake CPUs used in Apple's MacBook Pro only support up to 16GB of LPDDR3 RAM at 2133MHz. Though Intel does make processors capable of addressing more than 16GB of memory, those particular chipsets rely on less efficient DDR4 RAM and are usually deployed in desktops with access to dedicated mains power. In order to achieve high memory allotments and keep unplugged battery life performance on par with existing MacBook Pro models, Apple will need to move to an emerging memory technology like LPDDR4 or DDR4L. Such hardware is on track for release later this year. As for the 12-inch MacBook, Kuo believes next-generation versions of the thin-and-light will enter mass production in the second quarter with the same basic design aesthetic introduced in 2015. New for 2017 is a 16GB memory option that will make an appearance thanks to Intel's new processor class.
it boggles the mind that they use battery life as the reason for not making the option available initially, for people that have a legitimate need for more than 16GB of ram battery life is a secondary factor, especially when the lack of that memory will significantly impact your productivity and considering their target market of video and photographic professionals who legitimately have needs for that memory it really was a strange move.
Give me the ability to install commodity RAM and storage after I buy the device.
Without that ability, I will be looking elsewhere. If this means leaving the macOS ecosystem or going with a "hackintosh," so be it.
This is a good step, but there's a greater fallacy at work at Apple here: The triumph of marketing demands over technical needs of the user.
Apple is great...they are better than Microsoft at making both hardware and software (especially software). Apple's OS is basically Unix with a candy coated shell and it is the best for basically anything except gaming (I know broad statement...I'm sure there are other applications that are better on Windoze but I'm speaking broadly...chill).
Apple's mistake, and it's a big one, is letting advertising phrases like "Our thinnest Macbook Pro yet!" override user centered design.
Same goes for their port nonsense...removing the headphone jack was a huge mistake, it's a *data port* that is backwards compatible with 100 year old tech. They wanted to advertise their phones as "waterproof" so instead of making the port waterproof like other companies, they just remove it and let marketing handle it. Disgusting.
Apple can easily regain their footing by putting the users first in their design decisions and stop their design hubris.
Thank you Dave Raggett
this is indeed what happened...it's designing with marketing first instead of the user...
I'm fine with Apple having cheesey, trendy marketing, but they need to put the user first in their design decisions.
Marketing can figure out something...they pay them enough ffs...but they really need to change how they make design decisions.
One day, maybe far, far in the future, but some day Microsoft might figure out that if they avoid their garbage spyware/adware software they can ruin Apple due to their market penetration from government contracts....if Apple is still letting ad slogans guide design at that point, on that day Microsoft will kill Apple.
Thank you Dave Raggett
So don't single out Apple. Everyone is shipping non-serviceable laptops now.
You couldn't be more wrong. This is absolutely not the case. Hell, even Dell ships pretty much all their laptops with upgradeable memory to some degree, and the Latitudes especially so (the memory is always easy-access, compared to some Inspirons where you might need to take out the motherboard first). I also continue to service many modern non-Dells that the unwashed masses bring to me in my side work, and see SODIMM sockets on pretty much all (although unfortunately sometimes only 1).
I do all the Dell purchasing where I work, and have for years. The only Dells I've gotten in without upgradeable RAM were the tablets, and even those were still crazy serviceable compared to Surface-junk and iPad-crap which are meant to be disposable and tossed if you look at them wrong. Even on the Dell tablets, the SSD storage is standard and removable, which is nice if you just need more space or if butterfingers drops and breaks his tablet but needs his precious data off it that he wasn't storing where he was supposed to.
...like all computers did for decades. Instead, they've managed to brainwash their zealot disciples into believing that thinner is better, disposable is ok, and they need a new computer every 2... no, 1 years!
These laptops aren't thinner than a SODIMM memory module or an M.2 drive. Until they are (and they shouldn't be, because they don't need to be and to do so would mean a battery even more insufficient than they already are), any manufacturer telling you that you can't have removable/expandable memory or SSD storage is feeding you marketing BS to justify their anti-consumer design choices. Just so that you needlessly buy more laptops more often instead of repairing/upgrading the one you already have.
There's nothing "Pro" about the MacBook Pro anymore. A Dell tablet has more ports, expandability and options. Hell, there's nothing "pro" about any Mac anymore. Apple has totally given the finger to the professional and high-end user. Where I work (thousands of employees) I see the pendulum swinging back from Mac to non-Mac again since, after a few years of people flocking to Macbooks because of some misguided fashion fad, they're realizing that Macs simply fall short on too many fronts and flat out cannot offer them a computer with the hardware they need to do their jobs. I can spec out a non-Mac that runs circles around the highest-end MacBook "Pro" and costs less. Don't even get me started on the "Mac Pro"... that thing was an useless abomination the day it was released and has only gotten worse as the hardware innards become more and more outdated over the years. It's a nightmare to service and an unexpandable, optionless junk creation not even worth the now-tainted branding of "Apple" it's so bad, let alone "Pro". It's not even white.
this is indeed what happened...it's designing with marketing first instead of the user...
I'm fine with Apple having cheesey, trendy marketing, but they need to put the user first in their design decisions.
Marketing can figure out something...they pay them enough ffs...but they really need to change how they make design decisions.
One day, maybe far, far in the future, but some day Microsoft might figure out that if they avoid their garbage spyware/adware software they can ruin Apple due to their market penetration from government contracts....if Apple is still letting ad slogans guide design at that point, on that day Microsoft will kill Apple.
Apple and Microsoft released some laptops/devices with an i5 CPU and 16Gb of RAM and people on Slashdot who would not buy a MacBook or Microsoft device to save their lives screamed bloody murder. Apple and Microsoft then explained they'd done this for battery life reasons and because Intel dragged it's feet with the i7 CPUs. This had no effect other than to cause those same people to keep screaming bloody murder even louder. While it is nice to have an option for a i7 CPU and 32Gb of RAM for the minority of users that actually need that processing power, most people do not need that kind of performance any more than they need a car that is designed with the 24 hours of Le Mans in mind. While I can understand the frustration of people who need an i7 and 32 Gb of RAM I can also understand the decision to release the less powerful version of the MacBook first since it covers the needs of abut 80-90% of their users and follow it up with an i7/32Gb version later.