Non-Retina Mid-2012 MacBook Pro Torn Apart

[nagromme]

I used to demand upgradability; I almost sprung for a Mac Pro instead of an iMac years ago! I’m glad I saved the money. Because I realized... I like the IDEA of gutting my machine and changing parts, but in practice? I almost never do so.

I’m glad thicker MacBook Pros exist for those who want them... for now...

 

[Codyak]

So now just spend the $100 and max it out to start with. This is only 20-30% over doing it your self. (Unless you like to buy bargain basement ram).

That's what I did, just picked 16 gigs for it and even though I can't put more, I don't see myself need much more by the time the rest is obsolete. I have my custom built PC for tinkering with anyway.

 

[blumpkin]

A lot of the talk around here about upgrading components, etc. reminds me of this video.

http://youtu.be/WWnAdB-vkXo

 

[RalfTheDog]

The most important factor for me is screen size. The bigger the screen, the better. Next is RAM, followed closely by HD space. Battery life comes next, followed by a good keyboard. If my 17 inch MBP were to mass twice as much, I would not care. Laptops are light; I don't understand why anyone would have a hard time carrying one around.

If they were to shave off a few pounds on the MP, without harming performance or upgradeability, I would not be that upset. Not that I take my MP out to work in the field.

 

[Prof.]

The most important factor for me is screen size. The bigger the screen, the better. Next is RAM, followed closely by HD space. Battery life comes next, followed by a good keyboard. If my 17 inch MBP were to mass twice as much, I would not care. Laptops are light; I don't understand why anyone would have a hard time carrying one around.

If they were to shave off a few pounds on the MP, without harming performance or upgradeability, I would not be that upset. Not that I take my MP out to work in the field.

What, you don't want to be one of these people?

 

[CUsurfer]

No mention of whether it has the new asymmetrical fans?

 

[shurcooL]

Ability to upgrade both memory (as prices drop) and hard drives is very appealing to me, as well as the price. The retina display is nice but not a big deal for myself so I personally would upgrade, when the time comes, to the non-retina. By that time 16gb of ram will be dirt cheap and bigger hard drives cheaper - but the price for these option from apple will hold fast.

Yes, this is the extra price of having a lighter & thinner laptop with longer battery life. It is obviously not free.

In the end, the choice is yours. rMBP or MBP. Pick whatever you'll enjoy more.

For me, I'll take the rMBP. If I'm already paying over 2 grand for a kickass laptop, I'm not gonna get a worse one just to save a few hundred bucks.

 

[maflynn]

No mention of whether it has the new asymmetrical fans?

I think during the keynote it was mentioned that only the retina MBP has these new fans. The non retina MBP has the traditional fans

 

[a.gomez]

nice, this is the working designers laptop - I see the retina version as the person with a Mahogany Drawing pencil... yeah nice, but no real need.

Good to see that Apple still understands that Just because 95% of the population does not have the ability to upgrade or trouble shoot their own unit it does not mean he other 5% want to pretent they are that incompetent.

 

[jt562]

Now thats..

Now that is how a laptop should look like torn apart, NOT a single board...like a phone or a MACBOOK PRO RETINA...

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

For me, upgrading sucks anyway. Suppose I get a laptop with 8 GB and decide to upgrade to 16 GB. Now I have to pay for 16 GB of RAM, replace it, and then what do I do with the old 8 GB? Try to sell it? Give it to someone?

If you plan ahead, you can use the "old" 8 GB in a similar machine from the same year (Mac mini or MBP).

I'll just buy 16 GB to begin with and never have to worry.

In 2011, the cost for standard 1333 MHz 16 GB RAM for Sandy Bridge MBPs was in the range of 1500 US$, IIRC.

 

[Daalseth]

No mention of whether it has the new asymmetrical fans?

Actually they do, but it's easy to miss. It doesn't.

 

[shurcooL]

I have to admit, having user-upgradable RAM and hard-drive is very useful when buying an older used machine from someone. Much less so when buying a new one from Apple directly (that you can customize to your needs).

 

[Ben8472]

Actually they do, but it's easy to miss. It doesn't.

its funny how all these self called experts on the forum claimed that they certainly didnt get the new fans.

ill be getting a 2012 mbp next thing


EDIT: OK according to the ifixit teardown note the regular 2012 mbp does NOT have asymetric fan blades, allthough they look very different to me (must research hehe)

 

[Delegator]

Natural Evolution Indeed

I used to build my own PCs from parts. I got sick of dealing with the Windows ecosystem and being part-time tech support, so I switched to the Mac ecosystem to get a computer that just works.

Even so, on my current MBP (late 2008) I have upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 8GB, and the disk from the original 320BB (I think) to 512GB. Those were easy. I am a gamer, so I appreciate the dedicated graphics. I sometimes run multiple VMs at the same time, so I need the RAM.

So, you'd think I would be the bullseye on the demographic target for the non-Retina MBP. However, a few things have changed to make that no longer the case. First, hardware requirements simply aren't advancing as fast as they used to. The games coming out this year will run on 3-year-old hardware. I no longer try to keep up with expanding disk space requirements by upgrading my laptop; I store lots of stuff on my NAS drive instead and only tote around what I need to have locally.

The only thing I might want to upgrade is the RAM, maybe in 3-4 years. It's hard to tell whether that will happen or not. If I order a Retina MBP it'll have the full 16GB for sure.

So, the benefits of upgradability have decreased over the past 3 or so years. But, the benefits that accrue from the non-upgradability (lighter weight and smaller size) are ones I crave. Some laptops never leave the house, but I put on over 100,000 miles of travel per year. I have been saying for 2+ years that a 15" MacBook Air is my dream machine, but only if they would include dedicated graphics. And then they went and did it.

My bet is that the cohort of power users who really need upgradability is a subset of those who think they want it, and that the latter is a relatively small minority of the potential Mac base. For those people, the non-Retina MBP is still here, but I bet this will be the last iteration thereof. Maybe a speed bump in the winter, but after that we'll be looking at these things the same way we do iPads and iPhones.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

There's only two things you'd want to be able to upgrade in the new MBP. Ram and disk.

You'll be able to upgrade the disk later, but never the RAM. So just upgrade it ahead of time and get the max configuration.

You may miss that feeling of rejuvenation you get years down the road when you do a RAM upgrade, but on the flip side you get to spend all those years already having the most RAM the machine can use.

 

[lifeinhd]

But as evidenced by the popularity of the MacBook Air and the strong reception to the Retina MacBook Pro, repairability and upgradability appear to be taking a back seat to size and weight savings in the minds of consumers as Apple pushes the envelope with highly-customized components fabricated to meet the company's design goals.

For me, it's not so much the size and weight savings-- I was set on a 17" MBP before Apple axed it. It's the Retina display, standard SSD, low(er) glare display, and reasonably good value that sold me.

And yes, for what you're getting, it _is_ good value. Try spec'ing out a regular 15" MBP on Apple's site to match the specs of the rMBP and look at the price difference.

 

[Mad-B-One]

Maybe all the PRO users should take note that using a PRO labeled product doesn't mean PRO, as in being able to tinker with every component in there or upgrade the system after 3 years (like somebody posted)

I shrunk your post a little...

I agree. The Pro is just the Top-Of-The-Line product when it comes to what it can do. There are two ways to go about it if you want one: If you are willing to buy a new laptop every 3 years - or you think you will not need the laptop for more than three years, you can opt for the Retina version and buy the 3 year extended service plan to cover your asset. If you have an occasional mobile use only or want to use it "until it breaks down" and don't need the high resolution (most of us dont "need" it - it's just a cool feature to have), you can go with the other, cheaper version and either buy the extended warranty for 3 years or not - but you can definitely get parts to replace for longer in case it starts to cause minor trouble (e.g. battery issues) afterwards, let's say 4 years, without using an expensive Apple repair.

 

[kingtj]

Not *quite* the case, IMO ....

More accurately, you've got several factors at play.

1. The switch from HDD to SSD gives a big boost to the reliability factor of the drives. People traditionally had concerns about laptop hard drives being easily accessible/replaceable because we all know hard drives can and do fail pretty regularly (especially in portables where shock/vibration is a factor). With solid state drives, it's more reasonable to assume the one built into a new notebook will last as long as the rest of the machine.

2. RAM prices have dropped considerably, vs. the amount of RAM most people want to see in a typical machine they use. Not that long ago, it really helped make a laptop's price point more attractive if the manufacturer skimped on RAM and just let the user buy and install that later. I still dislike RAM soldered onto the boards, BUT at least now, it's not that big a deal to just buy the new Macbook Pro with the amount of RAM you want and be done with it.

The biggest downside I see to Apple's latest machines being so non user-serviceable is the cost of out-of-warranty repairs. I never spent the money on AppleCare for my Mac portables in the past -- assuming (so far, rightly so) that most things that would fail on me would do so in that first year of use. Now, they're really increasing your risk if you go that route.

I prefer upgradable hardware, but it's pretty obvious most consumers don't.

They're going to do what they're going to do.

 

[JGIGS]

Other than memory, I would say 99% people never upgrade anything on their laptops.

They may not upgrade anything but if you keep it longer then 3 years (new unibodies) you probably need to replace that battery which apparently will cost $200 but most will only have to do this once at most before the laptop needs to be replaced.

That being said it cost me about $100 every two years to replace my pre unibody 2008 mbp battery so probably works out to be the same. I'd still go retina and maybe boost up the ram to future proof (though probably not necessary for my use). You can always use an external hard for large files if need be.

The form factor and screen are just so nice. My eyes are definitely sensitive enough to tell the difference from my brief experience. The only thing I don't like is some pictures on website don't render properly since they need to be stretched or double pixeled to be retina.

 

[shurcooL]

Actually they do [mention it], but it's easy to miss. It doesn't [have the new asymmetrical fans].

its funny how all these self called experts on the forum claimed that they certainly didnt get the new fans.

ill be getting a 2012 mbp next thing

And they were right?

 

[faroZ06]

Shouldn't the high-end pro-model of the MacBook Pro have upgradeable RAM? The cheaper one has it. Is this like a cheap hotel vs expensive hotel where the expensive one expects you to spend money while the cheap one has free wifi and stuff?

 

[JHankwitz]

I'll take thinner, lighter, and longer battery life over upgrade options any day.

Isn't that a bit like requesting a quart of beer in a pint glass?

 

[jonnysods]

It's so much better to be able to replace your own ram and drives.

 

[faroZ06]

For me, upgrading sucks anyway. Suppose I get a laptop with 8 GB and decide to upgrade to 16 GB. Now I have to pay for 16 GB of RAM, replace it, and then what do I do with the old 8 GB? Try to sell it? Give it to someone?

You should consider upgrading to 16GB instead of getting it initially because it saves a lot of money:

- Applecare costs more if you buy more initial RAM.
- The cost of buying 16GB of RAM minus the money you get from selling the 8GB is usually a lot less than the extra money you pay for 16GB instead of 8GB. Sometimes, you don't even need to sell the 8GB to save money. Do the research first, though. Also, the 8GB sticks you sell tend to go for higher prices because you can say that they were from an iMac and are Apple-labeled or whatever.
- The task of upgrading is easy to do.