Waiting in vain? MacBook Pro SSD boost

[Arhatic1]

Hello!

I would like to get the new MBP with all the bells and whistles, but I feel paying a premium for 500GB of SSD storage is a bit ridiculous. My 2013 MBP has 250GB - so why would a new 2017 be the same? Oh, Apple.

Anyway, does Apple have a history of boosting internals for the same price? Say in 9 months or a year? Or will the next expected upgrade be when they release the next new MacBook Pro?

I just did some hard drive jujitsu to move my photos to a Transcend drive and give me some breathing room on hard drive space. I don't want to do the same thing with a new machine. I also do not want to wait for something that isn't going to happen. I'd rather pony up the $2,199 for the machine I want NOW as opposed to waiting in vain for 18 months and have to pay the same amount then anyways!

I appreciate any relevant insight from those who know how Apple does or does not bump up hardware prior to major releases. Thank you

 

[CaptRB]

Yeah...I have a base 15" touch bar and it does seem idiotic on the part of Apple that it's still the old 256GB size. It should be 500GB.

I have a feeling they'll change that on the next model. I think we'll be seeing a boost in specs for the dollar soon. I might even trade up if it's significant enough, though I tend to wait 2 years/cycles before upgrading.


R.

 

[ZapNZs]

With the current NAND flash shortages (often attributed to the move from 2d-->3D), and rising prices, my guess is that this will not happen over the next year unless Apple moves the MacBook Pro to TLC NAND (which I highly doubt they will, given they have always gone with top-shelf MLC.) Further, as 3D TLC becomes the dominant force in the consumer market, it will be interesting to see what happens to the pricing of both 2D and 3D MLC (it could potentially increase as consumer-level MLC NAND decreases!)
http://press.trendforce.com/press/20170313-2776.html

One unknown factor could be what ultimately happens with Toshiba's NAND division, which IIRC some rumors said Apple was a potential buyer for...

 

[jerryk]

Apple is a company that is business to make a profit. Just like buying a car, the options are the items with the highest margins and Apple equips it's systems appropriately. Buyers that want more memory, speed, etc, will buy the expensive options and generate more margin for Apple. It is the same reasons why BMW's base 3 series runs $33,000, but most go out the door over $50,000.

And now that the drives are soldered on the system board, your only options from here on out are to buy the larger drive originally, or replace the entire system with a new unit with a larger drive.

 

[duffyanneal]

You might try purchasing a refurbished unit. You can pick up a machine with the drive you want for considerable savings.

 

[haydn!]

It's worth noting also, that whilst the headline storage numbers have stayed pretty much the same, there is still considerable improvements in the SSD's from generation to generation. The latest have lightening read/write speeds compared to previous generation MacBooks with SSD storage.

 

[jerrykur]

It's worth noting also, that whilst the headline storage numbers have stayed pretty much the same, there is still considerable improvements in the SSD's from generation to generation. The latest have lightening read/write speeds compared to previous generation MacBooks with SSD storage.

And the speed improvements, while impressive only impact certain use cases. If you are performing large sequential reads or writes, like loading or writing big files you might notice a difference. But normal business work not so much. The MBPs I use have drive speeds of 550 Mbps and 1700 Mbps. And my Windows system has 3,300 Mbps drive. Across all 3 for word, excel, and programming you hardly notice the difference, because the read or write is short. Producing video is different since reading and writing is a large part of the operations.

 

[CaptRB]

And the speed improvements, while impressive only impact certain use cases. If you are performing large sequential reads or writes, like loading or writing big files you might notice a difference. But normal business work not so much. The MBPs I use have drive speeds of 550 Mbps and 1700 Mbps. And my Windows system has 3,300 Mbps drive. Across all 3 for word, excel, and programming you hardly notice the difference, because the read or write is short. Producing video is different since reading and writing is a large part of the operations.

The new SSD is VERY fast and improved for any photo work. Does it open a word file faster? I can't tell. But for a lot of other things, it's a great thing to have an SSD this fast, which also makes virtual memory even more virtual.

R.