No more upgradeable 15 inch Macbook Pros?

Is Apple serious? I stayed away from the retina display 15" laptops because they aren't upgradeable (can't even upgrade RAM because they greedily soldered it to the motherboard), but now when I'm going to upgrade to a new one, they don't even sell them anymore? Is there any option for someone who doesn't want to spend 700-800% more for the same upgraded parts on their Macbook pro?
I've been a longtime MBP user, and I can't imagine going back to PC, but this is an absolute dealbreaker. Please tell me I'm mistaken. They couldn't possibly be this awful.

So one upgradeable part. The drive. You still have to pay 2-3x more for RAM through Apple. I'm sure they make 80-90% of their profit from laptops from RAM and hard drive alone.
As for the assumption that they want to make them thinner and that's the reason they soldered them to the motherboard, I think that's a little naive. Sure, it might be a reason, but if that's all they cared about they'd sell RAM at a reasonable price instead of gouging you to death. They know that anyone dropping 2 grand on a laptop wants it to last a few years at least, so upgrading the RAM, SSD is necessary bringing the laptop total to a completely unreasonable 2500-2600. It's pretty clear they've been trying to stop people from upgrading for years. This is just the most aggressive and arrogant step so far.
Since Apple switched to Intel, I've been able to justify the additional cost for their standard equipment because of the build quality and operating system. Even that has limits though. Paying double, or even triple for the same equipment is very hard to stomach for anyone other than the most diehard Apple fanboys.

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How do I get more memory for my Macbook Pro Spring 2010 13-inch with 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo?

How do I get more memory for my Macbook Pro spring 2010 13-inch with 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Apple says no memory currently available for that model. I have 4 GB memory and 3.99 used. Help!

macette1976 wrote:
Now I'm confused. This is the one Crucial told me to get:
CT3309356 - 4GB DDR3 PC3-8500 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V 512Meg x 64
$45.99
Also what do you mean that actual memory is 16GB but with Apple it's 8?
When I go to the "About this Mac" it says Memory 4G 1067 MHz DDR3, then when I go to System Report it says
Memory Slot
Bank 0/ DIMM0 2G DDR3 1067 MHZ OK
Bank 1/ DIMM0 2G DDR3 1067 MHZ OK
Sorry I'm clueless. Just don't want to buy something that messes up my machine more than it already is.
The Crucial site appears to have recommended the correct spec 4gB RAM stick for your model. Please note that you will need to remove the existing sticks of RAM to install new, so you will need 2x4gB to get to 8gB.
When your model of computer was designed/built, it was tested with readily available 2x4gB (8gB). After release RAM retailers have tested it with higher amounts, and Apple didn't update their quoted specs.

How do I add more RAM to my macbook pro 15 inch late 2008 model?

I am wondering if I ma able to add more RAM to my 15 inch MacBook Pro from late 2008. It currently has 2 slots each with 2GB of RAM each. Am I able to change those out with higher amounts of RAM for each slot? Or is this thing maxed out and i'm out of luck? Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory
maushoo_32 wrote:
Am I able to change those out with higher amounts of RAM for each slot?
Mactracker

What is the problem with 15-inch Macbook Pro model 2011 after connecting to TV with HDMI chord?

Today we connected a 15-inch Macbook Pro model 2011 with HDMI chord to an Insigna Television. We plugged and unplugged couple of times. But recently the macbook pro is having technical issues. The following symptoms are:
1. Macbook pro turns on and off
2. The screen stays blue and keeps loading but does not load to the desktop so you can't access to anywhere
3. The screen sometimes becomes fuzzy and the apple logo that shows before it loads to the desktop is fuzzy
4. Sometimes fuzzy lines appear on the screen like you see on television when there's a bad signal
5. The screen stays blue
6. Sometimes little specks appear on the screen
Only thing we did was turn it off and restart but it still leads to the same symptoms above.
Does anyone have any clue what caused this problem? I am guessing it is due to the connection to the HDMI chord, since we didn't turn the macbook on and off when we plugged it, rather we just unplugged and plugged the chord while the macbook is running.
Another theory might be watching movies from an online source but the first theory seems to make more sense.
We scheduled a meeting with the genius bar tomorrow but does anyone might have any clue? And also any ideas how to fix this? This is an emergency because there are important files on the macbook we didn't back up and we hope the files are safe and we need to use the macbook ASAP. Let us know anything that might have caused this and/or any solutions or help. That would be appreciated and thank you.

Hey there! Welcome to the Discrete GPU issue clube ... post your relate here >>> 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card
And for GOD SAKE! Call Apple to tell them that you're another user with such problem ... that action can improve a future recall. BTW the fix price for your problem is around U$ 1000,00 ... that's the meaning of the recall attempt

15 inch MacBook Pro non-retina or with Retina?

Hello everyone
I have the new iMac and got it in early December to replace my old 2008 MacBook Pro. I sold that one and now have decided to get a new 15 inch MacBook Pro. But I am stuck on whitch one to buy.
Here are the things that I will do with this computer
Use all of the pre-loaded apps
Download more from the Mac App Store
Import pictures from my Nikion Camera, 64GB Black iPhone 5, 64GB Black iPad 4 into iPhoto and edit them in Aperture
Use iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband
Use Pages, Keynote, Numbers
Here's the configuration I would buy if I get the non-retina model
$1799 model
4GB RAM
256GB SSD
1680X1050 Glossy display
2.3GHz Quad-Core i7
Here's the configuration I would buy if I get the retina model
$2199 model standard configuration
OR if there are any refurbished $2799 models from Apple's refurbished store
Please let me know what you all think!
Thanks for helping me!!!

Personally, I would go for the non-retina display, and here are my reasons:
1. It's far cheaper, and you're getting a very similar product.
2. Yes, the Retina display comes with 8GB of RAM, and from what I know, with the newest models you can put 16GBs of RAM in them. If you ever needed more RAM, you can't replace it on your retina display model. However, you can go out and buy 8GBs of good RAM for $50, and replace the non-retina display RAM without voiding your warranty.
3. If you ever want to upgrade your SSD, or switch over to a massive hard drive for the sake of storage capacity over speed, you can also do so without voiding your warranty on the non-retina display.
Both of the displays are gorgeous, and while it's true that Retina display is prettier, the non-retina display is quite nice. Furthermore, if you ever need to do anything at all in your computer, you're out of luck with the Retina display, as the case is glued together. I personally have an old '09 MBP, before retina display, and the display is perfectly fine. You'll save a lot more money getting the non-retina display, and it will probably last you longer, seeing as SSD's tend to be more reliable than flash storage. True, they're the same thing, SSD's are alined in an array and are made for speed and reliability. If I were you, I'd go for the non-retina display.

15 inch Macbook pro w/o retina display or 13 inch Macbook pro with retina display?

Want to get a macbook for university. Going to be used primarily for work and casual use. Have a 32inch full hd tv to connect up to for watching movies etc, which is the better choice?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
I recommend a non-Retina MacBook Pro unless you need the Retina display. MacBooks Pro with Retina display are very limited and you can't replace anything if you don't want to void warranty. Also, repairs are more expensive, so purchase AppleCare for your MacBook Pro with Retina display.
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I have a 2010 vintage 13-inch MacBook Pro that has a 60 watt power adapter. I also have an older power adapter that is 65 watts. Is it okat to use the 65 watt with this MacBook Pro?

yes.
"For instance If you have a MacBook (13-inch Late 2009) that normally uses a 60W adapter, you can also use an 85W adapter with that computer. You would not use a 45W adapter with that computer; it would not provide enough power for that MacBook. Using an adapter of higher wattage than the adapter that came with the computer will not cause the computer to charge more quickly or otherwise operate any differently than using the adapter that came with the computer. "
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2346

I have a 13 inch MacBook Pro (2009) & the "White Screen of Death" is present. Need help?

I have a 13 inch MacBook Pro (2009). Recently I bought an extended hard drive because I had used up the memory on my iDisk. As I was running the Time Machine back up on my new extended drive, the battery on my Pro ran out causing it to shut down. Once I hooked up my Pro to the power cord & logged in, the "White Screen of Death" appeared on the home display. Obviously the battery still works, my phone is able to charge along with the extended drive, I am able to adjust the lighting on my keyboard along with adjusting the brightness on my screen, but the "White Screen" remains. I need help in determining the cause of this issue & the steps I'll need to take in order to resolve this. I love my Pro, all my documents, photos & music are on it & the last thing I want to do is kill my wallet by buying a new Pro. So could someone on here please help me? It would be greatly appreciated & I thank you in advance!

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Boot into the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is damaged and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 8
This step applies only to a Mac Pro tower, not to any other model. A dead logic-board battery can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions.
Step 9
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

How much of a speed increase does a ssd give to a 2011 15 inch macbook pro

I am in the market for the new top end 15 inch macbook pro, I was wondering how much of a speed increase would I see overall. I would like to play world of warcraft, will I see a performance boost from a ssd? Thanks.

JoeyR is correct, the performance of a SSD drive is only on reads and writes
If you constantly exceed your RAM allocation, the pagination of excess memory needs to storage will be faster as well.
However a 7,200 RPM boot drive is pretty fast as well, at a lot lower $$ per GB than SSD and in a lot larger storage options.
7,200 RPM drives tend to use a bit more battery life than 5,400 RPM or SSD drives, if your on power most of the time then it's really not a issue.
Due to their limited writes, SSD drives are NOT being throughly erased using software designed for such purposes like on hard drives (Disk Utility), so any confidential information, sites visited, images and so forth can be recovered off of SSD drives.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/17/1911217/Confidential-Data-Not-Safe-O n-Solid-State-Disks

60W charger for 15 inch Macbook Pro?

Hi, it is finals time and my 85W Macbook Pro charger has just decided to quit on me. My friend is selling her 60W charger that she uses on her 13 inch Macbook Pro...can I buy it and use it on my 15 inch one?
Thanks!

Hi collegegirl,
The earlier MBPs, like yours, have a separate Graphics Processing Unit that adds to the power draw when compared with the current "base model" 15" 2.53 model that comes with the 60W power supply. The newer computers also have a reduced power load in other areas, too.
I've run my own older SantaRosa 15" on 60W power adaptors on various occasions (more by accident than deliberate decision - we have several of both varieties in the house) and nothing untoward has happened, but they are likely to heat up a little more than an 85W when used on an "85W" computer, and your battery may also be "called on" to supply extra power on occasion, even when the charger is connected.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2346 has some advice, and lists the adaptors appropriate for different MBPs.
So, in short, though the solution probably seems appealing to you both, it is not really a good idea, I'm afraid.
Cheers
Rod

Late 2010 17-inch MacBook Pro beach ball freeze

Hi all, this is my second to last resort (last is sending in for repair xD). Well anyways, hope that you guys can help me solve this problem so I won't have to go there .
Here's the story:
I recently purchased a custom, late 2010 17-inch MacBook Pro with these apple upgrades:
-2.8ghz intel i7
-anti-glare screen
After doing some research, I found out that the memory and harddrive upgrades from aren't any special. So, I decided to do these upgrades myself since it is cheaper. These are the components that I have installed:
-Corsair CM3X8GSDKIT1066 G (2x4gb 1066 ddr3 memory)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233081
-Corsair P128 CMFSSD-128GBG2D (128gb ssd)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233087
I purchased both of these items from newegg. The solid state drive came off of my old laptop, which I installed into about 6 month ago.
So, once my MacBook arrived, I didn't even turn it on. i went straight into unscrewing the back and installing the components. The process went smoothly and I booted up the machine afterwards. Everything looked fine at first, but the installation failed about midway through (due to failure to copy necessary files). But I tried and tried again and after about the 25th time (yes I know, it took the whole day), it finally worked. The reason for my persistency is because everytime it would fail, it would fail at different spots of the installation, so I figured that eventually I will get lucky. So I unchecked as many items as possible under the "what to install" list and it finally went through after many tries.
Now, with OSX running, the laptop would constantly freeze with the beach ball of doom.
Here is my thought process of what could be wrong (from most likely to least likely)
-installed ram is defect
-apple osx cd is defect
-compatibility issues with solid state drive (the drive must be fine since it worked in my old laptop for 6 months)
Once I installed OSX, I quickly went through the process of elimination to solve my problem:
-ran 15 hours of memtestosx with zero errors -> ram is fine
-since osx is running without a cd now, not the cd
-very unlikly that there are compatibility issues with harddrive
I did a TON of googling and found that many people have the same problem as me, but mostly on much older models (in which apple fixed through software/firmware updates) and also flash problems. I tried to installed these updates but OSX said that my system does not require them. So, I installed a beta version of flash and everything was much better, the computer started up 3 times faster and it did not freeze for a while. Hoever, after a couple hours of on-off use, it froze again . Knowing that it must be flash-related now, I uninstalled flash all-together. However, the problem still remains.
Here is a more detailed description of when this freezing occurs:
-mostly during safari operations such as loading a webpage or closing the browser
-it froze a couple of times while opening things such as the applications folder from the bottom dock or opening the "about this mac" window.
-before the flash beta update, it would freeze in the middle of a flash video playback from internet (like youtube). But after update, this freezing stopped occuring (did an hour of testing) and I actually got to the point where if I am loading a page in safari and it "looks" like it is freezing, I could close safari before my system goes into complete melt-down (once beachball starts spinning, all hope is gone)
Now, I am thinking that it might still be the OSX cd. Even though the installation was successful, it might have copied corrupt files that are freezing the laptop. I have order a replacement cd from apple and it should arrive within a couple of days. However, I still have big doubts on this being the actual solution.
I know that since this is a very recent model, it is hard for many people to have come across such problems yet (especially with my specific specifications). However, if anyone has an idea, or a past solution that is fits the description, any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading

Hi Dale,
Thanks for the replies. No, when I powered up the Mac, I put the OSX cd in first thing and press and held "c" until it started booting off the cd. Then I proceeded on reformatting the drive and etc.
I read all of that forum post. I reseted the PRAM, still freezes.
The new OSX cd came today, same thing happened, although it only took me 2 tries to install OSX. However, it would still freeze afterwards.
I very much realize that it could be a ram problem and how Corsair doesn't work so well with apple. However, Corsair has yet to let me down, that's why I chose it over crucial when I purchasing the ram. I did a lot of research and it seemed that as long as the ram meets spec, Macs will take it. And after 15 hours of memtestosx testing, I highly doubt that it is the ram.
However, I think I might have found the solution. I finally got the time to free up one of my external hard drives and installed OSX onto it to test the hard drive. I checked everything for the optional installs (except rosetta and the old quicktime) to further confirm my theory. After a very long install, it completed successfully! the odds of that happening on the first try using the old system is quite low (due to my countless install attempts with the old system and it failing with only half of the load of my new install).
And since then (probably around 3 hours of usage), my MacBook has not encountered a beach ball of death yet (well, sort of. it did it once when I was restarting, but I think that was due to the old drive because it is still plugged in and it was probably trying to read it while it was frozen in the closing phase of a shutdown). Anyhow, I think a few hours of usage will definitely confirm my theory and hopefully a ssd firmware update will solve my problem so I won't have to invest on a new ssd xD.
Ill update once I have made any progress

The audio input on the 2011 13-inch macbook pro doesn't work

Hi everyone,
I bought a 13-inch macbook pro in early 2011( the latest version). It says in the technical specs that it has a "Combined headphone/line in (supports digital output)" and the guy working at Apple store told me i could plug an electric guitar right into the computer, trough a 1/4"-to 1/8" adapter. I tried it, it doesn't work, and the line-in channel doesn't appear in the sound preferences.
How can i make it work?
Thank you

Check System Preferences<Sound<Use Audio Port For.
I would recommend a MIDI to USB option if available though. Seems more reliable.

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With the newest 15-inch MacBook Pro's on the market and with Parallels 5, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit should work, correct?

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Hi. I am preparing for CA Bar Exam. I am considering buying MacBook Pro for exam writing. One is 13 inch 1499 dollar 2.5 GHz 8GB, the other is 15 inch MacBook Pro 2.7 GHz 2799 dollar 16 GB. Both are retina. Which one is better for me?

Hi. I am preparing for CA Bar Exam. I am considering buying MacBook Pro for exam writing. One is 13 inch 1499 dollar 2.5 GHz 8GB, the other is 15 inch MacBook Pro 2.7 GHz 2799 dollar 16 GB. Both are retina. Which one is better for me?
I will use Barclays Card for 18 month free interest.
I wil ask Apple clerk to avoid LG monitor.
I will buy those in Apple store.
Which one will you recommend?

Tha's something you need to decide for yourself.
Do you think you need 16GB of memory or 8 will be enough?
Do you need to carry your macbook around with you more often? if so just get the 13" it's easier to carry.
Or maybe you enjoy watching media on a bigger screen?
As for word processing it shouldn't be a problem on both notebooks.
Also can you afford buying the 15"?
And what about the hard drive capacity?
So my advice is to consider these aspects, make a list of pros and cons and see what you come up with

Ive had my 13 inch macbook pro for less than 30 days and the battery health has gone down to 92% and the computer itself is so slow...i paid %50.00 for an OLD windows computer with 512 mb of ram and it is much faster..is this normal for mac??

Ive had my 13 inch macbook pro for less than 30 days and the battery health has gone down to 92% and the computer itself is so slow...i paid $50.00 for an OLD windows computer with 512 mb of ram and it is much faster..is this normal for mac?? Also, apple says there is nothing they can/wil do even though i got the apple care....i mean really? $50.00 for 2002 computer with windows XP and 512mb of ram and a single core processor......faster and more usable than $1400.00 computer with 4gb of ram and dual core processor.....***???

Willtc92 wrote:
Ive had my 13 inch macbook pro for less than 30 days and the battery health has gone down to 92% and the computer itself is so slow...i paid $50.00 for an OLD windows computer with 512 mb of ram and it is much faster..is this normal for mac??
obviously not.
Ive had my 13 inch macbook pro for less than 30 days and the battery health has gone down to 92% and the computer itself is so slow...
Give examples of how it is slow.

No more upgradeable 15 inch Macbook Pros?

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