Here's the thing with Apple, though:

Post #358,584 by malraux 6/7/12 11:47:48 AM Reply	Here's the thing with Apple, though: The towers are miracles of easy access, so it's not an across-the-board thing. I think there are two motives for them: packing as much stuff into as small a space as possible, even if it compromises maintenance, and "protecting" the knuckle-dragging populace from their own lack of ept. I find it hard to believe that any small amount of money they make on upgrades is worth the warranty maintenance difficulties. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #358,587 by folkert 6/7/12 12:07:32 PM Reply	Re: Here's the thing with Apple, though: Small amount of money on upgrades? How about going from 2GB to 8GB on the Mac Mini from the Apple store or the Website is: $300 Buying the same memory from Newegg for the Mac Mini 5,1 is: $46.99 including shipping. Hmm. $253.01 difference there. Newegg is making a profit enough to sell it and provide free shipping. Why does it cost so much from Apple... which WE KNOW Apple gets a much better deal on the memory than Newegg. Plus Apple gets to keep the other memory to use in another machine if you order it from the website. Hard Drives from Apple are also suspect in cost. From a 5400RPM 500GB drive to a 7200RPM 750GB drive is $150? Plus Apple can use the drive in another machine, if purchased from the website. Same drive from Newegg costs $79.99 plus $1.99 3-day shipping. For $159.99 I can get a 3TB drive, plus $7.86 shipping. Meh...
Post #358,589 by Another Scott 6/7/12 12:15:31 PM Reply	I think he means at the Apple Store, not buying online. I.e. someone has to open the thing up after it's been sold, rather than building it that way in the first place. Yes, its ridiculous how much upgrades cost on a custom box. But Lenovo's the same way. Cheers, Scott.
Post #358,595 by malraux 6/7/12 1:26:49 PM Reply	Yes, labor isn't free. Hard to service cases increase Apple's labor costs as well. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #358,594 by malraux 6/7/12 1:25:56 PM Reply	Re: Here's the thing with Apple, though: Not nearly as many people upgrade their computers as have warranty work, I would imagine. And if the upgrade is done by Apple, that extra cost is probably absorbed by the labor cost of getting into the case by Apple's employees. I could be wrong, but in the large scheme of things I don't think upgrade money is anything more than a tiny line item on Apple's balance sheets. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #358,607 by pwhysall 6/7/12 3:54:19 PM Reply	Well, my AppleCare just paid for itself. In addition to replacing the disk, I had the service centre take a look at the screen. There were a couple of blotches that could have been smudges on the inside of the glass. Turns out they were defects in the LCD panel, so that has been replaced. Computer should be back with me tomorrow, courier permitting.
Post #358,627 by Another Scott 6/7/12 8:29:20 PM Reply	Woot^Woot!
Post #358,633 by static 6/7/12 11:16:07 PM Reply	Good points. I had truly forgotten about their tower hardware. A different subset of hardware tends to get the spotlight. :-) I think there might be a third motive: the design. Apple is usually very good at design. Not wanting to be anti-Jobs, but he was widely known to be huge on design and probably sacrificed ease-of-service for it. There are stories he wanted the original Mac to not even be openable by the end-user. Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #358,645 by boxley 6/8/12 9:36:42 AM Reply	unless you bought an expensive 18in long hexdriver it wasnt openble by an enduser Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep

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