Not being user-servicable does not mean it's disposable. You can take it to Apple Stores and they'll fix it for you (and they certainly don't tuck the entire thing in the trash, they probably have some complex machines (that not everyone has) that are able to de-glue screen/battery and case).
It's a compromise most regular customers will probably accept.
And I don't get ""disposable products made of low quality components"" at all. Low quality?!
But you can't upgrade them. I just added 4 GB of RAM and an SSD to my mom's 4-year-old MBP, ensuring it'll last another 3-4 years. 2 GB RAM and a 5400rpm drive just wasn't cutting it anymore. Several of my friends extended the lives of their MacBooks by replacing the DVD with a secondary SSD.
Apple's new generation design of Macs have soldered-in RAM and a proprietary disk. Will we be able to upgrade them in 4 years?
edit: Imagine if you could upgrade the RAM in an iPad. I could still have used my original iPad now instead of it being junk.
Every iOS update slows it down more and more and makes apps crash more as they run out of RAM and developers have only tested it with the latest device.
The original iPad was very much sold on the promise of upcoming third-party apps. If it didn't have the potential of apps, I would definitely not have bought it, just how I didn't buy the original iPhone.
My dear friend, that's the definition of compromise. Lighter/smaller vs. being very powerful. I carry my 15" MacBook Pro + iPad 2 in my bag and the next time would definitely go with the lighter product.
I'm not saying I like it. I would probably buy a Retina MacBook Pro if it wasn't "crippled" (for me), now I just use my 2009 MacBook Pro a year longer, hoping for a better rMBP next year. It's crippled for me, but the retina MacBook Pro does more things than anything 95% of the world could hope to do in 3 years (it's a beast).
I'm still going to buy the new Retina MacBook Pro, but I can currently afford to upgrade my laptop every year and gift away the old one. Plus I personally don't care much about recycling/the environment.
That doesn't mean it's not an environmentally unfriendly design.
Not true, only the Retina Macbook Pro and Airs have soldered-in batteries/RAM, just like ultrabooks made by other manufacturers (ASUS, Dell, Acer).
It's a design decision. If you want an ultra thin/light machine then you have to compromise. If servicing the machine yourself is an issue then buy one of the 'regular' Macbooks.
Sorry, with "new generation" I meant "next generation". There's no way the fullsize laptops are staying around any meaningful time (unless they survive on no-update life support like the Mac Pro)
Original iPad being junk? There's tons still in service. As a matter of fact, I'd imagine most who upgraded to the 2 or 3 did so due to additional features (camera, Retina), not the RAM.
Also, how do I upgrade the RAM in a Galaxy Tab or a Kindle Fire? I think the lack of upgradability is endemic to the tablet form-factor.
Main positives are for ability to remove the back side and use of Phillips screws: big pluses. However, primary iPad issues: glued on front glass, RAM, persistent storage: all true for Kindle as well.
You happen to have a stack of unused screens/batteries handy in the attic?
If no, you need to take that trip anyway. And a 5 hour trip every 3 years is better than carrying 60 grams more in your backpack for 800 days (in that 3 year period).
I'm not saying it's ideal, and I don't like it myself that much. I'm just saying it's a compromise most people accept.
You are still free to do that ... get a screen off ebay, get a case with batteries off ebay, you can still get a new motherboard with more soldered ram off ebay and have it shipped to your apartment as well.
Wow, you ordered something from ebay, and they shipped it to your apartment, and you replaced it, and all of this- from the moment you started looking at the auction, to completing the repair - was less than 5 hours?!
Amazing! Well, if that's the case, you've certainly made your point!
No. The full amount of time that passed was maybe a week. But it took no more than an hour of attention. Luckily, I had other things in life to do other than look at my broken laptop.
Yes, you surely are representative of a large user base that self-replaces their laptop screens, one that should be catered by all major computer companies in their designs...
>Fantastic. Just a 5 hour round-trip to my nearest apple store. Why would I want to service it when I have access to that level of convenience?
5-hour round-trip when (and _if_) your laptop fails!
1) Oh, the humanity.
2) Oh, how I wish I had a 5-hour round-trip solution available to me...
3) Whereas your alternative would be what? Opening it yourself and using the stack of compatible batteries, screens, logic boards, touchpads etc you have on your house "just in case"?
4) Even if you had that crazy alternative, that applies to what percentage of laptop buyers? And what engineering tradeoffs would it take in that form factor to have user serviceable parts?
It's a compromise most regular customers will probably accept.
And I don't get ""disposable products made of low quality components"" at all. Low quality?!