A Macbook Pro is more expensive than MB Pro w/ Retina

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief June 24, 2012 · 2 min read

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About four (4) years ago, I wrote about “Why Apple Mac are still way more expensive” and a lot of Mac owners agreed that upgrading their Macs right in the store is exponentially more costly. It seems like the same observation is still true until today. Take for example the Macbook Pro and the Macbook Pro with Retina Display.

You’re presented with a 15-inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display. The base configuration is 2.3GHz Core i7, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD which will cost you Php107,990. A little expensive, right? And, some would say the Retina Display might not be really that worth it.

But, you like the configuration and you opt for a regular 15-inch Macbook Pro and just make the necessary upgrades before checking out of the store. The base price of the 15-inch is Php87,990 but you want more RAM and switch the HDD to and SSD.

Adding 4GB of RAM and switching the 500GB HDD to a 256GB SSD will set you back Php117,990. Upgrade it to a hi-res 1680×1050 pixel display and you pay Php122,990.

That means a similar spec’ed Macbook Pro is more expensive than a pre-configured Macbook Pro with Retina Display. The difference — at least Php10,000. Now that’s weird, right?

macbook pro retina

Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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30 Comments

koolitz · 14 years ago

Mac Pro is different from Macbook Pro…i think the title is wrong kasi wala pang Mac Pro with retina… :)

thomasmmm · 14 years ago

agree with kucaburra, and garz – so many consumers, but we need more creators to maximize the tech. thanks for the info on the soldered parts, Jacob.

showbiz · 14 years ago

If I have cash I’ll go with MBP with retina.

JM · 14 years ago

the technique here actually to get a lower-priced but fully upgraded non-retina MBP is to buy aftermarket RAM and SSD and install them yourself. have done this with my MBP, upped the stock 4GB to 8GB. i saved thousands and its very easy to do, in fact the MBP Manual has instructions on how to do it yourself. so is still see no reason for me to upgrade to the new MBP; i lose the valuable DVD drive, upgradeability, for what? a scant few weight savings and a high-def display that most browsers still haven’t adapted to?

Jacob · 14 years ago

From what I’ve read/heard, the new MBPs will have components soldered on except for the HDD. The advantage of doing so allows Apple to “trim the fat” from their form factor, making it even thinner than before.. The disadvantages, though, are obvious. So, buyers better decide on how much RAM they think they’ll be needing in the next 2-3 years, because they’ll be stuck with that till the next upgrade.

Jacob · 14 years ago

I forgot to mention that the batteries are glued on and that the display is fused to the lid. I guess that’s the end to bringing your MBPs to ynzal for surplus parts and unofficial repairs…

Yoyo · 14 years ago

@Jacob

Isn’t the soldered memory only on the Macbook Pro with Retina Display? I’m pretty sure the new Macbook Pros weren’t affected by that.

Jacob · 14 years ago

@Yoyo

You are correct. Sorry, I wasn’t very clear. When I said the “new MBPs,” I was referring to the retina display MBPs. The non-retina MBPs as far as I can tell, will be retaining the old from factor.

Now that you pointed it out, I see that JM was referring to the non-retina MBP. That’s what happens when you skim instead of read. LOL!