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

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 Php107,990USD 1,840INR 156,002EUR 1,753CNY 13,402. 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 Php87,990USD 1,499INR 127,110EUR 1,428CNY 10,920 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 Php117,990USD 2,011INR 170,448EUR 1,915CNY 14,643. Upgrade it to a hi-res 1680×1050 pixel display and you pay Php122,990USD 2,096INR 177,671EUR 1,996CNY 15,263.

That means a similar spec’ed Macbook Pro is more expensive than a pre-configured Macbook Pro with Retina Display. The difference — at least Php10,000USD 170INR 14,446EUR 162CNY 1,241. Now that’s weird, right?

Abe Olandres

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 considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

15 Comments

onga says:

12 years ago

10k ata yung para sa optical drive.. mahal
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Andy says:

12 years ago

I’m still gonna go with their previous model. No reason to upgrade to their latest release.
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Mr. Curious says:

12 years ago

well it’s an obvious marketing strategy by Apple.
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kucaburra says:

12 years ago

Apple really knows how to set the bar high :)
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Dippin Slash says:

12 years ago

I’ll still choose the previous version of Macbook Pro over the new one with Retina display. I just love it.
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garz says:

12 years ago

Only the eagle-eyed graphic artists, photographers and video editors would benefit from the retina display.
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Dazed_32 says:

12 years ago

The retina display on my new ipad is stunning. Wouldn’t mind shelling out hard-earned dough for MBP with RD. :-)
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JM says:

12 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?
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showbiz says:

12 years ago

If I have cash I’ll go with MBP with retina.
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thomasmmm says:

12 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.
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koolitz says:

12 years ago

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