The Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook has a standard mSATA connector, while the larger Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook accepts 7mm SATA drives. Both laptops are smaller than the rMBP.
Really? I've wound up doing a drive swap on every laptop, and almost every PC or server I've ever owned, sometimes more than once. I might have a higher propensity to do that than average, but surely drives are just behind batteries for "most replaced component"
I would wager that even so, drives are replaced in less than 10% of all laptops bought by consumers. Even batteries would likely be a small portion.
Now if we talk about this particular upgrade, how many people would pay $600 bucks for 960 GB of space, I can imagine it's an even smaller fraction.
The size benefit is something that everyone appreciates when they buy a MBP retina. There are enough other laptop choices if you want upgrade-ability and repair-ability, and MBP retina doesn't need to compete on that level.
Dunno about you, but I just use network storage. Cheaper, more appropriate for things that take a lot of space, and available to every computer on the network.
It stands for "Pro". That means it's used by professionals. You know - lawyers, doctors, salespeople, sportspeople, professors of ancient history. That sort of thing. Most are unlikely to need to upgrade the SSD.
Professionals also can (and do) get a ton of mileage out of the Air. I don't see why a distinct 15" Air model couldn't have targeted the same market.
Also, just because professionals aren't hardcore computer nerds doesn't mean they don't desire to upgrade. In particular, creative professionals (graphic artists, video editors, musicians) can always make use of more storage and performance, and in days past, many of these non-nerds would become savvy enough to upgrade whatever they could. Hell, even my parents know what memory is, and that more is better.
It's Apple's product line, they can do what they want. But as a result of their decision, many power users are clinging to the last-gen product line, because it's still upgradeable, and a truly "Pro" Mac laptop is no longer available for sale. (Technically, you can still buy the old form factor, but we all know which way the wind is blowing.)
Professionals also can (and do) get a ton of mileage out of the Air
That depends a bit on your use case. I have heard the Air described as an "executive" laptop, because it makes for particularly good mobility without sacrificing ability to do what an executive type would do- documents, email, powerpoint, etc.
Originally, Macs were defined in four quadrants: Desktop vs. Portable, and Consumer vs. Pro. Each meant something very specific, trying to meet the needs of the different computing markets at the time.
These days, though, the quadrants are gone, and the names are mostly just branding fluff.
Well, it's sort of serious. A lot of people seem to think that "Professional" implies something about the target market that means the computer should be upgradeable/have a firewire port/use compact flash/sport a replaceable battery/etc. But it could actually imply exactly what the word suggests, and yet still mean none of this.
In actual fact, of course, it implies nothing, and that's why it means none of the above. "Pro" is just a badge, as meaningless as the "Sport" that adorns my car (4 doors, diesel engine).
Yes, but i don't appreciate that they literally made the macbooks too small. The entry-level macbook used to have a 13 inch screen, which i could work on, and now it has an 11 inch screen, which i can't work on. Their post-air line-up basically charges me double (or close enough) for the same form factor that i used to get entry-level. They priced themselves out of my budget, and i got an asus instead.
I think that most people aren't obsessed with smaller, lighter laptops, not since the tablet age. A laptop is something you use to sit down at a desk with, and whatever thinness advantage there is goes away then. Apple is losing laptop sales because their line-up doesn't cater to people's needs as well as it used to do.
Yes, Apple is very sinister & cunning, but I have devised a defense to even their most devilish hardware-standard-defying scheme:
1. Don't buy one.
I wanted to add an SSD in my DVD slot & upgrade the RAM, so I bought a Lenovo and put Ubuntu on it. I know it sounds crazy, but it just might be crazy enough to work.
Unfortunately if the 2880x1800 resolution is important to you, at this stage the MBP is the only option.
I agree though, you can't purchase a MacBook under the assumption that it'll be upgradable. I didn't buy one and I am quite happy with my 1080p 13" laptop until high resolution Windows laptops are available.
Surface Pro has a standard mSATA interface in there if you don't mind tearing it apart. It won't take the part in the OP, but there are lots of them on newegg in sizes up to 480GB.
A fair point, although it seems that Microsoft has designed the Surface Pro in such a way that it is particularly difficult to take apart and put back together. iFixit gave it a repairability score of 1/10.
It seems similar--one manufacturer restricts modification by changing the connectors, the other by changing the casing.
Honestly, none of that looks particularly intended to make it difficult to disassemble. It looks like design choices intended to make it as compact and light as possible.
Are you sure? All sources I've seen say that on the Pixel the flash is soldered on, and that the apparent mini-PCIe port doesn't work with a mSATA card.
The physical connector is different, so you can't plug in a standard mSATA drive.
"Keep in mind that although the interface is electrically SATA, it is not physically SATA or mSATA or any other standardized interface - this is entirely Apple's own creation."
mSATA's reused mini-PCIe card form factor was physically too small to contain all the chips needed for a high capacity SSD, given the capacities per chip that were available when the MacBook Air/Retina were released.
There is a new "NGFF" standard that basically apes Apple's longer form factor with a standardized connector, but I haven't seen any devices that use it yet:
In exchange for "butchering" the connector, the drive is significantly smaller. As an rMBP owner, I feel that that's a perfectly cromulent trade-off to make. Somebody has to be first; since Apple is invested in improving their hardware in ways unconstrained by the requirements of "bolt 'em together" OEMs, it makes perfect sense to me.
Oh wait, they can't, because Apple came up with their own butchered SATA interface instead of using the standard one.