Apple Doubles The Price Of RAM Upgrade On Entry-Level 13-Inch MacBook Pro After Only Month Since Introduction -- May 30, 2020

Earlier I posted a number of Apple, Inc., (AAPL) items. The overall flavor of those items? A "feel-good" feeling. But after posting that, I came across this item: Apple doubles the price of RAM upgrade on entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro. This was abrupt, unexpected, and not met with kindness on social media.

This is a biggie.

This looks like a huge change in thinking at Apple. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro was launched just one month ago. What changed? I can only imagine some contentious discussions in the board room on this new price point.

There can only be three reasons for this increase in price:

• first, there truly is a shortage of RAM, driving up the price
• if so, the wholesale price of RAM is trivial, well less than the upgrade price Apple is charging, and Apple is taking advantage of this;
• if so, the wholesale price of RAM is significant, necessitating the increase in the new retail price by Apple
• second, there is a demand/supply problem for the MacBook Pro and to either temper demand, or take advantage of the demand, Apple raises the price;
• third, pure profit motive for many reasons. 

Arguments against:

• reason #1: it's hard to believe Apple missed that just one month earlier;
• reason #2: Apple has never been accused of being worried about unit shortages; in fact, Apple is often accused of generating artificial shortage;

Which leaves, the third reason: pure profit.

A little background:

• the entry level of memory (RAM) is 8 GB
• the upgrade is 16 GB of memory (RAM)
• a month after the MacBook Pro was released Apple doubled the upgrade price of 8 GB to 16GB 
• the "doubling," takes the price from an additional $100 to an additional $200 if one chooses to upgrade

Comments, on pricing:

• if $100 was "not trivial" for the basic MacBook Pro, $200 for the upgrade is definitely "not trivial."
• it takes the base model from $1299 to $1499; and the $1499 model to $1699.

Comments, on choice:

• it's my impression that 90% of folks whose choice is between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, the Air is more than adequate
• for this 90% of users, the price increase noted today is not an issue
• only the very "high end" users need a MacBook Pro rather than the Air
• "high end" users will not settle for entry-level-8-GB RAM
• "high end" users, able to afford the MacBook Pro, can easily afford the "upgrade" price (although they might be a bit miffed)

Apple's cachet:

• long-term Apple customers know they are paying "up" for the Apple cachet, 
• many folks suggest Apple is not particularly concerned about charges of "price gouging" or their "luxury tax"
  

Bottom line:

When I put everything together, I lean toward those who feel Apple raised the price almost purely for reasons of profit. The fact that the price was changed so quickly after introduction of the model -- again, one month -- suggests it has to do with the global economy more than an increase in the wholesale price of storage.

Back to choice:

• my MacBook Air has 4 GB of memory and 128 GB of storage. The 4 GB of memory seems "adequate," but the base model MacBook Air has 8 GB which is good news
• without question, the 128 GB of storage I have is not nearly enough and I'm not a heavy user of storage. The good news? The entry level MacBook Air comes with 256 GB of storage. One can double the storage to 512 GB for an additional $200

I apologize for the meandering of this post. I'm listening to the commentary while watching Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious.

Bottom, bottom line:

• 90% of Apple laptop users don't need the MacBook Pro; the MacBook Air is more than enough;
• the MacBook Air comes in only one size, 13-inch, which eliminates the size-dimension problem;
• entry level 8 GB is adequate; although I could be easily convinced otherwise;
• entry level of 256 GB is more than adequate;
• having said that, whether to upgrade either memory (8 GB) or storage (256 GB) is a toss-up; both upgrades cost $200;
• for me, I would upgrade the memory, from 8 GB to 16 GB; one can easily buy external storage, including the "cloud"
• others may prefer upgrading the storage, from 256 GB to 512 GB for the same amount;
• upgrading both for $400 significantly increases the price of this entry level Air which is $999;
• high school senior heading off to college on limited budget: the entry-level MacBook Air; no upgrades needed; and definitely not the MacBook Pro unless one has much experience with the MacBook Air and knows their own needs;

By the way, I don't know if there were any other price increases, but if the price increase only involves the MacBook Pro, to some extent the whole argument is moot (this whole post was unnecessary): Apple was simply aligning the price for memory upgrade across all models.