[mac_pc]

I was just looking at the purchasing part of macbook on apple, and it has a page where you can upgrade your parts. If say for instance I want 1GB ram and 100GB harddrive, will it fit just fine? Will it have any problems?

Also when you select those do they build it in for your or just send you the extra parts?

Also why is it so much more expensive to go to 2gb from 1gb. Going to 1gb from 512mb is so much cheaper. Also for harddrive, going from 60 to 80 is cheaper then goin from 80-100gb.

[fox-orian]

The simple reason why parts get more expensive is because high capacity storage like that is newer technology. 1GB of memory usually consists of two sticks of 512 MB. 512MB sticks have been around for a while and are easier to make, so they cost less. However, a single stick with a capacity of 1GB costs more than two 512 sticks because the 1GB stick is more convenient. With 1 stick of 1GB, you still have a second slot open for a second stick of 1GB giving you 2GB total. The same thing goes for 512 sticks, even. It's cheaper to buy two sticks of 256 than to buy one 512 -- because one 512 is more convenient. HDD capacity is sort of the same thing, high capacity HDD drives are simply more convenient and a little more complex on the inside.

As for buying upgrades, you don't need to buy memory/HDD upgrades from Apple. While I'm sure you could have Apple make the upgrades for you, there are far cheaper alternatives available online to install yourself if you have the basic knowhow.

[mduell]

Apple's pricing rarely reflects reality. Recently (currently?) they were charging $200 for a SuperDrive upgrade (on a BTO machine, not after-sale); the same drive is only about $70 retail.

If you buy a custom Mac from the Apple store, it arrives with your upgrades installed. If you upgrade from 80 to 100GB, you don't get both drives.

[Dillon-K]

haha, yeah. I will have to agree that the $500 RAM upgrade is really uncool of Apple. If you can *get* 2 gigs of memory for about $160, why couldn't they just put on a $40 labor charge and make the price an even $200 more for a 2gig RAM addon...? because they simply won't. end of story.