An upgrade to a 4GB DDR3 on a MacBook..

Dear all,

I got a macbook pro and I asked them to give me an upgrade for a 4GB instead of the standard 2GB DDR3. I returned the notebook but they had a policy that I should keep the 2GB DDR3 I asked them to install. This costs about GBP 80. So I ended up with 2GB DDR3 that I paid for the GBP 80. I checked online and I could find them for a much cheaper price. Why then apple has it with this price? Are they any different? Is the GBP 80 the price for the 2GB DDR3 only or inclusive the price difference between 2x1GB and 2GB one chip DDR3. Because in the process I guess they had to take out the 2x1GB chips and insert 2x2GB chips to fill up the two internal memory slots. I asked them but they told me that it is the cost of just the 1x2GB DDR3 increase that I ordered?? Any ideas??
My best regards.

 

Your post confuses me. I'm re-reading it and still having a hard time understanding.
Are you asking why a RAM upgrade directly from Apple is more expensive than buying the RAM yourself from another location?
Because Apple will overprice the upgrade (pretty much every computer company will do this). That's how they make lots of profit, they sell accessories and upgrades at a high cost and most people will just buy them.
As a general rule, you should never buy RAM upgrades from Apple (or whatever company you might buy a computer from). It's cheaper to just buy RAM somewhere else and to install it yourself (and installing RAM in a computer is one of the easiest upgrades to do).

 

Hi, thank you so much. What I meant is that whether this 80 pounds are the 2GB DDR3 price or the price of exchanging a 2x1GB DDR3+adding 2x2GB DDR3. Because as you know the 2x1GB (2 chips each 1GB I mean) is cheaper than than a 2GB one chip. So the 80 pounds is now not just the price of a 2GB DDR3 upgrade, instead it is the price difference as they took out (2x1GB chips) and inserted (2x2GB chips). Do you get me now?? That is my question.
best regards,

 

No I still don't get you.
You paid 80 pounds for what?

Okay let's recap here. You had 2GB (2x1GB) in your Mac. You paid Apple 80 GBP to upgrade your 2GB (2x1GB) to 4GB (2x2GB)? And they gave you back your 2x1GB sticks after the upgrade?
Is that correct?
That's just what they charge for the 4GB (2x2GB) plus the installation. Technically, they have to give you back your 2x1GB since you own them, you paid for that RAM with the initial cost of your notebook. So your 80GBP was for 2x2GB sticks and to get them installed in your notebook. That's just how much Apple charged you for the RAM and service.

I did a quick search on Amazon.co.uk and found this RAM for 23.50GBP (for 1x2GB). So about 50GBP for 2x2GB (and you could probably get some for cheaper if you looked around). So if you had done it yourself, you could have saved at least 30GBP. Like I said in my previous post, any computer company will overprice their upgrades, hence they make a lot of money.
Is there a difference between the RAM that Apple installed in your notebook and other RAM you would find online? No, not really. They're all pretty much the same thing, as long as it h as a lifetime warranty any brand name of RAM would do fine.
Does that answer your question? You paid 80GBP for 2x2GB of RAM and the installation. The 1x2GB sticks they gave back to you were already yours since you paid for them during your initial purchase of the notebook.

 

I thank you so much for your effort. Actually the computer comes standard with 2x1GB and I wanted them to upgrade this to 4GB. So the way t go was to get out te 2x1GB and insert a 2x2GB. I paid the 80 GBP for this upgrade. After I returned the laptop they gave me back a 1x2GB that I ordered to upgrade the laptop as they have a policy that they can not refund ordered RAM. So I got to keep my 1x2GB chip and give them back the laptop with the other 1x2GB in it. Originally before all this the laptop was configured with a 2x1GB Chips. Having only two slots made them get these two out put 2x2GB instead. Meaning that they took 2x1GB from the 2 slots added 1x2GB in one slot and another 1x2GB in the other slot. So the 80 GBP is the price of what that is what I am asking. I know that taking 2x1GB out and inserting and equivalent 1x2GB costs something because the 1 chip of 2GB is more expensive than 2 chips each of 1GB in total.I am afraid that the 80GBP are a total cost of upgrade not only the price of the 1x2GB extra RAM I ordered. So I should be refunded a bit of it.

 

you bought a stock off the shelf pre-made mac... not a build to order Mac. They come with 2gb of ram. They will not do a before purchase upgrade on it. What they did was sell you the machine as is, then did an after purchase upgrade by selling and installing new memory on it, meaning you did pay for the 2gb they gave back to you. Apple doesn't custom sell any machines unless you do a special order and have it made and shipped, if you bought a retail box, it is how it is, no changes can be made to it before purchase.

 

But is there charge included in the 80 GBP I paid for the difference in price between the original 2x1GB DDR3 already there and the one chip 1x2GB DDR3 installed (when asking this I am not considereding the one 1x2GB DDR3 I asked them to add for the upgrade, I just want to know if the 80 GBP are for the extra 1x2GB DDR3 or including something else other than their installation fees)???

 

So, you're asking if 1x2GB costs the same as 2x1GB? Currently, 2x1GB DDR3 is more expensive in retail, but 1x2GB is more practical (since it only needs 1 slot to install) and more future proof. The actual difference in price is usually pretty small (a few %).