The base price is reasonable, but the RAM and Storage upgrade costs are extortionate.

That's often the case from other OEMs as well. I just checked a Dell Latitude with a 256GB SSD standard. Upgrading to 512GB costs $146.99, and going from 512GB to 1TB is another $142.72. The retail price for a very good 1TB SSD is about $135, so when you pay for that 1TB upgrade from Dell, you would still be getting ripped off even if they also sent you the 256GB and 512GB drives. For $289 in upgrade pricing, Dell owes you at least a full 2TB of storage.

Sure, but with most other OEMs anyone tech savvy (or really just handy with a screwdriver) can buy the base model and get the upgrades separately.

Except that most people don't want to use Apple products, they're fine on Windows.

Sure, when she asked me about it, I told her to get it, try it for 2 weeks, and bring it back if she doesn't like it.

The value depends on the usage. I wouldn't run photoshop +illustrator together with 256G of SSD and 8GB of RAM (which my girlfriend uses a lot), but M1 is amazing for web browsing, which my friend does mostly.

If you want build quality you buy thinkpad and not apple.

I got a Thinkpad 3yrs ago to replace by (now 6-yr old) Macbook Pro. The Thinkpad died, while my MBP is still going strong.

What exactly do you mean by "build quality"? Do you just mean built from glass and aluminium? (hardly obvious choices for a laptop). IMHO, Apple can hardly claim to be leading in "build quality", what with glued-in batteries, un-repairable designs and keyboard reliability issues that have been ongoing for years.

> Do you just mean built from glass and aluminium? (hardly obvious choices for a laptop).

Aluminium bodies are way less prone to "oilification" (aka visibly shiny areas where one's palm rests), and I have yet to see any Windows laptop where the touchpad is comparable with MBPs in both size and quality (palm tracking, gestures).

> what with glued-in batteries, un-repairable designs and keyboard reliability issues that have been ongoing for years.

Battery replacements are possible even for someone with only moderate experience in hardware work, but I agree with you that the process is more complex than it used to be. Regarding the keyboard: get a 2019 16-inch MBP, it has a keyboard with real keys and a physical esc key.

> un-repairable designs

Quality actually means no need to repair and use it till becomes obsolete. That's why Apple's stuff have drastically higher re-sell value than the competition.

Only repair shops fancy to repair stuff, the rest of us prefer it not breaking down in first place.

Ancedotally, I have yet to meet a someone whose Macbook didn't break before it became obsolete.

A quality product shouldn't be so fragile to component failures. Bad RAM shouldn't entail an entire motherboard replacement.

I never met someone who's macbook broke down without spilling the punkin spice latte all over it and second hand market is flooded with old macbooks in mint condition.

LOL. Louis rossman would beg to differ.

no doubt. He made a career of it.