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Hi, I intend to buy a MacBook Pro but do not want to pay too much for it. So my intention is to buy the smallest configuration and upgrade it myself. So far my investigations delivered the following infos: 13" - RAM not extendable or only with a 7.000 $ device => thus buy 16GB from the very beginning SSD: Transcend offers Jet Drive Lite (SDcard) for upto 128GB for about 83€ street price, 95MB/s read, 60MB/s write speed Transcend does not offer their Jet Drive 7xx serie SSDs for MBP later than early 2013, thus it may take another 2 years before they hit the market with devices that match MBP 2015 devices, if they do it at all and if there is no firmware issue (Apple adds proprietary FW to their SSDs). Question: What is the situation with the latest MBP 15" regarding upgradability of RAM and or SSD, SD-cards excluded. If I’m wrong with my investigations regarding 13" you may update me as well. Kr Michael

All of the Retina series systems (both 13" and 15") have soldered RAM so you will need to buy your system with the exact memory you think you’ll need upfront. There is no economical way to upgrade it later. All of the Retina series systems currently (both 13" and 15") have a removable SSD unit BUT! There are very few 3rd parties that make the SSD that will fit your system. So far only the earlier models have options. Review OWC & Transcend web sites. You maybe able to buy a used Apple SSD but mostly the smaller ones are found from the better suppliers (check IFIXIT store front). There are a lot of Craigs List & eBay sales from bogus and junk units which won’t work. So be careful if you go down that path. So the bottom line here its iffy if you’ll be able to upgrade in the future. So its better again to buy what you need upfront. Options: Buy a used non-retina MacBook Pro! The last generations are upgradable both memory & storage. Yes, they are heaver & don’t have the retina display but thats the tradeoff if you want a system which you can upgrade. As for processing speed the difference so far is not that much to worry about. Sure this will change as Intel introduces better CPU’s in the next few years but for now this is the better direction for many people who what more control of their system. FYI: The new MacBook that just came out doesn’t offer any upgradability everything is soldered in.

I came across these guys: http://store.mcetech.com/mm/merchant.mvc… They claim to sell a compatible SSD but since I’m not currently state-side nor do I know the credibility of MCE tech, I’m skeptical to get it myself. Anyway… they claim to have the replacement drive for our laptop (I’ve got one too and I’m struggling with the same issue) with R/W speeds that are supposedly the same …