So why is Apple ram so expensive????

Only Apple's product managers could tell you their pricing philosophy, and they won't respond to such a question here. Anything we here could say would just be guesswork and speculation and that's not allowed in the Discussions.

Dave is correct. However, if you use a little business sense consider that Apple installs the RAM and warrants the RAM to cover any and all replacement or repair. If you purchase third-party RAM you have none of that. Most repair shops charge a minimum one hour. That hour costs about $65-75.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/22/business/dram.php

Makes you wonder if another company is charging Apple more on the contract for the RAM than it is worth, or not offering Apple the flexibility of changing the price on their RAM with the market. Regardless of the reason, http://www.apple.com/contact/feedback.html is a good way to leave feedback for Apple marketing.

An Apple Authorised Reseller will sell you the RAM at decent prices, give you a lifetime warranty and install it for free (if you really want to lug your Mac Pro all the way there).

Support and get to know your Reseller, buy your Mac there too, same price. Some things like memory and software they do good, so I use them for that. Others (always disk drives for me) they're not so good at, so I go elsewhere.

The answer is very simple. Three words, or, even better, three letters... O.E.M. Pricing OEM parts above non-OEM parts is a very common practice used widely in many industries. Automotive, for one, is a clear example of that. Compare prices of OEM brake pads or spark plugs to those you can buy for your car at Pep Boys or Autozone. 😉

Come on, man...get real!
Everything Apple is expensive:

-RAM price makes no sense. Any branded RAM has lifetime warranty thru resellers AND the mother company. No reason on earth to buy RAM from Apple.
-monitors are pathetic, old, low quality and cost more than much better competitors, even after a couple of prices reductions !!!???
-Hard Disks? yeah right! Even more expensive than RAM.
-What else...ah forgot, even mouse and keyboards are more expensive than average.
-GPU cards __Apple should be taken to court for the prices!

The man is right! Being a financial supporter he should be seriously concerned about lost revenues, BIG ONES!


amen
I

monitors are pathetic, old, low quality and cost more than much better competitors, even after a couple of prices reductions !!!???

Apple monitors offer things most competitors do not:

1. Color correction software which is an industry standard.
2. Built-in Firewire and USB ports.
3. A magnetic mount for the old iSights.
4. 1080p with built-in overscan protection. Try displaying a Mac screen on a 1080i display. You will find overscan issues.

-Hard Disks? yeah right! Even more expensive than RAM.

Apple only offers one grade of hard drive, and that's in Time Capsule for their servers. Server grade hard drives are actually very aggressively priced.

Apple monitors offer things most competitors do not:

1. Color correction software which is an industry standard.
2. Built-in Firewire and USB ports.
3. A magnetic mount for the old iSights.
4. 1080p with built-in overscan protection. Try displaying a Mac screen on a 1080i display. You will find overscan issues.


1-you will use a calibrator and a dedicated software with much better results than the internal software. Check Eizo and NEC monitors when talking about colors!

2- Built in USB: most companies hi end monitors do offer these.
Firewire.... well, yes, Apple is unique in this but...they build MacPros with 4 FW400/800 ports on a single bus! Since this is a ridiculous limitation...these ports do not really add much. In any case judging a monitor by these accessories is not relevant.

3- right! Old iSights are out of production for how long now (and never replaced)? 2, 3 years? That's another irrelevant aspect in buying a monitor. Some companies sell monitors with built in webcams...Many also include bult in multi-format card readers....

Apple monitors today:
-are old, with very slow panels.
-lighting uniformity is poor
-the 23" monitor suffers from a well known "pink cast" problem. Check in Google and you'll get tens of thousands reports. I had one and Apple couldn't make me happy.
-can't be raised, lowered, turned for different positioning. Almost all monitors offer this and ALL pro monitors do.
-have a single power/video/usb+fw cable soldered to the monitor! That's so stupid! if you have a problem to the cable, your monitor goes back to Apple for expensive servicing and you'll have to wait. Why all monitors have detachable cables? Doesn't this make things easier, faster, more customer needs friendly...and more pro/less greedy?
-can attach a single computer to a single monitor! All monitors offer 2 DVI or 1 DVI+ 1VGA inputs for multiple computers connections. Eizo can split its 30" monitors into 2, running 2 computers at the same time.
-DVI on Apple monitors is not HDCP compliant! You won't be able to connect true HD video sources (1080i or p) anyway.
-no other video inputs available as many competitors instead offer today: HDMI- HDCP enabled DVI- the new coming standard DisplayPort- S-Video/Component/Composite (nice to have sometimes).
-1 year warrant + 2 additional years at a price. Eizo offers 5 years at no price and one week exchange with a new one (not a refurbished!) for any stuck pixel/subpixel.
-doesn't state if their monitors comply (as they should) to ISO 13604-2 normativity which sets the number of acceptable stuck pixels...so you'll have to deal with Apple or your local dealer (very painful outside of USA...you american customers don't know how bad is Apple customer support outside of its home land) on a "one toone basis".
-are extremely over priced for how old they are/how not updated they are/how good and well priced-supported many competitors are.

I think ther's a good enough description now to decide what NOT to buy.


I

why are coffees so expensive in restaurants?
Because there it is the money....

Hard Drives!!! That's almost a joke.

Look at the MacPro
additional 500GB HD = add 250 $
additional 750GB HD = add 400 $
additional 1TB HD = add 500 $

WHAT????

-server grade 500GB drive such as WD RE series (5 years warranty) costs 120$
-server grade 750GB drives from WD and Samsung (the best drives today!-Check the F1 series) costs 198 $(WD) or 139.99 (Samsung)
-server grade 1TB drive Samsung F1 costs 249.99.


That's half the price Apple charges! And I'm not even sure you get the same warranty length these companies offer, from Apple.


What's next?

I

That's right, Gary!
That's why I provided you the necessary info to improve your life, not Apple's pockets. they know all of this but seem to have hard ears.

I

Back to my point as well. We're just your fellow users here, and discussion of Apple pricing policies is contrary to the terms of use of the Discussions. If you want to comment to Apple, it's best done through the feedback pages. But clearly when it comes to product pricing, Apple's managers and analysts have the information they need to set price points, and they obviously feel that the RAM and drive pricing are set as they want them. I would imaging that if and when it starts affecting overall Mac sales, then and probably only then will they change.

'nuff said in the subject, methinks.