Expandable memory in Apple Devices - WHY NOT?

HarryHutton · 02-22-2013, 12:38 PM

Apple often differentiates in devices based on the memory capacity. e.g. iPad - 16 GB, 32GB, and recently 128GB has been announced.

Why not just allow expandable memory. Storage capacity doubles every 18 months. At this rate of progress, it is rather annoying to upgrade device, rather than just switching the memory card.
e.g. I have an old iPod, i love it, but its only 4GB, so I can't have many songs. Would love if i could just upgrade the memory myself.

Penforhire · 02-22-2013, 12:45 PM

I've read some technical reasons but the financial one makes most sense to me. Apple can charge you more for the memory this way AND they get additional sales when you feel forced to upgrade because you ran out of memory.

It hasn't hurt their sales any more than a not-easily-removable battery has.

holymadness · 02-22-2013, 01:51 PM

1. Apple makes most of its money on upgrades.

2. External storage requires file system management, which is antithetical to iOS' design.

3. External storage takes up place in the chassis, either reducing space for other components (such as the battery) or requiring thicker and less elegant designs.

pidgeon92 · 02-22-2013, 02:30 PM

I would think it has a lot to do with iCloud, and home sharing. I put very little media on my iPad anymore, I just use home sharing to share my music and videos. Beyond that, most of the stuff I do is internet based. I have
245 apps that take up 15GB of space, and there is very little on the iPad besides that.

odiakkoh · 02-22-2013, 03:35 PM

^ what all 3 of them said.

kyteflyer · 02-22-2013, 11:21 PM

I really dont see it as a huge issue. I just have the apps on board that I use a lot, and a few games. My 16GB iPad still has 5GB free (I dont use it for media, thats on the iphone). My 16GB iPhone, being mostly for a few nav apps, and some music and audiobooks... also has about 5GB free. I can't overload, so I don't.

tubemonkey · 02-23-2013, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I really dont see it as a huge issue. I just have the apps on board that I use a lot, and a few games. My 16GB iPad still has 5GB free (I dont use it for media, thats on the iphone). My 16GB iPhone, being mostly for a few nav apps, and some music and audiobooks... also has about 5GB free. I can't overload, so I don't.

It's an issue when your iPod only has 6.39GB out of the box. That's why I only use it for streaming audio and playing audiobooks. It stays at home in a speaker dock.

SeaKing · 02-23-2013, 02:57 AM

My son always upgrades his Mac's Ram at least once before he buys a new one.
I don't know if he fools with the hard drive though.

SSDs would be more a problem I guess.

Would Apple upgrade your iPad Ram and SSD when you send it in to replace the battery that is also not removable? Will it be to costly?

ilovejedd · 02-23-2013, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Would Apple upgrade your iPad Ram and SSD when you send it in to replace the battery that is also not removable? Will it be to costly?

Nope, they're not gonna do that. Apple wants people to keep buying new iPads.

jswinden · 02-23-2013, 08:03 PM

Money, money, money. Apple didn't get to be the 2nd most valuable company by being generous. It wouldn't be Apple if the ghost of Jobs didn't hold us up at gunpoint and steal our money! When I bought my Mac Mini a couple of weeks ago Apple wanted $300 to upgrade it from 4GB of RAM to 16GB. I chose to give them the finger and ordered 16GB from Amazon for way less than $100. As a matter of fact I bought the Mac Mini from Amazon too because they had it at a small ($11) discount and I had a couple of Amazon gift cards. So I saved $220 on a Mac Mini with 16GB, plus the gift card value made it an even better deal.

Apple doesn't want to make the iPads and iPods upgradeable by us less they lose out on our money. Amazon does the same thing with the Kindle Fires. Plus they both fleece us on accessories, or at least try to.

Jessica Lares · 02-24-2013, 12:15 AM

Because it's just one more part to get junk into?

I've seen more empty and unused SD card slots than used ones. On my phone, my slot is actually wobbly and probably will eventually fail on me. There are too many sizes, too many different reads and writes, and other specifications that it's pretty confusing to buy. Not to mention that they are just NOW coming down in price.

Android doesn't take advantage of it very well, and Apple would probably have just as hard of a time with it too.

The other issue would be, like in my case, that the slot would break eventually.

Penforhire · 02-26-2013, 04:10 PM

Kyte, it is an issue for my 16 GB iPad.

If you only have one GB free then a large app, such as 1.3 GB Baldur's Gate will not update. So that means I have to stay at 13 GB or less. I have more than half of that in music alone (and that is a fraction of my music library). A full length movie is 2 or 3 GB. I'm thinking 64 GB is the sweet spot for me but I don't want to pony up that much money.

Using the cloud is all fine and dandy if I'm at home. But go travel somewhere that lacks wifi (or where it is expensive, Europe I'm looking at you! or slow) and you need to bring it all with you.

Graham · 02-26-2013, 04:15 PM

A wifi hard drive may be what you need, e.g.:

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-Dr.../ref=pd_cp_e_0

Graham

ilovejedd · 02-26-2013, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

A wifi hard drive may be what you need, e.g.:

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-Dr.../ref=pd_cp_e_0

Graham

Works for music, videos and photos, not so much for appdata storage.

Fluribus · 02-28-2013, 01:14 AM

Apple knows better than you. To be fair, Google also knows better than you. I will freely admit that they know better than I do about making scads of lucre. Oddly, however, I have found that others rarely know what I need better than I do.

I find clouds to be fine for delivering rain. I'm not in a situation where the cloud is good for delivering media. I could drive halfway across the state to buy a blu-ray movie and still make it back home in less time than it would take me to download the movie. (And I don't live in the boondocks.) I've downloaded books and music from Amazon because I don't need to use Amazon's cloud. I maintain my own archive, have instant access to everything, and the files are small enough that the initial download is only a few minutes.

02-22-2013, 12:38 PM	#1
HarryHutton Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 1580200 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Glasgow Device: Kobo H2O, Kindle Voyage, Samsung Note 10.1, Nook Simple Touch, M92	Expandable memory in Apple Devices - WHY NOT? Apple often differentiates in devices based on the memory capacity. e.g. iPad - 16 GB, 32GB, and recently 128GB has been announced. Why not just allow expandable memory. Storage capacity doubles every 18 months. At this rate of progress, it is rather annoying to upgrade device, rather than just switching the memory card. e.g. I have an old iPod, i love it, but its only 4GB, so I can't have many songs. Would love if i could just upgrade the memory myself.

02-26-2013, 04:15 PM	#13
Graham Wizard Posts: 2,743 Karma: 32912427 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Device: Kobo H20, Pixel 2, Samsung Chromebook Plus	A wifi hard drive may be what you need, e.g.: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-Dr.../ref=pd_cp_e_0 Graham Last edited by Graham; 02-26-2013 at 04:18 PM.

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02-22-2013, 12:45 PM	#2
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	I've read some technical reasons but the financial one makes most sense to me. Apple can charge you more for the memory this way AND they get additional sales when you feel forced to upgrade because you ran out of memory. It hasn't hurt their sales any more than a not-easily-removable battery has.

02-22-2013, 01:51 PM	#3
holymadness Guru Posts: 722 Karma: 2084955 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPhone	1. Apple makes most of its money on upgrades. 2. External storage requires file system management, which is antithetical to iOS' design. 3. External storage takes up place in the chassis, either reducing space for other components (such as the battery) or requiring thicker and less elegant designs.

02-22-2013, 02:30 PM	#4
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	I would think it has a lot to do with iCloud, and home sharing. I put very little media on my iPad anymore, I just use home sharing to share my music and videos. Beyond that, most of the stuff I do is internet based. I have 245 apps that take up 15GB of space, and there is very little on the iPad besides that.

02-22-2013, 03:35 PM	#5
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	^ what all 3 of them said.

02-22-2013, 11:21 PM	#6
kyteflyer Wizard Posts: 1,841 Karma: 9547754 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle, Australia Device: iPhone SE2020	I really dont see it as a huge issue. I just have the apps on board that I use a lot, and a few games. My 16GB iPad still has 5GB free (I dont use it for media, thats on the iphone). My 16GB iPhone, being mostly for a few nav apps, and some music and audiobooks... also has about 5GB free. I can't overload, so I don't.

02-23-2013, 02:57 AM	#8
SeaKing Frequent Flier Posts: 1,282 Karma: 2058993297 Join Date: Oct 2011 Device: KB kindle aboard, Galx Tab 7.0 Plus, trying out Droid 1 as mini-tab	My son always upgrades his Mac's Ram at least once before he buys a new one. I don't know if he fools with the hard drive though. SSDs would be more a problem I guess. Would Apple upgrade your iPad Ram and SSD when you send it in to replace the battery that is also not removable? Will it be to costly?

02-23-2013, 08:03 PM	#10
jswinden Nameless Being	Money, money, money. Apple didn't get to be the 2nd most valuable company by being generous. It wouldn't be Apple if the ghost of Jobs didn't hold us up at gunpoint and steal our money! When I bought my Mac Mini a couple of weeks ago Apple wanted $300 to upgrade it from 4GB of RAM to 16GB. I chose to give them the finger and ordered 16GB from Amazon for way less than $100. As a matter of fact I bought the Mac Mini from Amazon too because they had it at a small ($11) discount and I had a couple of Amazon gift cards. So I saved $220 on a Mac Mini with 16GB, plus the gift card value made it an even better deal. Apple doesn't want to make the iPads and iPods upgradeable by us less they lose out on our money. Amazon does the same thing with the Kindle Fires. Plus they both fleece us on accessories, or at least try to.

02-24-2013, 12:15 AM	#11
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	Because it's just one more part to get junk into? I've seen more empty and unused SD card slots than used ones. On my phone, my slot is actually wobbly and probably will eventually fail on me. There are too many sizes, too many different reads and writes, and other specifications that it's pretty confusing to buy. Not to mention that they are just NOW coming down in price. Android doesn't take advantage of it very well, and Apple would probably have just as hard of a time with it too. The other issue would be, like in my case, that the slot would break eventually.

02-26-2013, 04:10 PM	#12
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	Kyte, it is an issue for my 16 GB iPad. If you only have one GB free then a large app, such as 1.3 GB Baldur's Gate will not update. So that means I have to stay at 13 GB or less. I have more than half of that in music alone (and that is a fraction of my music library). A full length movie is 2 or 3 GB. I'm thinking 64 GB is the sweet spot for me but I don't want to pony up that much money. Using the cloud is all fine and dandy if I'm at home. But go travel somewhere that lacks wifi (or where it is expensive, Europe I'm looking at you! or slow) and you need to bring it all with you.

02-28-2013, 01:14 AM	#15
Fluribus Guru Posts: 891 Karma: 8893661 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle	Apple knows better than you. To be fair, Google also knows better than you. I will freely admit that they know better than I do about making scads of lucre. Oddly, however, I have found that others rarely know what I need better than I do. I find clouds to be fine for delivering rain. I'm not in a situation where the cloud is good for delivering media. I could drive halfway across the state to buy a blu-ray movie and still make it back home in less time than it would take me to download the movie. (And I don't live in the boondocks.) I've downloaded books and music from Amazon because I don't need to use Amazon's cloud. I maintain my own archive, have instant access to everything, and the files are small enough that the initial download is only a few minutes.

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