Here at OWC, we’ve been talking a lot lately about the MacBook Pro with Retina display (which will hereafter be referred to as the rMBP). We’ve investigated the quality of the Retina display and how non-optimized graphics look. We’ve even attached multiple monitors to it, just to see what happened. Our research supports that this laptop was designed for professionals and does give us a truly remarkable, super-high-resolution screen. Yet with all Apple gives us in this machine, they leave one area to be desired—upgrade opportunities.

With the creation of the rMBP, Apple also focused on making the whole unit thinner. The result? Less expandability, which could affect the needs of many professionals.

On modern OS versions, and for modern apps, the base 8GB can be a little less than optimal for a “pro” machine. This leads many people to upgrade to the 16GB at an extra $200. Whether 8GB or 16GB is the chosen factory option, if that soldered-in  RAM is outgrown, the user has to buy a new MacBook, rather than upgrade the one they have.

As Mac users, we have a few options—accept the options that Apple offers, or buy the minimum configuration and upgrade it with third-party offerings later. Unfortunately, it seems as though the latter option is slowly being taken away from us. What began with the MacBook Air is now present in the rMBP; our options for expansion after purchase have been largely removed. Article Continues…