This is just another of the many reasons that I don't care how great the CPU performance is. If Apple locks things down this way whilst charging twice what these things should cost, what the hell good is it?

crApple's entire history is being sleazy dirtbags when it comes to the hardware. From the neutered PCMCIA slots they claimed to have "invented" calling it "airport" on the G3 era machines, to hardwiring master only on PATA optical drives to prevent third party replacements, to the "proprietary" SSD's that are literally just NVME with a different connector/pin arrangement, to soldiering SSD's to the flipping board, to horrifically bad design (as in actual design, not art) decisions because of their artsy-fartsy form factors.

I spend that type of money, the freaking drive and memory better be flipping socketed and/or removable. This is the type of design I'd expect from a $50 chinese chromebook from the local pharmacy.

I don't think I'll ever understand how/why anyone would buy anything made by Apple by choice. ANY other company pulled half the shit crApple does, and they'd be roasted alive.

But no, thanks to propaganda, cultism, and L33t status symbol BS more at home at a Jewelers than in IE, they seem to be able to get away with almost anything.