> Really annoying they continue to do this, especially given they charge excessive markup on memory upgrades

This is exactly why they solder it on - so they can charge those prices. They've created a monopoly on hardware upgrades and repairs for their machines. This is why a lot of people refuse to buy Apple laptops these days.

You can't upgrade a MacBook Pro after it has been purchased so not sure what monopoly you think Apple has.

And the reason why they solder it is because it reduces the thickness of the laptops. Those clips/connectors don't come for free.

They have a monopoly on repairs. And with other laptops, you can certainly upgrade at least the SSD independently. With Macs, you have to buy a whole new machine.

Those clips/connectors don't come for free, but the ability to price discriminate is obviously highly valuable to Apple.

And that's on top of the amount you are already paying for the base 16GB, so in reality it is $800+the cost of the 16GB