3 ms·
Can you define "sweet spot" in this case? Usually I see that term used when the thing being considered is a pricey upgrade, and you need to strike a compromise
by cmatthias 4y ago
Can you define "sweet spot" in this case?
Usually I see that term used when the thing being considered is a pricey upgrade, and you need to strike a compromise between price and performance.
In this case, we're talking about an extra 8GB of memory, which would add perhaps $10 in cost to the bill of materials for the machine (or maybe less in sufficient volume). Given that Apple is also overcharging by at least 3x current standard retail price for SSD upgrades, my guess is that there's some room to bump up the wholesale cost a bit.
Not doing so is, IMHO, insulting to users, and given the non-upgradable nature of these machines, bad for the environment, counter to all of Apple's talk about being environmentally friendly.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- threeseed 4y agoMajority of users are just going to be using web, email and photos. There is simply no need for more than 8GB for those use cases.
- jghn 4y agomy personal machine is an 8GB M1 Air. I don't usually do dev work on it, but always have dozens of Safari tabs, often a bunch of Chrome tabs, a bajillion Slacks, and other apps. And I'll do light dev work on it, mostly for personal things. I even play the occasional game. In other words, I think I'm well beyond what you're even describing. And while I do wish I had bought the one with more RAM, but usually I don't notice it. The swapping is that good.
- cmatthias 4y agoWhy would you not want an extra 8GB? The point is that it's dirt cheap to add, and Apple's refusal to do so is an insult to its customers.
- qwytw 4y agoAlso it makes it much easier for Apple upsell upgrades and increase their margin through market segmentation. > There is simply no need for more than 8GB I don't really agree. But let's say that the case. Will it still be the same in 2-4 years? Possibly not? Great Apple can just sell another mac.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- tracker1 4y agoWorth noting the M1 memory is MUCH faster and higher bandwidth than x86 options at launch (about 2x). That accounted for a lot of the difference in perception. At least for general usage... for Docker + containers, it definitely uses a bit more.
- cmatthias 4y agoDid you intend to reply to a different comment? The speed of the memory has no bearing on the capacity, obviously, so I'm not sure how this is relevant to what I said.
- simondotau 4y agoIt's relevant because you are assessing value.
- cmatthias 4y agoThe original M1 (I assume that's what GP meant by "at launch") uses LPDDR4x DRAM modules, the same as many x86 laptops that have soldered RAM. You can literally look up the part numbers based on the photos of the M1 CPU package. Maybe I'm misunderstanding but I'm not sure why it would be any more expensive than x86 laptops' memory, and it might even be less expensive just due to the volume that Apple is likely buying.
- tracker1 4y agoMy point was the configuration with the M1 has much higher throughput (more channels) than typical laptop/desktop configurations. This allows for allocation/deallocation to go more quickly, so while working it is less noticeable for many workflows. It really depends on what you're doing though. The pricing structure Apple charges for more memory and storage is F'd up... I was just making a point that one doesn't need as much as you might think depending on the bandwidth and workflow.