6 ms·

$999 is for soldered 8GB/256GB crap. Add $400 for 16GB/512GB models.

ofrzeta 3y ago
It's not crap, though. I am using the exact config with an M1 and it's really quite usable, even for development. Also I have hundreds of tabs open. You can even watch movies because the speakers are so good - opposed to any PC laptop I ever owned.
- sys_64738 3y ago
  It might be usable but the cost difference of 8/256 and 16/512 is negligible. But Apple wants to price gouge you if you want the latter. Computing hardware was always about providing the maximum upfront to give headroom in the future.
dbbk 3y ago
I can guarantee you that most people buying the $999 laptop have 5 Chrome tabs open and don't store files on their computer. 8GB/256GB is fine.
- dboreham 3y ago
  Then they could use a $200 Chromebook.
  - vundercind 3y ago
    Worse battery life, such weak hardware (you're bringing up $200 models) that they're laggy and shitty even with a few Chrome tabs, bad trackpads, terrible accessibility options compared to Macs (I was very surprised to discover this latter issue when configuring my elderly father's Chromebook, given the market for Chromebooks is basically kids and old people) $200 Chromebooks are the kind my various teacher friends complain about because they're so shit that they even drive elementary school kids crazy.
  - leetharris 3y ago
    But they don't want to. This is what people who are spec chasers miss. They want to use a MacBook because it's a joy to use compared to a shitty $200 Chromebook
- NBJack 3y ago
  That's a bold statement. Videos, music, photos, all of these add up fast. I have encountered plenty of family and friends needing help when their storage is exhausted. Then there is the ever increasong bloat of software, web apps, etc. that chew through RAM. If this isn't a daily driver, sure. It is fine. But for those where this is their only computer, this is a lot of money for an 'entry level' model that can't do as much.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    I am still using a 2015 MacBook Air with 8GB / 256GB, and I use Excel/Safari/Chrome Remote Desktop/VLC/Photos/Handbrake/etc just fine. And I bet I use my computer more strenuously than 90% of the population.
  - szundi 3y ago
    What are you talking about? Apple Music streaming, Netflix, Youtube. Nothing on the machine. Those times are over when you swim in the mainstream.
    - w0m 3y ago
      You're making the argument to get them to buy iPads, not entry level laptops for roughly the same price (+-100usd)
      - dbbk 3y ago
        And a lot of them do! But that's not feasible for everyone or every use case, for example I would never give a college student just an iPad.
  - dbbk 3y ago
    The year is 2024, most people don't store videos, music or photos as files on their computer.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- adgjlsfhk1 3y ago
  256gb is 3 AAA games. luckily Apple solves this problem by not being able to run any games.
  - gs17 3y ago
    At least on my MBA, 50-60 GB is taken up by the system itself, so 2 games really.
- huuhee3 3y ago
  Most of those people could save 600 dollars and buy an used Thinkpad that works just as well for their uses
- jsz0 3y ago
  I dunno about Chrome but a single YouTube tab in Safari can use over 1GB of RAM these days. It's absolutely insane to sell a computer in 2024 that's gonna struggle to open 10+ browser tabs. https://imgur.com/a/VzCQ4zF https://imgur.com/a/VzCQ4zF
r00fus 3y ago
I found it's completely acceptable for hobby usages that don't involve running offline LLMs. If you're doing work, get a Pro.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  I run an offline LLM on my M2 MBA with 16 GB RAM. It's fine (but I will buy more RAM on my next machine, in large part due to LLM developments).
- rkangel 3y ago
  I have found 8GB RAM to be completely unusable on Windows and Linux these days. Once you've got Chrome open with half a dozen tabs and any even slightly memory hungry program (VS Code or Android Studio etc.) you're out of luck. Actually I had to have my last work laptop replaced because 8GB wasn't enough for Chrome and a Teams video call! If I tried to screen share a browser tab of Jira everything would start paging. I have zero recent experience with MacOS or the M1,2,3 ARM hardware but I doubt even the very fast RAM is going to make that much difference to the above.
  - dgellow 3y ago
    I’m writing this from an x230 with Windows and 8GB of RAM. It’s a pretty old machine I’m using for FreeCAD, 3D printer slicers, and simple admin stuff, and it’s pretty usable?
  - acdha 3y ago
    8GB of RAM is extremely usable on macOS - until last year I was using that for VSC, Podman, etc. and the only time I noticed it was running x86 Java containers in emulation. Beyond the much leaner base OS, they have hardware memory page compression which seems to make a huge difference. My corporate Dell with 16GB feels slower in every way even running the same apps (Teams, Edge, etc.).
  - macNchz 3y ago
    I have been a minimum-16GB-of-RAM guy since 2012 or so, but I got a great deal last year on a base model M1 Air that I mostly just use for web/email while traveling, and as a thin client back to my Linux desktop with 64GB of RAM. I've found it surprisingly adequate, even as someone who is not so good about closing browser tabs. I can certainly get it to start swapping easily enough, so I don't necessarily agree with all of the people I've seen claiming that these machines are revolutionary and 8GB is the new 16GB, but it does seem to manage better than I would have expected. Apple's pricing on memory and disk upgrades really aggravates me, though, and was a significant factor in deciding to switch to Linux for my primary computer.

It's not crap, though. I am using the exact config with an M1 and it's really quite usable, even for development. Also I have hundreds of tabs open. You can even watch movies because the speakers are so good - opposed to any PC laptop I ever owned.

sys_64738 3y ago
It might be usable but the cost difference of 8/256 and 16/512 is negligible. But Apple wants to price gouge you if you want the latter. Computing hardware was always about providing the maximum upfront to give headroom in the future.

dbbk 3y ago

I can guarantee you that most people buying the $999 laptop have 5 Chrome tabs open and don't store files on their computer. 8GB/256GB is fine.

dboreham 3y ago
Then they could use a $200 Chromebook.
- vundercind 3y ago
  Worse battery life, such weak hardware (you're bringing up $200 models) that they're laggy and shitty even with a few Chrome tabs, bad trackpads, terrible accessibility options compared to Macs (I was very surprised to discover this latter issue when configuring my elderly father's Chromebook, given the market for Chromebooks is basically kids and old people) $200 Chromebooks are the kind my various teacher friends complain about because they're so shit that they even drive elementary school kids crazy.
- leetharris 3y ago
  But they don't want to. This is what people who are spec chasers miss. They want to use a MacBook because it's a joy to use compared to a shitty $200 Chromebook
NBJack 3y ago
That's a bold statement. Videos, music, photos, all of these add up fast. I have encountered plenty of family and friends needing help when their storage is exhausted. Then there is the ever increasong bloat of software, web apps, etc. that chew through RAM. If this isn't a daily driver, sure. It is fine. But for those where this is their only computer, this is a lot of money for an 'entry level' model that can't do as much.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  I am still using a 2015 MacBook Air with 8GB / 256GB, and I use Excel/Safari/Chrome Remote Desktop/VLC/Photos/Handbrake/etc just fine. And I bet I use my computer more strenuously than 90% of the population.
- szundi 3y ago
  What are you talking about? Apple Music streaming, Netflix, Youtube. Nothing on the machine. Those times are over when you swim in the mainstream.
  - w0m 3y ago
    You're making the argument to get them to buy iPads, not entry level laptops for roughly the same price (+-100usd)
    - dbbk 3y ago
      And a lot of them do! But that's not feasible for everyone or every use case, for example I would never give a college student just an iPad.
- dbbk 3y ago
  The year is 2024, most people don't store videos, music or photos as files on their computer.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
adgjlsfhk1 3y ago
256gb is 3 AAA games. luckily Apple solves this problem by not being able to run any games.
- gs17 3y ago
  At least on my MBA, 50-60 GB is taken up by the system itself, so 2 games really.
huuhee3 3y ago
Most of those people could save 600 dollars and buy an used Thinkpad that works just as well for their uses
jsz0 3y ago
I dunno about Chrome but a single YouTube tab in Safari can use over 1GB of RAM these days. It's absolutely insane to sell a computer in 2024 that's gonna struggle to open 10+ browser tabs. https://imgur.com/a/VzCQ4zF https://imgur.com/a/VzCQ4zF

r00fus 3y ago

I found it's completely acceptable for hobby usages that don't involve running offline LLMs. If you're doing work, get a Pro.

gnicholas 3y ago
I run an offline LLM on my M2 MBA with 16 GB RAM. It's fine (but I will buy more RAM on my next machine, in large part due to LLM developments).
rkangel 3y ago
I have found 8GB RAM to be completely unusable on Windows and Linux these days. Once you've got Chrome open with half a dozen tabs and any even slightly memory hungry program (VS Code or Android Studio etc.) you're out of luck. Actually I had to have my last work laptop replaced because 8GB wasn't enough for Chrome and a Teams video call! If I tried to screen share a browser tab of Jira everything would start paging. I have zero recent experience with MacOS or the M1,2,3 ARM hardware but I doubt even the very fast RAM is going to make that much difference to the above.
- dgellow 3y ago
  I’m writing this from an x230 with Windows and 8GB of RAM. It’s a pretty old machine I’m using for FreeCAD, 3D printer slicers, and simple admin stuff, and it’s pretty usable?
- acdha 3y ago
  8GB of RAM is extremely usable on macOS - until last year I was using that for VSC, Podman, etc. and the only time I noticed it was running x86 Java containers in emulation. Beyond the much leaner base OS, they have hardware memory page compression which seems to make a huge difference. My corporate Dell with 16GB feels slower in every way even running the same apps (Teams, Edge, etc.).
- macNchz 3y ago
  I have been a minimum-16GB-of-RAM guy since 2012 or so, but I got a great deal last year on a base model M1 Air that I mostly just use for web/email while traveling, and as a thin client back to my Linux desktop with 64GB of RAM. I've found it surprisingly adequate, even as someone who is not so good about closing browser tabs. I can certainly get it to start swapping easily enough, so I don't necessarily agree with all of the people I've seen claiming that these machines are revolutionary and 8GB is the new 16GB, but it does seem to manage better than I would have expected. Apple's pricing on memory and disk upgrades really aggravates me, though, and was a significant factor in deciding to switch to Linux for my primary computer.