~Two~ four things are/can be simultaneously true: - 8GB is enough for the base model buyer. I did stuff that most consumers don't do on an 8GB M1 MBA like edit

~Two~ four things are/can be simultaneously true: - 8GB is enough for the base model buyer. I did stuff that most consumers don't do on an 8GB M1 MBA like editing 4K video in Final Cut Pro and I didn't notice any performance issues. If you just want a computer that gets some work done and you're willing to refrain from being a huge Chrome tab hoarder, it's fine. It handles 10-30 tabs just fine and that should be enough for anyone. - Apple shouldn't offer 8GB as the base model simply because the component cost of 16GB is incredibly trivial, and they're offering a product that works fine now but they know won't be sufficient in the near future. A $200 upgrade is completely unacceptable to get to 16GB because it's close to 10x the retail cost of a stick of 8GB DDR5 memory. - The base model is a price anchor and Apple intends to upsell many/most buyers to their desired average selling price. This argument is just a dismissal of a persistent question that won't go away. - The average buyer shouldn't stress out about this and just pretend the cost is higher. Just say to yourself "The MacBook Air 15" is $1699" and compare it with other computers on that basis. You'd be surprised at how competitive it is. E.g., compare to the XPS 14 16GB/512GB at the exact same price, very similar-performing processor/integrated graphics, with a lower resolution screen (you'd have to add another $300 to get something that is considered high DPI). [1] I assume that the M series chips are cheaper for Apple. The fact that Apple's design is in-house and subsidized by sharing the design with the world's most popular smartphone should mean that they are saving a significant amount of cost compared to buying processors from Intel.