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I wouldn't buy a machine with 8gb these days, but millions of people will be just fine with 8gb. Yes, Apple charges too much for memory upgrades, blah blah, but

I wouldn't buy a machine with 8gb these days, but millions of people will be just fine with 8gb. Yes, Apple charges too much for memory upgrades, blah blah, but those base model machines, starting at $699 are extremely compelling. That's the tradeoff! You pay $200 extra for 16gb so that others get a compelling machine that lasts a very long time. Even comparing the mid tier, I roll out Latitudes at around $1100 a piece to my end users and they have dim screens and last about 3-4 years, or I can roll out a MacBook Air for slightly more and they last 5-7 years without complaint.

downrightmike 2y ago
Usually my windows work machines last about a year before they basically burn out from all the security stuff running on them. They always run hot even over the weekend.
goosedragons 2y ago
Can you get a 16GB new Mac for $900? AFAIK the $699 M1 MBAs are base models only and sold at Walmart exclusively with no customisable options. If you want a 16GB Air the cheapest is $1200 for an upgraded M2. I guess you can get a 16GB M2 Mac Mini with a 256GB SSD for $800 but is that really that compelling when a Ryzen 7840HS Mini PC can easily be found with 32GB RAM and a 500GB SSD for sub $600?
- rootusrootus 2y ago
  > Walmart exclusively Definitely not exclusive to Walmart. Costco also has $649 MBAs, and there may be other sources as well.
  - goosedragons 2y ago
    Ok. But can you get 16GB RAM for $200 on top of that or are you stuck with 8?
angoragoats 2y ago
> You pay $200 extra for 16gb so that others get a compelling machine that lasts a very long time Apologies if I'm misunderstanding you, but it reads like you're saying that Apple's doing everyone a favor by selling their 8GB machines for so cheap, and those cheap machines are in turn subsidized by the folks paying 8-10x (!) typical retail price for an upgrade to 16GB. That argument doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me -- presumably the default configurations with 8GB are the ones that sell the most units, so why would they take a loss on those? Also, Apple's RAM pricing hasn't changed in years, but DRAM cost has come down considerably, so I'd be really surprised if they're not making a tidy profit margin, even on the 8GB units.
- BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
  People at the low end are more price sensitive than people at the high end. It makes a ton of sense to me, tbh. The people buying the low end models might not buy at the low end if it gets too high, but people buying pricey high end models aren't going away. Anyway, it's speculation. I trust Apple to have figured out how to make the most money from their market. But maybe they're wrong! Honestly hard to know.
  - angoragoats 2y ago
    Apple certainly has figured out how to make a lot of money from their market, and it’s by selling radically under-specced machines and charging radically inflated prices to upgrade them. The low-end models should have better specs, at the same price. Regulation is needed, IMHO.
    - BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
      It's weird to me to say that regulation is needed for what are widely considered to be the best laptop computers for almost everyone at any price by a country mile. The reality is that only a fraction of buyers actually benefit from upgrades over the base configuration.
      - 2y ago
etrautmann 2y ago
I have a 32 GB machine from work that is routinely nonfunctional due to running out of RAM. I have maybe 40 chrome tabs and vscode open. With almost nothing fancy 32 GB seems insufficient IMO
- nickthegreek 2y ago
  None mac right? I have a M1 8gb mac for work and I was worried as it replaced my intel mac 16gb. I was wrong. I can do short video rendering on it with less issues and faster than my previous machine.

downrightmike 2y ago

Usually my windows work machines last about a year before they basically burn out from all the security stuff running on them. They always run hot even over the weekend.

goosedragons 2y ago

Can you get a 16GB new Mac for $900? AFAIK the $699 M1 MBAs are base models only and sold at Walmart exclusively with no customisable options. If you want a 16GB Air the cheapest is $1200 for an upgraded M2. I guess you can get a 16GB M2 Mac Mini with a 256GB SSD for $800 but is that really that compelling when a Ryzen 7840HS Mini PC can easily be found with 32GB RAM and a 500GB SSD for sub $600?

rootusrootus 2y ago
> Walmart exclusively Definitely not exclusive to Walmart. Costco also has $649 MBAs, and there may be other sources as well.
- goosedragons 2y ago
  Ok. But can you get 16GB RAM for $200 on top of that or are you stuck with 8?

angoragoats 2y ago

> You pay $200 extra for 16gb so that others get a compelling machine that lasts a very long time Apologies if I'm misunderstanding you, but it reads like you're saying that Apple's doing everyone a favor by selling their 8GB machines for so cheap, and those cheap machines are in turn subsidized by the folks paying 8-10x (!) typical retail price for an upgrade to 16GB. That argument doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me -- presumably the default configurations with 8GB are the ones that sell the most units, so why would they take a loss on those? Also, Apple's RAM pricing hasn't changed in years, but DRAM cost has come down considerably, so I'd be really surprised if they're not making a tidy profit margin, even on the 8GB units.

BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
People at the low end are more price sensitive than people at the high end. It makes a ton of sense to me, tbh. The people buying the low end models might not buy at the low end if it gets too high, but people buying pricey high end models aren't going away. Anyway, it's speculation. I trust Apple to have figured out how to make the most money from their market. But maybe they're wrong! Honestly hard to know.
- angoragoats 2y ago
  Apple certainly has figured out how to make a lot of money from their market, and it’s by selling radically under-specced machines and charging radically inflated prices to upgrade them. The low-end models should have better specs, at the same price. Regulation is needed, IMHO.
  - BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
    It's weird to me to say that regulation is needed for what are widely considered to be the best laptop computers for almost everyone at any price by a country mile. The reality is that only a fraction of buyers actually benefit from upgrades over the base configuration.
    - 2y ago

etrautmann 2y ago

I have a 32 GB machine from work that is routinely nonfunctional due to running out of RAM. I have maybe 40 chrome tabs and vscode open. With almost nothing fancy 32 GB seems insufficient IMO

nickthegreek 2y ago
None mac right? I have a M1 8gb mac for work and I was worried as it replaced my intel mac 16gb. I was wrong. I can do short video rendering on it with less issues and faster than my previous machine.