That I figured but it appeared that the other individual was talking about pricing by an Apple Reseller (or more than one) in a different country and not Apple retail pricing.
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8GB RAM in M3 MacBook Pro Proves the Bottleneck in Real-World Tests
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That I figured but it appeared that the other individual was talking about pricing by an Apple Reseller (or more than one) in a different country and not Apple retail pricing.
I really don't understand how "If I buy a 16GB BTO vanilla M3, which isn't discounted anywhere in my territory, then the price is more or less identical to the widely discounted 18GB M3 Pro." is a difficult sentence to parse.
I was asking if it was being discounted by Apple or by a third party vendor. That part wasn’t very clear…
What difference does it make? If Apple discounts the 18 GiB RAM M3 Pro base model by $200, then it's $1799. If a third-party does so, it's the same. In both cases, the assertion holds true: might as well get that one, then, since it's very rare that a BTO config gets discounts.
Yes it's almost like customers want that extra 8 GB RAM but don't want to pay that extra $200 for such an upgrade. Those that do pay that seem less interested in upgrading when a new model shows up. The eBay and secondhand market being flooded by the 8 GB models could be survivor bias, so the abundance of 8 GB models on the market might not be so accurate.
Fact is that when you spend an extra $400 for both a 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage upgrade, you're not very likely to trade in that computer for a new one because that added value doesn't carry over into any markets. Those on eBay are likely looking for a good deal on the secondhand market are seeking to avoid the 'Apple tax.' And Apple trade ins are notoriously under valued.
Fact is that when you spend an extra $400 for both a 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage upgrade, you're not very likely to trade in that computer for a new one because that added value doesn't carry over into any markets. Those on eBay are likely looking for a good deal on the secondhand market are seeking to avoid the 'Apple tax.' And Apple trade ins are notoriously under valued.
It's such a shame
If RAM and SSD were socketed, I'd have bought a preowned ASi Mac laptop a long time ago (and upgraded it myself)
If it’s Apple selling both for the same price, then it’s proper to say Apple’s at fault. If they aren’t, and it’s a third party vendor who’s responsible for creating that dichotomy, then it’s their fault, not Apple’s.
What matters is that Apple has created the issue by a) not equipping the base model with 16GB RAM so that it too can be discontinued elsewhere, and b) deleting the most popular Pro colour from the Pro Pro.
Or, it’s almost like those 8GB models sell very well and are very popular. And I’ve seen plenty of 16GB models on eBay as well. Searches in eBay tend to prioritize the lowest cost listings first, which tend to be the base spec model. And the idea that lots of people just repeatedly buy a model that doesn’t have enough RAM for them doesn’t make any sense. If so many people weren’t able to use 8GB base specs, we’d expect to see a fall in sales of the base spec models, something we don’t see. Stores seem to stock more of the 8GB models because they sell very well. Which isn’t consistent with your claims. 8GB is plenty for most people. I just was using my 8GB M1 Mac with over 30 8K vector files each with hundreds-thousands of layers, plus around 30 browser tabs, plus a bunch of smaller apps open, and my Mac never broke a sweat. No slow performance, no beach ball, just great and snappy performance…
A. Is not Apple’s fault, I’ve seen plenty of sales on the 16GB version of the M3 configuration. I saw it going for $1,600 or $1,700 several times since they’ve launched, at least on US versions of sites. (I also saw the 8GB base model discounted at $1,400 or $1,500 several times as well.) What third parties decided to discount or not discount is their responsibility, not Apple’s. B. The color is Apple’s decision, and I think they should include it, but I also don’t think it’s a big deal. Space Black isn’t that much different from Space Gray.
Good for you. To me the color is a big deal. End of story 👍
Even if Apple went merely halfway and settled on 12 GB that would go a long way towards future proofing and allowing for more tolerable upgrade costs. Between sharing the graphics memory and operating system a mere 4 GB extra would easily double your usable RAM and at least show some measure of goodwill on Apple's behalf.
Only problem here is that would eliminate one major upgrade tier and we could more easily justify settling on just a base model. Even if $200 upgrade would bring that RAM up to 24 GB I think many more would be happy with base or can more easily justify upgrading to 24 GB.
Only problem here is that would eliminate one major upgrade tier and we could more easily justify settling on just a base model. Even if $200 upgrade would bring that RAM up to 24 GB I think many more would be happy with base or can more easily justify upgrading to 24 GB.
8GB runs great, most base-spec customers don’t need 12GB or higher. The 8GB model sells very well, and customer satisfaction is very high.
In 2024, 8GB of RAM is more commensurate with a smartphone than it is a premium computer wearing a 'Pro' moniker. If anything, the un-Pro Pro should be marketed as a straight-up MacBook. A MacBook Air with a screen capable of (mostly) displaying black. Yes that would fragment Apple's product lineup even further, but that's par for the course these days anyway
For Apple, “Pro” is purely a marketing term. It stands for absolutely nothingIn 2024, 8GB of RAM is more commensurate with a smartphone than it is a premium computer wearing a 'Pro' moniker. If anything, the un-Pro Pro should be marketed as a straight-up MacBook. A MacBook Air with a screen capable of (mostly) displaying black. Yes that would fragment Apple's product lineup even further, but that's par for the course these days anyway
8GB is great on a premium pro computer. Especially for a base spec. It’s very snappy, able to run Affinity Designer with over 30 8K vector files with hundreds-thousands of layers each, about 30 browser tabs open, and a bunch of other apps open as well. And I’ve pushed it further than that with other apps like Affinity Photo open with around 30 files in there as well, and never had an issue. I’ve done professional graphic design, 3D sculpting/modeling, photo editing, 4K video editing all on my 8GB M1 Mac without it ever breaking a sweat. No slow downs, beach balls, or crashes. Just smooth performance for my professional workflow… And the new base spec MacBook Pro is just as “pro” as the more expensive models. It has a very capable chip, and has the same sound system, display quality, build quality, ports, etc. as the other more expensive models.In 2024, 8GB of RAM is more commensurate with a smartphone than it is a premium computer wearing a 'Pro' moniker. If anything, the un-Pro Pro should be marketed as a straight-up MacBook. A MacBook Air with a screen capable of (mostly) displaying black. Yes that would fragment Apple's product lineup even further, but that's par for the course these days anyway
And doesn't support a second external display.
Indeed. All fair enough, of course. My only gripe with it is the comedy RAM 👍
It has most of the same ports. More ports than the MacBook Air has. I think it has one less thunderbolt port. What I was meaning was the same variety of ports.
It's 2024 and companies like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo still sell laptops with even less than 8GB RAM.
Exactly. 👍🏻. And I could come up with a similar thing to go complain about in various Windows PC fan forums. “It’s 2024 and Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and HP still sell laptops with only 1080P displays…” But many people are perfectly happy with 1080P displays for their workflows. 1080P is perfectly fine for coding and office software applications. And many people are perfectly happy with 8GB of RAM, and it’s more than enough for their workflow.