Maybe it’s because they have to verify that’s the device works first and they may or may not do those kinds of diagnostics at the store itself. I guess it depends on whose working.
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Buying a MBA, will the base configuration be enough for me?
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I'm not sure, now that I think of it the only instore trade in's we have done were with iphones. With my wife's Mac's she mailed them in.
OP, just a heads up. Best Buy started a sale today through Sunday. The M3 Pro MBP 14" is on sale for $1599 for members. Not sure if you are a member or not. $1699 non member price, down from $1999. If you aren't a member you can spend $49 to be a member. Still makes the MacBook and membership $1649. But I'll say to your original post. I have a base M3 15" MBA 8/256. A couch computer for uses just like you described. It flies, and I won't even know that it is 8gb if I wasn't the one who bought it. It is a great computer and I got it for $1049 on sale. So many people over spend when they don't honestly need to. I can't imagine Apple would just up and cripple 8gb machines, as it would really turn away so much of their customer base
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If you're "getting by on SS" that says you are not working, and therefore fall into the "granny with her email" category that need not multi-task, and for whom 8 GB may be appropriate. Mac OS will always (well for a decade anyway) allow a user to run one simple app at a time under 8 GB RAM without issues. All working folks and others with more than minimal financial resources should choose 16 GB or more.
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I had been looking at BestBuy and the pricing will come out to the same basically. For the MBP if we choose it I'll be paying $1,849 and getting a $150 apple gift card in addition.
I hear what you are saying about the 8gb, I just am concerned how it will be 5 years from now. Originally I was looking for a 5 year laptop, now I decided to look for a 7-9 year laptop instead which is why I am willing to pay more and I don't see an 8gb laptop lasting that long.
At the end of the day this is my first Mac so it will be a learning experience for sure.
I had MSWord, Excel, Outlook, Safari with 5 tabs and Contacts open at the same time with 8 GB without difficulty. And I was a “working folk“ and getting stuff done. And I am on SS, still working. Amazing.
Sorry but that logic is faulty, 100% wrong. We may not like the fact that we need to buy for future needs, but that is exactly what we have to do. A new box is only used in the future; now is just a very useful reference point from which to estimate what our not-yet-purchased computer's life cycle hardware demands will be. Typically 3-5 years, starting at purchase date.
Regarding RAM we have lots to look at when planning our future hardware needs:
• History of 40 years constantly adding more RAM needs every year.
• Apple telegraphing future RAM demands by offering up to 128 GB RAM in laptops, an 8x increase in 7 years.
• AI coming on stream and apparently liking lots of RAM.
• Apple's UMA approach and its effect on RAM utilization.
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Sure, we all know what we did in the past. We configure a new Mac for the future.
Edit: Note that we have always stated that Mac OS will make the basic office worker tasks that you enumerate "work" under 8 GB RAM, just sub-optimally. The described workflow will already almost assuredly frequently be exceeding RAM and swapping to SSD. How much sub-optimum each individual considers appropriate is an individual decision.
We are simply pointing out that RAM demands will increase over the life of any new box, perhaps dramatically. YMMV but IMO for most reading here choosing to equip a new Mac tomorrow with just 8 GB RAM is a mistake.
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Tomorrow, the OP's wife will buy herself the M3 Pro 18GB/512GB, as she needs MacBook, and the OP will get her 2,5 year old 14" M1 Pro 16GB/512GB, that is, if she handles "the finance stuff" at home... 😊
Same with me. I still do plenty of stuff on my computer that average working folks do (family real estate, community volunteer, personal finance, etc..). No problems on my M2 8/256 MBA. Smooth as silk. Best computer I have ever owned.
BTW - I have been lectured for years on this forum that 8GB won't be enough down the road and that I should buy more RAM to "future proof" my computer. But, I keep on trucking without a hitch. Never had a problem.
Honestly, I can afford to buy whatever I want, and for me, the base configuration provides the best value. That isn't true of everyone, and some people need higher spec machines. But, for goodness sake, when a guy says the most he will do is some email and sofa surfing, you would think the 8 isn't enough crowd would relent. I think the better question is why not an iPad 10 on sale for $300? But, I think that was asked and answered.....it's been a long thread.
After reading much about the Mac Air M3, I’m going to order one with 16gb memory, 10 core, and 512gb hard drive. Costco has this package and it’ll replace my MacBook Pro Retina 2014 laptop that still runs well but no more updates at all. The Air color, TBD.
My wife and I continued talking tonight and are leaning towards buying another upgraded MBP tomorrow (M3Pro 18gb/512gb) for the exact reason you mentioned about your Pro: you had it 10 years and it still ran well.
For 10 years I have been using a windows laptop that is an i5 4gb/128gb and it did the job. It will be losing support next year and I’m getting messages that the power supply is failing which is why I have been looking. I’m mentally done with Windows but want another 10 year laptop. Granted if we do she will take the new Pro and I’ll take her 2.5 year Pro but you know what I’m getting at.
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Since, she is the person, who "the finance stuff" at home, she'd take the most rational decision. And, she needs the new MBP, not you.
Well, what to say...? 😊
I'll go against the grain and advise something else. If your wife can still do her work well on the M1P MBP, I think you would be best served by a 15" MBA, judging by everything you said on this thread. I have used every MB in every size (13, 14, 15, 16) and the 15" MBA is best for me too. My old eyes love using it in its native resolution (looks like 1440x932), which looks both very sharp and very comfortable, and prevents me from hunching over. This is extremely valuable to me, especially on the couch when the laptop is on my lap.
This is at 112 dpi as opposed to 127 dpi native on the 14" MBP. If you then want to adjust the MBP resolution to something more comfortable, it becomes less sharp. You can test all these settings when you visit the Apple Store, and choose for yourself.
I would say the RAM, which has been discussed to death in this thread, is secondary to the comfort of the screen, for your specified use case. Anyway, FWIW I advise 16GB, since you say you want to use it for up to 10 years.
The base model Mac's are far more capable than the "internet experts" like to proport or suggest. For Apple to deliberately cripple the base models makes zero business sense. If people have a bad experience they generally are not going to be a returning customer...🤔
All the talk of the base models SSD's failing prematurely due to excessive wear is sheer nonsense that has yet to be remotely proven. The obvious factor is Apple is both the provider of the HW & SW so they are able to strike a balance of performance, reliability & longevity.
I've railed against Apple on multiple occasions in the past, strongly & very vocally. Current base models are good machines at a reasonable price. If your usage doesn't exceed the base model your wasting your money and that's not going to change until Apple sees the need...
That all said Apple will happily go with the flow as the in house upgrades likely carry significant margins. The base models are fast, proficient and will easily serve the average user. I have a base model M1 MBP myself and it remains to impress despite all the experts speculations. It get's the job done effortlessly with no complaint and it does a lot more than just surf the web and check email.
The base model Mac's suffice for their usage model, dont be fooled into over purchasing...
Q-6
All the talk of the base models SSD's failing prematurely due to excessive wear is sheer nonsense that has yet to be remotely proven. The obvious factor is Apple is both the provider of the HW & SW so they are able to strike a balance of performance, reliability & longevity.
I've railed against Apple on multiple occasions in the past, strongly & very vocally. Current base models are good machines at a reasonable price. If your usage doesn't exceed the base model your wasting your money and that's not going to change until Apple sees the need...
That all said Apple will happily go with the flow as the in house upgrades likely carry significant margins. The base models are fast, proficient and will easily serve the average user. I have a base model M1 MBP myself and it remains to impress despite all the experts speculations. It get's the job done effortlessly with no complaint and it does a lot more than just surf the web and check email.
The base model Mac's suffice for their usage model, dont be fooled into over purchasing...
Q-6
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Not sure if it's new or not, but Apple shows:
Built for Apple Intelligence. Coming in beta in US English later this year.⁴
...Even on the 8GB machines. It seems that they're quite keen to ensure that even on 8GB there will be a decent AI experience.
Built for Apple Intelligence. Coming in beta in US English later this year.⁴
...Even on the 8GB machines. It seems that they're quite keen to ensure that even on 8GB there will be a decent AI experience.
I have multiple offline LLM's loaded on my desktop, they vary from needing 4GB to 24GB RAM to run preferably a dGPU. So it's entirely possible Apple can get the base models to run Apple Intelligence reasonably although they may be bolstered by online support for more demanding tasks.
Q-6
We ended up buying the Pro.
One of the big things we liked about the Pro over the Air is that the Pro is bottom heavy, while the Air feels top heavy. With my wife’s two previous Airs we found if you used them on a table or desk they were fine but when on your lap they always seemed to want to fall backwards because there isn’t alot of weight in the base. Today when we picked up the Air the display instantly felt like it wanted to fall away from you, while the Pro didn’t feel like that at all.
One of the big things we liked about the Pro over the Air is that the Pro is bottom heavy, while the Air feels top heavy. With my wife’s two previous Airs we found if you used them on a table or desk they were fine but when on your lap they always seemed to want to fall backwards because there isn’t alot of weight in the base. Today when we picked up the Air the display instantly felt like it wanted to fall away from you, while the Pro didn’t feel like that at all.
I just got back from Best Buy and picked up the M3 Pro MBP in space black. Member sale price was $1599. I had $150 in gift cards from family for my birthday. So my out of pocket for the Mac was $1449 before tax down from $1999. I'm super happy
That’s a great deal for members. We also got space black.