Out of curiosity, which would you rather have?
We hear a lot of complaints about the 720p webcam, but do people really care?
We hear a lot of complaints about the 720p webcam, but do people really care?
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If Apple can do one of these upgrades for free on a MBA, which would you rather have?
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I've gone for more storage. Newer systems seem to want more space for stuff.
I would go for the ram because you can always use more cloud storage or buy a small external ssd enclosure.
You can use an external SSD drive - quite a fast one with TB3 or whatever it's called.
You can't add external RAM.
RAM, all day long..
(especially with how they are pricing their upgrades for it
(especially with how they are pricing their upgrades for it
I would be happy to pay for all of these as options or as standard. I don't do a lot of videoconferencing these days but it would be nice to have the option.
You could if you could find the appropriate device. I saw these about 15 years ago.
True - I chose more SSD space, as I'm not a fan of running Externals, but long term more RAM would be better.
I think more people "don't care about the webcam" than the noise on these forums indicates.
I would also 100% say 16GB RAM.
I'm not necessarily saying it should be included in the base model, because it is not uncommon to still see 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD offered in the industry.
I do think, however, that the upgraded stock model that comes with 512GB SSD should also include 16GB RAM for the $200 up charge.
I'm not necessarily saying it should be included in the base model, because it is not uncommon to still see 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD offered in the industry.
I do think, however, that the upgraded stock model that comes with 512GB SSD should also include 16GB RAM for the $200 up charge.
Spot on..
That first upgrade stock model (8gb/512gb) is awful value for that extra $200.
It nets you - only - 256gb more storage for $200
That has to be one of the worst upgrade values anywhere in their lineup I'd imagine.
$200 more for 16/512 (vs 8/256) would be a no brainer and good deal.
As it is - honestly sort of a ripoff on that particular $200 bump.
I agree - it's a shame they wouldn't do that - there would still be very healthy profit margins. I'm a long-time Apple customer, but it's a shame they don't do this - but they know they can get away with it because people will continue to pay the high prices...myself included lol..
I really think it has a lot to do with just how good the M1 is. The performance is so spectacular and can compare (and even exceed) the performance of much more expensive machines.
At this very point in time, if you look only at price to performance, these are very good deals - even counting in the ridiculous $200 bump.
The equation, however, will change dramatically once the rest of the lineup has transitioned to Apple Silicon, and then maybe we will see some price adjustments on these 'low end' Macs.
Yep, was just going to post this about the RAM.
I'm using a NVMe M.2 external boot drive and it's running buttery smooth and blazingly fast and only cost around $225 for 1TB. Really loving the M1 so far
For me it would be a no-brainer to choose RAM if I could have only one upgraded feature. External SSDs have come down significantly in price and one can easily add a lot more storage simply by plugging in such a device. This means that a customer can save a little money on the storage aspect if need be.
It was a PCIe card with DIMM slots that is presented as a disk. My idea would be to use it as a swap drive.
No reason that a company couldn't make one that runs over USB 4 or TB.
I would always welcome further webcam improvements, especially given it looks like the world is going to be using them more and more in the future. The 720p webcam is kind of meh, but a better quality webcam probably won't mean a thing with most videoconferencing apps. So an upgraded camera, if the tech is possible, would be great...it probably is and I assume Apple has it in the works for the next form factor. However, its real world benefit in the short term may be minor with the limitations imposed by common videoconferencing apps and existing internet infrastructure.
That said, I chose 'something else.' I'd like to see a new screen design beyond everything else. I don't think anything is wrong with the current one, but some of the newer technologies may allow Apple to not just yield a brighter screen, but to also push the battery life even further. With an ultraportable like the Air, there really is no such thing as too much battery life. If Apple made a new screen the standard, I would dig that.
That said, I chose 'something else.' I'd like to see a new screen design beyond everything else. I don't think anything is wrong with the current one, but some of the newer technologies may allow Apple to not just yield a brighter screen, but to also push the battery life even further. With an ultraportable like the Air, there really is no such thing as too much battery life. If Apple made a new screen the standard, I would dig that.
Agreed. People like to beat Apple up on only having 720 p webcams but if you ask them if they would trade 1/2 the base RAM or SSD size for 1080 you will get no takers.