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New M3 MacBook Air Models Expected Around March 2024
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So do we know how Apple’s user base thinks about this? As a consumer, I care about getting value for what I pay, not how much the parent company earns.
I don’t think Apple devices are disappointing at all. Take my MBA for example. It sports longer battery life and better performance than any windows ultraportable on the market. It stands to reason that Apple is not unjustified in charging more for what appears to be better utility, even if the components cost less and Apple ends up making more.
I agree that maybe if Apple lowered their prices, they might sell a couple more units (assuming basic economy holds), but at the same time, I have reason to believe that Apple operates from a profit-maximisation principle. As such, they may be fine selling less because their higher margins make up for it. Selling more at a lower price may actually earn them less in comparison, but figuring out the right mix of market sales and margins is beyond my ken.
- Lowkey goes to his employer and asks for a raise.
- His employer frowns and says 'You make 12 percent more than you did 10 years ago, you're ungrateful!'
- 'But the last raise was 9 years ago!' Lowkey sputters.
- 'So?' his employer laughs. 'That doesn't change the fact you make 12 percent more than 10 years ago, does it?'
- 'Oh, you're right boss!' Lowkey admits and drops the issue.
I just replaced my daily driver 2015 15” MacBook Pro (with OpenCore for Sonoma) with a 15” MacBook Air M2 16gb. I have to say it’s absolutely fantastic. Has all the power I need over the 2015 MacBook Pro. No regrets on missing M3. Hoping this’ll do me at least 5 years.
It's true for the base Pro, though. That has been 8 GiB since 2012.
Agreed, but I think they're stretching it with the minimum RAM.
I think you misunderstood what I said. The M2 design is thinner everywhere than the M1s thickest point. That’s what I was talking about. The thickness at the back of the wedge, vs the uniform thickness of the M2 MacBook Air, which is thinner.
A. Let’s just get 1 thing straight here, your “analogy” doesn’t compare in any way to this situation. We’re not talking about job raises, we’re talking about numbers on the specs of a device and whether they’ve gone up. And as a fact, it did go up, by double. It would be like if the employer had given him a raise for double what he had been making before. Though this whole job raise comparison isn’t a very good one, because niche technical specs aren’t the same as a salary. They can stay the same for a while, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
B. The “this spec option’s existed for 10 years, hence it’s bad” argument is a logical fallacy. Not everything changes as quickly. If it still does what it needs to do, and does it well, why fix it if it isn’t broken? Apple still uses Aluminum to build their casings. Is that bad? Appealing to the length of time an option’s existed for as an argument against its existence is a logical fallacy, unless we’re talking about hotdogs in your fridge... 8GB of RAM is clearly plenty for most people, or we’d expect to see a difference in the popularity of the base spec, and lower customer satisfaction.
Not to mention people still blindly defending Apple in every conceivable scenario because of their unreciprocated love...
It’s not “blindly defending Apple in every conceivable scenario because of their unreciprocated love”, to disagree with you about this one topic, lol! 😂🤣. The ad hominem arguments aren’t helping you. Some people, myself included, think that 8GB of RAM is plenty for a base spec, and we have many good reasons for believing so.
“Blindly defending Apple”… 😂 in the real world, outside this forum, people buying the base model because it suits their needs, and if not, they’ll upgrade the CPU, RAM and/or storage.
Only here for some weird reason, some people expecting to get fully loaded device for the price of a base model.
I just wish there was a 16GB RAM Air variant available at regular retail.
We're commenting on new models, we're not here to entertain people like yourself or get heckled. If you can't handle complaints, these aren't the topics for you.
That would be a lie. It doubled in 2014, when I bought my stock base model.....it hasn't changed since then.
I didn't read the majority of that minutia, and I have no idea why you're so personally invested in arguing this.
I feel bad for you thinking the above. You can usually still run unsupported operating systems in most cases, or there are tricks to get unsupported computers to install/run the OS, but the hardware will choke, and slowly make you miserable. Beach balls, the curser freezing or hanging on a character or two at a crawl while you're typing normal.... basically behavior some people are already complaining about with 8gb M line computers but nonstop ... and it is a matter of storage and RAM in that case, and Apple has crippled both.....and longtime customers have experienced Apple ending life of technology they sold only a week prior.
All your confirmation bias about Apple not selling something that would make you wrong, has already been addressed.
Apple doesn't feature iMovie to showcase their new products, they feature Davinci Resolve. That software will load with 8gb, and it will look like it works...but will choke doing basic tasks like media management organization. Not super pro features, some of those will work fine, some won't. This idea that the needs of users can be based on how pro their workload is isn't accurate.
Okay, it's stayed the same in 9 years going on 10.
Apple has increased the maximum capabilities of RAM their computers can use, so that indicates RAM needs haven't stayed the same in that time.
I think you will find 2104 was 9 years ago. But keep up the whining for another few months and you will be good 😂
You need to take your chill pill… but out of curiosity, what's your daily usage that you constantly complaining about 8GB like a kid that someone took his candy and not willing to pay extra to upgrade the RAM?
The main issue is that you’re focusing on the base model of the most basic computers Apple make. For many the 8GB is just fine.
For you it’s not. But you won’t upgrade the ram because you think you deserve it for free, and you won’t buy a refurb where you could essentially get it “for free”.
There’s no helping you. Just keep waiting till the base model is 16GB because it seems you can’t do anything else without having to admit there’s no issue.
As many have already established, your average person isn’t using Davinci Resolve. Heck, your average professional isn’t using Davinci Resolve. Most people interested in using Davinci Resolve aren’t likely to be buying the base spec MacBook Air anyways…
The existence of higher RAM options says nothing about whether or not the low-end base-spec options are or aren’t enough for the average person, lol. 😂🤣 You don’t seriously believe that 128GB of RAM is the norm for most professionals, do you? The higher-end RAM configurations exist for very niche workloads. Probably the vast majority of Mac users are buying between 8-32GB of RAM, with 8GB the most popular. If 8GB RAM is supposedly too little for everyone, then how come it’s so popular and customer satisfaction is so high? Because it’s plenty for most people…
People with demanding tasks will pay extra for more RAM, as well as for better CPU/GPU and bigger storage, but for daily usage for the average Joe that buy base model Mac at discount, 8GB its sufficient.
I argue this, as I argue for so many things in Apple's favour here at Macrumours, for one simple reason. I firmly believe that an argument should not only be correct, but it should also be correct for the right reasons. And I believe that all the muss and fuss here is because an incredibly small but vocal group of users here simply want more ram (whether they actually need it or not remains to be seen, right now it feels purely ideological) and for some reason, are just too stingy for pay the extra US $200 for it.
My stance is, and always has been that Apple makes 8gb ram the default for their entry-level Macs because they have the user data on how customers use their products and are confident that the baseline spec (M1 chip, 8gb ram, 256gb storage) suffices for the majority (ie: at least 90% of users). These are the people who typically use their computers for web browsing and office work. I won't complain if Apple does increase the starting ram to 16gb one day, but I won't lose sleep when it doesn't happen because truth is - it's more than good enough for them.
Let me then throw the question back to you - for the vast majority of users whom 8gb suffices for, what exactly do you foresee happening in the near future that would suddenly make their Macs incapable of handling overnight?
I disagree with the notion that a laptop ought to come with more ram and storage (for free) in order to prepare for a rainy day that may never come. The users who require more ram for Resolve or FCP or Photoshop know who they are (and they are likely working with these apps in a professional capacity). If they stubbornly insist on getting a base spec Mac knowing fully well those apps won't run well, that says more about their inability to plan more than it does about Apple's supposed penny-pinching ways.
Again, how many people are going to be trying to run an unsupported version of macOS on their Mac, and why do they feel like Apple is expected to accommodate them on this? These scenarios you have cited are all edge cases, which again can (and should) be remedied by said users simply opting to purchase additional ram or a more powerful device upfront.
Apple designs their devices with a fixed number of years of support in mind (in a sense, we have paid for it upfront). You are arguing for Macs to come with more ram in order to support this small number of users who want to continue using their Macs long after it no longer qualifies for OS updates, but evidently feel like their devices should be able to support them nonetheless.
If this incredibly niche group of users feel this way, why not simply pay more upfront for additional ram, instead of Apple providing for free just to address this incredibly small demographic?
To me, how much ram a laptop came with 5 or 10 or even 20 years ago is a red herring. As is trying to argue that today's computers should come with more ram and / or storage simple because there is a computer with the same specs many years back.
If you want to use salary as an analogy, I can also argue - you get pay rises to help cover the cost of inflation (ie: you earn more today because things also cost more). In the same vein, the cars on the road today still largely have the same maximum speed as a car from decades ago because speed limits haven't changed, and in general, people are still driving at the same speed, so it makes no difference whether your car can hit 200 or 300 km/h if your expressway lists a max of 90.
The question ought to be - what exactly do you need the extra ram for, and what is it that you are doing on your laptop today that requires the extra spec over an equivalently-specced PC from back then? So far, the reasons I have seen all feel rather specious to me, and can be summarised as such.
1) I don't want to pay for more ram, so Apple should just give it to me for free.
2) I expect to use my Mac for an additional 10 years after it no longer receives software updates. I expect Apple to give to me for free not only the specs needed to support the 7 years of macOS updates it will likely receive, but the 10+ years of unsupported macOS updates I intend to force upon it. Anything less is considered forced obsolescence in my book.
3) I intend to use professional-level software on my Mac, which I know will require a fair amount of resources, but instead of getting the appropriately-specced MBP with the Pro or Max-level chip, I will instead opt for the cheapest Mac that Apple sells, knowing fully well that it cannot support the software I use, then proceed to raise a stink about it online about how Apple is being a cheapskate.
4) I expect the amount of Ram in a computer to double every pre-determined number of years, regardless of whether there legitimately is a need to or not. No reason justifying why.
5) Mac sales are simultaneously down because they have too little ram and storage for the price (the implication is few people are buying them because they provide little value for consumers), while also fostering forced obsolescence because the soldered ram means people have to upgrade years later (the implication is that a lot of people are buying them). So which is which now? Because you can't have both.
So yeah, if you wonder I seem so invested in this, it's because the arguments you have put forth thus far are to me, poppycock, and it's a hill I am prepared to die on.
So they are still people defending Apple with that BS of 8gb of ram in 2023.
You are really missing the point.
Always the whole idea of "enough for 95% of people". That's BS.
Macbooks are expensive.
Upgrades are expensive.
It's 2024 in a few days.
We had 16gb base models Macbooks Pros 10 years ago.
A 1500$ laptop shouldn't be just "good enough".
M3s should have 12gb standard minimum or 16gb should be a ~69$ upgrade.
Stop defending a trillion dollars company, it's not the cute startup trying to survive anymore against the big IBM/Microsoft but the biggest tech corporation in the world.
You are really missing the point.
Always the whole idea of "enough for 95% of people". That's BS.
Macbooks are expensive.
Upgrades are expensive.
It's 2024 in a few days.
We had 16gb base models Macbooks Pros 10 years ago.
A 1500$ laptop shouldn't be just "good enough".
M3s should have 12gb standard minimum or 16gb should be a ~69$ upgrade.
Stop defending a trillion dollars company, it's not the cute startup trying to survive anymore against the big IBM/Microsoft but the biggest tech corporation in the world.
It’s more than enough for most people. And the price is more than fair considering the high quality display, the unrivaled battery runtime, the high quality sound system, the high build quality, etc. I never saw this level of whining and griping when the last two year’s base models were more expensive than this one. With the new base spec, you can get it with 16GB of RAM and still be cheaper than the base spec models from the last two years. I believe the main people fueling this artificial controversy are the content creators who prefer the M3 Pro chip models. The content creators need to find something to gripe about every year and every Mac release to keep clicks up…
Second, your argument that “MacBook’s had it 10 years ago, so that means it’s bad” is a very bad argument. MacBooks were also made with Aluminum instead of plastics 10 years ago, does that mean it’s time to drop Aluminum? Reality is that base RAM specs aren’t arbitrarily upped by consulting a calendar and making sure it’s bumped up on an x number of year basis. Base RAM specs are upped when the current base RAM spec is no longer enough for most people using the base spec. This hasn’t happened. The base spec MacBooks can run macOS and its’ software perfectly fine. Just because a spec or other thing has existed for a while, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. That’s a faulty argument.
And lastly, I’ll defend whatever company I feel like, thank you very much, you don’t have the right to tell me what to defend and what not to defend. I’d make all of the same arguments for Microsoft or any other PC manufacturer offering a similar product as well, my “defense” is hardly unique to Apple. It isn’t about the company, or even defending a company, it’s about basic logic, and understanding that 8GBs of RAM is more than enough for the vast majority of people buying the base spec models… If 8GB models were so terrible, and didn’t do the things the majority of customers wanted to do with them, then how come the 8GB base spec models are so popular and sell so well, and how come customer satisfaction is so high? Reality is that many, many people are very happy with the base spec models with 8GB of RAM.
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