The White Unibody MacBook has same storage as M4 Air

[kurtfoster]

But life has changed.

In 2009 people had music libraries. In 2025 they use Spotify.

In 2009 people had movie libraries. In 2025 they use Netflix.

In 2009 people had photo libraries. In 2025 they use iCloud Photos


Storage needs have changed and on average people store less stuff locally I would bet.

I might be in the minority, but I still have a music library and I don’t use Spotify. I use Apple Music, and I prefer to store the music directly on my device because I like to have lossless and when I stream lossless, there’s always a slight hiccup within 7 to 12 seconds of the beginning of most songs, and it bothers me, so I choose to store my music on my device. I also have a lot of movie and TV shows stored on my computer that aren’t available on Netflix or anywhere else, for that matter. And since I travel a lot for business, I prefer those to be locally stored on my device. I also prefer to store my entire photo library on my device. Again, I’m probably in the minority, but I’m probably not the only one who does this. For what it’s worth.

 

[Technerd108]

It is always the same I hear on these forums. Too little ram and too little storage. Solution is Apple should always give people whatever they think the base level of each of these should be and charge the base price for it. Done.


It is absurd. You can agree or disagree with whatever the current ram and storage options are on the base model but if it doesn't fit you, you can buy more. If you can't afford it now wait another year if possible.

To complain that because a certain amount of storage (250GB) was offered on a laptop 10 years ago which was probably something like 4TB is now doesn't mean Apple is pulling a fast one. I bet the base model was 32gb or something like that 10 years ago. Which compared to 256 isn't bad.

I think Apple has actually been very competitive on pricing in their market. I find it hard to argue of a Windows laptop over a MacBook unless Windows is required these days. Sure I may find an $800 Windows Laptop with newer specs but I can get an M2 Air for around that now and probably M3 is short order and it is kind of hard to beat in the thin and light upper end of the spectrum? I can get a base Model of the M4 with a 256GB SSD and 16gb ram right now for $999 which who is going to beat that in terms of total package not just one metric or spec? You can debate about the ram and storage upgrade costs but external storage is a fast and cheap substitute for all your important files, along with cloud. So you pay one way or another. Ram at 16gb is good enough for most.

Apple is offering a very nice laptop for $999. You can make it nicer for just $200 and be the only upgrade you need with M4 chip and great design. You can get 15" or 14" MBP or on and on. No Apple products are not cheap and they make a lot of money but they generally make a really well thought out product not just here is a widget now make everything work. It is funny because I like Windows and Android and Linux. It is just in the laptop market and in terms of optimized and polished software experience there really isn't anything as good even close to the price.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Amount: yes. Type: not even close.

 

[salamanderjuice]

It is always the same I hear on these forums. Too little ram and too little storage. Solution is Apple should always give people whatever they think the base level of each of these should be and charge the base price for it. Done.


It is absurd. You can agree or disagree with whatever the current ram and storage options are on the base model but if it doesn't fit you, you can buy more. If you can't afford it now wait another year if possible.

To complain that because a certain amount of storage (250GB) was offered on a laptop 10 years ago which was probably something like 4TB is now doesn't mean Apple is pulling a fast one. I bet the base model was 32gb or something like that 10 years ago. Which compared to 256 isn't bad.

I think Apple has actually been very competitive on pricing in their market. I find it hard to argue of a Windows laptop over a MacBook unless Windows is required these days. Sure I may find an $800 Windows Laptop with newer specs but I can get an M2 Air for around that now and probably M3 is short order and it is kind of hard to beat in the thin and light upper end of the spectrum? I can get a base Model of the M4 with a 256GB SSD and 16gb ram right now for $999 which who is going to beat that in terms of total package not just one metric or spec? You can debate about the ram and storage upgrade costs but external storage is a fast and cheap substitute for all your important files, along with cloud. So you pay one way or another. Ram at 16gb is good enough for most.

Apple is offering a very nice laptop for $999. You can make it nicer for just $200 and be the only upgrade you need with M4 chip and great design. You can get 15" or 14" MBP or on and on. No Apple products are not cheap and they make a lot of money but they generally make a really well thought out product not just here is a widget now make everything work. It is funny because I like Windows and Android and Linux. It is just in the laptop market and in terms of optimized and polished software experience there really isn't anything as good even close to the price.

The BASE late 2009 unibody MacBook had a 250GB HDD. That was the cheapest model. Over 15 years ago. For $999.

Apple's upgrade pricing is out of touch with reality. They are asking $400 extra to go from 256GB to 1TB. For that price you can easily buy four high quality name brand faster 1TB SSDs. If they had just sort of ridiculous pricing like $100 to go from 256GB to 1TB there would be a lot less complaining I think.

 

[SnowLeoMac]

I bought a white unibody Macbook back in 2010 in the Apple's refurbished store. I ordered a base 2GB RAM/250GB HD and they sent me a 4GB/320GB for the same price. That's the kind of nice surprises you can't get anymore because everything is soldered now :,(

 

[Ishimura]

So, for you I guess it’s good to get the $200 upgrade on the Air, or get the $1600 Pro.

Which is a total rip-off and you know it.

Why are Apple fanatics like this, man?

 

[CraigJDuffy]

I might be in the minority, but I still have a music library and I don’t use Spotify. I use Apple Music, and I prefer to store the music directly on my device because I like to have lossless and when I stream lossless, there’s always a slight hiccup within 7 to 12 seconds of the beginning of most songs, and it bothers me, so I choose to store my music on my device. I also have a lot of movie and TV shows stored on my computer that aren’t available on Netflix or anywhere else, for that matter. And since I travel a lot for business, I prefer those to be locally stored on my device. I also prefer to store my entire photo library on my device. Again, I’m probably in the minority, but I’m probably not the only one who does this. For what it’s worth.

You’re definitely the minority and probably shouldn’t be buying a base model MacBook Air as it doesn’t suit your needs?

 

[CraigJDuffy]

The BASE late 2009 unibody MacBook had a 250GB HDD. That was the cheapest model. Over 15 years ago. For $999.

Apple's upgrade pricing is out of touch with reality. They are asking $400 extra to go from 256GB to 1TB. For that price you can easily buy four high quality name brand faster 1TB SSDs. If they had just sort of ridiculous pricing like $100 to go from 256GB to 1TB there would be a lot less complaining I think.

$999 in 2009 is equivalent to $1513 in 2025.

 

[Ishimura]

I’m not saying there hasn’t been massive improvements in tyres.

In fact my entire point is there has been.

Same way that a 250GB HDD in a 2009 MacBook is not comparable to a 256GB drive in today’s MacBook Air as there a has been massive improvements in speed and reliability.

They’re comparable in storage capacity, which was the thing being compared by the OP.

 

[Ishimura]

You can make it nicer for just $200

Hilarious. It's incredible that you guys will go to the mat every time to defend the huge profit margins of one of the most valuable multinational corporations ever.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Hilarious. It's incredible that you guys will go to the mat every time to defend the huge profit margins of one of the most valuable multinational corporations ever.

Some people here own AAPL stock and like the margins and profits that support those.

 

[Ishimura]

Some people here own AAPL stock and like the margins and profits that support those.

Oh! Stupid me, just being a fetid little consumer and forgetting that some of you have direct financial interests in the company you spend 24/7 relentlessly glazing.

Apologies, I don't have any Apple stock. I can't believe how shortsighted I've been, self-indulgently criticising Apple's generously priced upgrades.

 

[racerhomie]

Which is a total rip-off and you know it.

Why are Apple fanatics like this, man?

Get a cheap External SSD or HDD then!

 

[Ishimura]

Get a cheap External SSD or HDD then!

Very funny that accurately pointing out that Apple's upgrades are insanely overpriced - which is also widely agreed upon amongst general consumers - made you angry.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

Anybody who is turning the conversation into speed comparisons is completely missing the point of the OP. Which is valid. Almost 20 years later in computing terms we have the same storage capacity. Which is wild. Especially when everything increased exponentially in storage now, even basic applications are taking up hundreds of megabytes, movies are huge, games are huge, operating systems are huge, everything is huge. Cyberpunk is something like 70GB alone. So... yeah.

And since you guys brought the SSD into the discussion, the 12" Macbook, released in 2015, had 256 of SSD storage. That was 10 years ago, 10 years!

Yep. Agreed. Overall files are bigger than they were then as has been the trend since computing began. I remember when I was in high school during the time when the first iMac came out. My family had that one and the graphite one a few years later. We also had the Power Mac G4 tower. The storage capacity at that time we thought we would never fill. Now that much storage barely (if at all) would be enough for the OS itself.

But my issue is cost. Let's take the MacBook Pro for example. Being in Canada I'll using CAD prices. Using the base model MBP going from 512GB to 1TB is $300. Yet on Amazon a 1TB SSD stick is less than $100. Now yes I know I cannot grab an SSD on Amazon and do the upgrade myself. But Apple is not using some specialized made in house SSD. They just buy the chips from some SSD maker and install them on the motherboard. The SSD sticks on Amazon are usually just as fast as the chip installed in the MBP. So why is the upgrade cost so high? Jumping from 512GB to 2TB is $900. A 2TB SSD on Amazon is around or less than $200 CAD. So the prices for upgrades are outrageous. Same goes for RAM. I know RAM is different in that it's part of the SOC but going from 16GB to 24GB is $300. Going up to 32GB from 16GB is $600. I know is that case the RAM is more specialized but 32GB of ddr5 RAM on Amazon is less than $150 CAD. So again the prices to upgrade are insane and quite honestly should be illegal. Apple is using the fact that the user cannot upgrade post purchase as a money grab. They know that many people will need to get higher storage capacity and more RAM so they use it as a money grab. There are reasons that Apple is a multi trillion dollar company and they are not good and honest reasons. Apple needs to be held accountable.

 

[JMStearnsX2]

View attachment 2503696
Meanwhile in other news, I still sometimes use mine. Funnily enough it has a 256GB SSD and my entire offline music library on it.

Go Snow Leopard!

 

[JMStearnsX2]

I think that the OP's point is valid, storage size is storage size regardless of the media type.
You know, ALL of this could be solved if Apple added an internal NVMe slot to their devices. It would be trivial honestly.
They won't because they make a CRAZY profit on their storage upgrades.

The number of people defending Apple for milking them when they buy devices is surprising, they are a FOR PROFIT company. Not your friend. And for some strange reason we celebrate every time when Apple breaks their revenue records...

 

[salamanderjuice]

$999 in 2009 is equivalent to $1513 in 2025.

And in 2009 a 250GB 2.5" HDD cost around $70 at retail. Or about $100 in 2025 dollars. A 256GB SSD today at retail is $20-30. The name brands don't even really bother with that size anymore.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Op should have compared M4 MBA with MBA from 2008/2009. MBA back in the day was 1600 bucks and came with 64 GB SSD. Apple in 2011 had base model 11 MBA for 999, ever since they dropped 11 MBA, the price remained same for 999 and bumped to 128 GB and eventually to 256 GB.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I think that the OP's point is valid, storage size is storage size regardless of the media type.
You know, ALL of this could be solved if Apple added an internal NVMe slot to their devices. It would be trivial honestly.
They won't because they make a CRAZY profit on their storage upgrades.

The number of people defending Apple for milking them when they buy devices is surprising, they are a FOR PROFIT company. Not your friend. And for some strange reason we celebrate every time when Apple breaks their revenue records...

It’s not defending Apple. OP could have just compared MBA from 15 years ago to M4 MBA. It’s well known that Apple started subsidizing base models from 2011 after dropping the price from 1600 to 999. A base model MBA that cost 1600 base model now costs 999.

 

[racerhomie]

Very funny that accurately pointing out that Apple's upgrades are insanely overpriced - which is also widely agreed upon amongst general consumers - made you angry.

You decide with your money. I was just trying to provide a solution to the person with Storage issues. I can’t influence you on which Company’s products you spend your money

 

[TechnoMonk]

And in 2009 a 250GB 2.5" HDD cost around $70 at retail. Or about $100 in 2025 dollars. A 256GB SSD today at retail is $20-30. The name brands don't even really bother with that size anymore.

Apple isn’t selling sum of parts, sooner the folks realize they can either make peace with Apple or buy windows. II have external drives instead of paying upgrades for SSD, though I max out on RAM in Mac.

 

[Howard2k]

Apple isn’t selling sum of parts, sooner the folks realize they can either make peace with Apple or buy windows. II have external drives instead of paying upgrades for SSD, though I max out on RAM in Mac.

Exactly. These are not cost+ products.

 

[ignatius345]

Normal people dont really store much locally. They stream TV/movies, they stream music, and they have photos in Google or iCloud. So it makes 100% sense that the default storage on their budget laptop has 250GB.

100%. I have a good friend who runs her own therapy practice off a base model M1 Air. She streams music and video, gets at her email through Gmail or Outlook online, and any photos are in iCloud. The only things that take up any signficant space on her drive are miscellaneous reference materials like PDFs or any notes she has on there, and maybe a few hundred MB of images for her website and whatnot. None of that adds up to a gigantic amount of space.

For tons of people, I bet this is very typical. If you're someone who works with video or has a big offline media collection, you know who you are and you spend a whopping $200 for bigger drive. For everyone else, the entry level model with 256 GB is right there at $999 as it's been for a full two decades now.

 

[ignatius345]

Which is a total rip-off and you know it.

Same with cars. I know it doesn't cost Toyota $2500 to make nicer seats and yet here they are charging all this money for interior upgrades. Why don't they sell it at cost? I'm going to go on all the Honda forums I can find and complain about how unfair it is, endlessly, and if anyone disagrees with me I'm going to call them "Toyota fanboys" or "fanatics" and keep complaining about it in every thread. Forever.