Apple 13" M1 MacBook Pro (Space Gray, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $1199 + Free ship

The machine has an integrated SSD and you do very important work. HIPAA rules aside, you don't back up the data daily?

Average user cannot control how the OS works. Reports are for 1-2 TB a day writes, for some "average" users. It is just a software design. I bet Apple is already addressing it. Apple laptops were dying from SSD failure before as well, with the Intel chips. It was more likely with MBAir, just not very spoken about. Not saying that quality is worse than the competition - just pointing out that to achieve cost savings with mainboard integration, an Apple laptop is prone to a catastrophic risk.
To my point - because "average" user will not use the laptop that much, the "average" user should buy the cheapest option - MBAir 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. This deal here is $300-400 more and you pay just for more risk to lose it completely.

The machine has an integrated SSD and you do very important work. HIPAA rules aside, you don't back up the data daily?

Average user cannot control how the OS works. Reports are for 1-2 TB a day writes, for some "average" users. It is just a software design. I bet Apple is already addressing it. Apple laptops were dying from SSD failure before as well, with the Intel chips. It was more likely with MBAir, just not very spoken about. Not saying that quality is worse than the competition - just pointing out that to achieve cost savings with mainboard integration, an Apple laptop is prone to a catastrophic risk.
To my point - because "average" user will not use the laptop that much, the "average" user should buy the cheapest option - MBAir 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. This deal here is $300-400 more and you pay just for more risk to lose it completely.

Must have 16GB. Ended up getting one from Adorama with no tax and a discount code from Apple Insiders or somewhere.

yes, I've seen. I have many, and I procure in the millions of $ annually for corporate use as well.
The new M1 OS is not magic as I said - Apple soldered fast SSD to the mainboard, similarly to what is done on phones, the swapping between RAM and SSD is faster that way, and creates the end user feeling of instantaneous switch between applications. It allows Apple to use cheaper CPUs because the RAM is on the CPU substrate and defects in lithography usually happen in memory area. This is the very same efficiency scaling that GPU makers use. Hence Apple started with 8GB chips until they harvest enough 16GB substrates.
Intensive usage of SSD however will destroy it. The SSD is not the resistor type hybrid RAM that HP or Intel have designed but never produced. Very likely we will start seeing some M1 laptops failing after 6 months...
Again, there is nothing magical in Apple. In fact, in heavy corporate use /we have tens of thousands Apple laptops/ I see more problems with Apple than other. Apple's hardware is also very corporate unfriendly for fix and maintenance - a downtime of a software architect will cost me several thousand dollars a day - we monitor a lot of related metrics.
However, for a retail user a BASIC Apple product makes more sense - basic MBAir for $800 /employee discount/ is great deal - basically with tax and accessories you assume $1000 annual depreciation which is OK rate for a quality made product. If it survives longer, you "profit". Beyond that model the financial risk increases (catastrophic failure), which is NOT slick.

Even if what you said here turns out to be true, that risk can be easily hedged by paying with one of the Citi cards that extends manufacturer warranty by 2 years. So should be then covered for 3 years for such issues to repair or get your purchase money back through a claim.

Having said that think got a great deal last week getting a silver m1 256/8gb MBA for $649.99 from Best Buy for open box in satisfactory condition. Was essentially another customer's return where original purchase date was only 5 days before I got it. Even for this open box item with my citi premier card am covered till February, 2024 for any such crapouts!

^ THIS.
At this point consumers should either considers the rock bottom priced MBAir 8GB RAM and expect a lifespan of 1-2 years at most. Or, cough up for 16GB RAM and hope it will last longer. The SSD on the 8GB machines WILL fail, there is no magic in that. Just be prepared that you can absorb an annual expense of roughly $1000, do not expect to use these Apples for 10 years.
Besides short life expectancy (like Ferrari https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/smile.gif ), really brilliant laptops https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/smile.gif

To be clear, I agree with everything you said. My previous post was just pointing out that no one is saying anything about older Macs.

This guy on youtube has good thoughts on the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArM4uoe4L7Y

1200 and a soldered 8GB, yes, the year is 2021.

People are reporting the same issue with Intel Macs. You're just picking and choosing. Anyone other than Apple is full of shit trying to comment on something they don't understand while linking to random blogs.