15.3" 8GB RAM Apple M2 MacBook Air Laptop (2023): 512GB $1250, 256GB

BulldogPunch

Nov 16, 2023 10:17 PM

210 Comments

Joined Mar 2021

BulldogPunchNov 16, 2023 10:17 PM

210 Comments

I gotta say it's kinda criminal Apple is still selling $1,000+ laptops in 2023 with 8gb ram. Unified memory or not, it's just not enough for anything more than basic usage -- in which case (if you're a basic user) why buy a $1,000+ laptop?

micky_d

Nov 16, 2023 10:44 PM

1.3K Comments

Joined Oct 2007

micky_dNov 16, 2023 10:44 PM

1.3K Comments

Quote from BulldogPunch

:

I gotta say it's kinda criminal Apple is still selling $1,000+ laptops in 2023 with 8gb ram. Unified memory or not, it's just not enough for anything more than basic usage -- in which case (if you're a basic user) why buy a $1,000+ laptop?

Why on earth people like you keep talking about not buying Apple products in every Apple deal thread. No gives a rat ** to what you think but you still need to waste your valuable time !! Move on and do something more productive

CoRRuPtNeSs

Nov 16, 2023 11:24 PM

1K Comments

Joined Feb 2017

CoRRuPtNeSsNov 16, 2023 11:24 PM

1K Comments

They couldn't just make it a clean $999 huh, just had to be $1049, weirdge

CoRRuPtNeSs

Nov 16, 2023 11:33 PM

1K Comments

Joined Feb 2017

CoRRuPtNeSsNov 16, 2023 11:33 PM

1K Comments

Quote from BulldogPunch

:

I gotta say it's kinda criminal Apple is still selling $1,000+ laptops in 2023 with 8gb ram. Unified memory or not, it's just not enough for anything more than basic usage -- in which case (if you're a basic user) why buy a $1,000+ laptop?

cos they want a Mac platform and not Windows?

DDN731

Nov 17, 2023 12:07 AM

161 Comments

Joined Aug 2021

DDN731Nov 17, 2023 12:07 AM

161 Comments

$1k laptop with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD (8gb ram and 256GB SSD both cost $15)

You are being played.

GetSales

Nov 17, 2023 12:29 AM

344 Comments

Joined Jan 2009

GetSalesNov 17, 2023 12:29 AM

344 Comments

Visiting this thread to try to see how people justify paying twice as much for a Macbook over any other laptop.

There's a Lenovo laptop with 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM and a RTX 4050 that would probably outperform this thing for $700, but like many in this thread are saying, 8GB of RAM is woefully underpowered these days. If you want a *nix OS, you can flash it, or dual boot even.

Edit: I'm a Philips Hue enthusiast myself, so I understand paying more for something better, but... The only benefit I see here is a long life battery?

Last edited by GetSales November 16, 2023 at 04:35 PM.

1

noctifer

Nov 17, 2023 12:30 AM

182 Comments

Joined Nov 2007

noctiferNov 17, 2023 12:30 AM

182 Comments

Quote from xxx4reggie

:

Darn it. Any deals on the same type specs but 16gb ram?

Seriously… 8gb is garbage. Flash prices have plummeted too… should be a minimum 16gb/1tb

gameson

Nov 17, 2023 12:50 AM

2.2K Comments

Joined Dec 2011

gamesonNov 17, 2023 12:50 AM

2.2K Comments

Quote from Tourney3p0

:

Apple uses Intel. You don't understand your problem well enough to diagnose it.

think before you comment. it makes you look stupid, lol. intel macbook is like at least 3 years ago... now all macbook are using M1, M2, M3 variant

1

ZeeDuck

Nov 17, 2023 1:09 AM

2.4K Comments

Joined Feb 2013

ZeeDuckNov 17, 2023 1:09 AM

2.4K Comments

Quote from micky_d

:

Why on earth people like you keep talking about not buying Apple products in every Apple deal thread. No gives a rat ** to what you think but you still need to waste your valuable time !! Move on and do something more productive

Your reply was also unhelpful.

AmusedSparrow716

Nov 17, 2023 1:16 AM

58 Comments

Joined Nov 2021

AmusedSparrow716Nov 17, 2023 1:16 AM

58 Comments

Quote from Tourney3p0

:

Apple uses Intel. You don't understand your problem well enough to diagnose it.

Er… this is the m2 chip. Apple designed this. The whole big deal about the m1/m2 chips was Apple decided to make their own instead of using intel chips.

Hence why the M1 chips were so good.
I literally had a MacBook the year prior to m1 being release, running on intel… wow what a huge difference going to M1 chip

ZeeDuck

Nov 17, 2023 1:23 AM

2.4K Comments

Joined Feb 2013

ZeeDuckNov 17, 2023 1:23 AM

2.4K Comments

I do understand why people are frustrated that Apple would put so little memory in such an expensive laptop. However, I have read an article that at least somewhat offsets the concerns regarding only 8gb vs 16.

What it said was Macs, like PCs, use swap files on the HD when ram needs exceed the physically installed memory limits. When computers typically had mechanical HDs the HD speeds were much slower than RAM so you took a huge speed hit when you had to move from RAM to HD. As computers have moved to faster SSD drives the penalty for using a swap file isn't as bad as it used to be. 8gb is probably enough that most tasks most users do won't need more memory. The few times they do the speed of the SSD makes the swap file usage not that bad.

This does make sense to me though a few other things I've read give me pause. While SSDs are fast, apparently the smaller Apple SSDs used just a single chip (I think that was the 256gb drive). Those single chip configurations were half as fast as the two chip versions. So you had to get the larger SSD to take advantage of the speed the system supported. The other issue is the swap file represents a large number of read-write cycles on the SSD. Thus the SSD may die an early death if you end up constantly using a swap file. Since the drives aren't upgradable that means the whole motherboard/computer dies an early death.

Of course, the above would be an easier tradeoff to justify in the mind of the consumer if it actually cost Apple anywhere near the $200+ they charge for the upgrade. That the actual price difference is likely less than $50 (perhaps much less) I do see the annoyance. Apple generally makes good hardware but given the lack of serviceability in the new stuff and the large Apple tax I do find it hard to stomach the cost over a good Windows system. That said, I've converted at least a few people from PC into Mac users because I do trust the stability of the system more than Windows. I don't think Windows is hard to keep running (my current copy on this computer was installed once Windows 7->10 upgrade was available) but it's not as easy as OSx. Also, if you buy a Mac you are unlikely to get a junky computer. Plenty of PCs are crap.

1

zzhouzhuan

Nov 17, 2023 1:51 AM

198 Comments

Joined Oct 2010

zzhouzhuanNov 17, 2023 1:51 AM

198 Comments

8gb ram, 265gb ssd, more than $1000.

Too much over priced.

1

rocodog

Nov 17, 2023 1:53 AM

1.1K Comments

Joined Jul 2008

rocodogNov 17, 2023 1:53 AM

1.1K Comments

boycott 8gb and 256gb laptops. your iphone has more rams. this is sad pos

2

Byron33

Nov 17, 2023 2:05 AM

1.2K Comments

Joined Aug 2013

Byron33Nov 17, 2023 2:05 AM

1.2K Comments

Quote from gameson

:

thank you for your comment. i basically fresh installed the windows 11 and have not seen any virus/malware activities, so very likely it's the app.

if there is virus/malware, my pc is consistently 24/7 full blown fan, but once the trading hours is over, the trading app is working as normal, no freeze, so i m not really sure what's wrong other than the cpu and its age

i also have a desktop with the latest i7 13th gen cpu, and the app does not lag at all

I think the answer you are looking for is right there in your post. If the issue goes away after 4PM EST, then the issue is with the application itself and how the underlying infrastructure handles the volume of trades. You can throw all the CPU, RAM, and SSD at it and it won't make a difference if the app and it's underlying network is poorly made.

roberthhid

Nov 17, 2023 2:25 AM

2.5K Comments

Joined Dec 2010

roberthhidNov 17, 2023 2:25 AM

2.5K Comments

Get this one instead:

https://slickdeals.net/f/17051578-apple-macbook-pro-m1-pro-8-core-14-2-liquid-retina-xdr-32gb-ram-512gb-ssd-1499?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

1

15.3" 8GB RAM Apple M2 MacBook Air Laptop (2023): 512GB $1250, 256GB

$1,050

$1,300

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