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16GB of RAM Could Be the New Minimum in Apple's Upcoming M4 Macs

hans1972 said:
56Gb of unified memory > 32 + 24Gb of dedicated memory.

You should compare the same amount of memory.
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Except that's not a real configuration that's available, so..no? Also there are other factors to consider such as OS differences, different applications and use cases, PCI lanes and bus speeds, etc. It's not quite apples to apples comparison (no pun intended) which is why I specified it was my gaming PC because that's a whole separate world from what I use my Mac for.
 
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ric22 said:
That base Inspiron with 8/256 costs LESS THAN A THIRD of the cheapest M3 Air, though. £349 vs £1,099. The specs are fair for £349, if the storage can be upgraded.
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I was thinking of the desktop. Mom has a new Core i3 with those specs. It doesn't price at $399 at the moment.
More. Plenty more. Dell is funny that way.
I've never owned a Windows or Mac laptop. My last laptop was from Radio Shack with DeskMate and DOS.
Today I'm a desktop/tablet kind of guy.
I see no real need to put a laptop in the mix.
 
As I said before, there is a huge implication in raising the baseline RAM for M4 Macs, even if Apple were to raise the MSRP to match the pre-M4 upgraded Mac pricing.

RAM upgraded models are only available as BTO (build to order) from Apple previously, which means retailers (Amazon, BestBuy, Costco) would not stock them. Apple allows official retail distributors to discount Macs by about 10-20% compared to official pricing, but Apple would never discount Macs on Apple.com or in Apple stores.

By putting 16GB in the baseline, you can buy 16GB Macs at a discount of 10-20%, whereas there would have been no discount before because you're limited to purchasing from Apple.
 
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ikramerica said:
I get what you are saying, but this also means:
No 8GB models only in stock at some retailers, 16GB must be ordered and delivered.
No more discounts that only apply to the 8GB models, as there won't be any of those.

So ultimately, you would be able to walk into a store and walk out with a 16GB model for less than you used to be able to get it for via ordering.
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I'm not sure if I follow...
 
jimimac71 said:
I was thinking of the desktop. Mom has a new Core i3 with those specs. It doesn't price at $399 at the moment.
More. Plenty more. Dell is funny that way.
I've never owned a Windows or Mac laptop. My last laptop was from Radio Shack with DeskMate and DOS.
Today I'm a desktop/tablet kind of guy.
I see no real need to put a laptop in the mix.
Click to expand...
Their cheapest Inspiron desktop in the UK is £399 (without the student discount), but that has better specs- 512GB storage.
 
bradman83 said:
Electronics retailers like Best Buy and Amazon routinely offer sales on the "stock" models, which for consumer units like the MacBook Air, Mini, and iMac are only available in 8GB. If those models get bumped up to 16GB, even with a price hike, that means they'll be more widely available and could be obtained at a discount. In other words even if the 2024 plain M4 MacBook Pro is bumped up to $1799 (which I doubt) you can probably still get one on Amazon in a few months for $100-200 off.
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I bought my 2TB iPad Pro 2024 at $200 off from Amazon. I'm not sure if I follow, you'll get discounts regardless of tiers.
 
platinumaqua said:
but at least the average consumer that wants 16GB can take advantage of the blowout sales in other retailers since the base model is what Apple sends to them
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They already can.

I got the 2TB iPad Pro 2024 for $200 off (which has 16GB of ram btw) from Amazon.

The current MacBook Pro 14" 16GB model is $200 off too.
 
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JippaLippa said:
While I understand what you're saying, I still appreciate apple dropping a spec that'd cause only issues in the future.
This way customers won't be able to castrate their machines.
I remember back in uni, my friends sold their souls to barely afford the base spec macbook pros (speaking of 2011-2012), only to complain about the lack of ram and performance.

Apple makes expensive stuff, and they charge way too much for simple upgrades...granted...
But it's good that customers won't have the chance to go with 8GB of unified memory.
Click to expand...

That should be up to the user. Plenty can make MacBook Pro work with 8GB.
 
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I really need >32G of ram for my next machine. That limits me to the MacBooks or Studio.
I don't need a laptop, I've already got an Air M2 for the little travelling I do.
I need a desktop with 64G.
The M2 Air has enough CPU power for compiling on Xcode & Studio for today.
I don't want to fork out a huge amount on a Studio with M2 just to get 64G.
So it a bit disheartening to hear Apple have been testing the new Mini with only 16 & 32G.
I had hoped they'd not only up the minimum but also up the ceiling too.
32G isn't enough.
 
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breenmask said:
2023 $1599 base 8GB MacBook Pro - "OMG Apple, just get rid of it you greedy bastards! Make 16GB minimum"
...
2024 $1799 base 16GB MacBook Pro - "Finally! We pressured Apple to upgrade 16GB for free!"

Apple complainer logic.
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I hear what you're saying, but if you look a bit deeper you will see there actually is a logic to this, even if Apple does increase the price by an amount equal to the RAM upgrade price:

The most commonly discounted machines are the base models. Thus if 16 GB becomes the base, it will be easier to find a good deal on a 16 GB machine.

Also, there's a decent chance Apple won't increase the price by the full $200, especially on the more mass-market devices, like the Air, since those are the machines that students buy (or students' parents buy for them), and it's essential for Apple's future growth that they continue to bring those users into the Mac ecosystem
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Please make it so Apple, so that the majority of us here don’’t have to read all the whinning anymore from those who complain about the base model and wouldn’t have bought it anyway.
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It will hardly make any difference. There a new whining chorus is already starting “16GB is not enough” and “give us more without charging us more” and “‘pro’ deserve more” complaints about a base models that has even been released
 
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Chuckeee said:
It will hardly make any difference. There a new whining chorus is already starting “16GB is not enough” and “give us more without charging us more” and “‘pro’ deserve more” complaints about a base models that has even been released
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We can dream it would happen. lol I agree with you, though. The entitlement mindset is strong on the forum.
 
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JippaLippa said:
Absolutely about time!

By the way, I really hope the mac mini redesign won't look like that; it'd be more elegant to make a flatter design.
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yeah, I definitely don't see sticking a VESA adapter on that to put on the back of a monitor. Especially if that design means it requires that orientation to cool effectively.
 
Shouldn't 640KB not be enough for everyone? :cool:

I think it's mainly the much faster internal storage, what prevented higher base-RAM sizes.

With a spinning HDD you could do almost nothing if RAM was full.

Why don't they just make everything the same speed as Level 1 CPU cache? 🙃


I just remembered installing DOS, some games and Windows 3.1 on a RAM-Drive and after reboot everything was gone.
 
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Actual Apple executives do not have the balls to host a live event with customers and press like older times. They simply do not want to hear what real users have to say. Since M1 was introduced with only 8Gb of ram, and they kept until today, imagine the "boo" people would say in a in-person event.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Please make it so Apple, so that the majority of us here don’’t have to read all the whinning anymore from those who complain about the base model and wouldn’t have bought it anyway.
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Well I always find the whining about the whining much more tiresome. I don't understand the impulse of defending a megacorp that doesn't give a cr** about you
 
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