2013 MBP + 2017 iMac? Fasten your seatbelt with the M3 MBP and welcome to the Apple Silicon Autobahn!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's M3 MacBook Pro Gets Up to $1,000 Off In Major New Sales, Starting at $1,299 [Updated]
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
One important difference is both use regular DDR5 so you can buy the 8 gig version and get a cheap second ram stick if you need more later.This is false. It's also myopic to focus on one spec and ignore everything else that plays a part in price--but regardless, if you're referring to the $1600 - $1800 price range of 8GB M3 Macbook Pros, there are non-Apple 8GB laptops in the same price range or slightly more or slightly less:
- Lenovo $1850 (sale price)
Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (16â³ Intel) | Power-packed mobile workstation | 21FACTO1WWUS1
ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (16â Intel) mobile workstation gives you on-the-go power & performance. Includes choice of 14th Gen Intel® Core⢠HX-Series processors or 13th Gen Intel® Core⢠HX-processors with Intel vPro® & optional NVIDIA® discrete graphics.www.lenovo.com
- Dell $1470
Dell Precision 3591 Workstation | Dell USA
Shop the Dell Precision 3591 15" Workstation with Intel core ultra processors & up to NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada professional graphics.www.dell.com
(Dell also has a special rugged series that costs upwards of $3000 and comes with 8GB.)
All the examples also come with inferior processors and less storage than Apple's offering.
Apple however solders everything in so having the base model with only 8 gigs is just to push people to get the more expensive one with proper amount of memory.
They should sell 16gb machines for the same price, RAM is not expensive and having a 2k machine with 8 gigs is embarrasingly greedy.
This is a "Yes, but" situation.
YES, 8GB of RAM paired with an M chip is more than enough for the vast majority or Air or low-end Pro users, a.k.a. the "coffeeshop elite", BUT at that price point you just cannot reasonably justify not adding more memory as a default option. The same goes for the SSD. It's 2024 FFS and DRAM and NAND chips are cheaper than ever.
It's very clear that Apple is not putting more RAM in macbooks because they sell like hot cakes anyway and people who are bothered by the lack of ram will pay the exorbitant extra charge to have it doubled. Not many people will be drawn away to buy a PC laptop because of it - you either want a Mac or you don't. And let's admit it, in the overall user experience, a base model Air still beats any a PC ultrabook with twice the RAM. That said, Apple has absolutely no reason at all to discount the base price or bump the specs as long as people are buying their product. Also anyone complaining about how it is and then buying the device anyway is a part of the problem.
Is the sale really over for Plus members? Especially when it's still up for the half-$1K that it's off for everyone else?
Wow, this has got to be one of the most useless memberships ever. I understand first come first served just fine, and it's beyond fair, but what the hell is the point in only putting the offer up for, what, 8 hours? I was considering it, but now obviously can't go with it. I don't know, maybe I'm just butthurt but that seems absolutely nuts to me.
Other than the lowest end and highest end systems, the pricing for everything in between is no different from months of "on sale" offers.
Every ~4 years or so, I shop Apple refurb, used (eBay and FB) and new on sale. Also factor in trade-in values (though they are not nearly as favorable as they used to be) and simply ignore next gen offerings at full price.
This iteration I bought a used M3 14" - 18 GB - 1TB that had AC+ and 1.6 M TB 4 cable for under $1700 and got $550 "direct" (no purchase) trade-in from Best Buy for my old 2020 i5.
If Apple wants to push AI and we know they certainly do, 8GB of RAM has got to go.....It has to. There is no reason, in 2024, for a machine that costs $800+ to have 8GB of non-upgradable memory. Any laptop bearing a "Pro" moniker should have a minimum of 16GB of RAM.
I'm curious what apps you're using that are 1 TB?
I'm under the impression that apps that have a ton of assets in them generally have an option to offload the assets and make them only available on demand... and that most assets wouldn't be useful for most projects, so you wouldn't have much reason to really want them stored locally.
But maybe I'm totally wrong.
Your comments here make the assumption that everyone who buys these laptops actually needs 16GB, but I see no evidence for that. And your criticism singles Apple out for something not unique to them as well. Most of the industry solders RAM now, and while it’s possible it’s motivated by greed, there is also advantage to it for the user, though not all users.
I’m doing just fine with 8gb of ram, I agree 16 should be standard, but a majority of light users can get away with 8gb for a few more years probably
Nope, i am not saying everyone needs 16GB, i am saying a 2k laptop should come with 16GB.
Because out of the 3 laptops being discussed the macbook is the only one with soldered ram.
I do hope that will be the case but every year and especially with the inclusion of AI, the "ask" of computers increases. I've owned 8GB of RAM Macbook Airs, both Intel and M1, and you'll hit the RAM limit quite quick with just a couple of Chrome tabs and maybe another app or two open.
You do not require a Pro machine for word processing.
When you actually think about it, the entire premise of this argument is obviously wrong.
"A Pro laptop should have at least 16GB of RAM" as a statement doesn't make much sense. What does that statement even mean, especially in this context? And the answer has already been given:
And that was a good thing. Why on earth would you want three "lines" to differentiate something based solely on base RAM? That's an insane amount of added complexity for purchasers all to make some people whose feathers are ruffled about a label feel better about how the label is used.
Also, what does "greed of the highest order" even mean? Last I checked, Apple is a for-profit company. That means their job is literally to maximize shareholder value. What you call "greed" is literally their fiduciary duty.
"A Pro laptop should have at least 16GB of RAM" as a statement doesn't make much sense. What does that statement even mean, especially in this context? And the answer has already been given:
"Pro" isn't supposed to mean anything. It is a marketing and labeling thing. And why do we have that label? It's a residual effect from collapsing 3 lines from previous eras (Air, standard, and Pro) into two. Now you either get an Air or a Pro.
And that was a good thing. Why on earth would you want three "lines" to differentiate something based solely on base RAM? That's an insane amount of added complexity for purchasers all to make some people whose feathers are ruffled about a label feel better about how the label is used.
and
Clearly, based on the number of people who disagree with you, there is an "argument" and a "defense." The fact that you have an opinion that differs from theirs doesn't invalidate their take on the matter.
Also, what does "greed of the highest order" even mean? Last I checked, Apple is a for-profit company. That means their job is literally to maximize shareholder value. What you call "greed" is literally their fiduciary duty.
Ummmm. There are plenty of people out there making incomes >$300K for writing reports and memo. C-Suite people write stuff like this for Boards of Directors all the time. Are you saying they aren't "professionals?" I'd hope not. And this illustrates the other problem with the original argument. You guys are conflating the whole idea of "Pro" with "Power User." They are not the same thing.
I don't see anyone in this thread who has suggested that they do.
Consulting doesn't require pro power. Anyone can do that job on a 5 year old $300 Macbook Air.. By Pro Apple means creative pro; proaudio production, image processing, video editing, not pro as in you get paid for doing any job so technically you're a professional.
That came out sounding snarky but I swear I didn't mean it that way.
You said this, not Apple. Apple markets the ability of it to do advanced tasks, but doesn't say it's exclusively for that, nor does it purport that all models are capable of all things at the same level. In fact, if you look on the product page, here's what it says:
Whether a $2k laptop should or shouldn't have 16GB is a subjective opinion, so there is no way for me to argue that. My only interest is in arguing whether supporting arguments are factual and logical.
In my response to you, my meaning was that upgradability isn’t an important difference to the people in question unless they need more than 8GB. Sure, some will and it will be important to them, but if someone is buying an 8GB laptop, it doesn’t make sense to automatically assume they actually need/want more and would therefore find upgradability important. To use the car analogy, some people buy a car expecting to swap out the engine for an upgrade, but I’d say it’s safer to assume most buy a car at face value, so to them buying a car that’s easier to engine swap isn’t a selling point.
Sure, those are two examples of laptops that are upgradable. Apple may or may not be the only company that doesn’t offer upgradable laptops, I don’t know. But as far as upselling being the only motivation for companies to solder (as all companies do it nowadays), as I said, perhaps so, but I’d point out again that it’s also advantageous to the user because it allows for thinner lighter laptops, and some users value this.
8 GB of RAM is the sweet spot for a noteworthy percentage of Mac users. For me, 16+ GB of RAM is more appropriate (monitored usage periodically over multiple iterations of hardware upgrades to determine that it is now necessary).
The past few years Apple has created more models and confusion for the average consumer. I think it was intentional- in order to to get more customers ponying up for higher priced models than required for fear of missing out (FOMO)
Two in my household and 4 extended family members are cruising along with 8 GB M1 and M2 MBP's. I'm happy and not "memory pressured" running M1 Base Max (32 GB) and M3 Pro 18 GB RAM configurations.
Whether 8GB is Pro or not, thats purely subjective. As I already mentioned, I can do professional work on 8GB machine and be just fine with that. I can do that work on toaster, 32GB desktop or 8GB macbook pro and that work is professionally paid work. So the idea is that 8GB RAM can't deliver professional work is just plain wrong.
I have worked in content creation for years so I know what's that. For your information, simple script writing is also a highly paid work, even more than retouching photos in Photoshop or adding a guitar track to drums in Logic.
Last edited:
I do something similar, except on an M2 Air. Most knowledge-based professional work requires minimal computing power. But it doesn't fit the narrative of those who equate pro with computing power.
This has never been the case, and the existence of a smaller MacBook Pro since 2009 proves it.
The first several 13 inch MacBook pros lagged behind their 15 and 17 inch counterparts, it was basically a MacBook, but with aluminum instead of a plastic shell. Which is ironic, seeing as that’s literally what it started as, before the “Pro” was added.
There was absolutely nothing more “Pro” about those Core 2 Duo 13 inch MacBook Pros other than they were aluminum. Not exactly something helping people get their jobs done faster.
And this never really changed, therewas a 13 inch MacBook Pro in 2016 without the touch bar that was basically a MacBook Air in a MBP body, and the $1299 M1 and M2 MacBook Pro’s with touch bars, and the new M3 MacBook Pro are literally just MacBook Airs/iPad Pros just with the design of the MBP.
There’s absolutely nothing an M3 MacBook Pro can do that an M3 MacBook Air can’t.
To Apple, “Pro” is nothing but a marketing term. Sometimes it refers to power users, most of the time it just refers to their most expensive model.
“AirPods Pro” for example, there is absolutely nothing “Pro” about them they’re just the more premium option with more features and more controls and the bigger price tag.
The iPhone Pro is just as capable at getting work done as the SE, it’s just better. Better screen, better battery, better camera. But anyone using a Pro could use an SE if they absolutely had to.