The base configurations of the new 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Airs, as well as the entry-level M3 MacBook Pro, all come with 8GB of unified memory. In contrast, Apple's competitors have begun to equip their high-end notebooks with 16GB of memory, while Apple has been slow to increase the total memory capacity.
According to the latest interviews, Apple executives defended this decision, stating that this memory capacity is "suitable" for various tasks.
Image/source: iFixit
During interviews with the media, Apple's Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Kate Bergeron, and Evan Buyze from the Mac marketing team discussed several topics surrounding the MacBook. In the latest MacBook Air models, the base version offers only 8GB of memory and 256GB of onboard storage, which is evidently insufficient for a significant portion of users. However, when it comes to memory configurations, Buyze mentioned that 8GB is "suitable" for everyday tasks.
These daily tasks include web browsing, light editing of photos and videos, and streaming movies. This isn't the first time the company has defended its business practice of equipping its machines with 8GB of memory. When this question was previously raised, Apple's Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, Bob Borchers, stated that 8GB unified memory is equivalent to 16GB in other systems. However, various tests by review media indicate that this configuration is inadequate for running multiple applications simultaneously, and excess data begins to be read from NAND flash storage, thereby reducing durability.
A straightforward solution would be to replace the existing memory with higher-capacity memory, but this would need to be an option provided by Apple since all Macs introduced in recent years have memory and storage devices soldered onto the logic board. Worse still, if users wish to upgrade the existing memory or storage space, Apple charges exorbitant fees, which imposes a significant financial burden on users. Hopefully, as programs begin to require more memory, Apple will increase the base configuration, but for now, customers can only purchase entry-level models with 8GB of memory.
