The High Cost of Upgrades: Apple's Markup Prices Are Outrageous

Apple's latest lineup of computers, including the MacBook Air M3, has left many users wondering if it's worth the investment. The issue with these new devices is that they come with a price tag that's not only high but also feels like a lie when you factor in the cost of upgrades. Specifically, Apple charges a premium for even the most basic upgrades, making the base model feel like a luxury item.

For example, let's take the MacBook Air M3. Starting at $1,499, it may seem like an affordable option for those who need a powerful computer for everyday tasks. However, when you factor in the cost of upgrading to 16 gigs of memory and 512 gigs of storage, which is the first available RAM upgrade and half a terabyte of storage respectively, the price jumps to $1,699. This is equivalent to over 200% markup on top of the base price. Compared to Apple's scale of operations, this pricing strategy feels brutal, ridiculous, and just plain crazy.

This raises an important question: is the base spec in 2024 actually usable? The answer depends on what you plan to use your MacBook Air for. If you're like me, editing videos or doing heavy coding tasks, you'll need a computer that can handle the demands of those tasks. In this case, the M3 chip brings a significant boost in performance and capabilities. However, if you're doing lightweight tasks such as browsing the internet, checking email, or word processing, an M2 MacBook Air with 8 gigs of shared RAM and 256 gigs of storage would suffice.

The problem is that Apple's pricing strategy has shifted over time to make the base model less relevant. With the introduction of Apple Silicon chips, the company has brought down the minimum level of machine required to get the job done. This means that users can now buy a Mac Studio or an M1 Max MacBook Pro for tasks that were previously exclusive to high-end desktops and Mac Pros. In this sense, the new M3 MacBook Air is not just a powerful computer but also an enabler for users who need it.

If you're part of the massive group of people who are doing normal, baseline computing tasks, such as watching videos or browsing the internet, you can easily get by with an M2 MacBook Air. In fact, if you don't need the brighter display, MagSafe, or external display support, which you probably don't at this rate, it's also a great idea to look into Best Buy or Walmart's M1 MacBook Air for $699 and $649 respectively. Clearly, the M3 chip has brought the floor of a laptop up in terms of performance and capabilities.

In conclusion, Apple's new lineup of computers is an amazing enabler for users who need powerful machines for their work or creative pursuits. However, for those who only need a computer for lightweight tasks, the base model may not be worth the investment. The high cost of upgrades, especially when factored into the base price, makes it essential to carefully consider your needs before making a purchase.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(Intro music)- That's crazy that themost interesting thingsabout this new laptop arethe reasons not to buy it.So the MacBook Air just got refreshed.It's a pretty simple update,maybe a boring one actually.There's really only two things new.It has this newanodization on the outside,apparently a slightly morefingerprint resistant look to it.And it has the new M3 chip inside.So the coating, I don't know,it barely makes a differenceif I'm being honest.It still gets fingerprintsif you handle it regularlywithout a skin or a case.I would much rather dependon something like a skinfrom channel sponsor Dbrand.It lets you break outfrom one of the threereally simple colors andit's gonna hide fingerprintsa million times better thanany metal treatment ever could.Plus these are real leather,so they have a nice plush textureand it'll patina over time.So I'll leave a link to this one below.But the other new thingis this M3 chip inside.So we've seen this M3 chipbefore, this is what Apple does.They put the same chip everywhere.This came out in October of last yearand they immediatelyput it in the new iMac.And then we also got a newMacBook Pro that launchedwith this and the M3 PRO and the M3 Max.So okay, new M3 Apple silicon,third generation, great.So now we're finally gettingthis new base M3 chipin the new MacBook Air, sidenote, why does it take so long?I don't know, it feels likeApple kind of staggers itprobably on purpose, but likeit's the same chip everywhere.They've done the iMac,they've done the MacBook Proand MacBook Air, but theMac Mini just stayingon M2, kind of weird.Also the new iPad Pro still on M2.When's that gonna get it?Anyway, you already knowthat the MacBook Airis the most popular Mac for a reason.This is the base like entry level Macthat most people are seeingas the way to get into the Mac world.And so the base MacBookAir has typically been oneof the easiest to recommendlaptops in the world by design.But this one, interestingly,for two reasons, isn't.Now, this has nothing todo with performance of M3or anything weird like that.Like it's the performanceyou were expecting.If you look at benchmarks,it's right around that 10to 20% improvement over M2depending on what you're doing.Definitely leans heavieron graphics improvements this generation.And there's the rate tracing now finally.So any applicationsor rendering that aretaken advantage of that,that's gonna be a noticeableimprovement for M3.And it's clearly a more capable chip.And also MacBook Airs,especially the 15 inch,just constantly get greatbattery life across the board.You also get now dualexternal display supportwith the lid closed,but one external displaywith the laptop open.And it also appearsthat the base storageon M3 is much improved.So this was one of those concerns from,if you look back at M2,you know obviously Apple seeds reviewerswith higher end MacBooks, somost of us aren't getting that.But if you look back at M2the base 256 gig model useda single SSD module insteadof two SSDs.Long story short, thatstorage module was way slowerthan M1, like 50% slower on paper.Would you have noticed if nobody told youand had never benchmarked it?Maybe, possibly not,but obviously it's a bummerhaving way slower storageon a new M2 and that extratime transferring large files,that adds up over time.So I'm happy to report thatI've seen really good benchmarkson the base storage of the M3 Air.It appears that they fixed it, awesome.So what's the deal with this M3 Air then?Why am I saying it's not necessarilythe best recommendation?Well, historically, MacBookAir has been super easyto recommend, but with this M3,they also lowered the priceof M2 by a hundred bucksand discontinued the M1.So now the lineup is M3MacBook Air starts at 1099,then M2 MacBook Air starts at 999and then M1, it's kind of gone from Apple,but you can still find stockthat's left at like Walmart or Best Buy.Now the thing about theMacBook Air being easyto recommend is we'retalking about regular people,which it's very light, regular,normal usage like web browsing,listening to music, a bunchof tabs open, work stuff,occasionally compilingor rendering some smallthings, photo editingand chopping a video or two sometimes,but really very light.So these people, like type of peoplewho would buy a laptop atWalmart would be totally finewith the cheaper identicallooking MacBook Airwith the slightly slowerM2 chip and slower storage.I think they would be totally fine.But the other thing whichI need to talk aboutis this whole base spec thing.This is not exactly new to theindustry, but the base priceand the base spec has almostbecome like this weird fallacy.Like I think it was Linus who did a videoabout how starting at islike the biggest lie in tech.And he's right, it's not just tech,like the car industrydoes it all the time too.Starting at, you know,this super low price,but nobody actually gets it at that price.You're not gonna get atotally bare base model car.The base price is reallymore to give you an ideaof how much you're about to spendwhen you actually optionit up the way you want to.And the issue with theseis Apple's markup pricesfor above base spec is crazy high.Like Apple charges way too muchfor the most basic upgrades.Obviously Apple Siliconcomputers are all a systemon a chip, so they cannot be upgraded everafter you buy them, right?So once you buy it, you know, you're kindof incentivized if you'regonna keep it for a long timeto splurge a little bitand give yourself some extraheadroom and future proof itand bump up that spec.But Apple charges so muchfor bumping up that specthat the base price feelslike kind of even moreof a lie than usual.So the MacBook Air starts in 2024,again, at eight gigs of sharedRAM and 256 gigs of storage.Now, ignoring the fact thatthe phone I'm using also hasmore than eight gigs of RAMand 256 gigs of storage, ifyou want to upgrade to 16 gigsof memory, the first availableRAM upgrade, that's $200.And if you wanna bump upto just the half a terabyteof storage, that'sanother 200 more dollars.Compared to to how muchthat actually costs Apple,especially at the scalethat they're operating,that is just crazy,brutal, ridiculous pricing.So even if you do just that,suddenly the MacBook Air M3 is $1,500.So either you're cool withknowing you're actually buyinga 1500 plus dollars MacBookAir or the real question is,is the base spec in 2024 actually usable?And my take is actuallysometimes yes, sometimes yes.So again, if you're thepeople I talked about earlier,you're you're buying a laptopfrom the showcase at Walmartor Best Buy, you just needit to do the basic stuffI mentioned earlier,you actually can do that with eight gigsof shared memory, no problem.This might seem like a hot take,but I've spent a lot oftime doing this stuff.You rarely actually getclose to hitting the maxand hitting memory swap.And even when you do,it's very much still fine.It's when you get into theheavier stuff like media encodingor exporting or gaming thatit's a whole nother story.So if you're watching this video,you already know whichgroup of people you're in.So for that massive group ofpeople who are doing a lot ofthat normal, baseline computing stuff,don't buy the new M3 MacBook Air.You can very easily get an M2 MacBook Airand save your money.Matter of fact, if you don'tneed the brighter display,the MagSafe, the external display support,which you probably don't at this rate,it's also a great ideato look into Best Buyor Walmart's like six,$700 M1 MacBook Airsthat they're selling right now.I think Walmart first announcedthey would have it for 699and then a few dayslater Best Buy announcedthat they'd sell it for649, which is pretty sick.So clearly M3 is a muchmore capable overall chipand brings the floor of a laptop up.But the way I see it, whatApple silicon has doneto Apple's lineup is it'sbrought down the minimum levelof machine that you can getaway with doing your workflow.Does that make sense?So like me, I edit a lot of videosand so I need a powerfulmachine for Final Cut Proand that sort of stuff, right?So for the longest time I couldonly use an Apple Desktop,the highest end iMac Pro, theMac Pro, and I still will,but I am now able to use MacStudio and I can actually edit.I've had an M1 Max MacBook Pro for a whileand I've been editingon the go with a laptop,which is a huge like enabler for me.And the same sort of thingapplies if you're doing likegaming stuff or if you havea whole bunch of codingand heavy, maybe even just encoding photosor whatever you're doing at that level,you'd typically rely on a MacBook Pro.But with these new chipsand with Apple silicon,you can do that on a high-endMacBook Air, which is again,a pretty sweet enabler.So that's what the new M3 MacBook Air is.If you do that sort of stuff,it's an amazing computer.It should be on your shortlist.Great all around, easy to recommend.But again, if you're doingthe lightweight, normal stuffand you need a MacBookAir, don't get this one.Get the cheaper one.Okay, that's it.Thanks for watching.Catch you guys the next one, peace.♪ It's the money, it's it'sthe money, it's the money♪\n"