I've received quite a few emails asking how I make my videos, if you're interested in learning about it in a detailed course let me know here: tinyurl.com/4sfh9cx2

The fact even Apple Explained is calling them out on being really cheap with RAM is incredible.

Not only is it only 8 GB of ram, It’s 8 GB of ram SHARED between the CPU and GPU

now $1700 mac has the same amount of ram as an $150 phone 💀💀💀

I used to order my Macs with the minimal amount of RAM, order the RAM I wanted from Techworks, then install it myself. Apple caught on to this, and started soldering on the RAM and welding their cases shut.

8GB RAM on “pro” devices is such a scam

16gb should be the base option in 2023, period. Apple is just being extremely stingy.

Once you enter iJail, your there for life

It's not just RAM. SSDs are literally the same thing. They are soldered, and the price of extra storage is exorbitant.

Not even Apple Explained could hold back

I love Apple products, but I also believe we need to boycott scams like 8GB RAMs

people who buy apple products are rich or tech ignorant , theres no more options

Also worth mentioning that only thing different between low RAM and high RAM versions hardware-wise are... Missing ram modules. All motherboards are the same and if you buy 8 GB of RAM you just have empty pads on the motherboard waiting for ram to be soldered on... ram modules that cost like 15$ each.

As the price of solid state storage - both RAM and VNAND - has decreased dramatically in the last few years, it has became more and more evident that Apple was taking advantage over their customers with a pincer action - remove user upgrade ability and overprice the extra memory options. Today, selling the extra RAM at four or five times the market price has become unjustifiable. Today I'm glad that Apple Explained, traditionally very sympathetic toward the company, is calling this memory sale with the proper name...

This is so true. A $1000 laptop let alone $1600 should NEVER start a 8gb RAM…

200$ for an extra 8Gb RAM. What a rip off. Consumerism is what keeps Apple floating.

Was really planning on buying a macbook air recently, but the 8GB and absurd price for upgrading it let me to buy a Lenovo laptop. For 1200 dollars I now have 32GB ram, a 7840HS chip which performs similar to the M2 and 1TB!! of SSD.

The absurd upgrade prices are pretty much the only reason I don't have a Mac. They are charging $800 to upgrade from a 256GB to 2TB SSD. A new 2TB, high quality, faster SSD can be purchased for less than $150. Why in the world would I choose to pay more than 5x the price? It is obscene. And they wonder why they are struggling to sell hardware.

Yeah, it wasn't that big a deal when you could easily add RAM yourself, but once that option was removed we were totally screwed.

Releasing ANYTHING in 2023 with under 16gb is criminal

You’ve both nailed it and missed it a bit here. The 8gb of RAM isn’t there to save them money, it’s exclusively there to upsell. They know people spending that much on their products aren’t going to be content with 8gb, it’s a complete fake out, and a way to just pretend to have lower entry level devices. I wouldn’t be shocked if Apple actually lose money on these devices, which explains why the ladder pricing takes such extreme jumps compared to the actual cost of xGBs of ram.

The fact that you actually took a stance against this behavior is incredible to me, as you usually sugarcoat what Apple does.

Their Pro models should be 32GB minimum. 16GB should be on the air. Really hoping for some great laptop models using the Snapdragon X Elite.

It's even worse when it comes to storage, because even if the base storage is enough space for you, you get half the speed of higher tiers. They introduced this "incentive" with M2 models.

I got a base MacBook M1 Air with 8GB of RAM two years ago for $850 at BestBuy, which was a typical price for 3rd party retailers. This year I've seen it for $750. If I had insisted on 16GB of RAM, it would have been $1200, because you can only get that configuration directly through Apple. Paying $350 to $450 for an extra 8GB of RAM is highway robbery. So far, my MacBook runs perfectly fine for what I do. I'm not going upgrade to a newer model until Apple makes 16GB the base configuration.

The worst part about Apple imo. Thanks for being honest about it! 😂

Apple's strategy is making the baseline model relatively cheap so that they could make an eye-catching headline like "Starting at only $999!", but the baseline model has a significant flaw so that most people end up spending more. Last year, the cheapest MacBook had only one SSD chip instead of two; this year the cheapest model has only one fan instead of two.

If I'm not mistaken the 8GB to 16GB costs Apple 17 dollars or something ridiculous like that. I think they just want to charge the mid price but use the lower price as "starting from" in ads expecting no one buys it, and if you do one upgrade psychologically you're inclined to do another upgrade

Hit the nail on the head on something that’s been infuriating me for several years, now: Apple’s RAM upgrade prices are _absolutely_ a ripoff. Or, if they’re not I’d love to see them justify why 1) they cannot design boards with RAM slots, and 2) the true speed/efficiency advantage of SoC RAM.

Also it took them around 8 years to finally have sufficient storage on base model iPhones. I remember that 16GB even in 2015 was considered too little.

This is why I sold my MacBook pro back in 2014. I thought (stupidly) that I could upgrade my RAM with two sticks, but when I figured out it was soldered on, I sold it and went back to a laptop. People should speak up.

The same thing they do with phones. The storage on your phone is still available, but they still they send you application to buy cloud storage when you are not even halfway through the storage on your phone I think the government need to look look into this thing.

It would cost them less than $50 to make 16gig standard at point of production but if they keep 8gig standard and charge you $200 to stick 16gig in they make a tidy profit. Makes sense, now i see why they do it.

Apples ram and ssd upgrades alone cost literally more than an entire second or third computer…

Like how they released a 799 phone in 2023 that still has 60hz

i still have a 2012 i7 MBP...when i first got it off of ebay it only had 4GB of RAM and a 256GB HDD..I upgraded the storage to a 1TB SSD and the RAM to 16GB for about 60 bucks..and bought a new aftermarket battery for another 25 dollars...ive spent under 200 dollars total for this laptop and it is running like a champ....

Fantastic that a video is this short and informative. If only KZfaq were full of these videos.

I'd reasonably estimate that Apple could probably add another 8GB chip onto the board for $20ish dollars a unit with their scale and wholesale agreements. The only reason they don't is because of the absolute pure margin for the upgrades.

I love how this channel is getting more honest with every new video

You can also talk about the differences of price for the stockage where you can have the 1to option for the macbook pro M3 at +100$ and the same upgrade on the M3 Pro would be +200$ for no reasons

Every time I've almost fallen for an Apple product, the RAM and storage scam prices have sobered me up, and I've snapped out of it, some of their products would actually be fantastic if it wasn't for this aspect, the one thing Apple had going for them was their main iPad model, though that to was still somewhat effected by scummy storage prices, but the 128/256gb SKU's were at least reasonably priced, now they don't even offer this any more, the main iPad is also sold at silly prices.

Thank you for your honesty Greg, shame on Apple! Shame on Tim Cook.

They do a similar thing with artificially limiting the number of supported external screens in their MacBooks.

My iMac is due for a replacement next year. And I've been going between Windows and Apple for my next pc. And more and more, I'm gravitating towards the Windows side. Apple has been lowballing their customers on EVERY aspect for the past few years, and I don't know of I longer want to support this.

Man if the price increase is 400 bucks, I’d stick with 8GB Ram and literally buy an iPad with it

That was honestly a lot of quality information in just 2 minutes. Thank you

For those that don't know, 16GB RAM is and has been the standard in PC's for a while, even in PC's less than half the price of the iMac. You can also get 16 kits for around 50 bucks while Apple is charging $200 for an additional 8GB which goes to show how much proprietary products trap you in.

We need the same video for SSD scam.

The fact that the memory is on the chip with the CPU and also sharable with graphics memory makes this memory different than a traditional PC. It would be like buying memory for your PC that includes a Nvidia GPU card and an Intel Core i7 included. It is understandable the memory upgrades are more expensive.

Not just RAM, base model Mac comes with 256gb storage. It wouldn't be sufficient if you regularly download and watch movies or store lot of photos.

It's not a scam. Ask iSheep, they are just grateful to have larger amount of memory options.

When you enter the Apple store you are greeted with "BEND OVER". Then comes "how may I help you?".

I don’t have a problem with the Mac mini or MacBook Air having an 8gb option. But, the price would have to go down accordingly. Alongside that, anything implied to be Pro should have 16gb minimum. If they don’t lower prices on any product then 16gb should be the minimum for all Mac devices.

8gb model only exists to kill your SSD faster so you can buy the next model as soon as possible.

I’m not sure if something has changed but the iMac models I’ve seen have a little door on the back that allows for a ram upgrade by the user.

2024 and they sell 8GB-RAM hardware and the 16GBs is like 200 bucks more when 16GBs of RAM is like what... 40 bucks?

The fixed RAM and storage tiers seem unreasonable. They're hindering my ability to upgrade, leading me to invest in a PC with the money I set aside instead. I yearn for the older Apple products that allowed user upgrades to adapt to changing needs. It's evident that designing and engineering products this way was a deliberate choice, aiming to maximize profits from customers at the point of purchase, despite the potential for a socketed NAND solution. Even with the Mac Studio, Apple has restricted upgrade options. This also raises questions about Apple's dedication to green initiatives, as prioritizing upgrading and reusing should precede recycling, which can be both energy-intensive and polluting. Without a serious commitment in this regard, it might be seen as mere greenwashing, a term Tim Cook himself has criticized as abhorrent.

I have to admit, I’m a huge Apple fan, but not deep in their ecosystem. Every tech video that mentions Apple tends to have negative comments about the company. I’ve always been on their defensive…until today. Wow I’m literally shook. I’m ashamed it took this long for me to realize Apple’s stingy practices. Thank you Apple Explained. 🍎❌

Hi, what is the name of the background music ? Thx !

Dell and HP are same with their workstation machines’ ECC memory. 8GB to 16GB upgrade is like $300+ when you can buy equivalent RAM sticks for $100

For my POV, it is even more surprising that people willingly choose to enter a closed ecosystem done just one brand, not even an oligopoly, for their computers, tablets and phones. Even if that company is very big, the key is that they are only one decisor and you depend on them.

Mac also give the illusion of fluidity w/ only 8GB through excessive swapping. Early in the lifespan of a Mac, they would use another 4, 8 or even 10GB of swap space even with simple internet browsing. Swap essentially using SSD as virtual memory. This drastically reduces the soldered SSD's lifespan, and as time goes on, they can tune down swapping which would slow down the Mac a lot. Several family members who purchased 8GB M1 Airs and Pros have already experienced this after updating to Sonoma, getting frequent out-of-memory warnings. I had to downgrade several of them to Monterey for best performance.

To be fair, I've got a 2020 Macbook Air and I get bottlenecked by the old Intel processor way before I can fill the memory. It starts chugging and the fan makes it sound like a jet trying to take off. Maybe the RAM limitation is more of a real concern with the newer models.

I don't have any problem working with windows gaming laptop and andriod phones. There are many file sharing service / apps out there right now. And everything is fast versatile and customizable.

I bought my first macbook (the air M1 base model). Honestly nowadays having used this machine for 2 years and having problems with not only ram but ssd storage, considering the price I paid for it, the only reason I'd buy another one is if I really need to develop an iOS app.

I’m glad you aren’t biased when it comes to making videos about Apple. I find it kind of frustrating that in 2023 we only get 8GB as a base option, even though in my case I don’t *need* any more. Hoping my MacBook Air M1 lasts 8 more years

Lol i got an apple ad before their annihalation

Yup, that sums it up! You pay 2-3x for everything near an Apple product.

Optimization is great but it’s not an excuse to be cheap on hardware 16gb should be the base option

Greg is really mad this time

That Tim thumbnail 😂

“Not user upgradeable.” Sounds like a challenge to me!

8 GB ram is insane for 2023 especially for a "pro" line up

Apple has actually been doing this for over 30 years. The difference now is that RAM used to be user upgradeable. IOW, back in the 90's, Apple RAM was crazy overpriced also. But we could upgrade the RAM with 3rd party memory at a reasonable price. Many people were just lazy and still purchased the overpriced RAM that Apple sold because they just didn't want to mess with the install themselves. Some machines were easier than others to install extra RAM. Now that the RAM is soldered on the motherboard, it just became MUCH harder to install the RAM yourself. I'm actually surprised that with their business model, that Apple let people get away with installing their own RAM for this long.

This is right up there with blast processing

I noticed my 2019 air has the swappiness set very high, so the RAM i do have is not being utilized properly

It's interesrting to see the change in your tone towards Apple. The tone used to be more positive and admiring...now, it is more critical and realistic. Thank you.

Its so annoying that they can get away with it, because at the end of the day most people are just gunna pay the extra price for the ram upgrade. I wish apple just let us have that little extra bit of ram, I'm sure they would still sell their machines for a profit, and I'm sure even more people would be enticed to purchase a mac!

Problem is not only ram, they are scamming with storage...

Meanwhile 32gigs that cost a half of apple's inovative 8gig, i think it should run 8 times that fast?

0:14 Honestly, I think this doesn’t even paint the whole picture. The iMac went from 8 GB CPU RAM, to 8 GB unified RAM, meaning that both the CPU and the video memory needs to fit in that 8 GB. So it’s actually got less RAM now than it did 11 years ago.

I recently upgraded my PC laptop from 16GB to 32GB myself. Cost me $40.

During the 80's Apple was like: pay less, get more (compared to the competition) Now Apple is like: pay more, get less.

I remember it was upgradable for iMac years ago, what a scam

I feel like the 8GB RAM versions of MACs are going to be the first to get axed from software support as well. Kind of like how the iphone 4 got ios 7 where as the similarly specced ipod touch 4th gen did not due to its 256MB RAM

I've been using Macs since late 90s and because of the Apple's ladder-like pricing scam, I refuse throw more coins at them. I'm writing this from my 2015 MBP, most likely the last Apple product I own.

I got my first Mac, a Performa 6115 (PowerMac 6100) in 1994. It had 8 MB of RAM (500 MB HDD, 60 MHz 601 CPU). We all knew back then to get the least RAM and HDD. Then update them yourself. 8 MB more RAM was $800! I don’t remember what Apple charged for 16MB. Now you can’t upgrade your RAM which sucks.

My wife just bought the new M3 iMac…and yes, we paid the Apple Tax for 16GB of ram. It’s annoying, but like you said: she’s got an iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad and it all just integrates together so well.

People don't realize they don't want to sell their base model its designed to get you to upgrade to the next tier.

Bro, everybody's business model involves trapping people with switching costs so it's hard to go with competitors

Everyone does that. Even on upgradable laptops manufacturers will charge at least 2x more money of a price of corresponding M2 SSD or RAM stick.

I recently found out that you can export Apple Keynote presentations as video files, and I'm assuming this is how you make your videos. I love it so much!

It is even worse. You have already paid for the 8GB, so it is +$400 for +24GB of RAM. Or Apple have probably charged you $100 for the 8GB, so to get 32GB you have actually paid $500.

As an IT person for more than two decades, if you buy Apple products I instantly think you're stupid or spending your parents' money.

It is not only this, it is about performance. Because hardware and software are integrated in one ☝️

Apple has been pulling this on their customers for years. I remember back in the day it was an extra $200 to go from a 2gb model to 4gb model of ram.

Another point is having more RAM as a base option means you’d be able to get OS updates for longer and be less proned to slowdowns.

what is virtualbox made for then?

When Apple first came out with Apple Silicon, I quickly realized that this extremely expensive ram had to be purchased with the machine because future upgrade were not possible. So I bought the fasted Intel iMac they were still selling and upgraded my own ram. Plus I got a 27" screen, was able to add several external SSD drives and I didn't have to buy dongles to add my older USB peripherals. I have no problems running Logic Pro and can do projects up to 100 tracks.

1:40 Apple charge +$400 for 32GB from 16GB not 8GB. From 8GB to 32GB they usually charge +$600, but currently Macs with 8GB are limited to 24GB for +$400.