Apple VP: Apple’s 8GB as Potent as Others’ 16GB

It is widely acknowledged that Apple’s Mac product line has commenced with an 8+256GB configuration for several years. Even in 2023, certain Mac models priced over ten thousand remain unchanged. The storage chips are soldered onto the motherboard, making any post-purchase upgrades by users technically challenging and significantly riskier. Customizing a Mac with a higher capacity storage combination at the point of purchase comes at a steep premium, prompting some to jest that Apple’s storage chips are “pricier than gold.”

Previously, the high cost of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips mitigated the outcry. However, in the past two years, with a precipitous decline in memory prices, an increase in the storage capacities of Windows PCs, and elevated user demands, this issue has become increasingly pronounced. Recently, a Bilibili content creator interviewed Bob Borchers, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, addressing the controversy surrounding the 8GB memory allocation.

Borchers argued that Apple’s implementation of a unified memory architecture differs markedly from other systems, yielding higher efficiency and utilization rates of memory. Coupled with Apple’s proprietary memory compression technology, the 8GB memory in an M3 version MacBook Pro could rival the performance of 16GB in other systems. He suggested that people should look beyond mere specifications on paper and evaluate the actual performance and user experience.

Such remarks from Bob Borchers are likely to spark considerable debate among users, many of whom remain skeptical. They contend that even with a more efficient unified memory architecture, it is implausible to reach the performance levels of doubled memory in Windows operating systems, especially when the same investment could procure a PC with 32GB or even higher capacity.