256gb ssd as the minimum spec is criminal in my opinion.

josephg 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Why? Lots of people more or less use their computer as a glorified web browser, with some zoom calls and document editing thrown in for good measure. 256gb seems overkill. My girlfriend is somehow still rocking a 2011 MacBook Air. She mostly just uses it for internet banking and managing her finances. Why would she want more than 256gb?

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codedokode 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

1Tb m.2 SSD cost 70 USD in summer 2025, and probably much less when bought in bulk as a chip. It doesn't make sense to install anything less than 1Tb in an expensive premium laptop. Or it should be upgradeable.

Apple's pricing is one of the reasons I am not going to buy their laptops. Expensive, and with no upgradeable or replaceable parts. And closed-source OS with telemetry.

> Lots of people more or less use their computer as a glorified web browser

For this purpose they can buy $350 laptop with larger screen.

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trinix912 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Because the price tag is quite high to get as much storage as you would 15 years ago for about the same money.

I agree that many people use them as glorified internet machines but even then when they occasionally decide to back up some photos or edit a few videos the 256GB non-upgradable storage quickly becomes a limitation.

Price matters. 256GB is fine on a $500 web browsing laptop, but on a $1000+ one it's just a bad deal in 2025, even ignoring the fact that you cannot upgrade it later (it's soldered in place).

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karteum 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Possibly, but I don't see why those people would buy a new MacBook rather than a used 100$ laptop (which would be both better for their finances but also for the planet...)

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josephg 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Have you ever used windows on a $100 second hand laptop?

Imagine for a second that you don't know much about computers. You buy something crap like that and turn it on. Windows is of course already installed. Along with 18 antivirus programs and who knows what other junk. The computer will run dog slow. Even if you get rid of all the preinstalled programs, it'll run horribly slowly.

My mum has a computer from her work. Its pretty recent - worth way more than $100. It takes about 5-10 seconds for zoom or google chrome to start. And about 15 seconds for outlook to open. Its an utterly horrible experience.

If you can afford it, you'll have a way better experience on a macbook air from the last few years. In comparison, everything starts instantly. The experience is fantastic. Premium, even.

Personally I think its criminal that cheap laptops run modern software so poorly. Its just laziness. There's no reason for the experience to be so horrible. But the world being what it is, there is plenty of reasons to spring for a $1000 macbook air over a $100 second hand windows crapbook if you can afford it. Even if you don't do much with the computer.

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walterbell 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Battery life?

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zdragnar 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Go for a midrange Chromebook then. It's all my wife uses, cost about $250 and has better battery life than most laptops on the market.

	▲	commandersaki 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I don’t know, I kind of like 10 hrs on battery with normal usage and screen fully lit on a 15” screen while not being bulky. Virtually no contenders in that space.

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p0w3n3d 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

To think that they had the audacity to sell 8GB RAM too

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14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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linsomniac 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Is it possibly because 256GB is the minimum spec of the MacBook Air M2?

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downrightmike 14 hours ago | parent [-]

I think they mean that is 2025, 256GB is unreasonably small. Which is true, Apple wants to up-charge hundreds of dollars just to get to the otherwise standard 1TB drive.

Realistically, it is reasonable to expect 2TB drives, based on normal progression https://blocksandfiles.com/2024/05/13/coughlin-associates-hd...

	▲	wtallis 13 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		From a supply perspective, 256GB seems ridiculous because you can get way more capacity for not very much money, and because 256GB is now nowhere close to enough flash chips operating in parallel to reach what is now considered high performance. But from a demand perspective, there are a lot of PC users for whom 256GB is plenty of capacity and performance. Most computers sold aren't gaming PCs or professional workstations; mainstream consumer storage requirements (aside from gaming) have been nearly stagnant for years due to the popularity of cloud computing and streaming video.
	▲	10 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
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