Trying DuckDB on lower-end Macbooks does show you dont need much muscle for moderate-size analytics. Long term it isnt cost-effective compared to budget laptops but its super simple for self-contained pipelines. The thing is 8GB RAM leaves you stuck once your data actually grows past the marketing demo.

Can’t give up and admit that 8GB of RAM is enough, can you?

I think you completely missed the point.

People buy Macbook Neo because they "just need a laptop" or are budget conscious.

I imagine a student would get their hands wet with Postgre before looking at DuckDB or similar.

It would be a surprise if they do heavy workloads with DuckDB. In which case it's definitely worth investing in a more powerful computer.