How much MacBook is enough MacBook?

How much MacBook is enough MacBook?

2024-04-06 15:23:17

On the Vergecast: the web is breaking, AI is everywhere, and 8GB of RAM is — or isn’t — enough.

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On The Vergecast: MacBook RAM, TikTok ban, and the only printer you’ll ever need.

By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.

MacBook Air open on yellow desk

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

Okay, so you want a 13-inch MacBook Air. But you probably want some more RAM, right? Maybe a storage bump since you’re hopefully going to have this computer for a decade? Okay, well, at that price, you might as well get the 15-inch Air. It’s basically the same price. But you probably want some more RAM, right? And maybe a storage bump?

The sneaky upgrade path is one of Apple’s most ingenious sales tools — and it applies almost across the board, whether the company is steadily upselling you from a base iPhone to a Pro Max model, a $329 iPad to an iPad Pro, a basic MacBook Air to a super-powered MacBook Pro, or a super expensive keyboard you didn’t even know you wanted.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about the new M3 MacBook Air, whether its base configuration is enough for most people, and where on Apple’s upgrade path it makes sense for most people to stop. We also discuss whether the place to stop is actually at a Walmart, for that much cheaper M1 Air.

After that, we talk about The Verge’s most recent adventure in art project printer reviews and what we’re learning about the ways the web is changing. We also talk about some of the ongoing big news in tech regulation, from a never-gonna-happen TikTok ban story to the first alternative app stores showing up in the EU. We also wonder why Apple hired Jon Stewart when it wouldn’t let him talk to Lina Khan, or about AI or China. It could have just not hired Jon Stewart.

In our third lightning round of the episode, we talk about the return of the blue check on X, the end of Google Podcasts, and the ever-increasing price of Spotify and every other streaming service. Because in tech, everything is always changing... and always getting more expensive.

If you want to know more about the subjects we cover in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with this week’s big gadget stories:

And on regulation:

And in the lightning round: