Apple Stopped Upgrading Base RAM on Macs Under Tim Cook’s Tutelage, But Technology And Industry Trends Had a Role to Play as Well

Apple argues that 8GB of RAM is more than enough in the base variants of the new Macs, as users complain of stagnancy. However, Apple was not always this reluctant, especially under the leadership of Steve Jobs. However, when Tim Cook took over, Apple's regular upgrade cycle for base memory stopped, according to a post on Mastodon. While there are various reasons for Apple's approach, users have been demanding that the company should increase the base RAM on Macs for a long time.

Apple argues that its 8GB of RAM is comparable to the competition's 16GB of RAM

According to charts shared by David Schaub in a Mastodon post, we can see that Apple used to regularly update the base RAM configuration on Macs. One chart shows the company's RAM configurations in all-in-one Macs from 1984 inwards, and the other chart shows details pertaining to the laptop RAM from 1999 onwards. The RAM charts for different Macs were generated earlier this year and have resurfaced by the Accidental Tech Podcast.

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The first chart shows that Apple used to regularly update the base RAM on the all-in-one Macs after every two years. However, Tim Cook changed the course of the memory by sticking to the same RAM for years. Under Tim Cook, the RAM capacity has been increased only once, but there could be additional factors that contributed to stagnancy. For one, technological advancement and market trends could have capped the need to upgrade the RAM every two years.

If Steve Jobs's regular RAM upgrade cycle was active to this day, onboard memory would have reached triple digits. However, it is very rare to see computers getting that far as the base storage still starts at either 8GB or 12GB and goes all the way up to 64GB for some products. As mentioned, advancements in technology have also restricted regular upgrades, with RAM getting faster and solid-state drives