You’re definitely exaggerating about how limited an 8GB machine is. Until last year I used an 8GB intel MacBook Pro from 2016 and it handled all sorts of stuff simultaneously. Photoshop, figma, dozens of massive text document and 100+ page pdfs, several browser windows with upwards of 20 tabs each. Was it using swap? Probably, but that’s what it’s there for. The one thing that did bring it to a grinding halt was compiling/running stuff in Xcode, but that’s not exactly the kind of thing that every person needs to be able to do.

I know someone who uses a base M1 Air to record and produce music, do graphic design, and edit 4K video.

These machines are plenty capable. Maybe not for ultra heavy workloads, but for far more than you give them credit for.

And hey, you can always buy more ram if you think you’ll need it. It’s expensive but over the life of the machine it’s worth it. Or just don’t buy a Mac. If it’s really such a deal breaker, buy something that better fits your needs.

But don’t make sweeping statements about how perfectly capable machines are somehow unusable under a workload that wouldn’t have stressed a computer from nearly a decade ago. It’s simply not true.