Apple Intelligence, Apple’s suite of generative artificial intelligence capabilities, is still in its infancy, but its biggest early impact may already be seen this week.
Yesterday we started with the M4 iMac product line, which doubled the base RAM from 8GB to 16GB. Apple has done it again today with the M4 Mac mini. Education Store customers can purchase the M4 Mac mini with 16 GB RAM for just $499. This is outrageous. The new M4 Mac mini is an absolute steal. Replaces the 8GB M2 Mac mini for the same price.
Expect to see the same base M4 MacBook Pro with double the RAM tomorrow. Why is Apple suddenly making RAM generous across the board? AI, of course.
In a world without Apple Intelligence, Apple would eventually increase the base RAM of each Mac over time. But this year, it’s clear that Apple wants to prepare the Mac for future generative AI capabilities. Apple doesn’t want to be in a situation like the iPhone 15 again, announcing software features that can’t be run on existing flagship hardware.
Does this mean the M4 MacBook Air’s RAM will jump from 8GB to 16GB when these machines arrive after the new year? If so, even if you’ve never used Generative AI Still, it’s a great upgrade for Mac users.
One last thought. Oh, how far the Mac mini has come since the days of a lackluster form factor that remained a product in Apple’s lineup. The M4 Mac line has proven to be a powerful force.
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