While I do agree that 8GB is a little dated, even the 8GB MacBook Air from 2020 runs most applications smoother than modern Windows machine with twice as much RAM. Apple have the smoothness part figured out, without the need for more memory (for the average consumer at least).
Your point about local AI is pretty interesting. It does seem highly likely that computers with limited memory could "age" faster than they have done in the past ten years, with the advent of more AI workloads.
Your point about local AI is pretty interesting. It does seem highly likely that computers with limited memory could "age" faster than they have done in the past ten years, with the advent of more AI workloads.