How much MacBook is enough MacBook?

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.

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 in the lightning round: