Flogging the horse
Historically, critics and competitors have pretended to be blind to Apple’s approach. Rather than consider things like relative performance benchmarks between their chosen platform and Apple’s, they have insisted on pointing to the quantity of installed memory — ignoring iPhones or Macs that achieve near equal or (now) better performance on what is there.
While it is true that Apple has made memory its Achilles Heel, mainly by charging way more than most for pre-installed extra RAM and failing to make memory a user upgradable component, what it achieves with the memory it does install is now a competitive advantage as RAM prices rise.
Feeling the pressure
The demand for more RAM inside devices means even low-tier manufacturers will need to put more of it inside their smartphones, tablets, PCs, and everything else – and the companies and products most exposed to this will be those less able to purchase memory in vast quantities in advance.
