I think the OP's point is that Apple is forcing people to pay a lot more for something that doesn't cost Apple that much (extra RAM) and is part of artificial product lines. One could claim the product lines are important for ultimate profitability, but Apple makes so much money it's hardly critical if they wanted to be a truly incredible consumer focused company. Apple has gotten far away from the idea of a home computer someone can hack with, where hacking includes local AI these days. In this period we know more memory is important for many applications of local AI, which they claim is a goal to provide for people, so it's hard not to say Apple's approach is optimized for shareholders, not end users.