Now it starts at $1699, a $100 bump but comes with a 1TB SSD. Previously it would have cost $1799 for the 1T SSD, so it's a $100 bump on base price but you are also getting 1TB SSD for $100 less than before.
Like for my last upgrade, I bit the bullet and upgraded to 1TB for the first time ever instead of base storage at Apple's absurd prices, so it's good, but if I'd not have been willing to spend money on that at all, they lifted the floor.
My cell phone plan has been increasing every year by small amounts, but my usage pattern hasn't changed, and meanwhile they've restricted HD streaming using Deep Packet Inspection or whatever, so I theoretically have a 100GB full speed cap but can't practically use more than 20gb anyway, so they're pricing the bandwidth into the contract but I can't save money by getting a lower ceiling
Try making a good product that people love?
To be fair, ever since the advent of high power USB-C PD that really, really is not needed any more, way too many power bricks are effectively e-waste.
People already have USB-C power bricks and docks everywhere and unlike pre-USB-C generations, you can use them not just across different generations of hardware, but across vendors as well.
Which MacBooks have been for almost a decade - the 2016 MBP with Touch Bar was the first that went fully USB-C PD. Anyone who has had a MacBook in that time frame will have had at least one high power USB-C PD wall wart.
The Windows world, as usual, has been different, but even there, I'm not aware of any mainstream model being sold in the last two years without even a single PD capable port.
I wonder if that would happen regardless of RAM, e.g. for tariffs etc.
Here in the UK, they no longer include the power adapter even with the top models. I just specced out a fully-loaded M5 Max Macbook Pro, 128GB RAM, 8TB storage on the Apple Store, and it doesn't include a power adapter by default.
The 140W power adapter can be added as an option to the MacBook Pro for an additional £99 + VAT, or purchased separately. If you purchase separately you can of course choose a lower-power adapter for a lower price.
Now that a power adapter isn't included and you have to pay for it separately, it might make more sense to get one of the good brands of GaN power adapters instead, because they are smaller than the Apple ones for the same power, and have more ports.
That's incredibly stupid(of apple), I'm in the UK and literally got my M4 Max MacBook Pro delivered on Friday, it came with a power adapter.