Yes. And everyone is glossing over the benefit of unified memory for LLM applications. Apple may not have the models, but it has customer goodwill, a platform, and the logistical infrastructure to roll them out. It probably even has the cash to buy some AI companies outright; maybe not the big ones (for a reasonable amount, anyway) but small to midsize ones with domain-specific models that could be combined.
Not to mention the “default browser” leverage it has with with iPhones, iPods, and watches.
Unified memory and examples like the M1 Ultra still being able to hold it's own years later might be one of the things that not all Mac users and non-mac users alike have experienced.
It's nice to see 16 Gb becoming the minimum, to me it should have been 32 for a long time.
Not to mention the “default browser” leverage it has with with iPhones, iPods, and watches.