Trying DuckDB on lower-end Macbooks does show you dont need much muscle for moderate-size analytics. Long term it isnt cost-effective compared to budget laptops but its super simple for self-contained pipelines. The thing is 8GB RAM leaves you stuck once your data actually grows past the marketing demo.
I think you completely missed the point.
People buy Macbook Neo because they "just need a laptop" or are budget conscious.
I imagine a student would get their hands wet with Postgre before looking at DuckDB or similar.
It would be a surprise if they do heavy workloads with DuckDB. In which case it's definitely worth investing in a more powerful computer.
Can’t give up and admit that 8GB of RAM is enough, can you?