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Re:Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Dev... by sajithdilshan on Friday July 10, 2026 @04:44AM (#48857400)
> That's a solid ROI even if the thing becomes obsolete after a couple years.

How can that be a solid return on investment? There's no model you can run locally to have frontier model level performance. Also who spends 2.4k yearly for personal AI usage, like what's the usecase? If your friend is spending that money for his business then it's not personal computing.

Re:Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Dev... by lanyard-textile on Friday July 10, 2026 @07:14AM (#48858380)
That's the $200/mo subscription -- not uncommon :)

I do the $100/mo for myself, then about ~$200/mo for startup.

Re:Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Dev... by Mistletoe on Friday July 10, 2026 @07:54AM (#48858689)
Do you use it for work? I can’t imagine paying this myself for personal use. I just don’t see the benefits vs. the free models available to me.
Re:Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Dev... by gizajob on Friday July 10, 2026 @07:49AM (#48858650)
People with money and things to do. People spend $100+ a month on coffee without even blinking.
Re:Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Dev... by JumpCrisscross on Friday July 10, 2026 @04:50AM (#48857435)
> There's no model you can run locally to have frontier model level performance

I'm betting he doesn't need a frontier model. Sonnet, today, is likely good for 80% of his tasks, which largely involve repretitive, tedious work.

> Also who spends 2.4k yearly for personal AI usage, like what's the usecase? If your friend is spending that money for his business then it's not personal computing

Combination of business and personal.

Re:Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Dev... by MisterBastahrd on Friday July 10, 2026 @03:54PM (#48864439)
I have a friend who is a teacher and spends that much yearly for ChatGPT and Claude. It saves him many hours a year in time assembling documents and creating posters, flyers, and personalized learning materials for his students.