“Apple’s charging you $200 for RAM it buys for $30.”
The cheapest M3 MacBook Pro costs $1,599 and ships with 8GB of RAM. Every comparably priced Surface, ThinkPad and HP Envy ships with 16GB standard. The memory is soldered, so the only upgrade is Apple’s $200 for another 8GB. On the M3 Max, $200 buys 16GB. The price tag isn’t about the part. It’s about you having nowhere else to go.