But of course the person buying the cheapest available Mac doesn’t care about any of that!

Billy Student writes papers with Office, completes online schoolwork with Chrome, watches Netflix videos, and makes presentations for class with PowerPoint or Keynote.

• T2 chip: does nothing for Billy. Billy doesn’t even know what that is.
• Touch ID: convenient but not $380 convenient. Billy probably has a four digit numerical password because Billy doesn’t care.
• Thunderbolt 3: Billy is not gonna use an eGPU or external SSD, he’s just gonna hook up to an occasional projector and USB hard drive.
• 7% less weight: probably the same weight as $380 in cash! Billy won’t notice because the original Air was already very light.
• Worse GPU: Billy could just buy an iPad with the money he saved and obtain higher graphics performance than either system. Billy never intended to game or do any 3D design work.
• Increased Battery longevity: Billy won’t notice because they’re both 10+ hour systems, enough to get through the day’s classes.
• 5th gen vs 8th gen: does that make Netflix go any faster? Word? Keynote? Chrome? Maybe, but it isn’t really a big deal to Billy.
• Refurb vs new: Billy can’t tell the difference because Apple refurbished systems are essentially new, mint condition systems with full warranty.