> Granted, I've always had relatively decent MacBook Pros, but this "common HN refrain" has simply never been an issue for me.
That's exactly why it's never been an issue, and will likely never be an issue for you.
Most people (with the exception of gamers, who are still not "most people") do not have relatively recent MacBook Pros - they have machines that are significantly weaker. All of my non-gamer, non-techie friends have 4-to-7-year-old computers that are significantly weaker than my already-lackluster ultrabook that struggles to run Discord and watch a 1080p YouTube video at the same time. That is the average person's experience on desktop/laptop computers (not mobile devices).
You may never had had to deal with this, but that's because you've only used machines that are far more powerful than the median.
That's exactly why it's never been an issue, and will likely never be an issue for you.
Most people (with the exception of gamers, who are still not "most people") do not have relatively recent MacBook Pros - they have machines that are significantly weaker. All of my non-gamer, non-techie friends have 4-to-7-year-old computers that are significantly weaker than my already-lackluster ultrabook that struggles to run Discord and watch a 1080p YouTube video at the same time. That is the average person's experience on desktop/laptop computers (not mobile devices).
You may never had had to deal with this, but that's because you've only used machines that are far more powerful than the median.