In the exact same respect, can someone use an Apple Silicon Mac with only 8GB of RAM and never notice the degree to which 8GB of RAM is subpar under the hood?
The simple fact is that yes, many, many people use 8Gb AS Macs and never notice any subpar consequence of the RAM.
I don't question those who WOULD notice, because their use cases clearly give them reason to, but I also don't question those who don't, because there's no basis to genuinely know. In my own case, I CAN know, and other than that I get occasional audio dropouts while AirPlaying video to an Apple TV in the background while the system is busy with a number of other tasks, I see zero consequence. Even that can be duplicated on a 16Gb system too.
In the wider sense, lacking any knowledge of Apple's future plans, and observing only what common uses people put their computers to, I suspect Apple have a far better idea of what they're doing than the vast majority of people who post in macrumors threads. I don't necessarily LIKE what they do, and I don't necessarily AGREE with what they do, but there's no one better placed to understand their objectives and decisions than they are.
Cool. You can't feel it today, and therefore it's not a problem TODAY. Who is to say it won't be down the road?
Speaking just for me, I don't have the resources to replace my 8Gb M1 systems, so personally, it's a moot point. Assuming I keep on using these computers for the work I need them to do, they will keep on working exactly as they do now - which is exactly what I want and need. It hardly matters if the entire computing world outside bloats to a 128Gb minima, these machines don't need to change.
In the wider context, 'down the road' most other users will do what most other users have always done since the Commodore PETs, Apple IIs and TRS-80s... they'll replace their existing systems with the next big thing. Their existing systems are more recyclable than ever, there are trade-in options via Apple or some retailers (Best Buy in the US for example) or sell-on options via the likes of eBay, so there's better options now than every before. The market will just roll along, complete with consumers, as it has always done.
