> Most developers are issued laptops, and a 64GB Macbook costs over $3000.
This is unfortunatley a nonsensical argument.
As a company, you are employing a developer to write code. Both the company and the developer are happy when they are at their most productive. And to that extent, a $3,000 laptop is a perfectly reasonable "tool of the trade". Also don't forget companies can lease laptops if they don't have the cash floating around.
Its the same thing in other sectors.
For example, in Finance. A Bloomberg terminal comes in at $30,000 a year. But if you are, for example, a bond trader putting in multiple 6,7 or 8 figure orders on the market every day, then its no secret that Bloomberg has the monopoly on bond data and as a bond trader you absolutely need access to one as the tool of your trade.
In addition, following COVID, most sensible companies have embraced WFH. And so what the company saves on office space they can spend on other things such as better laptops for developers.
It's not nothing. Most developers are issued laptops, and a 64GB Macbook costs over $3000. Plus a CDE can be shared.