Are you sure they’re not just slacking off and claiming the computer is slow?
Sure, you’re not running multiple CAD programs on a base model Air, but it’s a perfectly capable machine for web browsing, Electron apps, Citrix, MS Office, PDFs, usual desktop stuff.
And the base model Air is less than a grand - if you’re spending $1.5k, you’re getting more than 8GB RAM.
It’s kind of weird it’s never been address given how much the nerds live that sort of continuity.
Hell, they even took her North/South thing and applied it to the Romulans to explain why they looked different in TOS and TNG (although I think it took until PIC to actually say it)