How long do you think the M1 MacBook Air will last?

[M1Fox]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

 

[Shirasaki]

If you don’t feel any slowdown and don’t anticipate massive usage change that warrants far more powerful processor, then I’d say you can use it well into 2030 or even beyond assuming it doesn't break Before then. For me I want to upgrade sooner since 16GB of RAM is becoming insufficient and M1 starts to show its age.

 

[cwwilson]

I'd say it should get official updates until at least 2027 which would give it 7 years of MacOS releases. People really don't understand how insanely powerful the M1 really was and still is.

 

[HDFan]

The only reservation to the above advice is the impact of AI on hardware. AI requirements, and the hardware to run it well, are very likely to have major changes over the next few years.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

This machine is so overpowered when it came out, and still powerful to this day. I'd say upgrade when they stop giving it security updates.

 

[Bazza1]

This machine is so overpowered when it came out, and still powerful to this day. I'd say upgrade when they stop giving it security updates.

This.
Its rarely the 3rd Party software that demands more from the computer - it's Apple screwing around with it's OS (usually on 'Squirrel!" features) that pushes users to keep up as the updates abandon older OSs and demand more of the hardware. This then forces users and 3rd Parties to upgrade, too.

I have a M2 Mini at home, but still have an 2017 Intel Air (running an OS at least 2 versions ago, but still serviced by security updates) as my travel / work computer, and it still runs all the software I need it to do.

Consider your needs rather than the hyped promotions.

 

[Audentia]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

Glad you like it! I think they are fantastic machines. It all depends on your use case. My mom had a 2012 21in iMac which lasted her 9 years until 2021 when I got her an M1 iMac and an M1 MacBook Air. I expect both those devices to also last her 9 years, 2031.

For me, I'm a software engineer, while my M1 MacBook Air with 8gb was fine as a temporary replacement for my 2017 intel MacBook Pro, it struggled a bit with Xcode. I now have a MacBook Pro M2 Max, which is by far the best computer I have ever owned, and while I could probably make it last 6 or 7 years, since I like being closer to the cutting edge, I will probably replace it after 4 or 5 years.

 

[M1Fox]

The only reservation to the above advice is the impact of AI on hardware. AI requirements, and the hardware to run it well, are very likely to have major changes over the next few years.

Exactly what I was thinking. So far this laptop BARELY breaks a sweat, and when it does it's more of a symptom that it needs a restart more than anything else.

I believe that Apple Intelligence will put these machines to the test, however I can totally see Apple acknowledging this.

 

[M1Fox]

Glad you like it! I think they are fantastic machines. It all depends on your use case. My mom had a 2012 21in iMac which lasted her 9 years until 2021 when I got her an M1 iMac and an M1 MacBook Air. I expect both those devices to also last her 9 years, 2031.

For me, I'm a software engineer, while my M1 MacBook Air with 8gb was fine as a temporary replacement for my 2017 intel MacBook Pro, it struggled a bit with Xcode. I now have a MacBook Pro M2 Max, which is by far the best computer I have ever owned, and while I could probably make it last 6 or 7 years, since I like being closer to the cutting edge, I will probably replace it after 4 or 5 years.

This is something I've seen occur a lot with Apple machines, they are built to last. I still see some of my acquaintances use their old MacBooks and they do the job!

I want to stress the fact that I've always used Windows until 2023 machines and although they also do the job, they show their age much more quickly.
I've also considered getting a MacBook Pro, I don't know what silicon would be the best, but honestly for the things I've read in the forums, it seems almost ANY M-chip is a good choice. It's mostly the details of what I exactly need to do and the power that may influence the choice, from what I can tell

 

[CraigJDuffy]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

In my opinion, the MacBook Air M1 is the best Mac ever released. I fully expect to keep using mine in 2030 but will perhaps look into a storage upgrade on it as the 256GB base storage is a little tight; glad I went for 16GB of RAM but honestly don't notice the difference between the 8 and 16 GB machines I own.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

Maybe grab M5. You should be good until then as far as performance, OS updates, security updates, and all the things. You’ll probably appreciate the design change and additional performance improvements by then as well.

 

[G5isAlive]

This is something I've seen occur a lot with Apple machines, they are built to last. I still see some of my acquaintances use their old MacBooks and they do the job!

I want to stress the fact that I've always used Windows until 2023 machines and although they also do the job, they show their age much more quickly.
I've also considered getting a MacBook Pro, I don't know what silicon would be the best, but honestly for the things I've read in the forums, it seems almost ANY M-chip is a good choice. It's mostly the details of what I exactly need to do and the power that may influence the choice, from what I can tell

Upgrade it when it feels slow to you is the obvious answer. If you can wait for AI and M5. The only time I notice a difference between my M3 pro and M1 ultra is when working with 1Gb (yes Gb) graphics files, then I appreciate the features of the M3.

 

[Zaydax333]

This machine is so overpowered when it came out, and still powerful to this day. I'd say upgrade when they stop giving it security updates.

This is great response, though I will add:

I think the better question will be: Given MacOS support windows and software progression and increased RAM usage over time: Did you get enough RAM to not have issues for as long as Apple supports it with security updates.

Of course that partially depends on what exactly you do with the machine day to day, and most Air users are casual, but 8 GB of RAM is really limiting and you're gonna be relying on that SSD swap a lot which will make it feel slower.

Also, you have an M1 Air with 8 GB of RAM I feel like AI features will be tough. Though of course, TBD based on testing.

 

[MBAir2010]

I am planning on using my MacBook M1 regularly in .....OH 2032!
now that is resting in the original box until August 17th, 2024.

seeeeeeeeeeee

My  computer philosophy is that their computers are like fine wine
they work better with age, as my 2010 MBA/MtLion is great today!

so these MBAm1 will last and work into 2050, if we do last that long.

when i see cockroaches all of the sudden start getting IDs i will worry

 

[MasterHowl]

I bought mine in 2022. I'll be shocked if I'm not still using it in 2032.

My Macs have always lasted a long time:

• MacBook Pro 15-inch (HDD): 2009–2014 (5 years).
• MacBook Pro 15-inch (SSD): 2014–2022 (8 years).
• M1 MacBook Air: 2022–present.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

First and foremost, you may very well find yourself wanting something with more. Maybe you start doing something that requires more RAM (or you eventually get enough "out of memory" errors that it starts bugging you) and/or storage than what your M1 MacBook Air has. That may prompt you to upgrade sooner than would otherwise be considered necessary.

Barring that (and/or physical damage to the machine not covered by some form of AppleCare), assuming you don't otherwise find yourself needing to upgrade, the thing that SHOULD eventually convince you to upgrade is lack of security update support, which happens two years after it's revealed that your Mac is on its last supported major macOS release.

If the question you're asking is "when will the M1 MacBook Air stop getting support for new major macOS releases", the short answer is that no one outside of Apple knows. Apple, themselves, may not know at this particular point in time.

Intel Macs are still supported. The only two Macs that Apple dropped support for, in terms of macOS Sequoia's minimum system requirements are the 2018 and 2019 MacBook Airs. And, to be perfectly honest, that was much more about the Intel Core i5-8210Y processor that went into both models being a total piece of crap than it was about those MacBook Air models being of a certain age. It's hard to tell how Apple's timeline of when it will drop support for which Intel Macs will shape out, but it wouldn't surprise me if the 2020 Intel MacBook Air will be dropped next for a very similar reason (those were all sluggish pieces of crap that ran like crap and were not reliable).

That all being said, as a tl;dr: While Intel Macs are still supported, so will Apple Silicon Macs that have a base M1.

It wouldn't surprise me if Apple had one or two releases in which Intel support is entirely dropped, but all Apple Silicon Macs (from M1 all the way through M3 Max and beyond) are supported before eventually ditching M1 support.

Suffice it to say, you have several years before your Mac gets left out of a major OS release (and even then, you still have two years of security updates thereafter).

 

[TechnoMonk]

It will last as long as apple provides security patches. Typically around 2027.

 

[obviouslogic]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

I usually upgrade to a new system when Apple stops releasing OS updates for whatever model I have. Although I’ve had my current M1 mini for almost 4 years now and seriously considering replacing it with an M4 Pro mini when it comes out. Then using my current mini to replace my old 2012 mac mini that acts as my web/home server, which for some reason has stopped supporting Home Sharing?

Apple still supports Intel models, so you have years before they stop supporting the M1.

 

[Bruh Bear]

I'm probably guessing another 3-4 years. I still have the M1 Air that I bought in 2020 and it's been one of the best laptops I've ever owned. I can still edit and export 4K video on this thing, do graphics work in Photoshop and Illustrator with a million layers, and run VMs of ARM Windows all at the same time. I'll probably upgrade to the M5 or M6 Air. I've been very happy with this thing. The lack of dual monitor support sucks, but I've gotten around that limitation by hooking it up to the 49" Samsung OLED G9, which is an incredible monitor.

 

[ForkHandles]

First iMac, 10 years!

I upgraded in the end because of files sizes. As technology gets better software developers take advantage of higher average specs. This results in bigger files, more computations, the machine itself never slowed down.

Working in iMovie with video files never changed over the years, always just as zippy and reliable. When 4K became standard there were just better options out there, in my case an M2 Mac Pro.

When 16K/64K becomes the standard I’ll probably upgrade again.

 

[benwiggy]

I imagine that most people update to a new Mac because the latest model has some new shiny, like USB 7, Bluetooth neural link™ and 360° display, before the old one actually becomes redundant.

 

[chrono1081]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

Honestly I'd say a long time. I have an M1 for work and an M3 for my personal machine and the differences are negligible unless I'm doing really heavy graphics work.

 

[joeblow7777]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

Assuming it doesn't physically break, how long it "lasts" is pretty much entirely up to you. There's no way that others can tell you when you need to upgrade. Some people choose to upgrade their laptop with every new model. Other people go for 10+ years and don't see any need to. Honestly, for what most people use computers for, they've been over-powered for quite some time now. A good laptop from 15 years ago can still perform the same basic tasks as a current laptop, so there's no reason why an M1 MBA can't have the same longevity.

 

[izzy0242mr]

For me I want to upgrade sooner since 16GB of RAM is becoming insufficient and M1 starts to show its age.

@M1Fox , while this is a valid opinion for some people, plenty of people are perfectly fine with 8 GB of RAM. It completely depends on what you're doing—and whether you notice a genuine slowness in your computer usage.

If your M1 Air is still working great, you should keep it. I have an M1 Pro MBP (14") and it's great, but I'm also looking to buy a cheap used M1 Air for when I'm traveling and don't want to bring my more expensive laptop but still want the reliability and battery life of an Apple Silicon Mac. I'm confident that that's still an excellent buying choice even 4 years later.

 

[ignatius345]

I purchased my very first Apple product back in December 2023, it's this MacBook Air with an M1 chip, 8GB of RAM
By far, this is the absolute BEST laptop I've ever had in my life, it really is everything I have ever asked for.

Now that that's out of my chest, I wonder what you'll think about this particular laptop's lifetime. Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

What are your thoughts?

I'm still finding mine more than sufficient for general use. I am considering an upgrade to an M3 which might be more suitable for heavier graphic design workloads, but the M1 does everything else quickly and seamlessly still and I wouldn't even be considering an upgrade if not for the design work.

As always, though, new macOS releases will get more demanding and slow the M1s down over time. I would not be surprised if some of the AI features in Sequoia start to drag the M1 down when they come online.