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

[padams35]

No, I don't think it is sensible to upgrade soon-ish. You say this is the best laptop ever that does everything you ask. That isn't going to change overnight and anything significantly better available tomorrow will also be significantly more expensive.

Someday 8GB RAM will become a problem, a new killer feature will require newer hardware, or Apple will arbitrarily end support over wifi drivers. However if it works great today then someday is probably at least 3+ years away.

 

[MBAir2010]

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.

Yes this is the best laptop i ever purchased
and possible the best thing, item, anything i purchased in my life.


i just have to wait until  deems this unusable and UNSUPPORTIVE so i can use that!

 

[john123]

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

This. That’s the only concern I think matters for casual use.

 

[philstubbington]

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?

Nope. It’ll last for ages 😊 Unless your requirements change it’ll do just fine. I’ve had 3 Macs in about 15 years and only replaced them because I got bored of them 😂

 

[Fuzzball84]

I think it will last about 10 hours or so depending on state of battery, what it’s running, screen brightness, wireless functions etc

Let me know how long it lasts and if I was closest 😀

 

[MBAir2010]

I think it will last about 10 hours or so depending on state of battery, what it’s running, screen brightness, wireless functions etc

Let me know how long it lasts and if I was closest 😀

mine lasted 20 hours in two heavy usage days when our city were without power for several days.
and i still had battery of 16% remaining.

 

[dawnrazor]

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.

100% this… as long as battery life is decent I can see these machines lasting another 3-4 years before they show their age… Apple laptops have always had great lifespans, not all of them, but the vast majority of the Macbooks and Macbook pros I have had have lasted way beyond my wildest expectations…

I had a 2019 MacBook Pro that belonged to my wife and she upgraded to the M2 Air… That MBP is now with my sister and replaced her 2013 MacBook Air… this was last year… That 2013 MacBook Air is now serving my brother in law as his daily driver for email and web browser and whilst it needs to be charged more frequently and is noticeably slow… it’s an 11 year old machine that is being used daily…

Say what you like about apple laptops but they tend to last well if you look after them…

 

[Fuzzball84]

mine lasted 20 hours in two heavy usage days when our city were without power for several days.
and i still had battery of 16% remaining.

Ah yeah, it’s Apple Silicon

I was thinking intel… my M2 MacBook Air can last up to 20 hours also 😀

 

[sleeptodream]

Welcome to the family🕴🏻For the sake of the environment, I wouldn’t update unless the M1 really becomes slow, or there are features you want that they don’t add to M1, which doesn’t look like it’s happening until at least M5 comes out, as M1 is getting all the Apple Intelligence features. Plus the M1 Air is just a gorgeous laptop, with better speakers than the newer Airs imo

I’d think it would be better to put that money towards another Apple product you don’t already have, if you’re itching to spend it One of the best parts about Apple is the ecosystem

All of my Apple computers have lasted ~7 years easily from when they were released

 

[Apple$]

I’m on a Lenovo Yoga 6 and because of the misleading advertised battery life (lasts 5-6 hours, while advertised up to 13 hours) and the max display brightness is so dim. (A laughable 250 nits) I’m considering getting a MacBook Air M5 with 512 GB and 16 GB RAM when it comes out.

 

[aranhamo76]

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?

My laptop is a 2019 MBP; it’s more powerful than my work computer and is still supported under Sequoia.
My previous laptop is a 2012 MBP and is currently being used by my son for college.
My daughter is using our 2011 MacBook Air for school.
We have a 2011 iMac still in use.
I have a 1984 Macintosh in my office that still runs like the day my dad bought it.

 

[histeachn81]

Conversely, I’d also say be weary of hyperbole from others here based on their use case. If the AI aspects do not interest you in Sequoia then it may be worth just sticking with Sonoma, as a portion of your RAM will essentially be dedicated to AI. That may make your computer slower and trigger a kind of false positive that it’s a hardware issue. If you’re happy with performance as it is NOW, consider not updating the OS. If you want AI then you’ll probably bottleneck sooner than you otherwise would.

 

[MBAir2010]

Ah yeah, it’s Apple Silicon

I was thinking intel… my M2 MacBook Air can last up to 20 hours also 😀

the downfall is that Sonoma and Vetura knocked the hour-age down considerably, so i reinstalled Monterey.

 

[bluewooster]

I completely agree with the OP. I bought the M1 on release date and, from that moment, loved it. I think, as others have mentioned, it was so powerful, light, quiet, and longlasting compared to everything else at the time that it felt like an evolution in laptops. Also, being at the end of that classic tapered design heightens the nostalgia for me!

When the 15" MBA came out, I instantly bought it as I've always told myself (and others!) that a larger screen thin and light was exactly what I've always wanted...I used it for a few days and then gave it to my wife so I could keep the M1 MBA! I guess I was wrong!

There have been a few apple products (such as this one) that were just so exciting and enjoyable at the time of purchase that I have emotional attachments to them (for me, the iPhone 4s, the original iPad, the Mac Mini 2012, the iPhone 6 Plus, the slim 11" Macbook, and the M1 MBA all come to mind). (I should also mention there have been many Apple purchases I've made over the years that felt iterative, pointless, made me question why I even upgraded, and then I forgot I even owned them afterwards!)

 

[GuruZac]

I'd say easily 10 years. The M1 was way ahead.

 

[Shirasaki]

the thing that SHOULD eventually convince you to upgrade is lack of security update support

While I agree most of what your comment says, this bit I beg to differ. Security is not something that “I hand its management over to Apple and I am good to go as long as they are good to go”. User is ALWAYS the weakest security link, and Apple can only do so much before user compromises himself/herself.
Aside from literal physical breakdown, the most ideal point of upgrade is when the machine overall can’t deliver the performance and usability that a user desires. We have Windows 95 computers still powering critical machinery and companies building brand new Windows 95/98 machines for them to use. It’s there for a reason.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

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?

The typical response to asking that about intel macs is, you get 5-6 years of OS Updates from the model year, then the lack of getting any security updates makes malware an inevitability and you’d be a fool to keep using it past that year. Of course on intel macs we could just install windows and let Microsoft keep security up to date, whereas the Mx macs have no such backup options for users. Once Apple pulls the plug, that’s it. As malware starts to incorporate ai, a Mac that Apple has declared obsolete becomes a sitting duck. As well, the more online OSX has become since Snow Leopard, the less and less of it works after a few years when all the backend services that make a Mac work change or are discontinued. Right now there are a huge number of users keeping a Mojave machine running for 32-bit app compatibility, but ask them how long it’s been since they had a web browser that could load a website? 4 years later and Mozilla was the last to offer a compatible browser and they sent out a notice that it wasn’t worth their time either. The M1 hardware could last you a decade, but the software is meant to last a few years and then get you to buy another computer.

 

[ChrisA]

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?

What might happen is maybe your needs will change and then you will need to replace the computer. But for casual use the M1 Mac is overkill. I gave my daughter my 2011 MBP. She iused it for school, graduated and is now using it for grad school. Well, not quite. It sits on her desk and she caries an iPad around. The MPB is used for writing and making presentations. Pages and Keynote still work as they did.

My gues is that your M1 will still be usful until at least 2030 unless you decide to take up filmmaking or AI reseach.

 

[M1Fox]

Conversely, I’d also say be weary of hyperbole from others here based on their use case. If the AI aspects do not interest you in Sequoia then it may be worth just sticking with Sonoma, as a portion of your RAM will essentially be dedicated to AI. That may make your computer slower and trigger a kind of false positive that it’s a hardware issue. If you’re happy with performance as it is NOW, consider not updating the OS. If you want AI then you’ll probably bottleneck sooner than you otherwise would.

Oh this brings some insight, and I indeed might want to stay in Sonoma because AI indeed does use a lot of RAM, and my machine being 8 Gigabytes might not be the absolute best when I'm also using OBS to stream my classes, yeah...

You know what? Maybe for THAT specific case I could probably do the extra investment on getting a Pro with better RAM, since I am very interested on getting Apple Intelligence but not at the cost of the performance of my machine

Now, I would have to see how AI performs under a 8GB M1 machine anyway to really make a decision here. But I guess I trust Apple is aware of the many users with entry level M1 with 8GB of RAM yearning to use AI, or at least I hope so.

 

[M1Fox]

What might happen is maybe your needs will change and then you will need to replace the computer. But for casual use the M1 Mac is overkill. I gave my daughter my 2011 MBP. She iused it for school, graduated and is now using it for grad school. Well, not quite. It sits on her desk and she caries an iPad around. The MPB is used for writing and making presentations. Pages and Keynote still work as they did.

My gues is that your M1 will still be usful until at least 2030 unless you decide to take up filmmaking or AI reseach.

Exactly another point for me to consider if I ever get another machine. What if I want to do other power-intensive stuff?

When I realized that the M1 had no fans, this was first worrying, but then awesome. No longer did I have to worry as much to carry this thing around, having it on my bed, couch or lap. It's awesome.
However a Pro Model does have fans, and that could allow me to have a computer for the serious hard work, and another one for my casual use.

As someone else said, the M1 is indeed overkill for like browsing the web and such, but might not be the best for perhaps rendering high-res video, or high-res art etc.

 

[nathansz]

I trust Apple is aware of the many users with entry level M1 with 8GB of RAM yearning to use AI,

I trust that they are hoping to sell those people new computers

 

[MBAir2010]

There have been a few apple products (such as this one) that were just so exciting and enjoyable at the time of purchase that I have emotional attachments to them (for me, the iPhone 4s, the original iPad, the Mac Mini 2012, the iPhone 6 Plus, the slim 11" Macbook, and the M1 MBA all come to mind).

for me that iPod nani 4B silver was incredible and a revelation!

 

[macdaddy43]

One thing I have been thinking when it comes to AS longevity is this: Back in the Intel days (say 2011-ish to when M1 was released in 2020) we did not see a ton of competition in the mobile chip space and therefore tech advancements were not as fast or pronounced. Intel rested on their laurels forsure, which is why Apple got away from them in the first place. With the relatively slow progress during the 2010's, computers were fairly able to keep up and last a while since there weren't really any huge leaps that the older computers had to keep up with.

Fast forward to AS days, it at least seems like Intel has gotten left in the dust and the Computer wars are full swing (AMD has made huge strides, Qualcomm entering the market, and AS obviously out front). With this, it feels like the technology and CPU advancements are happening faster (or this could totally be my perception). But the faster technology goes, the faster older computers can show their age. We don't know what AI will look like 2-3 years from now, heck even 1 year. These changes have the possibility of making some of these newish computers not last as long as maybe some of the Intel ones did in the past.

 

[fb3993]

Having released in 2020, do you think it'll be sensible to upgrade soon-ish?

Why would you upgrade before it stops working/being useful for your needs? It seems you don't have issues yet so think about it once it's time.

 

[nathansz]

Fast forward to AS days, it at least seems like Intel has gotten left in the dust and the Computer wars are full swing (AMD has made huge strides, Qualcomm entering the market, and AS obviously out front)

If you are talking current gen performance, Intel is ahead of Apple, not “left in the dust”

For gpu performance on the other hand, it’s Apple that has fallen way behind

We don't know what AI will look like 2-3 years from now, heck even 1 year.

2-3 years from now we will probably be on to the next hollow marketing fad, which I for the most part all that what many refer to as “AI” is