Is M1 Macbook Air still a good buy?

[LoveTo]

So I have been using my 2015 MBP.
Was excited to see M1 MBA outperform Intel MBP last year. Still, waited for MBP design refresh this year.

The announcement today was a mixed bag. The new Apple Silicon MBPs have awesome specifications. But the extremely dated design, the dimensions, weight and most importantly, the price were huge negatives.
Since I almost exclusively use my laptop for browsing and extremely light photo editing, I suppose M1 Macbook Air (512Gb at $1099) now looks like a better alternative.

Will this be a good buy or are there still issues being reported for M1 MBAs?

 

[Chozes]

Yes.

 

[Gnattu]

Yes it is. The new pro machines are truly designed for pros, and those 'extremely dated design, dimensions, and weight' are the trade-offs for a proper pro workstation. You just can't make it thin, light and fashion while been pro. The 2016-2020 MBPs are examples, and their design is hated by lot of power users.

 

[ChromeCloud]

The current MacBook Air is still great value, but it's gonna get old fast.

In 6 to 8 months, Apple will release a new MacBook Air with new design and M2 processor.

The M2 is gonna be quite a big deal as it will probably bring a 50% faster GPU (same jump as from A14 to A15).

 

[Internaut]

The new machines are very different animals to the Air. While the Air changes expectations of what can be done with a laptop at that price point, the new Pros change expectations of what can be done with a laptop.

 

[spaceywilly]

Absolutely. Battery life on the MBA is much better. 15 hours web browsing vs 11 on the new MBP. And 2.8 lbs instead of 3.5. Unless you are really going to use the power of the Pro, the MBA is the better choice.

 

[darngooddesign]

Yep.

 

[EastHillWill]

Yes, and especially at a discount. With these new MBPs and the holidays coming up I wouldn’t be surprised to see some deals in the $750 range. But even the current $100 discount we see sometimes is a great buy.

 

[mi7chy]

MBA M1 is great as a Chromebook but don't pay MSRP. Have seen second hand go for nearly half of MSRP.

 

[Spanther]

Yes it is. The new pro machines are truly designed for pros, and those 'extremely dated design, dimensions, and weight' are the trade-offs for a proper pro workstation. You just can't make it thin, light and fashion while been pro. The 2016-2020 MBPs are examples, and their design is hated by lot of power users.

Agreed. These are the true updates to the < 2015 MBPs that we knew and loved (and still use because they are awesome).

 

[ambient_light]

No notch, fan-less, with a tiny 30W power brick - all that makes it a dream ultrabook. Things that I miss personally are MagSafe and 32 Gb option, but it's not needed for the avg user so not a deal breaker. Hope Apple will change course and won't cripple the next Air with a notch. Chances seems to be slim though...

 

[LoveTo]

Thank you all for the replies! I did consider that Air might be updated in near future but don't suppose that will happen for another couple of years until Apple Silicon transition is complete across the lineup. Also, even if that happens next year, with my limited usage, I don't suppose I'd regret not waiting for that. I'd miss not having ProMotion but for now Air should be a good stepping stone to enter the new era of macs.

 

[Bandaman]

Yes. This thing is amazing, silent, efficient, and powerful.

 

[Tagbert]

No notch, fan-less, with a tiny 30W power brick - all that makes it a dream ultrabook. Things that I miss personally are MagSafe and 32 Gb option, but it's not needed for the avg user so not a deal breaker. Hope Apple will change course and won't cripple the next Air with a notch. Chances seems to be slim though...

I’m coming to terms with the notch and not really bothered by it now. I’m seeing it as they just extended the screen up into the top bezel. I think it will disappear visually in dark mode and I’m hopeful that Apple will add an option for the menu bar to be dark even on light mode. I don’t expect too many problems with apps. Full screen apps will likely only appear in the main content area unless they tell the OS that they can deal with the header area. Videos will just letterbox that area. Overall i think we’ll get used to it pretty quickly.

 

[sartos]

I've used an M1 MacBook Air for the best part of the last year and this tiny little thing runs my entire business right now. It replaced a $3800 intel Mac book pro from 2019 that was top spec at the time and that machine is a noisier, hotter, slower machine that was constantly being throttled due to the work I use it for (software dev and video editing) which was causing me quite a few headaches. The M1 air has been a revelation even with the relatively heavy workloads I ask it to do. I will probably pick up one of these new MB Pros at some point in the not too distant future since my business runs on these things and it is necessary to have a spare (and I cannot go back to in intel version now), but I will almost feel guilty about doing so as the MB Air hasn't put a foot wrong. It is literally the best computer I have ever owned.

 

[Sullivan0930]

the m1 will fit your needs perfectly. I do all the same you listed and never have a stutter or any issues. Just get a good dock for when you want it to be a "desktop" and your good to go.

The current MacBook Air is still great value, but it's gonna get old fast.

In 6 to 8 months, Apple will release a new MacBook Air with new design and M2 processor.

The M2 is gonna be quite a big deal as it will probably bring a 50% faster GPU (same jump as from A14 to A15).

yes there is always something better 6+ months away. idk why people like to point out that something better is always on the way.

 

[1BadManVan]

Thank you all for the replies! I did consider that Air might be updated in near future but don't suppose that will happen for another couple of years until Apple Silicon transition is complete across the lineup. Also, even if that happens next year, with my limited usage, I don't suppose I'd regret not waiting for that. I'd miss not having ProMotion but for now Air should be a good stepping stone to enter the new era of macs.

Even if it’s updated next year, there will always be a next best thing around the corner. The M1 is a fantastic chip and will last year just as long as your 2015 has.

 

[ChromeCloud]

yes there is always something better 6+ months away. idk why people like to point out that something better is always on the way.

Not all product updates are the same.

Usually they come in cycles and after each big update you get 3-4 years of smaller iterative updates.

If you want to maximize your investment it pays off to buy at the beginning of the cycle rather than at the end.

The big update for the MacBook Air is due in the first half of 2022.

Design will be brand new and it will be a pretty big change since it will take full advantage of Apple Silicon low TDP and dimensions.
It will be thinner, lighter, have a bigger screen (notch is rumored) and it will come in different colors just like the iMac.

On top of that the M2 will bring a much more powerful GPU.

If you buy now, you will have a MacBook Air that is gonna feel prehistoric after just 6 months.

If you buy in the first half of 2022, you’ll likely own a machine that is going to be on par with newer MacBook Airs until 2025-26.

 

[senttoschool]

The MBA M1 still has two distinct advantages over the newly announced MBPs: much lighter and better battery life.

 

[darthbane2k]

MBA M1 is great as a Chromebook but don't pay MSRP. Have seen second hand go for nearly half of MSRP.

Oh behave

 

[hirsthirst]

Not all product updates are the same.

Usually they come in cycles and after each big update you get 3-4 years of smaller iterative updates.

If you want to maximize your investment it pays off to buy at the beginning of the cycle rather than at the end.

The big update for the MacBook Air is due in the first half of 2022.

Design will be brand new and it will be a pretty big change since it will take full advantage of Apple Silicon low TDP and dimensions.
It will be thinner, lighter, have a bigger screen (notch is rumored) and it will come in different colors just like the iMac.

On top of that the M2 will bring a much more powerful GPU.

If you buy now, you will have a MacBook Air that is gonna feel prehistoric after just 6 months.

If you buy in the first half of 2022, you’ll likely own a machine that is going to be on par with newer MacBook Airs until 2025-26.

Objection: speculation … Nothing is confirmed for 1H.

Sure there’s *always* a new one coming - but the M1 MBA is relatively new & the OP has the lightest possible Use Case - they’ll be fine.

 

[LoveTo]

Not all product updates are the same.

Usually they come in cycles and after each big update you get 3-4 years of smaller iterative updates.

If you want to maximize your investment it pays off to buy at the beginning of the cycle rather than at the end.

The big update for the MacBook Air is due in the first half of 2022.

Design will be brand new and it will be a pretty big change since it will take full advantage of Apple Silicon low TDP and dimensions.
It will be thinner, lighter, have a bigger screen (notch is rumored) and it will come in different colors just like the iMac.

On top of that the M2 will bring a much more powerful GPU.

If you buy now, you will have a MacBook Air that is gonna feel prehistoric after just 6 months.

If you buy in the first half of 2022, you’ll likely own a machine that is going to be on par with newer MacBook Airs until 2025-26.

This made sense. Also, just saw a rumor about the upcoming refresh to Air. Canceled my order as it was still not shipped. Will wait for some more time. Hopefully 13” Pro is updated too along with it and retains the lower price range so I can even consider that.

Also, I still had old impression that Air is refreshed only after a couples of years. Checked buyer’s guide and realized that for past few years, the Air refreshes are less than a year apart! The recommendation is not to buy it now anyway. ?

 

[brimpy]

> The current MacBook Air is still great value, but it's gonna get old fast.

Is it going to get old fast? If my current 16GB/1TB M1 MacBook is much faster than I need it to be, and I don't foresee doing anything drastically different in the coming years, (web browsing, document editing, video watching) what's going to change with my machine or the software it runs?

The only thing that will change is that there will be other options that are faster. But my machine is already faster than I need.

If I only need to drive 200mph and I have a Ferrari that can go 300mph, and then they release a new Ferrari that can go 400mph.. do I care? How does that affect the performance of my current machine?

 

[LoveTo]

> The current MacBook Air is still great value, but it's gonna get old fast.

Is it going to get old fast? If my current 16GB/1TB M1 MacBook is much faster than I need it to be, and I don't foresee doing anything drastically different in the coming years, (web browsing, document editing, video watching) what's going to change with my machine or the software it runs?

The only thing that will change is that there will be other options that are faster. But my machine is already faster than I need.

If I only need to drive 200mph and I have a Ferrari that can go 300mph, and then they release a new Ferrari that can go 400mph.. do I care? How does that affect the performance of my current machine?

Yeah.. I’ve come to realise that had I bought Air last year, it wouldn’t have made sense to upgrade to M2 whenever that launches. But buying M1 Air today makes less sense as M2 ones would adopt new design language. Likely will even have a notch so will not be left out of any future functionalities that make use of the extra screen around the notch.

 

[Chozes]

You will be waiting a while for M2. Still more M1 on the way. I would just get the Air to be honest. They hold good value.