M1 Air Owners - Any regrets for not getting Pro or an Intel?

[spiderman0616]

No regrets. I have a fully loaded Macbook Pro 16'' 32GB 1TB collecting dust. M1 Air 16GB 1TB has fully replaced it. I live in Singapore, average temperature inside the room is +27C. Fans in the 16'' were blowing all the time. M1 runs silently, cool and does everything that I need. I only wish it supported two external monitors. But I can live with the limitation.

My 2019 15" MBP from work is fully loaded as well, and it doesn't hold a candle to my personally owned M1 MBA. As far as heat, fan noise, battery life, speed, and not having a janky keyboard, the M1 machine wins hands down. I rarely even move the work MBP from my desk. If I need to work somewhere else, I just take my own machine.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'm thinking of finally replacing my 2015 Air with a M1 Air. My usage isn't heavy, Browser, Office, light Photoshop work.

Does anyone with a similar workload either regret not getting the Pro or not getting an Intel? I'm trying to hold off till we see if the rumors of a new 14in pans out (mostly just for the added screen size), but if not, the Air looks like the best suited for me.

I have an M1 Air. But it's not my only Mac and it likely won't be my only M1 Mac either. Ironically, most of my heavier tasks will require an Intel Mac (and will never be ported to Apple Silicon). If everything I did on an Intel Mac (at least as far as doing so within macOS is concerned) was native for Apple Silicon, I wouldn't regret not getting an Intel Mac.

As for Pro vs. Air, the Air suits my needs just fine. As far as I've been able to tell, the Pro is a better call if:

- You do a lot of video conferencing (due to the better mic system)

- You do a lot of heavy video editing/compositing tasks and/or work with 8K footage or tasks of similar system resource intensity

- You are taxing the CPU/GPU for long periods at a time (rather than short bursts)

- You are unsure as to whether or not your needs are or are similar to what I've mentioned above and/or whether they will change or increase over time

For all other situations, the Air is apparently plenty sufficient (and in ways that the MacBook Air has never been [at least since 2015, if not ever]). Though, I might opt for the 8 GPU core model as it's only $50. The M1 Air I have is the base model (with 7 GPU cores), but my use cases for it are pretty minimal; it's a test machine. The second M1 Mac that I'd get would be more intensive (and would be one where I'd want the full 8 GPU cores).

 

[LancerEvoIII]

Bought a 1tb Air m1 with the 8 gpu config. Besides my doubts about battery duration (just getting 4100mAh peak instead of the advertised 4350-4370 mAh capacity), I think this is probably the fastest system I've ever owned, beating even my overclocked 7700k hackintosh setup (which is still running Mojave).

 

[MrGunny94]

I have an M1 Air. But it's not my only Mac and it likely won't be my only M1 Mac either. Ironically, most of my heavier tasks will require an Intel Mac (and will never be ported to Apple Silicon). If everything I did on an Intel Mac (at least as far as doing so within macOS is concerned) was native for Apple Silicon, I wouldn't regret not getting an Intel Mac.

As for Pro vs. Air, the Air suits my needs just fine. As far as I've been able to tell, the Pro is a better call if:

- You do a lot of video conferencing (due to the better mic system)

- You do a lot of heavy video editing/compositing tasks and/or work with 8K footage or tasks of similar system resource intensity

- You are taxing the CPU/GPU for long periods at a time (rather than short bursts)

- You are unsure as to whether or not your needs are or are similar to what I've mentioned above and/or whether they will change or increase over time

For all other situations, the Air is apparently plenty sufficient (and in ways that the MacBook Air has never been [at least since 2015, if not ever]). Though, I might opt for the 8 GPU core model as it's only $50. The M1 Air I have is the base model (with 7 GPU cores), but my use cases for it are pretty minimal; it's a test machine. The second M1 Mac that I'd get would be more intensive (and would be one where I'd want the full 8 GPU cores).

Good analysis, I'm quite surprised by how amazing it is for my type of Dev Ops work, I have absolutely zero issues.

My only dislike is only working with one monitor

 

[August West]

I've had my base 256/8 Macbook Air for 2 days now and love it. Since this is just a machine for casual use and will do no heavy lifting it is way more than adequate. The battery life is phenomenal. I've been thinking about replacing my 2012 Mac Mini with a 512/16 M1 Mini for a while now and think I'll do that in the not too distant future. I hope Apple soon releases the wireless keyboard w/ 10 key & Touch ID you can get with the new iMac now but not available for sale by itself.

 

[mbp17forever]

No regrets at all. I got the 8/256 and its the fastest laptop ever. Plus also the cheapest macbook i ve ever own (feels nice to not have to spend extra € for it). My only problem is the screen size, I wish they make a 16inch version of it

 

[kundanno]

None here. When I got mine, I was like “yeah I’ll use this as a spare laptop” (I own an 2018 13” MBP and used it as my primary laptop). Since the time I got my M1 MBA in late November, it has become my primary laptop for everything. Not just how well everything I need runs, but also Windows 10 VM (and now Windows 11) on Parallels - it runs all my office related apps. All and all very pleased. MacOS just runs. Amazing.

 

[MalcolmH]

Nope! MacBook Air 16Gb, 1Tb at home. MacBook 2017 15" at work, fully loaded. The M1 is better - faster, quiet, cool. Software compatibility is a non issue.

 

[pshufd]

Got my daughter an Air 16/1 and she loves it. She prefers a smaller and lighter laptop and the battery life is crazy and it doesn't get hot. It can also be used for light gaming. Buying an Intel model would have been a mistake for her.

I'm using my 2015 MacBook Pro while waiting for the M1X 16 inch model. I really like some aspects of the M1 Air but it's missing several things that I want.

 

[MacModMachine]

Got my daughter an Air 16/1 and she loves it. She prefers a smaller and lighter laptop and the battery life is crazy and it doesn't get hot. It can also be used for light gaming. Buying an Intel model would have been a mistake for her.

I'm using my 2015 MacBook Pro while waiting for the M1X 16 inch model. I really like some aspects of the M1 Air but it's missing several things that I want.

i would even go as far to say moderate gaming. fallout 4 runs great on mine @ 2k.