M1 Mac for Online Teacher Needs

[mr_jomo]

One of my teacher friends had to exchange the Air for an MBP because Teams was stuttering and never working well. The M1 will most likely be a different story. That chip is a beast! My MacMini is amazing with Teams already!!!

That makes sense as Teams (and most other online screen sharing tools) worked horrible on the Intel-macs. Going from an Intel-Air to an Intel-Pro would then have helped a lot with the improved thermal solution on the Intel-Pro.

For the new M1-macbooks it's a wash, since both models handle Teams without any thermal issues.

 

[MK500]

OK. Now I'm thinking I'll buy the base model Air. The price is less than 1K out the door. If I upgrade to the 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM, I'll increase the cost of the computer 50% to $1,500 out the door. What would this 50% increase in cost buy me? I'm seen reports that the base model functions just fine, and with my use (web, school, business apps, webinars), the base model appears to be more than adequate. Am I missing something?

.

Does this make sense?

I think the 999 MacBook Air — or even 899 with education discount — makes perfect sense. It is by far the most powerful “base model” anything Apple has ever offered (Maybe with the exception of the M1 Mini).

I bought the $1449 16/512 because
a) I am at the stage in my life where I can splurge a bit
b) I plan on keeping it for at least 7 years and have family members I may pass it down to

But honestly, the base model will perform almost identically to mine. You would be hard pressed to really notice the difference.

I hope as many people as possible can experience a new M1 Mac at that low price point; because it is revolutionary to have this much power at that price.

 

[wacomme]

I think the 999 MacBook Air — or even 899 with education discount — makes perfect sense. It is by far the most powerful “base model” anything Apple has ever offered (Maybe with the exception of the M1 Mini).

I bought the $1449 16/512 because
a) I am at the stage in my life where I can splurge a bit
b) I plan on keeping it for at least 7 years and have family members I may pass it down to

But honestly, the base model will perform almost identically to mine. You would be hard pressed to really notice the difference.

I hope as many people as possible can experience a new M1 Mac at that low price point; because it is revolutionary to have this much power at that price.

Since I think the performance of the base model Air will be almost identical to the 512/16 model I decided to save myself 50% of the laptop cost and go with the base model. So far so good. I'm in the process of putting it through its paces.

It it speedy. However, I have seen the spinning wheel a few times, although briefly. And I don't think the reason was RAM related. But that was during a lot of installs.

Michael

 

[Branmonkey]

That makes sense as Teams (and most other online screen sharing tools) worked horrible on the Intel-macs. Going from an Intel-Air to an Intel-Pro would then have helped a lot with the improved thermal solution on the Intel-Pro.

For the new M1-macbooks it's a wash, since both models handle Teams without any thermal issues.

Yep! M1 handles Teams with not a single problem nor fan needed. It's amazing! I can't even imagine what it'll be like when we get the universal version of Teams!