Macbook Air M1 for Zoom

[SPJones]

Looking for some purchasing advice, please folks!

My current, 3 year-old HP Pavilion AMD Ryzen 3 has a pretty crap in-built webcam and the fan kicks in pretty often when I do the only vaguely intensive task I ask of it, which is screensharing on Zoom (I work as a language examiner, using my laptop for 7 hours a day). Otherwise, I only use it for email and basic office tasks (which I can happily do on my 10 year-old Linux Mint laptop!).

I've just spotted what I think is a pretty decent deal on a new Macbook Air M1 (£650) and wonder if it would be a significant enough upgrade to the webcam and ability to deal with Zoom screensharing to be worth buying?

FWIW, I much prefer using Mac OS (previously used a 2013 iMac until I gave it to my son) to Windows, so am swayed by this element, too.

 

[Abazigal]

Looking for some purchasing advice, please folks!

My current, 3 year-old HP Pavilion AMD Ryzen 3 has a pretty crap in-built webcam and the fan kicks in pretty often when I do the only vaguely intensive task I ask of it, which is screensharing on Zoom (I work as a language examiner, using my laptop for 7 hours a day). Otherwise, I only use it for email and basic office tasks (which I can happily do on my 10 year-old Linux Mint laptop!).

I've just spotted what I think is a pretty decent deal on a new Macbook Air M1 (£650) and wonder if it would be a significant enough upgrade to the webcam and ability to deal with Zoom screensharing to be worth buying?

FWIW, I much prefer using Mac OS (previously used a 2013 iMac until I gave it to my son) to Windows, so am swayed by this element, too.

When I first purchased my M1 MBA back in 2020, I remember being impressed that it was able to last 9 hours on zoom on a single charge, while staying cool to the touch.

The MBA has no issues with zoom, but camera quality is pretty meh. That said, if you are constantly doing screen-sharing and all your audience sees is a tiny window of yourself, I doubt they will notice. Otherwise, you may need to be prepared in invest in a separate webcam.

I can't comment on how much better it fares compared to your current laptop, but the MBA should work well for your needs.

 

[SPJones]

When I first purchased my M1 MBA back in 2020, I remember being impressed that it was able to last 9 hours on zoom on a single charge, while staying cool to the touch.

The MBA has no issues with zoom, but camera quality is pretty meh. That said, if you are constantly doing screen-sharing and all your audience sees is a tiny window of yourself, I doubt they will notice. Otherwise, you may need to be prepared in invest in a separate webcam.

I can't comment on how much better it fares compared to your current laptop, but the MBA should work well for your needs.

Thanks Abazigal. I like to keep things simple so would rather use the integrated camera. Do you know if the M2 Air's camera is any better?

 

[Abazigal]

Thanks Abazigal. I like to keep things simple so would rather use the integrated camera. Do you know if the M2 Air's camera is any better?

M1 vs. M2 MacBook Air Buyer's Guide: Is It Worth Upgrading?

Apple's MacBook Air with the M2 chip comes over a year and a half after its M1-based predecessor and, most recently, the company introduced a...

www.macrumors.com

The M2 MBA does appear to sport a better webcam (1080p vs the M1's 720p), but as I do not own the M2, I can't speak from experience just how much improved the camera quality is in real life.

 

[wonderings]

Looking for some purchasing advice, please folks!

My current, 3 year-old HP Pavilion AMD Ryzen 3 has a pretty crap in-built webcam and the fan kicks in pretty often when I do the only vaguely intensive task I ask of it, which is screensharing on Zoom (I work as a language examiner, using my laptop for 7 hours a day). Otherwise, I only use it for email and basic office tasks (which I can happily do on my 10 year-old Linux Mint laptop!).

I've just spotted what I think is a pretty decent deal on a new Macbook Air M1 (£650) and wonder if it would be a significant enough upgrade to the webcam and ability to deal with Zoom screensharing to be worth buying?

FWIW, I much prefer using Mac OS (previously used a 2013 iMac until I gave it to my son) to Windows, so am swayed by this element, too.

If you are using an iPhone you can basically forget about how good the webcam is in your MacBook any model. Apple lets you easily use your iPhone as your webcam and it looks fantastic, you won't get a better webcam then the great cameras in any recent iPhone.

 

[SPJones]

If you are using an iPhone you can basically forget about how good the webcam is in your MacBook any model. Apple lets you easily use your iPhone as your webcam and it looks fantastic, you won't get a better webcam then the great cameras in any recent iPhone.

Thanks, forgot about that. I'm using an iPhone 8 (don't giggle!), which I think just sneaks in as the oldest usable continuity camera.

I've also tried hooking up my GoPro as a webcam to my Windows laptop, but it was glitchy