The Reason I'm Buying the Base M1 MBA

[Frixos]

Here are the reasons I'm buying the base MBA:
It's $971 (education price, including tax). It has what I need for the next 3 years. I generally keep my computers longer than that, but if I did, I'd want the 8gpu, 512GB, and 16GB option, which would cost $1435 (with tax). This is a $464 difference, almost half of what the base would cost.

So I'm gonna save the $464, then in 3 years sell my MBA, and I may very well be able to buy another base MBA with the $464 I've saved plus the money I get from selling the M1. And then I'll have a better computer than the upgraded M1 MBA.

I just thought I'd include my thoughts if they help anyone else who's trying to decide!

 

[kp98077]

Here are the reasons I'm buying the base MBA:
It's $971 (education price, including tax). It has what I need for the next 3 years. I generally keep my computers longer than that, but if I did, I'd want the 8gpu, 512GB, and 16GB option, which would cost $1435 (with tax). This is a $464 difference, almost half of what the base would cost.

So I'm gonna save the $464, then in 3 years sell my MBA, and I may very well be able to buy another base MBA with the $464 I've saved plus the money I get from selling the M1. And then I'll have a better computer than the upgraded M1 MBA.

I just thought I'd include my thoughts if they help anyone else who's trying to decide!

yes smart!

 

[Falhófnir]

Yeah upgrading more frequently rather than getting a higher spec is almost always the better option, in fact probably even more so back with Intel when they offered processor options (i3, i5 etc). Get only the minimum you need, in the majority of cases expensive ‘future-proofing’ options will make a negligible difference over the lifetime of the machine, no matter how long you keep it.

 

[wacomme]

That was my plan, but I ran into memory issues so I made the 50% price leap (education pricing) to get 16gb RAM. But I like the overall philosophy you propose.

 

[spiderman0616]

I've been iPad-only for years, but I'm going from 2020 12.9" iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard to the base MBA. Only problem is that the iPad has already been shipped to its buyer and Best Buy hasn't delivered my new Mac yet.

I'm giving up Apple Pencil and the removable touch screen---but I had almost completely stopped using both. This MBA will last me at least 2 or 3 years before I start getting the itch to upgrade, and I really think it would be hard for me to come even close to maxing out the base MBA's performance.

One thing I keep forgetting to mention in these discussions--our IT dept. at work also isn't letting us upgrade our work laptops to Big Sur yet, and I'm dying to try it out. It took them about 4 months to let us have Catalina, so I doubt they're going to find this update any more urgent than that.

 

[acidfast7_redux]

I did the exact same thing and it cost £898.

It's replacing an early-2013 rMBP that I put through the ringer.

 

[Frixos]

That was my plan, but I ran into memory issues so I made the 50% price leap (education pricing) to get 16gb RAM. But I like the overall philosophy you propose.

Yeah, sometimes you need that extra today rather than 3 years from now.

 

[Falhófnir]

That was my plan, but I ran into memory issues so I made the 50% price leap (education pricing) to get 16gb RAM. But I like the overall philosophy you propose.

Yep definitely don’t short change yourself on what you actually need to do your work either!

 

[Apple_Robert]

Here are the reasons I'm buying the base MBA:
It's $971 (education price, including tax). It has what I need for the next 3 years. I generally keep my computers longer than that, but if I did, I'd want the 8gpu, 512GB, and 16GB option, which would cost $1435 (with tax). This is a $464 difference, almost half of what the base would cost.

So I'm gonna save the $464, then in 3 years sell my MBA, and I may very well be able to buy another base MBA with the $464 I've saved plus the money I get from selling the M1. And then I'll have a better computer than the upgraded M1 MBA.

I just thought I'd include my thoughts if they help anyone else who's trying to decide!

Buying what you need today, versus overspending for specs you don’t really need is a smart move.

 

[1240766]

Deleted

 

[jerryk]

Sounds like a reasonable plan. Hopefully, you can find a base Air. Seems to be sold out everywhere.

 

[brig2221]

This is EXACTLY what I did for the EXACT same reason. In 2-3 years, I’ll pick up the latest M2 or M3 iteration and be much happier than spending and addition $400 or so to upgrade the current model.

 

[Chevyguy2021]

My exact thought process as well

 

[dmccloud]

For me and the way i use my Mac, I needed the 512GB storage more so than 16GB RAM. I did go with the Pro over the Air because I felt that the active cooling would allow me to push the machine harder for an extended timeframe. Since the Mac will be my go-to unit for taking with me when I need to work remotely or while commuting/traveling, having the ability to run for extended durations without throttling is important to me.

 

[KShopper]

This is the way!