Would I be insane to replace a 1-year-old Intel MBA to get M1?

[4sallypat]

Two offers on the table right now. $840 from someone online if I can ship it to Texas, but I'm not sure how we'll work out payment, etc. And $630 from Mac Of All Trades.

The Texas offer seems the best.

However I would make sure the payment is legit before shipping out the MBA.

There are way too many scams out there - "I'll pay you by PayPal for the full amount plus $100 extra..." and the gift card scams which are all stolen accounts/monies...

I would only accept: Zelle or Venmo before I would ship out the Air....

If the buyer is legit, they should have no problem....

 

[srbNYC]

By the way, thanks, everyone, for the input and advice here. I've got my new M1 MBA, liking it very much. The retailer had a special two days after I purchased, and they honored the price difference, so I got $70 back. And I got $650 or so from an online sale. Feeling good overall.

 

[ctjack]

I would only accept: Zelle or Venmo before I would ship out the Air....

If the buyer is legit, they should have no problem....

I would never pay someone with Zelle or Venmo online, unless i am standing in front of them with a laptop on my hand.
We don't trust buyer but how the buyer can trust the seller?
At least people send money using PayPal and got protection somehow.

 

[srbNYC]

In fact, I think that one prospective buyer was shady, and went away.

 

[ctjack]

In fact, I think that one prospective buyer was shady, and went away.

Glad that you didn't get caught by the shady buyer.
The default practice at r/hardwareswap or r/appleswap is going to PP and pay as goods/services. But as a seller you will lose on fees from paypal from that $840 and also shipping cost.

 

[Leon1das]

Wrong, Apple trade offers about 50%.
Selling privately, you can get about 75% on resale...

This is true... But if you aim for 75% resale - remember: its.hard.to.resell.Intel.to.anyone.now...
So Apple may still be better...

 

[jerryk]

This is true... But if you aim for 75% resale - remember: its.hard.to.resell.Intel.to.anyone.now...
So Apple may still be better...

I went with Mac of All Trades and got around 65% for a 2020 MBP 13. Apple offered close to 60%

 

[srbNYC]

I did way better with Mac of all Trades than Apple's offer.

 

[acousticbiker]

its.hard.to.resell.Intel.to.anyone.now...

Maybe among this crowd, but on eBay there are plenty of buyers for Intel MBAs - I recently sold a 2020 MBA there for 80% of its original value.

 

[darngooddesign]

Right now is an excellent time to find a deal on Intel MacBook Pros. In a couple of months the market will be flooded with 16" MBPs.

 

[srbNYC]

Just an update since I started this thread in December. New MBA and I are very happy together.

Got nearly $700 for prior model, and a B&H discount on the new one, so the total spend wasn't too painful. Thanks, everyone, for the input.

 

[jerryk]

Just an update since I started this thread in December. New MBA and I are very happy together.

Got nearly $700 for prior model, and a B&H discount on the new one, so the total spend wasn't too painful. Thanks, everyone, for the input.

$700 for a used Intel Air is fantastic. Congrats on your new M1.

 

[ksloth]

Keep your current system. In a year, get a nice M2 powered MacBook.

 

[Bacci]

Keep your current system. In a year, get a nice M2 powered MacBook.

When those come out, especially if they have the much anticipated 14” rimless screen, the used market will be flooded with early M1 MBs.
It already took me three weeks to sell my refurbished 2020 MBP still in warranty at a somewhat decent price ($1200 - Swappa) last month, and that one had stuff M1s don’t have yet but some people need, like 4TB3 ports.

 

[Steve686]

Hell. I replaced a 16" 2019 $3800 MBP to get the 13" M1 and don't regret it one bit.

Love the extra battery and efficiency along with a much more portable friendly size.

 

[dmccloud]

I replaced a 2020 i3 MBA with an M1 MBP, and haven't regretted it for a moment. Even the base MBA runs circles around the i3 model with one hand tied behind its back.

 

[Rafterman]

Only you can answer your own question. If the price after trade in is worth to you what the M1 offers, and that the intel doesn't, then go for it.

 

[srbNYC]

I've never started a thread that ran for 5 pages! I'm very excited.*

*Typed on my brand spanking new MBA M1.

 

[Veeper]

I have an almost-year-old MBA (Retina, 13-inch, 2019) with a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM and 512 GB storage, and I'm happy with it.

And, yet, all the talk about the amazing speed and battery of the M1 MBAs has me tempted. I could get $540 in an Apple Gift Card for my trade-in (to use for my current Apple TV subscriptions), and pay no sales tax with my B&H credit card. I'm eyeing the 16GB RAM/512GB MBA for $1698 (with AppleCare).

I'm so tempted, I but I also think it would be insane to swap out such a new machine that's behaving well. Can anyone help save me?

EDIT - Whoops I see this is moot. Ha.

Not insane. Do it today. You’ll quadruple your output and have a much, much, much, much cooler CPU. And you can even enjoy longer battery life and some light games.

 

[xraydoc]

Hell. I replaced a 16" 2019 $3800 MBP to get the 13" M1 and don't regret it one bit.

Love the extra battery and efficiency along with a much more portable friendly size.

I replaced a $2900 13.5" Microsoft SurfaceBook 2 (with dedicated Nvidia GPU, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD) with an M1 MacBook Air (8-core GPU/16GB/512GB). It's only been two days since the MBA arrived but I'm already in love with the MBA.

 

[dmccloud]

I replaced a $2900 13.5" Microsoft SurfaceBook 2 (with dedicated Nvidia GPU, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD) with an M1 MacBook Air (8-core GPU/16GB/512GB). It's only been two days since the MBA arrived but I'm already in love with the MBA.

In your experience, how does the iGPU in the Mac compare to the nVidia dGPU in the Surface Book?

 

[Steve686]

I replaced a $2900 13.5" Microsoft SurfaceBook 2 (with dedicated Nvidia GPU, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD) with an M1 MacBook Air (8-core GPU/16GB/512GB). It's only been two days since the MBA arrived but I'm already in love with the MBA.

Yes, sir.
I bought a $3700 16”MBP.
Thought I loved it until my first couple of days with the M1.
Thankfully I recovered about $2900 selling my 16”.

 

[xraydoc]

Yes, sir.
I bought a $3700 16”MBP.
Thought I loved it until my first couple of days with the M1.
Thankfully I recovered about $2900 selling my 16”.

Yup. And the MBA is faster than the SurfaceBook 2’s 4-core i7 processor, even with all power settings cranked to full (I call it “meltdown mode” because of how hot the SB2 would get, even at idle).

 

[Veeper]

In your experience, how does the iGPU in the Mac compare to the nVidia dGPU in the Surface Book?

I replaced a SurfaceBook 3 with an 8C GPU MBA and I can easily say the MBA blows the doors off of the SurfaceBook 3. (It’s not Apples to Apples tho)