Deals: Apple's M1 MacBook Air Drops to Best-Ever Price of $799.99

[swester]

Yeah, but it won't be enough RAM at some point in the future. I'd guess you are feeling pinched by 2024. If you swap your laptop faster than that, you might not care (though it will hurt your resale value). But for folks who expect 6 to 10 years out of a Mac (which is a very common expectation outside of nerds like us commenting on Macrumors), 8gb of RAM is a deal breaker.

I disagree - you'll more than likely find that RAM isn't what will hold back your Mac down the line; it'll be future OS non-upgradability. I still have 2009 iMacs that are running like a champ, but since the OS is stuck in the past, it is starting to limit app compatibility. But that's almost 14 years later!

I'll say it again: 8GB on the M1 architecture is absolutely fantastic. It handles RAM more efficiently than any computer I've ever used. As for longevity, I picked up my MBA M1 for less than $700 almost two years ago, so at this price point I've already gotten more use than its 'value'. If you really want a machine built for 10 years, you probably aren't looking at an entry-level MBA in the first place.

 

[svish]

Excellent deal for a very good computer!!

 

[Codestud]

Why is it that a computer that was raved about when it was released because of its ability to do 4K video editing and so on, is now only good according to the MacRumors article for "internet browsing and checking email"?

 

[TallManNY]

I disagree - you'll more than likely find that RAM isn't what will hold back your Mac down the line; it'll be future OS non-upgradability. I still have 2009 iMacs that are running like a champ, but since the OS is stuck in the past, it is starting to limit app compatibility. But that's almost 14 years later!

I'll say it again: 8GB on the M1 architecture is absolutely fantastic. It handles RAM more efficiently than any computer I've ever used. As for longevity, I picked up my MBA M1 for less than $700 almost two years ago, so at this price point I've already gotten more use than its 'value'. If you really want a machine built for 10 years, you probably aren't looking at an entry-level MBA in the first place.

You might be right that the computer uses RAM so efficiently now (and in the future) that 8gb works. I was using a 2018 Mac mini with 8gb until this summer when I upgraded it to 32gb. It was fine with 8gb, but runs better with 32gb. Over the years and decades I've taken a number of Macs from slow to the point of unusable to fully effective by upgrading the RAM, so I would not chance it with small and unchangeable RAM.

The M1 Air is fantastic and a total game changer for the whole industry. So I'm not doubting that you've gotten great value for it and will continue to get great value for years. What I do worry about (and predict) is that at a certain point in the next few years, the latest MacOS will use so much RAM that the M1 8gb Air is not going to perform well. The rest of the computer should be fine for a decade. The screen is Retina and you can't really buy a significantly better screen, the battery might degrade but it will still be excellent even when that battery only holds 80% of its original charge (and way better than most PC laptops being sold today). The USB-C connectors will still be the standard in five years. External storage is cheap and cloud storage over fast internet will be cheap and almost as fast as internal storage for most casual uses. So everything will be good, but I think the RAM is going to be the pinch point that makes that machine fail.

And yes, if you want a Mac Laptop to last as your casual home laptop, I also would not buy the base M1 Air. I'd recommend the 16gb M1 Air (actually I'd recommend the 16gb M2 Air right now, but that is a different story). I think users who get the 16gb M1 or 2 Airs will be happily using their laptop in 2028 for casual home use, but the 8gb machines will be frustrating to use at that point.

What Mac are you using from 2009? And does it have 2gb of RAM (which was the base level in 2009)?

 

[swester]

What Mac are you using from 2009? And does it have 2gb of RAM (which was the base level in 2009)?

27" 2009 iMac with 12GB RAM, fantastic machine through and through. Of course it has been upgraded along the way, most significantly the HDD > SDD upgrade a while back. That basically gave it a new lease on life.

I'm not saying 16GB on the M1 is a bad idea; of course not. It's just unnecessary and overkill for the vast majority of buyers, especially for what the M1 MBA is intended for. The M1 operates in a different universe from Intel chips when it comes to memory management - it's really that good. I use this as my full-time machine, work and personal. Arguably the best portable Apple has ever made.

 

[ikjadoon]

Why is it that a computer that was raved about when it was released because of its ability to do 4K video editing and so on, is now only good according to the MacRumors article for "internet browsing and checking email"?

Yeah, that is a little funny. It's not like the M1 is any slower now for 4K video editing.

It only reinforces what a stupid-good deal this is.

 

[ignatius345]

What I do worry about (and predict) is that at a certain point in the next few years, the latest MacOS will use so much RAM that the M1 8gb Air is not going to perform well.

That's been the pattern with every Mac I've ever owned: really snappy when you first buy it, and gradually slower and slower after a few years. Nothing in the hardware has changed, but the overhead required by the system (and more demanding apps) goes up over time. More RAM is a good way to eke out a bit more quality time, though.

 

[TallManNY]

27" 2009 iMac with 12GB RAM, fantastic machine through and through. Of course it has been upgraded along the way, most significantly the HDD > SDD upgrade a while back. That basically gave it a new lease on life.

I'm not saying 16GB on the M1 is a bad idea; of course not. It's just unnecessary and overkill for the vast majority of buyers, especially for what the M1 MBA is intended for. The M1 operates in a different universe from Intel chips when it comes to memory management - it's really that good. I use this as my full-time machine, work and personal. Arguably the best portable Apple has ever made.

It will be interesting to see how well the memory management by Apple and all the fast RAM and fast SSD helps with that management. At work we just use PCs, so my team all has PC laptops and they all have 16gb of RAM. Folks complain a bit and think they are RAM constrained now. While I used my 2018 Mac mini with 8gb of RAM when I work from home and am fine. Though as I mentioned, over the summer I put 32gb in it and it works just a touch better. It might put off my upgrade to an Apple silicon Mac mini upgrade for two more years. We shall see.

That HDD > SDD was huge. I never did that with my old iMac, but I did at one point run a similar iMac (and maybe it even was a 27" 2009, I don't remember the exact year, probably was something a bit more recent than a 2009, maybe a 2013) off of an external SSD boot drive. It was basically a kludge of the solution that you did. And it made it faster. I don't recall the RAM, but I certainly upgraded the RAM at some point. I suspect it is the combo of the 12gb RAM and the SSD that is keeping your 2009 running acceptably, but it would grind to a near halt if you only had the 2gb base level that was sold in 2009.

 

[glaze2]

I disagree - you'll more than likely find that RAM isn't what will hold back your Mac down the line; it'll be future OS non-upgradability. I still have 2009 iMacs that are running like a champ, but since the OS is stuck in the past, it is starting to limit app compatibility. But that's almost 14 years later!

I'll say it again: 8GB on the M1 architecture is absolutely fantastic. It handles RAM more efficiently than any computer I've ever used. As for longevity, I picked up my MBA M1 for less than $700 almost two years ago, so at this price point I've already gotten more use than its 'value'. If you really want a machine built for 10 years, you probably aren't looking at an entry-level MBA in the first place.

Sensible.

You're one of the few people here who buys a computer only when you need it.