Longevity of Macbook Air M1?

[scouser75]

Wow! Guys thank you so much for the super helpful replies.

For context, the M1 I'm looking at is a used model in great condition, which I could get for £350 (maybe less).

It's going to be used by my kid, who's 12 right now and if she looks after it, she'll hopefully be using it for the next 5 years at least. All she really will need it for is MS Apps, Safari, Mail etc. Nothing fancy.

I also own a MBP M2, which as my kids would say, I mother ❤️ 😆 And I also own a 2006 Mac Pro, which I used until the power went. It's currently sitting in my office room. I would love to get it fixed, but this would mean taking it in for repairs and leaving it there. Unfortunately, I have a lot of personal info on there and really do not trust the repair shops.

 

[ignatius345]

For context, the M1 I'm looking at is a used model in great condition, which I could get for £350 (maybe less).

Oh, in this case it's a solid buy. Especially if you're not sure how well it will be treated by kids

For some additional context, I was using one up until a year ago for Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop work and it was keeping up surprisingly well. Not a speed demon, but I also wasn't seeing a ton of beachballs or random slowdowns either. I think it'll keep up with the usage you're describing.

It's just a real trooper of a Mac, and of the ~16 Macs I've owned since... well, longer than I care to admit, the M1 Air was easily one of the very best of them.

 

[scouser75]

Oh, in this case it's a solid buy. Especially if you're not sure how well it will be treated by kids

For some additional context, I was using one up until a year ago for Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop work and it was keeping up surprisingly well. Not a speed demon, but I also wasn't seeing a ton of beachballs or random slowdowns either. It's just a real trooper of a Mac, and of the ~16 Macs I've owned since... well, longer than I care to admit, the M1 Air was easily one of the very best of them.

How many Mac since the M1??? 😲

How many have you had in total since your first ever Mac?

 

[ignatius345]

How many have you had in total since your first ever Mac?

MacTracker has these out of order, and I might be off by a model here or there, but:

 

[scouser75]

MacTracker has these out of order, and I might be off by a model here or there, but:

View attachment 2584117

Strewth All Mighty! A hobbyist? Or professional?

 

[capamac]

It'll last as long as you are willing to keep using it.

People are still out there using their Apple IIe and whatnot. Even old software will continue to work as well as it ever did.

It's a machine and as long as you take care of it and are willing to repair it and replace parts, it will probably last a couple centuries if you buy a dozen M1 Airs as donor parts machines along with it

 

[Hajj.david]

Use a USB installer or use an IPSW file and another Mac to do a full restore in DFU mode. There are a lot of threads in this forum about downgrading the OS on Macs.

You dont even need to do that, doesnt the internet recovery mode always provide the oldest OS supported?

 

[tonmischa]

You dont even need to do that, doesnt the internet recovery mode always provide the oldest OS supported?

No.
On Intel Macs there is a special shortcut you can use to install the oldest supported macOS (does not always work reliably, because of expired installer certificates.)
On Apple Silicon Macs you can only install the macOS you currently have installed (or newer).

@Mr_Brightside_@ I also recommend the DFU mode method. (I have done it successfully on 60+ Macs.) Mac will come out like brandnew.
MrMacintosh has very good guides and all the needed ipsw download links.

Restore macOS Firmware on an Apple Silicon M1 Mac + Boot to DFU Mode

Need to install macOS on an Apple Silicon Mac? I will show you how to boot into Boot to DFU Mode + Use Apple Configurator 2 to restore macOS!

mrmacintosh.com

@scouser75 I agree that there is probably (and hopefully) some life left in the M1 MBA. One grain of salt though: Up until now, all the deprecated Macs have been Intel Macs. No Apple Silicon Macs have been announced as unsupported yet. Therefore, the 7+2 year number is based solely on the number of years Intel Macs have been supported.
We will have to wait and see.

 

[Mactech20]

I wouldn't be surpised if the M1s are supported much longer than the typical 7 year support window. Just becasue they are still sold brand new through walmart, along with them being the first part of apple silicon. I could see them supporting the M1 MBA and requiring 16GB of Ram though.

 

[Happy_John]

No.
On Intel Macs there is a special shortcut you can use to install the oldest supported macOS (does not always work reliably, because of expired installer certificates.)
On Apple Silicon Macs you can only install the macOS you currently have installed (or newer).

@Mr_Brightside_@ I also recommend the DFU mode method. (I have done it successfully on 60+ Macs.) Mac will come out like brandnew.
MrMacintosh has very good guides and all the needed ipsw download links.

Restore macOS Firmware on an Apple Silicon M1 Mac + Boot to DFU Mode

Need to install macOS on an Apple Silicon Mac? I will show you how to boot into Boot to DFU Mode + Use Apple Configurator 2 to restore macOS!

mrmacintosh.com

@scouser75 I agree that there is probably (and hopefully) some life left in the M1 MBA. One grain of salt though: Up until now, all the deprecated Macs have been Intel Macs. No Apple Silicon Macs have been announced as unsupported yet. Therefore, the 7+2 year number is based solely on the number of years Intel Macs have been supported.
We will have to wait and see.

I’m very curious to see, when a version of macOS is released that does not „support” M1 chipsets, if there is a technical reason why it is not supported, or if it is an arbitrary cutoff. With Intel Macs, sometime there were valid reasons why support was dropped, but in other cases, it was an arbitrary block.

There’s not enough difference yet in the versions of M* chips so far to justify removing support for the M1 chipsets.

I wonder if we’ll see an equivalent of OCLP ( in spirit, not in specific code) slowly evolving to enable older M* macs to unofficially extend their software upgradability. A lot more difficult now than with intel machines without a T2 chip, but people are always very good at finding workarounds when being told “you can’t do that”.

 

[Howard2k]

I would love to get it fixed, but this would mean taking it in for repairs and leaving it there. Unfortunately, I have a lot of personal info on there and really do not trust the repair shops.

You should have encryption enabled surely? And a backup?

If encrypted I would be fine giving it to them, just don't give them your passwords.
If not encrypted and you have a backup, wipe it before going in (if you can) and restore from backup.

I wouldn't trust them either, but I have FileVault encryption enabled. I might be wrong but I thought it was enabled by default unless you opt-out?

 

[loby]

I’m very curious to see, when a version of macOS is released that does not „support” M1 chipsets, if there is a technical reason why it is not supported, or if it is an arbitrary cutoff. With Intel Macs, sometime there were valid reasons why support was dropped, but in other cases, it was an arbitrary block.

There’s not enough difference yet in the versions of M* chips so far to justify removing support for the M1 chipsets.

I wonder if we’ll see an equivalent of OCLP ( in spirit, not in specific code) slowly evolving to enable older M* macs to unofficially extend their software upgradability. A lot more difficult now than with intel machines without a T2 chip, but people are always very good at finding workarounds when being told “you can’t do that”.

I agree that there is not enough difference yet in the versions of M* to justify NOT supporting them OTHER than Apple just not wanting too and get people to buy. I hope that is not the case...

Anyone know better or more about the architecture of the M Series instead of us "arm chair" critics? Is there a good reason not to support it due to hardware advancements?

The M1 has some graphical issues with macOS Tahoe and my suspicion is that they just DON'T WANT TO SUPPORT IT and want generally people to move on to their next offerings. Again... I hope that is not the case...

This is a M1 MacBook Air thread, but the M series is generally also relevant to this topic. If they support the Air for more than their 7 year, then they can also support the M1 MacBook Pro, Studio and Mini.

Hard decisions Apple has to make in the future..

 

[Apple_Robert]

Hey guys, in terms of software support, how many years do you guys think are left in the M1 MBA? Appreciate this is a "how long is a piece of string" kinda question!

I'm looking to buy an M1 for my kid as don't want to spend to much as chances are they won't look after it properly.

Thanks

Sice your kid is 12 and you have reservations whether or not it will be taken care of properly, I would stick with the used M1. I know several in the thread suggested newer and more expensive but, at this point, I think it wise to go used. In my opinion, have your kid earn money for a newer model if she decides she likes using a Mac.

 

[JamesMay82]

Wow! Guys thank you so much for the super helpful replies.

For context, the M1 I'm looking at is a used model in great condition, which I could get for £350 (maybe less).

It's going to be used by my kid, who's 12 right now and if she looks after it, she'll hopefully be using it for the next 5 years at least. All she really will need it for is MS Apps, Safari, Mail etc. Nothing fancy.

I also own a MBP M2, which as my kids would say, I mother ❤️ 😆 And I also own a 2006 Mac Pro, which I used until the power went. It's currently sitting in my office room. I would love to get it fixed, but this would mean taking it in for repairs and leaving it there. Unfortunately, I have a lot of personal info on there and really do not trust the repair shops.

I’m impressed she’s going to use it! My daughter is 11 and has no interest in computers… she’s happy on her iPad!

 

[Kayak49]

Hey, at Walmart the new M1 8/256 is now $499.00.