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M1 Air still worth it?

aespana

aespana

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 21, 2020
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After the announcement of Sonoma, do you think guys that the M1 is still worth at this moment?

How much will receive new features and also, how will be the performance? How it goes with Ventura?

I'm thinking seriously to get a M1 (mostly because price but also to not get that horrible notch) but a lot of questions comes now with this new Sonora OS.
 
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Get M2 for sure. It's only $100 more. Apple cuts off support based on device launch date, not how long they keep the product on the shelf for.
 
aespana said:
After the announcement of Sonoma, do you think guys that the M1 is still worth at this moment?

How much will receive new features and also, how will be the performance? How it goes with Ventura?

I'm thinking seriously to get a M1 (mostly because price but also to not get that horrible notch) but a lot of questions comes now with this new Sonora OS.
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I keep trying to convince myself to get an M2 Air to replace my M1, but I can't really come up with any great reasons other than "MagSafe is nice" and "the M2 is prettier and comes in nicer colors" (though the 15" is a compelling option now).

My M1 still boots up quickly, runs very smoothly and has absurdly good battery life. Even with 8GB of RAM, I've pushed it to do a bunch of design work I never intended to use it for when I bought it, and it's handled it all incredibly well.
 
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ignatius345 said:
I keep trying to convince myself to get an M2 Air to replace my M1, but I can't really come up with any great reasons other than "MagSafe is nice" and "the M2 is prettier and comes in nicer colors" (though the 15" is a compelling option now).

My M1 still boots up quickly, runs very smoothly and has absurdly good battery life. Even with 8GB of RAM, I've pushed it to do a bunch of design work I never intended to use it for when I bought it, and it's handled it all incredibly well.
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But what if you didn’t already have the m1 air?

Thats the real question… now that they are only priced $100 apart…

I am having the same dilemma. I like the m1 design more. But at 999 still and showing its age its looking less and less like the way to go.
 
I still have an M1 and it doesn't miss a beat - but I only use it for browsing/streaming/emails, nothing intensive. Best laptop I've ever owned.

However if you're buying now, it doesn't make sense to buy the M1 when the M2 is only a little bit extra. I'd only consider an M1 in your position if you're buying second hand/nearly new and get a good discount.
 
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weeener said:
But what if you didn’t already have the m1 air?

Thats the real question… now that they are only priced $100 apart…

I am having the same dilemma. I like the m1 design more. But at 999 still and showing its age its looking less and less like the way to go.
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Definitely the M2. While the ”wedge” design was iconic, the new design is more functional. The larger screen and MagSafe are significant. Battery life is still excellent, plus it likely gets one more future macOS update than the M1 version. Given that they just released the 15” today with the M2, I don’t see the MacBook Air getting the M3 before Spring 2024. Apple needs the 3nm capacity for the iPhone 15.
 
Got mine a month ago worth it imo since it has better cooling and faster storage 20% off too for base
 
weeener said:
But what if you didn’t already have the m1 air?

Thats the real question… now that they are only priced $100 apart…

I am having the same dilemma. I like the m1 design more. But at 999 still and showing its age its looking less and less like the way to go.
Click to expand...
Look for a 3rd party seller like BestBuy or Amazon when they have sales, you can get an M1 for 799 or less.
 
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weeener said:
But what if you didn’t already have the m1 air?

Thats the real question… now that they are only priced $100 apart…

I am having the same dilemma. I like the m1 design more. But at 999 still and showing its age its looking less and less like the way to go.
Click to expand...
True. I hadn't factored in the price drop. Still, if you prefer the M1 design (no notch, tapered front, "classic" MacBook Air shape) I can attest it's still a great laptop. Either way you go, though, you can save $150 or by getting a refurbished one.
 
Just noticed today that they raised the price on the upgrades on new models!

16GB went up from $180 to $200.
1TB drive rose from $360 to $400.

‼️‼️

Oops! I mistakenly looked at Education pricing the other day and regular pricing today. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, “Never mind!”

Also spotted that the refurbished M2 MBA is only $100 more than the refurbished M1…
 
Last edited:
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I have an M1 Air and cannot find a compelling reason to upgrade. Personally though if I was buying one now, I'd probably get an M2. I have an M1 Pro 16" for work and you'll forget the notch is there 30 seconds after you start using it. Not a reason to avoid a laptop.
 
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If buying new I don't think it makes sense to consider anything other than the M2. Second hand/refurbished is where the M1 starts to become more interesting.
 
MrAperture said:
M1 needs to be priced at $799.99 now.
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OK, but it is priced that at Amazon. I’m having decision paralysis. I’m a super lightweight user— this is going to be primarily Zoom, email, opening some pdfs, browsing, watching videos. At home it will usually be docked with an external monitor. I do plan to travel with it, and I read that the M2 feels more streamlined, even though the weight difference is small. Should I get the base M1 at 799 or the M2 at 999 (B&H)?
 
DoubleFlyaway said:
OK, but it is priced that at Amazon. I’m having decision paralysis. I’m a super lightweight user— this is going to be primarily Zoom, email, opening some pdfs, browsing, watching videos. At home it will usually be docked with an external monitor. I do plan to travel with it, and I read that the M2 feels more streamlined, even though the weight difference is small. Should I get the base M1 at 799 or the M2 at 999 (B&H)?
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If doing no upgrades, the 799 m1 air is such a great deal. I bought one from costco and it would make a great travel computer. But in the end i decided 8/250 wouldn’t cut it for me and i returned it. I had the hard drive half full within a week just installing my audio plugins. Once you start paying to upgrade the memory and storage the line gets blurrier.

If i were you I would decide based on which one you like the looks/feel of better, and also consider that the m2 actually has a slower hard drive than the m1 in the 250g base model. With 8g memory you will probably be using some disk swap at some point, and in that situation the m1 will actually be faster than the m2.

If i were just comparing the cheapest base models I’d take the m1 for 799 all day. If i were custom ordering upgraded id probably just go m2 now that its only $100 more.
 
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DoubleFlyaway said:
OK, but it is priced that at Amazon. I’m having decision paralysis. I’m a super lightweight user— this is going to be primarily Zoom, email, opening some pdfs, browsing, watching videos. At home it will usually be docked with an external monitor. I do plan to travel with it, and I read that the M2 feels more streamlined, even though the weight difference is small. Should I get the base M1 at 799 or the M2 at 999 (B&H)?
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Sounds like the M1 is perfect for you. And it’s $200 cheaper.
 
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MrAperture said:
Sounds like the M1 is perfect for you. And it’s $200 cheaper.
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OK, I have literally bought and cancelled the M1 for $799 twice today. Then 20 minutes ago, I found the M2 for $929 in the refurb and applied a $50 gift card to justify my choice by bringing it down to less than $100 more than the M1. :) I‘m sure I would be happy with either computer. At the end of the day, I was tempted by the SLIGHTLY larger screen and the higher brightness more than anything else, because my eyes are terrible. And the Mac nerd in me is excited by the latest form factor
 
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DoubleFlyaway said:
OK, I have literally bought and cancelled the M1 for $799 twice today. Then 20 minutes ago, I found the M2 for $929 in the refurb and applied a $50 gift card to justify my choice by bringing it down to less than $100 more than the M1. :) I‘m sure I would be happy with either computer. At the end of the day, I was tempted by the SLIGHTLY larger screen and the higher brightness more than anything else, because my eyes are terrible. And the Mac nerd in me is excited by the latest form factor
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Wow good catch on the Certified Refurb!
 
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Absolutely still worth it. IMO it is the best all round laptop available on the market. Considering performance, value, size, weight and reliability. It is an amazing machine. Well done Apple!
 
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