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M1 Air will be the greatest laptop made in the next 10 years.

dingclancy23

dingclancy23

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 15, 2015
250
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Hear me out.

The acclaimed best laptop ever made was the 2011/2012 MacBook Air. It just had that fit of thin design, good battery life, and acceptable performance for every day use. That second generation MBA nailed it.


And the reason why the 2011 MacBook Air was not topped (until the current M1) for its time, are the same issues that succeeding MBAs after the M1 MacBook Air will have.

The M1 was a big leap from its predecessor in thermals, performance and battery life just like the 2011 MBA (it already had an acceptable SSD, acceptable low power processor, great battery life, and great price)

After that the 2011 MBA has already set a high bar that trying to succeed it brings some compromises that people do not like. Thus, the succeeding laptops did not find that balance.

The 2020 M1 MacBook Air, is the first laptop since the 2011 MBA that found the right balance for many many people and that is why this laptop will go down as one of the great laptops ever made until possibly the 2031 MacBook Air.

The M1 MBA thermals, SSD speed, and price is just right. So the M2 MBA missing the mark is not really because it failed since you cannot diss Apple for trying to make a thinner and more powerful laptop, but because it was just hard to clear a very high bar. This is not a diss on the M2 MBA but an ode on how really good the M1 MBA is and how it will come down as one of the greatest Mac portable of all time.

If anything the lesson here is - do not mess with the wedge!
 
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but isnt the MBA M1 really just the transition device that used existing form factor and threw a new get-away-from-Intel CPU in with not much else different?

a year on, and we get a complete upgrade designwise, improved (bigger) screen. and an SSD that on paper is slower but may not be felt performing real tasks.

the early 2010's MBA were the game changers. iterated a few times to stay fresh.

now we have the M2 version. in the hand, it looks and feels new again.
 
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The M1 MBA is probably the best value in Apple's current line-up of notebooks. You can buy it for $899 with student discount plus a $150 store credit. So, effectively $750, if you plan to get AirPods or some other accessory anyway. It's a great choice for college students. Right now, the M1 MBA is kind of the SE of Apple's notebooks.....kind of like the iPhone SE and the iPad 9th gen. Great value and specs that are more than enough for 90% of the users.

Last week, I was at the Apple store and parents were showing their daughter laptops for college. They went right over to the MBP and offered to buy her whatever she wanted. I just could not help myself (I have kids in college too) and asked what she was studying. She said Psychology. I suggested they take a look at the M1 Air and save about $900. There is no doubt it would get an undergrad psych major through 4 years of college.
 
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Clancy, I like your thinking! The original MBA was a design breakthrough. An amazing device.

Apple messed things up greatly with the butterfly generation. The keyboard was unreliable and they dropped several things that made the original MBA so wonderful — MagSafe, SD card slot, USB ports on opposite sides, etc.

Similarly, the M1 MBA was the latest breakthrough — but for its chip, speed, and stellar battery life. They finally fixed the keyboard. But they did not restore most of the omissions until the 14” & 16” MBPs.

I don't think, however, that we'll have to wait until 2031 for the next breakthrough!

Next year, or soon after, we could see MBAs with the M3 chip in glorious iMac colors, with white frame, MagSafe, greater speed, more power, even longer battery life, larger screen sizes, in-camera, loss of the notch, restoration of the wedge, etc.

The excitement will be back!
 
Saturn007 said:
Clancy, I like your thinking! The original MBA was a design breakthrough. An amazing device.

Apple messed things up greatly with the butterfly generation. The keyboard was unreliable and they dropped several things that made the original MBA so wonderful — MagSafe, SD card slot, USB ports on opposite sides, etc.

Similarly, the M1 MBA was the latest breakthrough — but for its chip, speed, and stellar battery life. They finally fixed the keyboard. But they did not restore most of the omissions until the 14” & 16” MBPs.

I don't think, however, that we'll have to wait until 2031 for the next breakthrough!

Next year, or soon after, we could see MBAs with the M3 chip in glorious iMac colors, with white frame, MagSafe, greater speed, more power, even longer battery life, larger screen sizes, in-camera, loss of the notch, restoration of the wedge, etc.

The excitement will be back!
Click to expand...

I think the main conundrum, is how to get to a balanced thin and light while breaking through that wedge design.

The wedge design had the perfect thermals for the fan-less M1. It had the older design but had a bigger case. The reason why it is the perfect balance is because they were no reinventing the wheel of thinness once again.

Apple is on its quest to make a thinner, lighter, fanless computer with a stronger processor, the M2 did deliver except for the price, but that little more heft by the M1 allowed it to really be cool to the touch at a great price and still great performance.

If the M3 chip comes in the M2 case, I think the MBA will nail it once again. I hope they make this decision.
 
I have a 2015 MBA, and to me it was a computer that was really well balanced. It was powerful enough to do quite a lot, back when dual core was the standard for ultrabooks, and it wasn't too pricey as far as Macs go. They even brought the 11" down to $899! Also Apple put in the best integrated gpu intel had usually. And in its prime retina was still a pricey feature, and didn't seem absolutely necessary... so the screen limitations weren't too bad in the early 2010s.

The M1 Air reaches that same level again it seems. It's just a computer that's good enough in so many regards, you can see the benefits of upgrading past it... but you don't miss out on much sticking with the base model.

The only downsides are the screen again, though nowhere near the ridiculousness of a low dpi TN in 2016, the design is old, the lack of ports and slower performance. But the performance is still great, the screen is a high quality retina, the speakers aren't terrible, and the design is classic.

I pushed my 2015 Air as far as I could, and was still happy with what I got out of it. This M1 I throw everything I can at it and don't even get close to the edge. It'd be great to have more, but I don't need it. There's lots of claims that the Air is just for simple things, and while it excels at simple computer tasks and emphasizes portability... it's still a lot of computer under the hood... people should really try and push these and see what they can do.

Back when the Mac Pro was new, Apple updated Logic Pro to support up to 1000 tracks. The M1 Air is smidge slower than the lowest performing Mac Pro, so I decided to push my Air and see how many Logic tracks it could run. I was able to stably run 800! And even though Logic ran out of cpu power, the rest of the Mac was running without issue. I could load other programs, and go about webpages without any beachballs. That's what I think of the M1 Air as, last generation's Pro computer. You can get more of course, but do you need more?
 
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Mainsail said:
The M1 MBA is probably the best value in Apple's current line-up of notebooks. You can buy it for $899 with student discount plus a $150 store credit. So, effectively $750, if you plan to get AirPods or some other accessory anyway. It's a great choice for college students. Right now, the M1 MBA is kind of the SE of Apple's notebooks.....kind of like the iPhone SE and the iPad 9th gen. Great value and specs that are more than enough for 90% of the users.

Last week, I was at the Apple store and parents were showing their daughter laptops for college. They went right over to the MBP and offered to buy her whatever she wanted. I just could not help myself (I have kids in college too) and asked what she was studying. She said Psychology. I suggested they take a look at the M1 Air and save about $900. There is no doubt it would get an undergrad psych major through 4 years of college.
Click to expand...
Nothing beats Air 1 in price for sure !
 
“The acclaimed best laptop ever made was the 2011/2012 MacBook Air.”

It would help us take you seriously if you got facts right—you’re talking about the Late 2010 MacBook Air. 🙃
 
“Right now, the M1 MBA is kind of the SE of Apple's notebooks.....kind of like the iPhone SE and the iPad 9th gen.”

Yes.

“but isnt the MBA M1 really just the transition device that used existing form factor and threw a new get-away-from-Intel CPU in with not much else different?”

Yes.

“Apple is on its quest to make a thinner, lighter, fanless computer with a stronger processor, the M2 did deliver except for the price.”

It’s just epic inflation. If there hadn’t been the pressure of rising costs, I bet they would have only kept a 100 dollar premium on it.

Expect prices to rise for each new Apple product right now—and for them to preserve a budget option with older tech. Which they did with the M1 MBA.
 
mrmister said:
“Apple is on its quest to make a thinner, lighter, fanless computer with a stronger processor, the M2 did deliver except for the price.”

It’s just epic inflation. If there hadn’t been the pressure of rising costs, I bet they would have only kept a 100 dollar premium on it.

Expect prices to rise for each new Apple product right now—and for them to preserve a budget option with older tech. Which they did with the M1 MBA.
Click to expand...

When Apple releases a new MBA model, the price usually goes up about $200. Then over time, the price drifts back down to the magical $999 as production costs goes down and economies of scale kick-in. I am not talking about processor improvements and spec bumps. I am talking about redesigns that include new enclosures, displays, batteries, and other major components that require new production tooling. Check-out the pricing history. This is nothing new.
 
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Mainsail said:
When Apple releases a new MBA model, the price usually goes up about $200. Then over time, the price drifts back down to the magical $999 as production costs goes down and economies of scale kick-in. I am not talking about processor improvements and spec bumps. I am talking about redesigns that include new enclosures, displays, batteries, and other major components that require new production tooling. Check-out the pricing history. This is nothing new.
Click to expand...
but... people want to panic, meltdown, whine, rant. why should facts, real-world use reports, or, you know, common sense matter? 🤪
 
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Feek said:
Who else remembers when the M1 was announced that a lot of people said they’d avoid it because ‘one should never buy an Apple first gen product’ :D

Wrong!
Click to expand...
probably (i did say 'probably') the same people now warning against the M2 air, and insisting the M1 air is the way to go...
 
dingclancy23 said:
Hear me out.

The acclaimed best laptop ever made was the 2011/2012 MacBook Air. It just had that fit of thin design, good battery life, and acceptable performance for every day use. That second generation MBA nailed it.


And the reason why the 2011 MacBook Air was not topped (until the current M1) for its time, are the same issues that succeeding MBAs after the M1 MacBook Air will have.

The M1 was a big leap from its predecessor in thermals, performance and battery life just like the 2011 MBA (it already had an acceptable SSD, acceptable low power processor, great battery life, and great price)

After that the 2011 MBA has already set a high bar that trying to succeed it brings some compromises that people do not like. Thus, the succeeding laptops did not find that balance.

The 2020 M1 MacBook Air, is the first laptop since the 2011 MBA that found the right balance for many many people and that is why this laptop will go down as one of the great laptops ever made until possibly the 2031 MacBook Air.

The M1 MBA thermals, SSD speed, and price is just right. So the M2 MBA missing the mark is not really because it failed since you cannot diss Apple for trying to make a thinner and more powerful laptop, but because it was just hard to clear a very high bar. This is not a diss on the M2 MBA but an ode on how really good the M1 MBA is and how it will come down as one of the greatest Mac portable of all time.

If anything the lesson here is - do not mess with the wedge!
Click to expand...
Personally, I think the 2020 M1 MacBook Air is 100% the best Mac in the past like 10 years. It can do everything just as fast as, if not faster than my Windows laptop. Yes, I use Windows and macOS, and Linux... More of a MacBook lover. I'm using my 2020 M1 MacBook Air right now. I was able to get it in brand new condition, not even used before for $350. Yes, brand new condition! Not on eBay, and not a scratch or dent on it.
 
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Feek said:
Who else remembers when the M1 was announced that a lot of people said they’d avoid it because ‘one should never buy an Apple first gen product’ :D

Wrong!
Click to expand...

Please, it was an excellent move waiting for the M2 MacBook Air than the M1 MacBook Air.
 
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Very few people would complain if Apple kept the same wedge design for the M2 or M3 MacBook Air. The only thing Apple should have done in that instance is thin out the black frame around the display. It would actually be neat if Apple brought back this "retro" form factor with the display improvements as I just described.
 
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