This is a perfect description. I think the thing that impresses me most is what you get for $1000.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacBook Air Drives 6.5 Million Apple Laptop Shipments in Q3 2021
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think it'd be nice if they were to continue with the base version of the current model, perhaps rebranded as "SE", when the new M2 Air comes along, at the kind of prices you suggest...
But who knows...
Had 2013 MBA 13 (8gb / 256gb) and replaced it with base MBA M1. Overall very happy, but i wished I had gone with 16gb model and wish the M1 MBA had magsafe.
This Air with 8 GB and 256 GB storage for $799 when M2 Air launched would be very tempting for mass market.
If they keep the M1 base as an educational choice for cheap like the iMac 21" they did for some time that might also be smart.
In a couple months your Windows Desktop may be in your closet collecting dust. That's what happened to me back in 2017 when I got my first Mac.Apple Silicon got me to buy my first Mac... an M1 Macbook Air 16GB/1TB
It'll be my travel computer. Lightweight... plenty powerful... incredible battery life... I can charge it with a tiny USB-C charger... no fans... etc.
I'm not leaving my big honkin' Windows desktop though. I'm still happy in that world.
But this is the first Mac that ever got me curious. Good job Apple.
That's true.
The M1 is the "slowest" Apple Silicon chip that will ever exist.
And it's still amazing! So yeah... I can see the M1 MBA remaining in the product lineup for a long time.
Apple could keep the classic silver M1 model at $799 when they launch the new colorful M2 models at $999. That would be wild.
Even grading on a curve, this is by far the best Mac laptop I've ever owned. Practically triple the battery life of its immediate Intel predecessor. Good keyboard, sturdy build, nice screen, surprisingly good speakers, dead silent, very snappy performance -- all for an extremely competitive price. I honestly can't think of much I'd change here.
4GB RAM is suicide considering even iPhones have more RAM.
Considering that the M1 actually can outperform even intel's top mobile chips, I don't even mind having an A12Z based Macbooks. I mean right now, only the top intel i7 11th gen can somewhat go toe to toe with the M1. But in reality, intel mostly sell i5 or lower, or even Pentium or Celeron. The A12 can mop the floor with them. I wouldn't mind the same Macbook Air but with an A12 for $699.
But I doubt Apple will want to sell Macs for less than $1000 now. And you're right, from Apple's perspective, if you cannot afford a Mac, Apple wants you to buy an iPad instead.
The M2 Air will directly replace the M1 MBP. The M1 Air will remain in the lineup as an "SE" option, with or without rebranding + design tweaks. The M1 Air is already $899 at education price. Apple won't go any lower.
The results are not very impressive.
Apple had a 10% yearly growth. If one considers that, in Q3 2020, potential customers were expecting the new Apple silicon models to be released, while in Q3 2021, they had the low-end (and presumably highest selling) Mac laptops and desktops for sale, the results are not great.
The industry as a whole had an 8% growth, so Apple was only slightly higher, which I would say is a lackluster result considering the big change the M-series processor should represent. The Mac business is not growing as it could, and I suppose it never will if the prices are kept in the same levels. Dell had a 50% growth, which is much more impressive.
Apple had a 10% yearly growth. If one considers that, in Q3 2020, potential customers were expecting the new Apple silicon models to be released, while in Q3 2021, they had the low-end (and presumably highest selling) Mac laptops and desktops for sale, the results are not great.
The industry as a whole had an 8% growth, so Apple was only slightly higher, which I would say is a lackluster result considering the big change the M-series processor should represent. The Mac business is not growing as it could, and I suppose it never will if the prices are kept in the same levels. Dell had a 50% growth, which is much more impressive.
True... but what were those Dells?
Were they plastic Inspirons with Pentium processors and dim blurry 1366x768 screens?
Were they Chromebooks?
It's all about perspective.
Apple's laptops can be found on-sale for $900. Their normal price is $1,000. And that's the starting price. Their average price is actually higher.
So are we really gonna break out the champagne for Dell and their $249 laptops?
I'm confused, is this the old model (over a year old) that is flying off the shelves, or the new M1X model with MagSafe charging?
I was wondering about that. Those are some crazy numbers for Dell if true.
That's a valid way of looking at it for sure. There's a lot of us out here that are impressed with the new M1 line-up but have some concerns because we also have to run Windows.
No MX Mac for me until the day comes that I can run an ARM version of Windows, and it fully supports Office, without any compromises. I can barely use Office for the Mac now because of how they crippled the developer tools.
Every once in a while a product comes out that is just about perfect in every way at the time. (Makes all the right compromises.) MacBook Air M1 is that for me. Also I felt the same way about iPhone 5.
Hard to not be interested in that product. It has essentially the same power as the M1 MacBook Pro (original 13"), for less money, it far outgunned most consumer laptops of similar price (Processor speed clearly) and outdoes the 16" later I9 Intel models for much less money for many tasks.
Was hard for me to decide between that and the M1 when I got my 13". Still happy with my decision, but
Was hard for me to decide between that and the M1 when I got my 13". Still happy with my decision, but
Just bought one myself from BB. I had a 2012 MBA which I loved. Then upgraded to a 2015 MBP which was ok too, but missed the tapered form factor. BB has them $100 off + $360 gift card for trading in an iPhone 11 + $25 off from amex + 1% rebate from Rakuten. Great deal!
The base model M1 MBA, costing $899 for college students, is an absolutely outstanding machine.
I opted for the model with 16gb ram and 1TB SSD. It's more powerful (for my use cases) and runs quieter than the early 2020 Intel quad core MBP it replaced.
I opted for the model with 16gb ram and 1TB SSD. It's more powerful (for my use cases) and runs quieter than the early 2020 Intel quad core MBP it replaced.
Last edited:
I tempted to get one. I currently use a Google Pixelbook from 2018 as my 'laptop'. It's good enough for my needs but battery life is becoming worse. I don't mind Chrome OS but I miss Mac OS. I also have a MBP 2013 but I dropped it and the screen is cracked. I just have it as a remote Mac on my gaming TV. I can't install Monterey on it since Apple dropped support for it.
I think I'll wait for the next MB Air though next time I see a $799 MB Air - I might jump on it. Microcenter had a store only sale price a couple of weeks ago and these sold out fast.
I think I'll wait for the next MB Air though next time I see a $799 MB Air - I might jump on it. Microcenter had a store only sale price a couple of weeks ago and these sold out fast.
In the short-term, the Mac business will no doubt continue to experience its best ever growth. With everything done in the last year and with the rumored MacBook Air redesign with M2 chip, larger iMac and Mac Pro with Apple silicon forthcoming, Apple is reinvigorating their entire Mac lineup to a level I don't think has ever been seen before. Hardware-wise, these are/will be extremely impressive and I think will pressure the rest of the industry to focus more on performance per watt. In about year when Apple's done with their 2 year transition, it's going to be absolutely bonkers to look at their Mac lineup then versus their Intel lineup right before the transition started.
For the end user, the benefits are already on display. For both casual, light load simple task users, to the performance intensive creators and artists. And it's only going to keep getting better.
The question I have is how are developers going to respond over the long term? Are the hardware advancements significant enough or represent enough of a paradigm shift that they're going to generate increased developer interest? The Mac is no doubt the best machine for a lot of workflows and these latest Macs are the epitome of that. But what about everything else that as of now and for a long time, always been isolated to the PC? Is this an opportunity for some of those workflows to start to be enabled on the Mac? Or is their still enough missing or still not enough incentives that many developers will continue to pass?
I think that is what is going to ultimately decide if the long term growth for the Mac is significant or just modest. The short term growth will represent the demand for increased power and efficiency from users with existing Mac workflows. But will new workflows be unlocked? I guess we'll see. But with Apple's mixed and sometimes disappointing track record with developers on the iOS, iPadOS, etc. side of things, I'm not entirely confident there will be a significant difference on the Mac side of things.
If I had to pick one thing I wish Apple would put more focus into and become much better at, it would be incentivizing developers on all their platforms to do even better work. Not that they're aren't already many great apps, but I think in general there is a lot of potential left on the table. Whether it be frustrations with App Store policies, lock-in, or whatever, it feels like often the incredible hardware Apple makes too often gets under utilized. I just hope this isn't the case with this new era of Macs.
For the end user, the benefits are already on display. For both casual, light load simple task users, to the performance intensive creators and artists. And it's only going to keep getting better.
The question I have is how are developers going to respond over the long term? Are the hardware advancements significant enough or represent enough of a paradigm shift that they're going to generate increased developer interest? The Mac is no doubt the best machine for a lot of workflows and these latest Macs are the epitome of that. But what about everything else that as of now and for a long time, always been isolated to the PC? Is this an opportunity for some of those workflows to start to be enabled on the Mac? Or is their still enough missing or still not enough incentives that many developers will continue to pass?
I think that is what is going to ultimately decide if the long term growth for the Mac is significant or just modest. The short term growth will represent the demand for increased power and efficiency from users with existing Mac workflows. But will new workflows be unlocked? I guess we'll see. But with Apple's mixed and sometimes disappointing track record with developers on the iOS, iPadOS, etc. side of things, I'm not entirely confident there will be a significant difference on the Mac side of things.
If I had to pick one thing I wish Apple would put more focus into and become much better at, it would be incentivizing developers on all their platforms to do even better work. Not that they're aren't already many great apps, but I think in general there is a lot of potential left on the table. Whether it be frustrations with App Store policies, lock-in, or whatever, it feels like often the incredible hardware Apple makes too often gets under utilized. I just hope this isn't the case with this new era of Macs.
When the rumored redesigned M2 MacBook Air is released, I'm curious if Apple would consider keeping the legacy design M1 MacBook Air available at a lower price. I know historically Apple hasn't done this with Macs. But with Apple now doing this across pretty much every other product category (I mean they're now doing it with Airpods keeping the gen 2's around) and that Apple is now in control of the chips in the Mac, I would not be surprised if they did this. Introduce a new MacBook Air with redesign and M2 chip, but rebrand it as just MacBook, and keep the legacy M1 MacBook Air around for a while to catch that low end.
He's right.
Last year Q3 Dell sold 8 million units. I looked it up.
This year Q3 they sold 12 million units.
That's the 50% increase.
But there was a lot going on last year. Maybe Dell got hit particularly hard last year with Covid. Plus they're always in direct competition with Lenovo and HP. All three of them battle each other... up one year and down the next. It's fluid.
And... what models are we talking about? Cheap plastic $300 Inspiron laptops? Or $2,000 XPS laptops?
If they told me Dell's Chromebooks drove that 50% increase... I wouldn't be too impressed.
One thing's for sure... I doubt Dell will have another 50% growth next year.
Same here. No nits or complaints. And a joy to use every time I open it up.
Untill Apple decide that it is time for you to upgrade.
The cool thing about having Bootcamp available was that the computer could still be used with the latest windows for years to come even when Apple pulled the plug.