MacBook Air With M1 Chip is Now Just $549 at Walmart

[MacRumors]

As part of its Black Friday deals, Walmart is currently selling the five-year-old MacBook Air with the M1 chip for just $549 in the United States.

Walmart began selling the MacBook Air with the M1 chip for $699 in March 2024. The price later dropped to $649, then to $599, and now to $549.

Apple first released the MacBook Air with the M1 chip in November 2020, as one of the first Macs with an Apple silicon chip, instead of an Intel processor. The configuration being sold for $549 includes 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, with Silver and Space Gray color options available. Gold is currently sold out.

These are new MacBook Air units — not refurbished or open box.

Apple discontinued the MacBook Air with the M1 chip last year, after it launched models with the M3 chip, and it has since updated the MacBook Air with the M4 chip. Prior to being discontinued, the model with the M1 chip was being sold for a starting price of $999 brand new, but Amazon sometimes offered it on sale for $899 or less.

While the MacBook Air with the M1 chip is five years old, it is still a capable machine for many average day-to-day tasks. However, it has an older design, and it is the oldest MacBook Air model compatible with the current macOS 26 (aka macOS Tahoe) operating system, so there is a chance that it will not support macOS 27 next year.

Article Link: MacBook Air With M1 Chip is Now Just $549 at Walmart

 

[August West]

Still an awful value for a 5 year old design with a soon to be 5 generation old processor.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

And it will stop getting new OS releases in what, a year, perhaps two?

 

[orangeadrenaline]

M4 are regularly $750. Dumb to buy this old.

 

[TravelsInBlue]

With how bloated macOS is becoming and this only having 8gb of ram, real world experience is probably akin to having a Chromebook with a nice screen.

 

[ab2c4]

As someone new to the Mac world, how much longer would this laptop be supported? Not just OS releases, but I assume after it no longer gets OS releases it would still get security updates for awhile?

 

[CharlesShaw]

And it will stop getting new OS releases in what, a year, perhaps two?

At that price, someone might simply wish to enjoy the classic wedge design and no notch for a couple years. Life is short.

 

[sw1tcher]

8GB memory and 256GB storage is not a good deal. Spend the extra $100 and get the M2 with 16GB / 256GB from Best Buy. Or better yet, a M4 with 16GB / 256GB for $749

 

[NeekonMike]

I probably wouldn't buy it today, but I'm still amazed how good my identical spec mini still is. Hopefully it's the wedge with a reliable keyboard.

 

[jarman92]

Still an awful value for a 5 year old design with a soon to be 5 generation old processor.

People love the design (for some reason) and that 5 generation old processor still beats the pants off probably 90% of the PC laptop market.

 

[pbau]

Should be 499 pre tax.

Hope Apple will support M1 for at least 5 years now.

 

[BeatsByTim]

Still an awful value for a 5 year old design with a soon to be 5 generation old processor.

I'm sure the editors know this, but they are hoping that some suckers will click the affiliate link not realizing that it's that old.

 

[bunce66]

M1 is a bit too old.

 

[Thisismattwade]

Still love my (base) M1 MBA.

 

[snipr125]

If they sold these in the UK for the equivalent amount ($549=£416), would seriously consider grabbing one to replace my 2015 MBP. I only need a basic Mac to do tasks I cant do on my M4 iPP + MKB which ironically is my actual main 'laptop'.

 

[Elwe]

Options, people. Options. While many reading this site see this as a poor value given the options "just" one or two hundred dollars more, there are many people for who that amount of money is significant; and for who this model matches the planned use well enough.

What I think some posters here want may (or may not) be served by Apple's rumor new MacBook model. But even that new entry hasn't been rumored to be $549.

 

[ducknalddon]

If they sold these in the UK for the equivalent amount ($549=£416), would seriously consider grabbing one to replace my 2015 MBP. I only need a basic Mac to do tasks I cant do on my M4 iPP + MKB which ironically is my actual main 'laptop'.

You have to add VAT for UK prices so it would come out at £499.

 

[TruthAboveAllElse]

I'm sure the editors know this, but they are hoping that some suckers will click the affiliate link not realizing that it's that old.

The article mentions the possibility of it only getting one more generation of OS updates.

 

[seek3r]

Great Asahi linux machine (I mean that seriously, if you want a fast ARM Linux laptop this is probably the best deal out there)

 

[xraydoc]

Apple would be crazy to drop M1 support for macOS 27!

 

[dr_brewer]

And it will stop getting new OS releases in what, a year, perhaps two?

My money is on the M1 series getting 9+ years of software updates, up there with the generation of Core 2 processors at the second phase of the PPC to Intel transition. I could be wrong but it is difficult to imagine what would motivate deprecation since the hardware requirements for anything but Apple Intelligence are more or less static. There may be a wave of ARMv8 deprecations in several years (beyond 2030-2032) but I'm expecting the full M1 lineup to get macOS 30.

 

[MacLawyer]

It would be an ok deal with 16 GB of memory and a $499 sticker.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Jeebus ... Even I'm getting tempted just for shiggles & gits.

 

[turbineseaplane]

You flat out will not find a better brand new laptop at this price -- even when considering the base RAM/SSD

 

[Populus]

People love the design (for some reason) and that 5 generation old processor still beats the pants off probably 90% of the PC laptop market.

The problem though, is not the capabilities of the M1 chip, but the planned obsolescence. This chip will probably get two to three more macOS releases, and then nothing. Also, some new features will start needing an M2 or M3 to work. And with a heavier and more resource intensive macOS, the M1 will start to feel sluggish. That may not be the case now, but it probably will.

The problem is not the M1 chip, which is an impressive piece of silicon. Is Apple’s software and their push for you to get a new Mac.

I wouldn’t get anything older than an M4 nowadays, and preferably, I’d wait for the whole M5 lineup -including the Air- as it’s one of the biggest jumps in GPU and machine learning ever. And absolutely, nothing with less than 16GB of RAM.