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

[CharlesShaw]

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.

It's more likely that the editors know lots of readers will click on this MR article in order to argue about it, LOL.

Perhaps MR readers could sit at tables outside of Walmarts to inform the non-MR comments-reading public about the other options that the forum agreed were better for them.

 

[Royksöpp]

Still beats the crap out of most modern windows laptops.

 

[xiJulian_]

MR readers found a way to be mad about this somehow..

 

[WarmWinterHat]

The M1 Air is still a FANTASTIC machine.

I really, really, wish that Apple kept the wedge shape for the Air.

 

[platinumaqua]

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.

First Core 2 Duo (Merom) models got dropped early at Lion because even though the chip is 64 bit, the EFI (firmware) is 32 bit

 

[cicalinarrot]

This looks like a good deal, but you get half the performance, half the RAM and around 5 less years of OS support (which sometimes just means the Mac will last 5 years less) to save $200. Not a good deal at all.

 

[Doug Jacobs]

I picked one of these up on Amazon refurb for $349, 3 weeks ago. I. was looking for something uber-light to carry around a trade show, and my 16" MacBook Pro didn't fit that use case. At $350 it is a great machine to use in case of a client emergency!

 

[k1121j]

I’d like to say this is a good deal but it’s only cheaper because it’s old tech.

Isn’t the rule a computers value generally drops by 1/2 every 18 months? This thing is like 5 years old and there selling it for more then half of its original price. Not a deal in my eyes.

 

[CIA]

I'm on a M1 Max with 64GB of ram at the moment. If it loses OS support with MacOS 27 I will be right pissed. It's a FINE machine.

 

[chars1ub0w]

Why do they still have these brand new? Haven't they stopped making them?
And look what Walmart says - latest model!

 

[oldmacs]

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

As much as I hope they don’t, Their greed knows no bounds these days…

 

[Neepman]

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

And its still 99% percent of the laptop 99% percent of most would ever need.

 

[Spock]

As much as I hope they don’t, Their greed knows no bounds these days…

They are just now cutting Intel support 5 years after Apple Silicon. I would almost put money on at least 2 more major releases.

 

[mikeschr]

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.

My M1 Air handles everything I throw at it just as well as my newer 16GB Air. You're wrong.

 

[oMc]

I have mine since 2022, for normal office work, it is still a great machine even today (I use mostly Office, R, and other similar stuff).

However, in 2025, if I had to buy a new laptop right now, I’d buy something more recent, just for the sake of future proofing.

 

[KPOM]

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?

You would get security updates until at least September 2028 since they just updated the OS. If it gets macOS 27 then you would be supported until September 2029, but that remains to be seen.

You would still get hardware support for 5 years after they stop selling it new. The m1 is in an interesting spot as Apple stopped selling it in their own stores in March 2024, but still make it new specifically for Walmart, who is not an normal authorized seller, so it’s unclear whether the 5-year clock has started.

If you have the budget, the m4 model is currently on sale for $749 at Amazon (others may match) and will almost certainly be supported for several years longer than the M1. It also has twice the RAM and a faster processor. But if you are sure you don’t need the extra RAM, $549 is a decent entry point. Rumor has it that Apple will be updating the m1 budget MacBook Air with an A18 or A19 chip that would be an upgrade in some respects (faster single core, longer support, maybe 12GB RAM) and potentially a downgrade in other respects (perhaps loss of Thunderbolt/USB 4 support).

 

[KPOM]

Why do they still have these brand new? Haven't they stopped making them?
And look what Walmart says - latest model!
View attachment 2582394

They still make these new specifically for Walmart. It’s the only “new” Mac that Walmart sells. I’m guessing it’s test marketing for the rumored A18/A19 MacBook. The fact that Walmart can still sell a 5 year old base model Mac for $549 that was $999 new is probably encouraging for Apple.

 

[tonmischa]

so there is a chance that it will not support macOS 27 next year.

Joe, could you please share your reasons for this assumption?

 

[NT1440]

As much as I hope they don’t, Their greed knows no bounds these days…

When discussing their support plans after the M series was introduced they explicitly said they wanted to move support to more of an iOS/ipadOS cadence.

What that means is they’ve planned from day one to support the M series LONGER than Intel generations because they now control the whole stack.

 

[Jetscreamer]

How much longer will Apple support M1 devices?

 

[Kayak49]

Dare I ask? Does it come with (argh!) MacOS 26? That would be a deal breaker for me.