Sanity check - should I upgrade from my M1 MBA?

[Bazza1]

Why? We can always find 'rationales' for upgrading for the newest, shiniest and most sparkly, but your self-professed needs don't really justify the move.

For my part, I moved from a MacBook Air to a M2 Mini (when that was new) and a SOHO desktop situation. The argument for myself was, yes, the additional speed and capabilities - but really, it's real rationale was acceptance that these old eyes would appreciate a larger screen. And rather than clamshell the Air, why not upgrade the Mac itself at the same time as getting the screen?

And the MacBook? I still have it for mobile work and travel and - full disclosure - its a 2017 Air Intel running Monterey, and is still capable of running a significant portion of the software I need.

 

[Jeeve Stubbs]

I currently have a base M1 MBA (8/256) which honestly still suits my needs just fine as my personal computer needs are fairly basic and I have a company provided (Windows) computer that I use for work. A couple things has me thinking about upgrading now though:
1. tariffs and the associated trade wars could make computers significantly more expensive very soon
2. 8 GB of RAM could start to become a liability soon enough and the M1 may only have a little over a year of software updates ahead
3. Resale value of M1 MBAs is still not too bad so I could recoup a decent portion of the upgrade by selling my M1

Am I overthinking this? What would you do?

Also while I'm at it there's currently a pretty good deal on refurbished M3 MBAs with 16 GB of RAM on Apple Store website. Would you buy an M3 now or would you pay extra for the M4 for the longest possible support?

Unless money isn't an issue for you, I would say that if your current device still suits your needs, keep it.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

I currently have a base M1 MBA (8/256) which honestly still suits my needs just fine as my personal computer needs are fairly basic and I have a company provided (Windows) computer that I use for work. A couple things has me thinking about upgrading now though:
1. tariffs and the associated trade wars could make computers significantly more expensive very soon
2. 8 GB of RAM could start to become a liability soon enough and the M1 may only have a little over a year of software updates ahead
3. Resale value of M1 MBAs is still not too bad so I could recoup a decent portion of the upgrade by selling my M1

Am I overthinking this? What would you do?

Also while I'm at it there's currently a pretty good deal on refurbished M3 MBAs with 16 GB of RAM on Apple Store website. Would you buy an M3 now or would you pay extra for the M4 for the longest possible support?

My wife had an M2 MBA with 8/256.
It worked "fine", but she noticed slowdowns when using Chrome heavily.
We traded it in for $450 and bought the M4 MBA 16/512 and she's much happier with it.

It made sense with that level of trade-in value for us.

 

[Eric_WVGG]

I currently have a base M1 MBA (8/256) which honestly still suits my needs just fine as my personal computer needs are fairly basic and I have a company provided (Windows) computer that I use for work. A couple things has me thinking about upgrading now though:
1. tariffs and the associated trade wars could make computers significantly more expensive very soon
2. 8 GB of RAM could start to become a liability soon enough and the M1 may only have a little over a year of software updates ahead
3. Resale value of M1 MBAs is still not too bad so I could recoup a decent portion of the upgrade by selling my M1

Am I overthinking this? What would you do?

Also while I'm at it there's currently a pretty good deal on refurbished M3 MBAs with 16 GB of RAM on Apple Store website. Would you buy an M3 now or would you pay extra for the M4 for the longest possible support?

The M1 is a hell of a great computer, but the M2+ have such better screens that if I was on the fence, that would push me over.

And the added RAM is such a bonus

 

[Luna Murasaki]

I have not recently been checking for security update to my 2016 MBP running Monterey because I bought an M2 MBP a while back. But I remember that the 2016 MBP was still receiving regular security updates at the seven year mark.

Regular patches doesn't mean everything is getting patched, or that it is getting patched as quickly:

PSA: Apple isn’t actually patching all the security holes in older versions of macOS

Big Sur got a fix 234 days before Catalina did, although both are supported.

arstechnica.com

This is one of several articles I had read in the past about it. I realize it's nearly 5 years old at this point but I haven't heard news of anything changing for the better since and until I do, I don't personally feel comfortable running old releases of Apple's OSs for very long.

 

[Acronyc]

The M1 is still great, and I think you just have to think if the upgrade makes sense for you. I'm of the view that buying a new Mac just because you want it is fine if you can afford it and it's not going to cause you any big problems.

My wife was using a 16/256 M1 since release. It's been fine for her and she probably could use it for some more years, but she has been complaining about running out of storage. I've been thinking for months to give her an upgrade, but waited for the M4 release so I could get her a discounted M3 with higher specs.

I ended up getting her a refurb M3 from Apple with 24GB of RAM and the 512 SSD for about $400 cheaper than the same config M4. She doesn't need any of the advancements of the M4 over the M3 and completely loves her new Air (I also like the Starlight color more than I thought I would). I sold her M1 for around $550, and the upgrade cost was easily something I could afford and was worth it for me.

If the upgrades are worth it to you and it doesn't cause financial problems, why not! Otherwise, I imagine the M1 will last a while longer for your use case.

 

[bodonnell202]

Thanks for all the thoughts folks. I ended up pulling the trigger on an Apple refurbished M3 16/512 GB which should probably last me into the 2030s...