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Upgrade mba m1 air to m2 mba? Net cost $339

A

aneftp

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 28, 2007
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It’s no sales taxes (Florida) next couple of weeks

I can trade in my 2020 mba m1 for 2022 mba m2 base configuration for $339 net

I know it’s not the same as me trading in my m1 Mac mini for m2 mac min for net $95 ($499 education discount-$305 trade in plus $100 gift card back to school promo)

But it’s $999-510 (trade in) (plus $150 apple gift card) net is $339

I just want a new form factor and obviously the battery will be 2 years newer

I’m a basic user. Don’t need anything fancy but I like my gadgets and don’t keep old computers around

What are people’s thought.

This is more of a luxury purchase. I don’t need it. But I just like updated equipment.

I don’t see m3 MacBook Air for at least another 7-8 months. Just my opinion.
 
I would say it depends on your M1 battery condition as it may become an expense if you need to change it later. Anything above 90% (from system settings/battery/battery health/i) is fine but if it's lower, you may consider upgrading the laptop now.
 
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aneftp said:
It’s no sales taxes (Florida) next couple of weeks

I can trade in my 2020 mba m1 for 2022 mba m2 base configuration for $339 net

I know it’s not the same as me trading in my m1 Mac mini for m2 mac min for net $95 ($499 education discount-$305 trade in plus $100 gift card back to school promo)

But it’s $999-510 (trade in) (plus $150 apple gift card) net is $339

I just want a new form factor and obviously the battery will be 2 years newer

I’m a basic user. Don’t need anything fancy but I like my gadgets and don’t keep old computers around

What are people’s thought.

This is more of a luxury purchase. I don’t need it. But I just like updated equipment.

I don’t see m3 MacBook Air for at least another 7-8 months. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
It’s your call, whether $339 is worthy for minor upgrade.
 
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I would disagree about the minor upgrade. The M2 design is way better and more modern. The screen on the M2 is lovely and brighter. Plus you get a few extra pixels and way thinner bezels. You're getting mag safe as leaving both USB-C ports free. The webcam is 1080p rather than 720p. The speakers are better too and if you wanted to use fancy headphones, the 3.5mm jack on the M2 supports high-impedance headphones.

The M2 MacBook Air has quick charge, provided you have the right power brick. You can get a 50% charge in 30 minutes and the battery is slightly bigger which lasts longer.

The base model M2 has one extra GPU core over the M1 too - not sure that it would make a difference.

The only thing I would mention, only because everyone seems to loose their minds over this is if you get the entry level 256GB SSD model, then the performance is going to be slower than the M1 due to the use of only one 256GB NAND package instead of 2x128GB packages. Personally I think this is a none issue that people are making way more of a deal out of than necessary. For the use case you've described, I really wouldn't worry.

Hope this helps
 
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Absolutely a good idea. Not because of the new design or even the M2. Both devices feel similarly snappy and the M2 base model isn't even all around faster, it's got a 50% slower SSD when writing data. But you'll get a new warranty and battery.

I see it sort of like a $339 maintenance fee every 2-3 years that makes sure you always get the full battery life, the latest updates, and expensive defects become more unlikely as you replace hardware very early before it can even really start aging.

It's still rather expensive considering you only get very limited storage and memory, but if it suits your needs and you just want to be on the latest model and enjoy the benefits of the latest generation design, you will benefit more from this upgrade than someone who just wants something that works and doesn't care whether the screen is a tiny bit brighter and has a notch, or if the battery lasts more than 10 hours, and so on.

During the Intel era I kept replacing my Macs every year just so I can be the first to get the new unibody design, the first to use a retina screen, the first to have a force trackpad and so on. Back then the differences were pretty big, especially oing from a terrible TN panel to retina was worth every penny. But...

Ever since M1 I decided to just keep my Mac as long as possible, because we now have very solid designs with plenty good display panels and more performance than I'll ever need. There is nothing I'd get out of a yearly replacement. Battery life is also so much better than on Intel that I won't want to replace the battery early on anyways. Mine's starting to trend down towards the 80% replacement threshold and it's still better than the battery of any other laptop I've ever had before.
 
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Saturn007 said:
How will you feel if you buy the M2 13” MBA and the M3 13” MBA comes out in September or October, as little as six weeks away?!
Click to expand...
The performance bump will be trivial, or nothing, for most users. I can only type so fast on a keyboard, my internet connection is only so fast, I can only move the cursor so fast in Photoshop. I don't do big processes that take hours such as rendering 4K video. Those that process large 4K videos will be using bigger machines. The only thing I do that involves large processes is exporting out of Lightroom. Exporting a couple thousand images only takes 3 minutes on my M2 Air. I seriously doubt that improving that by 10 seconds is going to matter.

$339 is a good upgrade price. I say go for it and be happy. If the rumored M3 does come out, continue to be happy. If your current machine does the job, the upgrade will do the job.
 
raythompsontn said:
The performance bump will be trivial, or nothing, for most users. I can only type so fast on a keyboard, my internet connection is only so fast, I can only move the cursor so fast in Photoshop. I don't do big processes that take hours such as rendering 4K video. Those that process large 4K videos will be using bigger machines. The only thing I do that involves large processes is exporting out of Lightroom. Exporting a couple thousand images only takes 3 minutes on my M2 Air. I seriously doubt that improving that by 10 seconds is going to matter.

$339 is a good upgrade price. I say go for it and be happy. If the rumored M3 does come out, continue to be happy. If your current machine does the job, the upgrade will do the job.
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by that same argument the OP should just stick with the m1 then since the performance bump from m1 to m2 is even less so lol
 
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Too minor a spec update to be worth the money. Hold your fire for another year and do the swap to 2024 MB Air for about a $450 upgrade price. Also I would not be buying a Mac in 2023 that only has 8gb of RAM. I thought the switch would happen this year, but I know that something higher than 8gb RAM will become the baseline at some point. Since I thought it would happen with the 15" MB Air and was wrong, I guess I think it will happen in 2024. I will be right eventually!
 
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ilikewhey said:
by that same argument the OP should just stick with the m1 then since the performance bump from m1 to m2 is even less so
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There are other upgrades to the M2 over the M1. A slightly bigger screen, narrower bezels, better camera, better speakers, two USB-C when using the MagSafe charger, ability to charge faster. The notch, good or bad. One downside is the loss of the kewl wedge shape.

Just my opinion. I would take the jump. The above items are worth it to me. But to each their own. I know people still using an iPhone 6 and they are happy.
 
raythompsontn said:
There are other upgrades to the M2 over the M1. A slightly bigger screen, narrower bezels, better camera, better speakers, two USB-C when using the MagSafe charger, ability to charge faster. The notch, good or bad. One downside is the loss of the kewl wedge shape.

Just my opinion. I would take the jump. The above items are worth it to me. But to each their own. I know people still using an iPhone 6 and they are happy.
Click to expand...
lol if the m1 mba is a iphone 6, then the m2 mba is a iphone 6s. but to each their own, i know people still using iphone 6s and they are happy.
 
raythompsontn said:
The performance bump will be trivial, or nothing, for most users.
Click to expand...

Oh, a sweeping assertion… love those! Glad your Magic 8 ball lets you see the future so definitively! 🎱 By many accounts, the gains *could be* substantial, not trivial, and for many, if not most users. ✅ 💯

Typing, internet connection, and moving the cursor are trivial examples, and irrelevant to the impact of a processor upgrade. Very few people in the history of Power PC, Intel, and M-series upgrades have ever touted an improved CPU because it would speed up keyboard input, lead to faster internet, or quicker Photoshop cursor movement! 🙈 😁

We're talking instead about speedier video processing, number crunching, long document handling (e.g., indexing, pagination if there are photos and charts), graphics processing, game playing, simulations, etc.

But we are also talking about potential major improvements in battery life something that matters to most laptop users. That is definitely not something “trivial”…

Yet, none of us knows, for sure, at the moment!

So, here's the key point — it makes little sense to buy now when a new model could be only six to eight weeks away. Waiting a short while to find out is a smart move. A potential buyer will find out if an M3 13” MBA is being released and, if so, learn just how big a difference M3 will make. That clarity, in turn, makes for an informed judgment and better buying decision!
 
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Saturn007 said:
We're talking instead about speedier video processing, number crunching, long document handling (e.g., indexing, pagination if there are photos and charts), graphics processing, game playing, simulations, etc.
Click to expand...
For most people video editing is minor as most don’t produce videos longer than 5 minutes. A spreadsheet calculating in 0.05 seconds faster is not going to be noticed. Nor is indexing a long document in 3.2 seconds versus 3.5 seconds. People that render lots of videos, and long videos, are going to be using something with more storage and speed over a MacBook Air.

For most people noticing the difference in speed for the majority of their tasks between a M1 versus a fully loaded Mac studio is not going to happen. The performance increase for most people, even if the speed doubled, is going to be trivial for most of their tasks. Going from a M1 to an M2 I did not notice any difference in speed. Going from a M2 to M3 would be the same.

What people will notice is a better display, longer battery life, better keyboard (although that is subjective), better WiFi speeds and less weight.
 
OP here. I went to the store and got the mba m2 base 256gb/8gb

$510 trade in with the $150 apple gift card
$999 education store discount

No sales taxes Florida no state sales taxes this week

so really $489 charged out the door. Plus $150 gift card I will use the $150 card for new iPhone 15 pro max when it comes out and trade in my 14 pro max 128gb base.

I figure this is new model. Battery is new.

My m1 mba base model I got for $750 2 years ago no sales taxes.

Yes. Performance wise very little difference but I get a newer model with newer style.

Just personal preference
 
aneftp said:
OP here. I went to the store and got the mba m2 base 256gb/8gb

$510 trade in with the $150 apple gift card
$999 education store discount

No sales taxes Florida no state sales taxes this week

so really $489 charged out the door. Plus $150 gift card I will use the $150 card for new iPhone 15 pro max when it comes out and trade in my 14 pro max 128gb base.

I figure this is new model. Battery is new.

My m1 mba base model I got for $750 2 years ago no sales taxes.

Yes. Performance wise very little difference but I get a newer model with newer style.

Just personal preference
Click to expand...
I think it's overall a nice rounded update. Brighter screen, more colour accurate, thinner bezels, better camera, MagSafe charging etc. Ive had mine for about a year now and still love using it and the battery life has been fantastic!
 
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Having tried both but kept neither because of eye strain/headache issues, I preferred the form factor and typing experience of the M1.
 
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