Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

norcalsurfer925

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 8, 2022
15
5
Are they clearing old stock of M1 Air units or just as an option for people that cant spend as much? Have they ever done this in the past? Looking for some insight if anyone knows.
 
Understand the existance of the destitute and the education market and compute your query again ...
 
Because Timmy wants to sell the newer model at even higher profit margins.

1657899707971.jpeg
 
yes they've sold downspec'd iMacs for education markets specifically for nearly decades (ie; eMac).

This is both beneficial for business markets and education sector. the M1 is a great employee choice option for those slow moving corporations that don't have any or a small Mac install base. they are ramping up their Mac in business initiatives; https://www.apple.com/business/mac/
 
  • Like
Reactions: planteater
My guess is supply chain. They took over 6 months to catch up to 14" and 16" M1 Pro demand, and M1 Max still has a 2 week lead time where I live. That's unprecedented for Apple. They can't pump out these laptops on the tooling they have quickly enough because of issues around materials resourcing, lockdowns in China and related stuff like global freight being a total mess post-pandemic.
Keeping the M1 Air around at a lower price point, for which Apple already has tooling set up, draws demand away from the M2 Air to try and prevent the same thing happening.

Also agree with the posts above about keeping old models around for education and enterprise consistency. These big organisations want uniform fleets of laptops, and are quite happy to keep buying 4 year old models because they're the same as the thousands they already have and that makes management and deployment easier for them.

But hey, this is Macrumors, so let's get frothing and come up with the crazy money-centered conspiracy theories /s
 
they originally were pricing the M1 relatively low for Apple standards to begin with.
Probably to get as many people on board as possible so their new tech gets momentum.
now the M1 has become their MacBook SE for people who don't want to or simply can't afford Apple's regular premium prices, while the M2 MBA is now their regular MBA

and the M1 is still an awesome machine that i'd actually recommend over the of course improved M2 for many, unless money really is no big concern and you always need to have the latest ech.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira
Speaking of supply chain woes, Apple and the rest really need to pull their stuff out of China and its sphere of influence. They should have regional manufacturing facilities where they're employing people from the same economic system that they're selling into (EU, Asia, Canada, US, etc.) and stop the age-old practice (well, it's been around in its present form since the late 70s/early 80s) of globalized arbitrage. Stop screwing the *people* of China as well as the *people* of (insert whatever country you like here) and then maybe you'll be more worthy of respect. Just sayin'.
 
Looking at iPhones, there are pretty much a model for each price point, and I think Cook wants the same for Macs. And as the M2 just got a large price hike, it makes sense to keep the M1 in the market.

Personally I plan to go for the M1 MBA now the M2 with upgrades are so expensive, and I am sure I am not the only one.
 
I think its because they want to keep some MacBook Air option under $1k for students, for average consumer and M1 MacBook Air is logical choice. I see a lot of hate on MacBook Pro M2, but honestly I see its use case very legitimate especially for companies purchasing fleet of MacBooks for their employees. Also it makes better use as docked laptop or "desktop" if you use laptop with a docking station most of the time and need "more power" at sustained load due to fan included but lower price than M1 Pro 14" If you don't need all the ports or power of the higher end Pro. At that point older chassis is not really much of the concern.
Personally I just got PC laptop few months ago ago so it cooled my appetite for new MacBook but got me more interested in getting new Mac Mini which are not talked much at this point due to new Macbook Air taking center stage. I hope they are not gonna increase price and downgrade SSD otherwise there is no point for me to wait when I can get M1 Mac Mini.
 
Speaking of supply chain woes, Apple and the rest really need to pull their stuff out of China and its sphere of influence. They should have regional manufacturing facilities where they're employing people from the same economic system that they're selling into (EU, Asia, Canada, US, etc.) and stop the age-old practice (well, it's been around in its present form since the late 70s/early 80s) of globalized arbitrage. Stop screwing the *people* of China as well as the *people* of (insert whatever country you like here) and then maybe you'll be more worthy of respect. Just sayin'.
Better be prepared for higher prices then. That argument won't last long when your iPhone costs $3000.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SteveOfTheStow
Looking at iPhones, there are pretty much a model for each price point, and I think Cook wants the same for Macs. And as the M2 just got a large price hike, it makes sense to keep the M1 in the market.

Personally I plan to go for the M1 MBA now the M2 with upgrades are so expensive, and I am sure I am not the only one.
A logical move, and I think given the M1 Air remains a current model that macOS updates will continue for at least an additional year over the 5 that most people would have expected after a discontinuation before this October.

I'd like to think that the same reasoning will apply to the M1 Mini as well and any M2 mini will start with 16/512 config from the get go even if it gets stuck inside the same 'classic' case.
 
Better be prepared for higher prices then. That argument won't last long when your iPhone costs $3000.

It actually can cost a good bit more to offshore things. The cost of bringing products back onshore can get very high to the point of exceeding labor savings. Especially nowadays, transport costs have risen significantly. There’s also dangers that have now been felt from having your entire supply chain centered in one place (China).
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.