Anyone think getting a brand new M1 MacBook Air (base model 8GB RAM 256GB storage) is still a good buy in 2024?
EDIT: I’ll mostly use it for basic stuff like editing documents, PowerPoint, streaming, and maybe a little photo and video editing now and then.
If anyone owns the base model, please share your thoughts! Thanks!
I did, and I’m really happy with it.
Ren said:
I did, and I’m really happy with it.
How’s your experience so far? Does it meet your needs? Any downsides?
Ren said:
I did, and I’m really happy with it.
How’s your experience so far? Does it meet your needs? Any downsides?
It’s been great. No problems for what I need—just simple stuff like word processing, browsing, music, and some video editing. Glad I didn’t go for the M3, not worth the extra money for what I do.
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
That’s a really good price. I’ve had one since 2021 and it’s still fast. I’d recommend it over the M2 or M3 because it’s cheaper and still performs well.
I use it for office work, light photo editing, and even run a virtual machine, and it handles all of that well.
Battery life is down to 83% after three years of heavy use, but it still gets me through a full day. The battery life is better than a lot of other laptops out there.
The only downside is you can’t upgrade the RAM or storage. 256GB is pretty small, but if you don’t work with big files a lot, it’s manageable. The 8GB RAM is still fine for me.
Oren said:
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
That’s a really good price. I’ve had one since 2021 and it’s still fast. I’d recommend it over the M2 or M3 because it’s cheaper and still performs well.
I use it for office work, light photo editing, and even run a virtual machine, and it handles all of that well.
Battery life is down to 83% after three years of heavy use, but it still gets me through a full day. The battery life is better than a lot of other laptops out there.
The only downside is you can’t upgrade the RAM or storage. 256GB is pretty small, but if you don’t work with big files a lot, it’s manageable. The 8GB RAM is still fine for me.
Do you think Apple will keep supporting it? I’m deciding between the M1 and M2, but I’m worried about how long it’ll stay usable, especially since it came out in 2020.
Shannon said:
Oren said:
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
That’s a really good price. I’ve had one since 2021 and it’s still fast. I’d recommend it over the M2 or M3 because it’s cheaper and still performs well.
I use it for office work, light photo editing, and even run a virtual machine, and it handles all of that well.
Battery life is down to 83% after three years of heavy use, but it still gets me through a full day. The battery life is better than a lot of other laptops out there.
The only downside is you can’t upgrade the RAM or storage. 256GB is pretty small, but if you don’t work with big files a lot, it’s manageable. The 8GB RAM is still fine for me.
Do you think Apple will keep supporting it? I’m deciding between the M1 and M2, but I’m worried about how long it’ll stay usable, especially since it came out in 2020.
Even if Apple stops supporting it, there’ll probably be ways to install new macOS versions anyway.
The only issue might be the battery in 7 years, but you’ll probably be able to replace it since this model is pretty popular. For office stuff and browsing, I think it’ll still be fine in 7 years. My partner’s PC from 2015 still works fine, so I expect the same for the M1 MacBook.
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
Where did you find it for 32k? That’s a solid deal if it’s brand new.
Oren said:
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
Where did you find it for 32k? That’s a solid deal if it’s brand new.
There’s a sale at Beyond the Box for Mastercard credit cards.
Wylder said:
Oren said:
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
Where did you find it for 32k? That’s a solid deal if it’s brand new.
There’s a sale at Beyond the Box for Mastercard credit cards.
Are you sure? I’m thinking about buying one tomorrow too, haha.
Moniquepal1 said:
It really depends. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage feel a bit low these days, but the M1 chip is still strong for most light to medium tasks. You can definitely handle things like PowerPoint, spreadsheets, emails, basic editing, Canva, and browsing just fine.
I’ve seen it go for around 37k, which I think is a good price for what you’re getting. But personally, I’d rather go for a used Thinkpad T14 for the upgradability and longer lifespan.
I agree, 8GB and 256GB aren’t great at this point, but it’s on sale for 32k brand new right now. That’s a deal, right?
That’s definitely a steal. The build quality and specs are way better than most brand-new Windows laptops at that price.
For what you need, the MacBook Air is a good choice. The M1 chip is really solid.
I just bought one last month. No regrets so far.