Is the M1 MacBook Air Still Worth It in 2023?
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- Is the M1 MacBook Air Still Worth Buying in 2023? I get this question all the time on whether somebody should buy the M1 MacBook Air for around $749 or buy another MacBook model. They want to know if they should buy the M1 MacBook Air or the M2 MacBook Air instead. In this video we will discuss all the reasons why you should still buy the 2021 M1 MacBook Air in 2023 and what you should expect if you do.
In this video we are discussing the M1 MacBook Air (Base Model):
M1 MacBook Air Base Model - amzn.to/490zK08
M1 MacBook Air with 16 GB - amzn.to/48UvE9X
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I bought this base model 8ram,256 ssd few months ago just because it is cheap. I didn’t expect much of it. But this is the best laptop i had. So lightweight and so powerful, with crazy battery life. I just have this always in my backpack and its so light I don’t mind carrying this always. I can easily pull it out for daily tasks, and i also use for data analysis. Work as good (if not better) my full cto spec up $4000 intel macbook pro 2019. Its crazy
Thanks. Yes, for the money you can't go wrong. Is it the fastest computer in the world ... no. But will you notice any slowness... no. So for most it's a great system and thanks for sharing your experience.
I got the base in December 2021 cause it was cheap and planned on it being a place holder til I got an XPS or something.
I never went back to windows. This thing is pretty amazing.. I feel lucky to have bought one. I normally pass on first generation tech.
what app do you use for data analysis ? am thinking of using SPSS but ive heard the installation process of SPSS isnt that easy
Went for the M1 instead of the M2. Managed to get one brand new for £799. Can’t go wrong! Thanks for your review.
Nice deal especially in England if that is where you are from. Can't go wrong for sure.
I bought an M1 MacBook Air just now! Thanks for the honest review, you helped me save some money!
Thanks for watching and I appreciate the feedback.
M1 MacBook Air is still 👑 Crazy how good these are even 3 years later! They made M/Apple Silicon series just too good!
Yes they are. Thanks for watching and for posting.
Wishing more growth to your channel! Sometimes, even pros needs real-world opinions like these. Kudos, man!
Appreciate the feedback and nice words.
The base M1 Air and Mac mini are great devices for those getting into the Apple ecosystem.
Yes, the Mac mini is great too but you just need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. But still one of my favorites for sure.
What's crazy is... I still have my 1st Gen iPhone SE and i still get some updates on it. Still works great and I don't have any issues. Tho I use android now I still prefer using my cute iPhone. I'm planning to get a laptop and I'm a light user so I think this suits me. Now for the Mcbook Air I'll go for this one. I watched a lot of reviews from the day it launched up to now, with your review. From notebook to laptop I think this one is the best for me because I always rely on longterm just like my cute iPhone SE. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. ❤
Thank you for posting and for watching. I have a new video coming out on another option for a started macBook that should come out today. The M1 is still perfect if you have $750 but there is a few sales I'll cover to take a look at.
This video is well done! Thank you for clarifying my questions!
Thanks for watching and for the feedback.
My experience of using Macs for over 32 years, is that Intel > M1 was the HUGE jump. M1 > M2 > M3 are, for the most part back to being incremental upgrades again. I wouldn't have any hesitation buying this MacBook Air M1 today...
Yes, the M1 still flys and I think Apple didn't realize it would hurt their sales for a while when they came out with it.
I KNOW I REALLY LIKE THE WEDGE SHAPE OVER THE BOXED LOOK!!!!!!! To me it looks and feels more premium.
I like that also. It's easier to type on for sure.
Craig! , Thank you very much!
Welcome.
Very interesting article, and agree with your logic. The M3 will be arriving soon, but it will be interesting to see how faster they'll run. Like the iPhone the last 3 years have seen no major jumps in technology, and this generation of chips are adequate for most people. You could argue its only the power users who crave more and more chip speed. The new IPhone hardly broke any new ground apart from the titanium smoke screen lol.
I agree with the new iPhone and it's now selling well right now. Yes, for almost any average user, if I can use that term, the M1 has more than enough power. They are great and something people need to consider instead of paying more money when all they do is browsing, email, conferencing, and word. Thanks for watching.
And not even that, the titanium in it isn't that much and the phone itself is worse in drop protection, and durability. Watch Phone Buff and Jerry Rig. It's not even a upgrade it's a downgrade.
@@craigneidel
Quick question:
Is it even worth to buy the m1? The support is going to end in 2025.
If one wants to buy a Mac and pay it off on monthly bases for 5 years to be able to use it for atleast 5 years, the best deal would be to go with the brad new mac, right?
Or would the M1 be even supported for a decade?
Because some people say that their 10 years old macbook even work.
It won't be supported for 10 years but no computer would be. It comes down to what works best for you and the price you can afford but the M1 is a great system for the money in my opinion.
Awesome info and ACCURATE! I'm a computer programmer and I think this is a great laptop!
Thanks, I finally moved to the M2 Air with 16 GB but that was only for my channel so I could review it. Otherwise I would still be using my beloved M1.
I just got the M1 for $750 and I am very pleased with it. For me it's not worth the extra $250 or $350 for the M2.
Yes, if you are happy with it why spend more. The M1 is a great system for sure.
I just got my m1 13inch 256gb for $749.99 at best buy
Kudos for mention OS support terms, most reviewers don’t mention they.
However, we don’t know if OCLP will work on Apple Silicon Macs to allow them to install unsupported OS versions yet.
Thanks. They will figure it out by then. I'm sure of it.. 😉
Thank you cleared all my confusions
Thanks for watching.
The problem about this laptop is until when will you receive updates, this is my worry
Yeah but 5 or 6 more years
I have the 16gb ram and it's a beast! I use it for school and work, and I have no problem with it. Not going back to pc.
With 16 gb they can do most things for sure. Thanks for posting
Very informative! Thank you! ❤
Thank you for watching.
Thanks to your video I came to my senses and avoided overpaying for m2. My question is, how long will Apple keep releasing OS updates for m1?
It's hard to say for sure but they will normally do that for about 5 or 6 years and then after that security updates will continue for a year or two more.
I'm travelling from Argentina to Spain and this is the cheapest macbook I can get (860 USD). The M2 rises up to 1200 USD. I do Digital Marketing and it seems that performs just right to the task. I'll go with this one, Air M1. Thanks for the video!
Good luck with the adventure and the M1 is capable enough to get work done if that's the budget. I use mine all the time.
I like the M! Air very much. The design, the light weight, the portability... and the utility -- connect to an external large 4k screen at home then use it on a go --- all in one.
Yes they are nice for sure. I also use mine with external screen from time to time. Thanks for watching.
i mostly agree with what said in the video. just I would suggest upgrading the RAM to 16G. still a very affordable and capable machine at US1,200, and allows ppl to do a bit more complex tasks, opening more apps, etc
Yes, at 16 GB of ram it's perfect. I have seen them for about $950 with 16 GB from time to time.
at this point in time, what would be the other model you would go for it you had to choose between this m1 base model and something newer? m2 15 inch? I would love to upgrade to 16gb as it really ought to be the default in all macs by now, they get you at the ram indeed. But since I dont live in the US prices are higher and it tkes longer to get a CTO machine, so just inclined to go with base models. Im tempted to go for this but afraid it wont meet my needs in terms of multitasking/running music software and lots of youtube tabs at the same time. Coming from mbp 2018 15 inch btw - the laptop from hell!!! Cheers!c@@craigneidel
There have been some great sales here in the USA for the 15" with 16 GB ram and 512 SSD for around $1,450. The next choice is a refurbished M2 Pro MacBook Pro 14" for around $1,500.
There are several psychological factors to consider: "it's cheap so it's probably not as good": wrong; "I need a Pro because I'm creative": wrong, creativity is not limited to video rendering and 3D.
Yes, they are nice for the money and when compared to what else you can get in this price range.
Sadly I just missed out on a MBA M1 16Gb Ram for 1.049€, because they were sold out. Apple is selling the M1 base model for 1.229€ where I live and other retail is selling it for 949€. I use daily a Mac mini M1 with 8Gb of Ram and 512Gb SSD. It is very suitable for the tasks I have to perform. At home I have a refurbished Mac mini model 2012 with a Core i7 CPU, 512ssd and 16Gb, running Ventura with OCPL. Last night I really abused of it, with 2 web browsers with lots of tabs, VLC and Apple TV playing video, the Music app running, Whatsapp on, DriveDX and probably some more apps running and apart the heating it didn't slow down a single bit.
Nice and thanks for posting. Here in the states they are only about $749 for the base on sale and for that price I think the M1 is a great option. Nice to hear you are running all that on the Intel Mac. Those are still powerful and I have a few older systems I use quite a bit.
@@craigneidel Follow up. After writing that down, I found a MBA M1 16gb of Ram and 256Gb SSD for 833,99€. I just bought it. As I can deduct the VAT, which is 23%, I think this will be a nice piece of business.
@@craigneidelThat $749 doesn't include taxes though.
Yes, nothing in the states has taxes included.
@@craigneidel I find that strange. You don't know the final price of a product until you get to the til.
I know you're well used to it by now but, I'm just back from New York and found the whole tax thing to be very annoying.
I really like your down to earth videos. As for my IMac I seriously think to buy this M1 the design is really incredible and I can confirm as a person who is an artist and work with light photo editing and this machine is fine. With the money I spare I can buy soviet era lenses or refurbished camera. The machine don't make the artist but the creativity being frugal is the number law when it comes to art. And later if I have enough and if my workflow is more than know ( and my technique better) I will go for the MBP 14 inc M2 Pro at a better price
Thank you. Yes, the M1 is a nice design and for most users it has plenty of power. No need to spend more if it meets all your needs. I had one and loved it.
Absolutely. At this price point, it’s an exceptional performer and you won’t regret it.
Yes, they are nice and it's a great price when they go on sale.
Your video is one of the most thorough reviews out there on Macbook Air M1. I am planning to buy it but sadly the 16ram one is sold out in my country, hopefully the basic version would work fine. Thanks again Craig for reviewing!
Thanks for the nice words and for watching. I wish you the best of luck finding the one with 15 GB.
Very well explained
Thanks and I appreciate the feedback on the M1 video.
Great info! 👍
Thanks for watching the channel.
Amazing review to say the least !
Thanks for watching. The m3s had some nice upgrades for sure.
Good summary; still seems like a very good laptop in 2013 for $750; the crazy thing is that if you want a longer term investment with 16GB buying from known retailers it's a $400 jump; and that's still a good deal, if not crazy good. Currenty the same situation with the base 15" Air.
Yes, they get you on the ram price for sure and don't provide the same types of sales. Hopefully that will change closer to Christmas. Thanks.
I still have MacBook Air M1 second tiered one with 512ssd. Ssd is much faster than M2. Keeping my M1 for long term even though I bought Mac mini M2 Pro.
Yes they are great little machines. Love mine but will upgrade it for the channel eventually.
You really should emphasize the battery more. I mean a laptop that lasts the whole day is just insane
They do last a long time. They just don't last 18 hours like they advertise and I normally see about 8 to 10 with my workload.
I always had the iPhone, really wanted an iPad (eventually went through several), and never owned a Macbook, but I bought myself a Macbook Air M1 and my experience is awesome. I sometimes want to upgrade to a pro, but tbh I don't need one maybe in the future :)
Yes, if you don't need the pro don't buy it. Apple is good at trying to get you to upgrade but you are really only saving a few minutes on video edits etc. so why spend the cash. Thanks for watching.
I just bought M1 MacBook Air 16GB Ram and 512SSD for $750 so far I love it!! My current laptop is MacBook Pro 2016 15inch still works great but I’m tired caring that heavy thing 😂😂😂
The M1 is a great machine for sure. Yeah, the older ones can be a bit heavy. Good luck with the new system.
Damn where u buy it from
It has been on sale on Amazon for $750 many times and bestbuy.
@@craigneidel not 16gs and 512 ssd bro that’s only the 8gb 256. Send link cuz I think u got the 8gb not the 16
Yes, I was talking about 8 GB and not 16. If you paid $750 for that then that is a really good deal.
I still have my MacBook Air M1 with 512g. im happy with the M1 if you upgrade for design get the M3 but I recommend people to get the M1
Yes, the M1 is a nice system for sure. I love mine and also use it for an occasional 4K edit.
best buy monthly payment for 37 month and last payment pay off product I am looking at a M2 iPad pro 12.9 because of touch screen. around $33.00 a month Great info the M1 changed everything
Thanks again for watching and good luck with everything.
I got one of these some months ago when my old 2012 MacAir gave up the ghost and am very happy so far. I’ve got into a bit of confusion about when to recharge the battery. I read that should keep it between no lower than 18% and no higher than 80%. ie not to completely discharge nor completely charge. Other places said not to worry about it too much. What do you think, Craig? Thank you.
Thanks for posting. I don't worry about the battery and charge it all the way up. Apple has software that makes sure it's really not 100% and can manage that behind the scenes. I would say don't let it stress you out and just do what makes sense for you. You should get well over 1000 cycles and that is quite a bit of hours before you even need to consider worrying about it.
It has the same specs as my Mac mini and I love it. My m1 air comes in Saturday.
Yes, if it works good for you then there is no reason to change. Just the OS renewability will be shorter on the M1s.
@@craigneidel I totally agree. But you are talking to a guy that still uses a 2015 MacBook Air. Hell, I’ve been driving the same truck for 24 years. 🤣🤣🤣
Funny.
Hi
Thanks to your review.
I have question
Is that macbook prefer to coding?
Yes it's great for coder. 16 gb is optimal but 8 will work.
Is this laptop good for the next 4-5 years?
Yes.
What specs do you recommend getting the M1 Air at? Just the base model? I was considering the 16GB 512G or1TB because I was planning on keeping the laptop for 7+ years. How much would you pay maximum for those kind of specs?
For the M1 Air with 16 GB and 512 I would pay maybe $1,100 max. I would look at the M2 Pro base on Apple refurbished sometimes for about $1,550 if you are going to spend more.
@@craigneidelwhere can you get 512gb and 16gb ram for 1.1k usd?
Here in the states at Best Buy or B&H or other places I have seen these models. In fact Best Buy has the 13" Air M2 with 16 GB and 512 from around $1,199 now and the 15" for $1,450 now.
number 56 is the last Squaring I retired from, 56th Tactical Training Squadron MacDill AFB Tampa Fl. Thank You again
Nice and thanks for watching. Good luck with everything and Tampa is a great place for sure.
we have a Dell which is double the price of Macbook Air but has loud fan noise and dell Apps stop working and UEFI issues
Yes, the M1 is a great system with no fan noise. Some of the Dells are nice too but in the end it comes down to if you like MacOS or Windows since those are really quite different.
M1 MBA is still best value for money. Even in 2023. And I expect for another 2 years! I'm not a "power user" (whatever that is). The M1 MBA serves my needs.
Yes I love my m1.
Which is the model the next MacBook on your table left side
Tell me the model
2014 MacBook Air
It actually came out 3 years ago…
Yes it is getting older but still great. Thanks for watching
Yes it is so much worth still. One of the best Macbooks of all time.
I do think they will work great for another 5 years. $750 is a steal.
Less is More!
Fanless M1 MBA still have many Fans, Notch less too!🥰
I do like the fanless design for sure.
I'm planning to buy a new laptop and this is one of my top choices but I've read a lot of posts online that the screen is very fragile and now I'm having my doubts. I'm planning to bring it to work everyday so I would be commuting with it a lot. Would you agree that it is indeed fragile or are the people who posted that are just not careful with their laptops?
Just don't use screen protector or close with anything in there and you will be fine. No issues
Great channel. I have a Macbook Air M1 2020. I need to connect two external monitors. Do you know of a multiport hub I could use that will work properly on Sonoma?
There are a ton of different hubs that use displaylink software that you can search for on Amazon. I have also done a video on a few. It's not a perfect solution but does work after installing the software. I would research the options and pick the best reviewed item for a M-chip Mac, and it should help you achieve this. Thanks for watching Rob.
Hi! Do you think the 8gb ram can work with multiple chrome open (like 30 tabs), discord, slack, and sometimes Photoshop running simultaneously? Thank you!
It can but depends on what tabs and how much ram they use. In most cases yes. You can buy it and test but if you can swing 16 gb that is always best.
Do u think if i buy this now itll be worth buying for next 4 5 yrs
Pls tell im looking for a lap for a long time use
It should be fine. The OS updates and security updates might be about 4 more years or so. I still think for the money they are great and you can sell it in 4 years for like $399 and get almost half your money back.
I think the only real world downside of M1 air compared to M2 is the mediocre max screen brightness I think it’s 300 or 350 compared to 500. Not that great for outdoor use but other than that it seems near perfect 😅
i am using only about 50% of brightness and its great indoors. Dont understand how its not enouph
It's actually 400 Nits which does make it pretty high when compared to most laptops. I haven't really had any issues with that since I use it about 60% unless in direct sunlight outside. But we are all different so it just depends on the user.
@@craigneidel agree. For me brightness on M1 about 60% is overkill, not even 70-80%
You are gonna go blind with that brightness.
Do you think that the new m1 base model still comes with 2 nand chips? Nand chip is the only game changer here
yes, if you buy a new M1 today from Apple it would still have the 2 chips for sure.
Should i buy this laptop for coding and web and app development. Is it good because i am afraid of the throttling because it has no fans please tell 🙏??😊
They are great laptops. If you can swing the 16 GB of ram that is best on these but if money is an issue they should work for what you need them to work for. They are still considered pretty fast for 2023 going into 2024.
Hey is M1 base varient good for iOS/app, Fullstack Development. I will buy External ssd also. So is it good to buy. Or wait for price drop
I don't do that type of development so I would do search on Google but my guess would be yes. If you can get this around $750 it's a great buy.
@@craigneidel Thanks I Appreciate
No problem at all. Thanks.
I got a used 16 inch M1 pro 32:1TB with 15 cycles for 1600😂The M3’s are complete disappointments!!
Nice deal on the 16 Inch. The M3s are nice but not worth upgrading if you have a M1 or get a good deal on one.
@@craigneidel I will wait for something more compelling!
@@sydwelglobal1439 if you have an m1 no need to buy anything now.
@@craigneidel Exactly, the used macbook market is everyone’s best option!
@@sydwelglobal1439 yes it is
Literally everyone on CZcams and in comments is doing video editing. Where are all these videos?! 😂
Most are making videos now. I think CZcams changed that.
Hello, is this good for logic pro / music production?
I'm sure it can handle it fine but I don't use Logic Pro. But since you could handle that on older system that were much slower I would assume this would work fine but I recommend 16 GB of ram if you can swing it.
how about 1440p 60fps video editing
It should be able to handle that. I can put of a Sony zve10.
Is this M1 still being manufactured? Or are these old stocks. Coz on the website this base model is still available brand new.
I think they are still making it but only for a few month more is my guess.
@@craigneidel thanks for the info
Welcome
I got the base model 8gb/256 and it’s so laggy and slow when I open windows up in chrome. It takes forever to open up a page. I don’t have anything saved on it and only use it for web browsing. Would an M2 be faster?
I have never seen that before or heard of that on a M1. I use Chrome and don't have issues except if I have like 30 tabs open at once. There could be something else going on consuming all your memory.
I just bought one of these for my partner. There is no reason whatsoever to buy an M2 MacBook Air you will not see any noticeable difference in the real world! Especially since the M2 series was hobbled by low performance SSDs!!!! Stupid decision on Apples part. In fact the M1s are still the best option across the board. Apple changed the game with the M1, not so much with the M2 and M3. My M1 Pro MacBook Pro performs almost as well (and with no noticeable difference for me) as an M3 Pro model! I was surprised at how little improvement there has been with M2 and M3 iterations. Stick with M1 unless you need a Max or Ultra for extreme sorts of use cases!
Yes, the M1s have hurt their future sales a bit since they were such a large step forward. I think if you have an M1 no need to upgrade. But for software support, if I was buying new, I would get an M2 or M3 now to get a few more years of OS support. But not for performance.
I am an advocate and use only MS Word for drafting! Should i buy this or not?
MS Word should work fine on an M1
but i have heard thatv MS word is not supported on Macbook, is it true?
Word is supported on Macs.
Good video. I still have my M1 Air and it runs great. I disagree that 2-3 is "a long time ago" though.
2-3? Yes, the Airs are nice machines for sure if you can get them for about $750ish. It depends on the price now with the M2s and M3s.
@@craigneidel 0:21 when you said it came out 2-3 years ago and that it's a long time ago. Respectfully disagree. I don't consider a computer or laptop old until it's 5 years old at least.
Maybe but with tech moving so fast I think 3 years in a normal time for a refresh. But everybody is different and that's totally fine. 5 years is a good time to keep tech for sure.
Sir I just bought it thinking to use it for next years i.e atleast till 2029 start. Please answer will it be able to go till that as my usage as very very basic like surfing, multimedia a bit and basic outlook and word
2029 is a long way away but for basic stuff I think it should work fine for many years. Give it a try and see how you like it and you can always return them if you don't like it. They are nice machines.
@@craigneidel it took me 26 years to buy🤣 hope it lasts atleast 5 years. In India apple products are way way overpriced. The new m3 top spec cost nearly 9500 USD here😅
Wow, that is crazy at 9,500 in India. Anyhow good luck with everything and best of luck.
@@craigneidel yes as only iPhones are being assembled here but most are imported and we have crazy custom taxes😀
Thanks for your wishes.. hope you win at life
Thanks and good luck. I would have thought iPhones were less expensive in India but you learn something every day.
worth every penny...
Yes, they are still great machines even today.
If you can’t afford to pay the bills I doubt you’d be buying a MacBook
Yep that's the point. But people buy things the shouldn't all the time.
Can you recommend a base model of M1 air for a Software Engineering student?
I don't do software engineering so not sure I can but I have heard that it can work fine. I would upgrade maybe to 16 GB of ram and that should help for sure make sure there is no issues.
@@craigneidel Thankyou so much😊 Wish you the best of luck in 2024
You too, have a great 2024!
The economy is not going south (no one knows that). Check the data.
The world's going south and us economy in coming year.. But everybody has their opinion and this is not a political talk channel. It's about the tech. So tech is what this channel is about.
You obviously don’t know how the economy works if you think it can’t go south.
BS... the m1 has so many damn bugs I can't stand it. Maybe I got a lemon however it absolutely sucks. I am soooo disappointed!!!!!
Yes, you may have got a lemon. From all the comments and my use of 2 of them I have never even had one issue. So you might have a bad one for sure.
I’m going to be a computer science student (bachelors) in the next 2 months.
I’m considering getting the MacBook Air M1 base model (8gb ram 256 gb ssd) as I am tight on a budget. It sells for approximately 1000 USD in my country. My requirements will be coding,browsing the web, using Microsoft word for my essays etc.
Should I get it? Or do I just go for a windows laptop ? What do you recommend?
Yes, it should be great for what you described. They are very fast for what they are. Give it a try and you can always return it.
@@craigneidel I have another question
Will it last the duration of my degree? 4 years? Classes start in Jan 2024 and I will graduate around early 2028
Do you think it will last and serve me well these 4 years provided that I take care of it properly?
Yes it will@@Thatsleepyguy123 . I am a software engineer and can do all my memory/cpu intensive tasks with M1 air, 16gb / 512 ssd
Yes, it should work fine like Harryizback said.