expiredblazenrockstar posted May 02, 2023 05:27 AM
Item 1 of 6
Item 1 of 6
expiredblazenrockstar posted May 02, 2023 05:27 AM
Apple Macbook Air Laptop (Late 2020, Gold): M1 Chip, 13.3", 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM
+ Free Shipping$1,199
$1,649
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This isn't my wife's computer, it's mine. Compiling millions of lines of code and processing hundreds of gigs of data silently and without choking.
you're just incompetent
First and foremost, it's an excellent performing device. This $1200 machine absolutely beats the tar out of my $2400 late-2019 16" Macbook Pro Intel i7 + 16gb ram + 512gb ssd in terms of performance.
I've run the M1 Air as a daily driver since the beginning of December 2022 - admin tasks, software development, media creation, etc. I've been nothing but thrilled with it. Best dollar-to-weight-to-performance laptop I've ever owned. Sure, the M1/M2 Pro/Max/Ultra is faster -- but if you know you need that level of processing power, you probably already have one.
Comparing this to my not-so-old 16" MBP, the keyboard + trackpad + screen are exactly the same high quality and usability (albeit smaller for the screen size & trackpad). The machine is very lightweight, and it's nothing but an afterthought to carry around daily.
The M1 Air needs to be intentionally run long and hard to even get slightly warm, whereas the i7 MBP immediately becomes a space heater when on idle upon a fresh boot -- getting so warm that you can feel the heat on the underside of your desk. This also comes with a much better battery longevity -- the 16" Pro lasts 4-6 hours, the Air is 8+ hours. And I'm not changing my behavior to conserve battery life.
You can also charge it with a 30W USB-C adapter, whereas the 16" Pro should have a 100W adapter. 30W USB-C chargers are much cheaper and more widely available. Or you can use a single higher-capacity multi-port charger to run several devices -- something that you can't do with a Macbook Pro.
Unless you know you're not a heavy user, I think you're better off getting the 16gb ram version. Furthermore, the larger 1tb storage is a nice perk to have, but can easily be mitigated by external USB-C SSDs for general file storage.
Cons: As expected, the speakers and microphone in the M1 Air aren't as robust as they are in the 16" Macbook Pro line. And you do lose 2x USB-C ports. And you can only attach a single external monitor. Granted, when I plugged in an external monitor into the 16" pro, the fan kicks on as if I'm stressing the poor device -- the M1 Air handles it calmly. The webcam is below average, but that's the case with almost every laptop.
To combat the dip in audio fidelity, you can always plug in external speakers -- or use a wired/wireless headset. USB mics, such as the AT2020usb+ are available for $100 or less that give stellar performance. Though to be fair, the built-in mic is absolutely acceptable. Webcam? Nothing built-in is going to beat a $70-200 purpose-built external camera.
The M1 Air doesn't have a touchbar. Some people really liked that atrocious thing. More power to them, I suppose. No literally, they needed the power to run the obnoxious, glitchy feature.
Final note -- Get AppleCare. For $200 more, it covers you another 2 more years in case anything goes wrong. Given how highly integrated these machines are, you're taking a gamble otherwise.
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JK just get some sort of cover.
You could run this in a VM on an older Intel Mac, but they're dated and performance would be poor and probably unreliable. You are much better off going with a current Windows machine.
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JK just get some sort of cover.
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