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expiredblazenrockstar posted May 2, 2023 5:27 AM

Apple Macbook Air Laptop (Late 2020, Gold): M1 Chip, 13.3", 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM

$1,199

$1,649

27% off
+ Free Shippingat B&H Photo Video
37.8K Views
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Deal Details
BH Photo Video has Apple Macbook Air M1 13.3" Laptop (Late 2020 Model, Gold, MGQP3LL/A) on sale for $1199. Shipping is free.

Thanks to Community Member YanfengL for finding this deal.

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Chip 8-Core CPU
  • 13.3" 2560 x 1600 Retina IPS Display
  • 1TB Solid State Drive SSD
  • 16GB Unified RAM
  • 8-Core GPU | 16-Core Neural Engine
  • Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.0
  • Backlit Magic Keyboard
  • Force Touch Trackpad | Touch ID Sensor
  • macOS
  • Ports:
    • 2x Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4

Editor's Notes

Written by SubZero5 | Staff

Original Post

Written by blazenrockstar
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
BH Photo Video has Apple Macbook Air M1 13.3" Laptop (Late 2020 Model, Gold, MGQP3LL/A) on sale for $1199. Shipping is free.

Thanks to Community Member YanfengL for finding this deal.

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Chip 8-Core CPU
  • 13.3" 2560 x 1600 Retina IPS Display
  • 1TB Solid State Drive SSD
  • 16GB Unified RAM
  • 8-Core GPU | 16-Core Neural Engine
  • Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.0
  • Backlit Magic Keyboard
  • Force Touch Trackpad | Touch ID Sensor
  • macOS
  • Ports:
    • 2x Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4

Editor's Notes

Written by SubZero5 | Staff

Original Post

Written by blazenrockstar

Community Voting

Deal Score
+50
Good Deal
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125 Comments

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May 3, 2023 12:12 AM
3K Comments
Joined Mar 2009
AnankeMay 3, 2023 12:12 AM
3K Comments
Quote from slimdunkin117 :
OS X can do all of that with no issues..the terminal is the same crap as Debian linux distros for the most part.

you're just incompetent
well, I was not exact - it requires more effort, let's put it this way. I am an average user, and I can't do it easily.
1
May 3, 2023 12:18 AM
58 Comments
Joined Jan 2014
dond8244May 3, 2023 12:18 AM
58 Comments
So just looking thru comments, this machine cant run a 2nd monitor? Thanks
May 3, 2023 12:23 AM
12.2K Comments
Joined May 2007
superslickzMay 3, 2023 12:23 AM
12.2K Comments
Quote from slimdunkin117 :
One can also argue a "real man" would be able to afford the color of his choice and not cheap out on a color he doesn't want to begin with
I don't see that argument. I am sure anyone in the market for a mba can "afford" the color of their choice. Whether they choose to be sensible and save money or not is an individual choice. Neither of that has anything to do with being a "real man" nor being secure about one's masculinity.
May 3, 2023 12:26 AM
1.6K Comments
Joined May 2018
mintblue3411May 3, 2023 12:26 AM
1.6K Comments
Wait for 15 inch one
May 3, 2023 12:34 AM
931 Comments
Joined Jul 2010
thanatossassinMay 3, 2023 12:34 AM
931 Comments
Quote from FancyCemetery555 :
This is an great deal. I only wish more people realized how ideal this package was from a price/power/storage/travel perspective.

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.
Love this laptop just for the battery life alone, but how is it with Docker these days? Friend's company was ready to migrate back to Windows last year with how bad performance was then.
May 3, 2023 12:35 AM
300 Comments
Joined Aug 2011
Cintel7May 3, 2023 12:35 AM
300 Comments
Quote from foxblur :
Dev here also on a M1 MBA. Crazy value
How do you guys code on a tiny screen. I am on a 3x 4K monitors and barely have any real estate left, still has to toggle among different apps and web tabs for cloud.. synapse, azure data studio, VS, oracle etc… not to mention various tools, words,excel, outlook, teams etc…
May 3, 2023 12:42 AM
247 Comments
Joined Oct 2006
sshapiro63May 3, 2023 12:42 AM
247 Comments
Quote from dond8244 :
So just looking thru comments, this machine cant run a 2nd monitor? Thanks
It can run one external monitor. The only way to run two or more external monitors is by using Displaylink I believe.

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May 3, 2023 12:56 AM
25 Comments
Joined Jan 2023
BravePollution1396May 3, 2023 12:56 AM
25 Comments
Quote from Cintel7 :
How do you guys code on a tiny screen. I am on a 3x 4K monitors and barely have any real estate left, still has to toggle among different apps and web tabs for cloud.. synapse, azure data studio, VS, oracle etc… not to mention various tools, words,excel, outlook, teams etc…
That's why you're not a pro.
4
May 3, 2023 1:11 AM
2.5K Comments
Joined Dec 2010
roberthhidMay 3, 2023 1:11 AM
2.5K Comments
Quote from sshapiro63 :
It can run one external monitor. The only way to run two or more external monitors is by using Displaylink I believe.
May 3, 2023 1:11 AM
92 Comments
Joined Sep 2018
CyanGuide878May 3, 2023 1:11 AM
92 Comments
How long this computer battery last?
May 3, 2023 1:26 AM
14 Comments
Joined Nov 2021
EfficientSwing7433May 3, 2023 1:26 AM
14 Comments
Hi, i am new to mac world. I read that Macbook air suffers from overheating, is this true? How do you solve this problem? Thanks. And Btw is BH Photo Video reliable seller? Thanks
May 3, 2023 1:26 AM
4.9K Comments
Joined Sep 2019
LavenderPickle7682May 3, 2023 1:26 AM
4.9K Comments
I have this laptop from a previous B&H sale, from around Black Friday when both Gold and Space Gray were being offered at the same $1200 price point.

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.
Last edited by LavenderPickle7682 May 2, 2023 at 06:31 PM.
May 3, 2023 1:42 AM
174 Comments
Joined Dec 2008
treoMay 3, 2023 1:42 AM
174 Comments
Got a base MacBook Air 8GB/256GB for $800 last week at Best Buy. Should I return it and buy this instead? I only use it for light tasks like web browsing, video streaming and remote desktop. The base model is fast enough but I'm a little concerned about the SSD longevity after reading too much onlineBig Grin 8GB seems to use more swap memory and wear out the SSD faster. Decisions, decisions...Confused
May 3, 2023 1:56 AM
4.9K Comments
Joined Sep 2019
LavenderPickle7682May 3, 2023 1:56 AM
4.9K Comments
Quote from treo :
Got a base MacBook Air 8GB/256GB for $800 last week at Best Buy. Should I return it and buy this instead? I only use it for light tasks like web browsing, video streaming and remote desktop. The base model is fast enough but I'm a little concerned about the SSD longevity after reading too much online 8GB seems to use more swap memory and wear out the SSD faster. Decisions, decisions...
I don't think you'll go wrong with either. The $1200 model will have moderately higher resale potential, and there is always the risk of increased swap usage with the 8gb ram version.

I say, if you can return the BestBuy and you have the budget, the $400 increase might give the machine another year of longevity as time goes on. You'll hit the "limit" on the 8gb a lot sooner.

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May 3, 2023 2:19 AM
170 Comments
Joined Sep 2017
TreyY69May 3, 2023 2:19 AM
170 Comments
Quote from treo :
Got a base MacBook Air 8GB/256GB for $800 last week at Best Buy. Should I return it and buy this instead? I only use it for light tasks like web browsing, video streaming and remote desktop. The base model is fast enough but I'm a little concerned about the SSD longevity after reading too much onlineBig Grin 8GB seems to use more swap memory and wear out the SSD faster. Decisions, decisions...Confused

If you can for a full refund
Yes
you should and get this for the 16gbs of RAM alone
I use this laptop daily and I beat the mess out of it
Chrome with 75 tabs over x amount of windows
4 vs codes
Docker vms running
And react / node projects running
For videos I close every thing and run finalcut pro or davinchi and this thing flies and doesn't get anywhere near Intel hot

PS do not buy a Mac with 8gbs of RAM in my opinion no matter what

I love this laptop and for this price great deal for the next 5-10 years

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