Grade A Refurb: Apple MacBook Air 13.3" Laptop: M1, 2560x1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

skilaufenhase

Jul 20, 2025 3:23 PM

15 Comments

Joined Jun 2013

skilaufenhaseJul 20, 2025 3:23 PM

15 Comments

Quote from LavenderPickle7682

:

"The Cloud" means you trust a singular account to hold your data. You violate their terms of service -- they think you violated their terms of service -- they decided they don't want you as a customer anymore -- you used too much of their storage or put too much strain on their services? Bam, you lose access to ALL your data. Glitches also do happen where files/entire accounts go missing, though they are rare. And all of your stuff is indexable and searchable by any interested entity the storage provider cooperates with. Hope none of it was meant to be genuinely private. It's slower to access online storage, and it may incur transmission charges depending on your access (such as via mobile cellular). And you pay for cloud storage -- quite a bit more than for any hard drive. At any point, they can increase the cost, and like a capitalistic hairpiece, you have no choice but toupee. Unless you have a clearly articulated need for online-based storage that's accessible from anywhere, relying on public cloud storage is usually a bad deal for the end customer. A GREAT deal for those running it. And this is coming from someone who's deployed & configured public, private, and hybrid clouds. Look into buying a NAS for running your own private cloud -- QNAP is a good company to consider. Avoid Synology, they lock you into their expensive branded drives. Only use public cloud storage's free tiers -- like Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Use it for convenience access & high redundancy backups of non-private data -- like a thesis paper or resume. Or for storage of mundane things like a shared grocery list (Google Keep). Avoid providers that are locked down to be OS/platform-specific, like Apple's "I"-Cloud.

Eyeroll

2

batotman

Jul 20, 2025 3:26 PM

3.2K Comments

Joined Jan 2008

batotmanJul 20, 2025 3:26 PM

3.2K Comments

I've got an m1 MacBook and an m1 iPad. I don't think either are close to end of life. Still yet to be tempted to upgrade either.

1

quattro

Jul 20, 2025 10:27 PM

1.7K Comments

Joined Jul 2005

quattroJul 20, 2025 10:27 PM

1.7K Comments

These are still available, so it must not be a particularly "slick" deal. More likely a paid listing?!

2

threeclaws

Jul 20, 2025 10:56 PM

1.3K Comments

Joined Jun 2007

threeclawsJul 20, 2025 10:56 PM

1.3K Comments

Quote from InRainbows

:

It is super easy to max out 8 GB if you are running Chrome with 100+ tabs and also AAA gaming at the same time and/or rendering 4k videos. 8 GB is absolutely a limitation in this scenario.

That said, I seriously doubt anyone wanting to do these things is buying an M1 MacBook Air. This computer is a huge step up from Chromebooks and Intel PCs in the $300-$400 pricerange for general computing.

People in the market for Supras aren't shopping around for Corollas, to this point.

You had me at first, I was like Who TF is running 100 tabs Big Grin

LavenderPickle7682

Jul 20, 2025 11:34 PM

4.9K Comments

Joined Sep 2019

LavenderPickle7682Jul 20, 2025 11:34 PM

4.9K Comments

Quote from skilaufenhase

:

Eyeroll

Thanks for your comment.

1

RUBYSTEVENS

Jul 21, 2025 12:02 AM

2.2K Comments

Joined Mar 2012

RUBYSTEVENSJul 21, 2025 12:02 AM

2.2K Comments

From an M1 pro Mac thread:

Quote from LavenderPickle7682

:

No one knows, since they haven't stopped getting OS updates. And "useless" is a pretty wild word to be throwing around. It'll be a while before most major applications are no longer supported on them -- I still have a 2013 15" Macbook Pro that's still entirely usable today (within my use cases). So something that's roughly 4 years old isn't worth the snark of "no one should buy older versions".

1

ascetic

Jul 21, 2025 1:26 AM

68 Comments

Joined Nov 2008

asceticJul 21, 2025 1:26 AM

68 Comments

Quote from LavenderPickle7682

:

8gb of ram is the real detriment on this. It's 2025 -- 32gb is considered the bare minimum standard anymore. Such a paltry 8gb amount was the low end back in....what, 2013?

With casual admin use (email, discord, onenote, firefox), I'm hitting 65-70% on a 16gb M1 Air. You'll be slamming the swap memory -- or having to treat it like a mobile by single tasking. Just with that stuff alone, I'm occasionally hitting that swap memory like it owes me money.

You're better off looking at the entry-level M4 Air which routinely hits $850. Yes, it's more than twice the price -- but you're getting a CPU that is significantly better AND twice the ram (just in the base config). For $1000, you can get that same config in a 15" chassis. All with the option to get a spanking fresh 3-year warranty.

You clearly haven't used an M series Mac.

2

LavenderPickle7682

Jul 21, 2025 1:53 AM

4.9K Comments

Joined Sep 2019

LavenderPickle7682Jul 21, 2025 1:53 AM

4.9K Comments

Quote from ascetic

:

You clearly haven't used an M series Mac.

Yes I do.

~ This post was written on a M1 Macbook Air, 16gb/1tb @ 61% memory, 9% CPU, and 4% GPU in use - per iStatMenu. SSD is 89% in use with 109.4gb free, but I'm in the middle of a large project so that's entirely on me.

1

3

RUBYSTEVENS

Jul 21, 2025 2:38 AM

2.2K Comments

Joined Mar 2012

RUBYSTEVENSJul 21, 2025 2:38 AM

2.2K Comments

Quote from LavenderPickle7682

:

Yes I do.

~ This post was written on a M1 Macbook Air, 16gb/1tb @ 61% memory, 9% CPU, and 4% GPU in use - per iStatMenu. SSD is 89% in use with 109.4gb free, but I'm in the middle of a large project so that's entirely on me.

You bought something without 32gb ram? Shameful.

1

Courtdog

Jul 21, 2025 4:21 AM

27 Comments

Joined Sep 2014

CourtdogJul 21, 2025 4:21 AM

27 Comments

Quote from LavenderPickle7682

:

Because intelligent people don't trust other people's servers for the things that matter.

Then why do intelligent people use servers at all times? Or are you saying only dumb people use servers from elsewhere.

1

FeistyHose919

Jul 21, 2025 8:39 AM

75 Comments

Joined Aug 2019

FeistyHose919Jul 21, 2025 8:39 AM

75 Comments

Quote from quattro

:

If a person has everything stored on iCloud, is there any need for the 256 Gb storage capacity?

it really depends on what you use it for. if you use it as a netbook yes. but if you do anything with media, you will have to very attentive to space management. the media cache for premiere can be 15GB

quattro

Jul 21, 2025 3:33 PM

1.7K Comments

Joined Jul 2005

quattroJul 21, 2025 3:33 PM

1.7K Comments

Quote from FeistyHose919

:

it really depends on what you use it for. if you use it as a netbook yes. but if you do anything with media, you will have to very attentive to space management. the media cache for premiere can be 15GB

Thank you! nod

Edit: I'm about to pull the trigger - but before I do - does anyone have a good coupon code that works? Wave

Last edited by quattro July 21, 2025 at 09:26 AM.

CyanAction1458

Jul 22, 2025 1:38 AM

128 Comments

Joined Apr 2022

CyanAction1458Jul 22, 2025 1:38 AM

128 Comments

Quote from kungpowchicken123

:

Oh, because people haven't figured out how to boot non-native OS's on Apple hardware before they started making their desktop chips in house, right? Because even Microsoft is making an attempt to shift to ARM64 architecture as well so Apple being ahead of the curb is dumb, yeah? The number of people commenting on this that either a) don't have even a basic, common sense understanding of computer science and/or b) assume everyone has the same or greater workload as them is wild to say "8 GiGs Is NoT eNoUgH tO bRoWsE tHe InTeRnEt. MuSt Be E-wAsTe." is astounding. I'm a life long Windows and Linux user, so I'm not shilling when I say even I know pound for pound, performance per watt pretty much nothing comes close to Apple Silicon.

Microsoft is adding support for ARM64. They aren't shifting to ARM64. Make no mistake, x86/64 will still be the meat and potatoes of the Windows ecosystem for many years to come.

ARM is advantageous on mobile devices where battery life is the deciding factor.

stealthytolkien

Jul 22, 2025 4:29 AM

686 Comments

Joined Oct 2011

stealthytolkienJul 22, 2025 4:29 AM

686 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank stealthytolkien

Absolutely horrible experience from this website. Never again.

Got a wrong color and a very beaten up machine with an ugly decal applied by the previous owner.

The laptop's corners are messed up so every time I shut the lid, it sticks quite a bit before I can open it up.

The worst part is that this website is giving me a runaround for 2 straight days instead of just initiating a return on the very basis of the fact that they sent me a wrong color laptop and not what I paid for.

I'm going to give them another 2 days to sort themselves out or this is going straight to my credit card company to deal with as I have all the photos and communications with them.

It has been a headache I have no time to deal with. I particularly like the slanted form factor of the Air so I wanted to get it for basic web browsing email and media consumption. I'd have been okay with light usage marks but I mean, at least send me the config I paid for and don't send me something that has been through a meat grinder!

Last edited by stealthytolkien July 21, 2025 at 09:34 PM.

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VikramB1392

Jul 22, 2025 10:41 AM

20 Comments

Joined Aug 2013

VikramB1392Jul 22, 2025 10:41 AM

20 Comments

I bought this and mine arrived last night (13". 8GB, 256 GB). Battery was at 89%. It passed diagnostics and I was able to install the last operating system. It is not a "Grade A refurb". There's a little nick of the aluminum taken out of a corner that must have come from a severe fall. It's small and superficial, but it is definitely visible from more than 2 feet. Also the bottom has some scuffs. This is for my kid who needs something right now, and this is something that seems completely functional, so I'll be keeping it.

[IGNORE THIS. WRONG PRICE: I don't see how this is better than getting an Amazon Renewed one at about $380 though.]

Among the options others have suggested, I am not at all tempted by a Chromebook where it is difficult to install software and the trackpads are usually much, much worse. While this M1 might be technically upgradeable, I don't think anyone should buy this counting on doing it. If you want more RAM or memory, spend more now and get a different machine. This M1 does almost everything fast enough, has an all-day battery and is likely to get security updates till at least through 2029, which works out to a pretty low per-year cost of ownership.

In sum, I got a used machine. What I received does not seem to be a "refurb" aside from a new USB-C cable.

1

Grade A Refurb: Apple MacBook Air 13.3" Laptop: M1, 2560x1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

$400

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