3 ms·

I'm not surprised they are keeping the M1 Air alive. That thing is a great price/performance combo in a very light and portable wrapper. It's been $850-$900 mul

I'm not surprised they are keeping the M1 Air alive. That thing is a great price/performance combo in a very light and portable wrapper. It's been $850-$900 multiple times at Costco, Bestbuy or Microcenter. Also, the first computer where getting the upgraded hard drive (512GB or 1TB) really helps with the low ram because of the integration bus they have with the drive for swap. It's fast.

paulmd 4y ago
The price increases are a kick in the shins though. 20% more for 18% more performance. The M1 generation looks to be a bit of an "introductory offer" to get people looking at apple who otherwise wouldn't have... once they have established their mindshare as being a performance leader worth considering over x86, they can raise prices back up.
- mmmmmbop 4y ago
  I feel like most of the markup comes from the new industrial design. The previous M1 MBA was essentially a 2018 Retina MBA with an upgraded chip. When the 2018 Retina MBA was introduced, it was also $1,199.
- pier25 4y ago
  I agree. The Air used to be the laptop for everyone. Now it has entered into MBP territory in terms of pricing and performance. What will happen with the M3? Will the base Air start at $1500? Will the M2 Air drop its price to $999 when the M3 is released? I'm not saying the M2 Air is not worth its price compared to x86 laptops, but it's ridiculous that the cheapest Apple laptop is way overkill for its intended audience. Even the M1 is already overkill for users that typically spend the majority of their time in a browser or using Office.
  - turtlebits 4y ago
    The original Macbook Air when introduced had an MSRP of $1800. They are still selling the M1 Air at $1000.
    - Macha 4y ago
      The original Macbook Air was introduced to be extra light - it only later shifted to the entry level device as there used to be the base macbook for that
    - pier25 4y ago
      Yeah that was at launch, but a couple of years later it went down to less than $1000. I bought one new around 2017 for about $800. For many years it was one of the most popular laptops ever. Popular as in admired and famous, but also for the people.
    - dividedbyzero 4y ago
      The original Air was placed in a completely different segment, against the tiny executive Vaios and the like. People on a budget (like university student me) got the white plastic Macbook back then.
- sliken 4y ago
  Heh, sure, if that was it. What about the larger and better display? Magsafe? GPU perf (35%)? Better battery life? 50% more memory bandwidth? More ports (2 tb +power) ? M2 starting at $1200 looks pretty nice to me. Avoids many of the corners cut on the competition like: plastic chassis, tiny trackpad, poor fans that get noisier in the first year, poor Intel iGPU, poor battery life, etc.
- fomine3 4y ago
  Base price is still fine for the product, but RAM/SSD upgrade fee is the pain.
shepherdjerred 4y ago
The price/performance for the M1 air is impossible to beat. Anyone who just needs a good laptop at a reasonable(ish) price can grab that and be happy for years.
wildrhythms 4y ago
I have the M1 Air and it is incredible to have such a powerful machine that doesn't blast an annoying fan at all times, and is still thin, light weight, and with a very high resolution display and incredible battery life. I travel frequently so it's the perfect laptop for me. And the best part is there's NO TOUCHBAR. I will absolutely be trading this in for the M2.

paulmd 4y ago

The price increases are a kick in the shins though. 20% more for 18% more performance. The M1 generation looks to be a bit of an "introductory offer" to get people looking at apple who otherwise wouldn't have... once they have established their mindshare as being a performance leader worth considering over x86, they can raise prices back up.

mmmmmbop 4y ago
I feel like most of the markup comes from the new industrial design. The previous M1 MBA was essentially a 2018 Retina MBA with an upgraded chip. When the 2018 Retina MBA was introduced, it was also $1,199.
pier25 4y ago
I agree. The Air used to be the laptop for everyone. Now it has entered into MBP territory in terms of pricing and performance. What will happen with the M3? Will the base Air start at $1500? Will the M2 Air drop its price to $999 when the M3 is released? I'm not saying the M2 Air is not worth its price compared to x86 laptops, but it's ridiculous that the cheapest Apple laptop is way overkill for its intended audience. Even the M1 is already overkill for users that typically spend the majority of their time in a browser or using Office.
- turtlebits 4y ago
  The original Macbook Air when introduced had an MSRP of $1800. They are still selling the M1 Air at $1000.
  - Macha 4y ago
    The original Macbook Air was introduced to be extra light - it only later shifted to the entry level device as there used to be the base macbook for that
  - pier25 4y ago
    Yeah that was at launch, but a couple of years later it went down to less than $1000. I bought one new around 2017 for about $800. For many years it was one of the most popular laptops ever. Popular as in admired and famous, but also for the people.
  - dividedbyzero 4y ago
    The original Air was placed in a completely different segment, against the tiny executive Vaios and the like. People on a budget (like university student me) got the white plastic Macbook back then.
sliken 4y ago
Heh, sure, if that was it. What about the larger and better display? Magsafe? GPU perf (35%)? Better battery life? 50% more memory bandwidth? More ports (2 tb +power) ? M2 starting at $1200 looks pretty nice to me. Avoids many of the corners cut on the competition like: plastic chassis, tiny trackpad, poor fans that get noisier in the first year, poor Intel iGPU, poor battery life, etc.
fomine3 4y ago
Base price is still fine for the product, but RAM/SSD upgrade fee is the pain.

shepherdjerred 4y ago

The price/performance for the M1 air is impossible to beat. Anyone who just needs a good laptop at a reasonable(ish) price can grab that and be happy for years.

wildrhythms 4y ago

I have the M1 Air and it is incredible to have such a powerful machine that doesn't blast an annoying fan at all times, and is still thin, light weight, and with a very high resolution display and incredible battery life. I travel frequently so it's the perfect laptop for me. And the best part is there's NO TOUCHBAR. I will absolutely be trading this in for the M2.