Hey Everyone!
My partner is looking to buy a Mac Laptop, purely for uni and general use.
Before you say it, yes, we know there are far cheaper and more effective laptops than a Mac, but it's something she's always wanted.
As someone completely foreign to Apple products, wondering if there is a good time to buy?
Black Friday deals, etc?
How does the education discount work?
Can I buy the laptop for myself and just show my daughters student ID to get the discount?
You are a "parent buying for your university student daughter".
https://www.apple.com/au-hed/store
https://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inc…
Before you say it, yes, we know there are far cheaper and more effective laptops than a Mac,
Anecdotally the ozbargain community speaks very highly of the MacBook Air M1 especially in university applications.
I would have killed for a super fast laptop with an 18 hour battery life when I was in uni, the responsiveness of these laptops is just bonkers. Plus unless it's really specialist software pretty much everything is cross platform or in the cloud these days.
I used to use hackintosh machines a lot in the past (both laptops and desktops) because getting decent performance out of a mac was either wallet-breaking or impossible (especially desktops). Not anymore.
The M1 Air is the best laptop on the market for the price. It's a fantastic device. I've moved over from Windows and very happy with it.
It's probably a good time to buy a MacBook Air now if you need a laptop, as the Pro has just been released and the Air is not due for an update until sometime next year.
Personally I am holding out for the Air update as that should be a pretty big refresh if you believe rumours?
M2 chip, super-thin straight chassis, 13in screen with a minimal bezel so it has a small footprint?
Same reason I'm waiting.
The future updated M2 Air will probably cost more however. The M1 Air is one of the best price/performance laptops out there.
True the M1 Air is a great laptop at an awesome price.
It's just that I can probably wait until next year and hopefully the M2 Air is not too expensive?
Prob have a look at the link below for indication of discounted prices. As long as your partner is using it for uni - word processing, excel and browsing, I'd put it over comparable windows devices as it'll have continued support and last longer.
There's normally semi regular 10% off deals at JB hifi which is probably the easiest time to buy. I don't think there's ever been a Black Friday deal that's exceeded 10% off.
If you're super eager wait for the next JB HiFi/Good Guys/HN 10% off deal and immediately call officeworks on the phone and request a price beat which will get you 15% off (10% + 5% OW price beat). Officeworks normally update prices within around 3 hours of these 10% off sales starting however so you have to be super quick.
Salary sacrifice it.
Or buy it with Apple gift cards from Woolworths or coles when they are running bonus promo.
Thinking exactly the same. The education store is the cheapest option but come early 2022 (which really isn’t far off) they’ll be a new thinner air with an M2 chip. I’d seriously hold off until that’s launched unless you’re desperate.
The M1 air shits me as it only has USB C ports.
Runs well though
Sure, but what are you connecting with USB? These days I just connect wifi and use cloud to move files.
At the moment I am using a satechi dongle for HDMI, USB A receiver for wireless mouse/keyboard, and USB A external drive.
Yeah so a 7 in 1 USB-C hub dongle with HDMI would cover all that for about $20.
Maybe go second hand. FOMO upgraded might be getting rid of their M1 2020 models cheap.
AOC Apple portal gives you a decent discount deeper than usual education rates.
Right now is the time to strike. https://www.thegoodguys.com.au/computers-tablets-and-gaming/… 10% off at good guys. While office works has full prices still.
Call 1300 OFFICE and request to do a price beat and you can get it for $1281
Go through the Apple educational store for ~9% discount.