RRP $1499 @ Apple store.
Limit 2 per customer.
Apple’s thinnest and lightest notebook gets supercharged with the Apple M1 chip. Tackle your projects with the blazing-fast 8-core CPU. Take graphics-intensive apps and games to the next level with an up to 7-core GPU. And accelerate machine learning tasks with the 16-core Neural Engine. All with a silent, fanless design and the longest battery life ever — up to 18 hours.¹ MacBook Air. Still perfectly portable. Just a lot more powerful.
Yeah Apple
You say that like there are other non-Apple laptops at this level at this price. There aren't.
You would need a modern i7 to give it a run for the money, and you would not get the screen. And also need a fan. And a stinking huge heavy battery and still run out before the MBA.
Horses for courses, for general personal itis a great machine. The only people that should say no are gamers, CAD design and people who just can’t afford one.
Unfortunately I fall into the CAD design category.
waiting for M2 deal, more current design ….
I'm on an M1 air now and I still prefer the wedge… why did they have to make the M2 more like the pro… :(
It looks more industrial. Many people like it
It’s just the better design.
I love my M1 air (8/8/16/512) and I would have upgraded recently but the M2 version still has the restriction to one external display unless you buy a Displaylink-capable dock, which I already have but it's not as good as having 'real' support for two externals.
So there seems little point for a few percent more performance. :shrug:
I agree the M2 in dark blue looks good though.
Inflation definitely hasn’t been a thing
Or supply chain issues
I can’t think of anything happening in China recently driving up prices
/s
I don't care about the facts, I just want sub $1100 M1.
This is OzBargain not OzUnderstandingTheGlobalEconomy.
/s
Sounds about right, though, $1100 is a bit high for a OzNotUnderstandingTheGlobalEconomy comment.
/s
First of all, fu*k Apple for their ridiculous price maintenance practices for their already overpriced products, secondly, you are being a child :)
Bought one for my daughter two years ago for about $1,250.
Just over 2 years. November 2020. 26 months.
Still a great machine, and nothing else compares at this price point. (Anticipating replies that suggest noisy and underpowered PCs made out of plastic with bad battery life!)
Yes we just bought a 12th gen i7 Thinkpad P workstation. At 46% off it was still $1997 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD (although both are user upgradable and we will). Even this two year old base M1 would outperform it in raw power, a superior screen and battery life. And that is even before you start talking about design and build quality (and Alu vs plastic). A mass of little things right down to the powerbrick. In fact, design is the only real reason to prefer the M2 MBA over the M1 MBA when there is this difference in price.
Unfortunately, the particular CAD software we need the Mac version is way behind the windows version, and the other CAD software we use there isn’t a Mac version at all although it can run in emulation. But for work purposes you just can’t accept that. Hence the Thinkpad P.
Yeah, I got it for close to $1300 a few years back now. Can't really say it's a massive bargain considering its age, despite what the RRP says. In saying that, if you're in the market for one, go for it - it's good product and a good price. It's just not cheap enough for me to consider it an impulse purchase level bargain.
not worth
not everyone is you
Have some sympathy, some Ozbargainer simply don’t have the disposable income to afford a MacBook. We shouldn’t condemn them for that.
Yes it is? There aren't any better laptops at this price. (unless you wanna play games or run windows specific programs)
16gb ram is a bare minimum
Thats why i thought before using it. 8gb has been good enough for occasional video editing enough. Obviously it may not be enough for lots of 4k videos on daily basis. If thats what ones after.
Yup, I would even say get 32GB.
I have a M2 Pro Mac mini with 32GB ram, with a few Safari tabs open including Youtube and background apps, I'm already using 11.5GB to 15GB of ram. Around 40%+ utilisation.
I have these apps running in the background - Noir (website dark mode on Safari), Shottr (screenshot app), Wipr (adblocker), Adguard (ad/malware blocker), Bitdefender for Mac (antivirus), Malwarebytes Premium (anti malware), Lulu Firewall, TG Pro (temperature monitoring), Stats (GPU, CPU, Ram monitoring).
I also have a few Apple apps running in the background, I checked Activity Monitor utility - Maps, Messages and Apple Music take up a few hundred MB's just being opened in the background. So far with 32GB ram I have zero swap used.
With a lot of Safari tabs open, multiple YouTube/Twitch tabs opened, many different apps open but minimised not fully shutdown I've seen my ram usage go up to 70-75% utilisation.
Bitdefender is roughly 130MB of ram, Malwarebytes is 25MB ram as well as Lulu Firewall.
With less than 32GB you would have to manually exit apps to conserve ram or live with ram/ssd memory swap.
Apple's architecture makes virtual memory (saving tabs or other programs onto the SSD) pretty fast. That's why most people are happy with 8GB.
It will be interesting to see if these 8GB machines get worn-out SSDs after 3-5 years because of all the swapping. Soldered on, won't be a cheap fix.
Yup exactly, plus most users probably won't be monitoring their ram usage, so a lot of people wouldn't even notice all that much.
@kubernetesxp: Right now wired memory usage is around 2.5GB. is that good or bad?
I have multi-year/device subscriptions for Bitdefender and Malwarebytes, why wouldn't I be running it? It doesn't cost me that much ram to do so. I read that Mac's don't need antivirus/malware, but I don't believe it.
I get your point on the 2 ad blockers though, but their ram usage is so low that using both doesn't make a dent.
@kubernetesxp: Ah okay, thanks for that, I'll have a proper read. Coming from a Windows gaming PC I did wonder why my new Mac mini was using a lot more ram. It's up to 22GB ram used right now and I'm not even running any demanding software.
My app memory usage is around 19GB.
@emoticon: It would be interesting to observe the trade off in RAM between ad blockers and browser. And safari has a fair bit of Adblock built in anyway.
@entropysbane: Adguard is running at 90MB ram, and Wipr is running at 20MB ram.
The paid non-Apple Store version of Adguard which is what I have also has an inbuilt encrypted dns resolver, one click and internet traffic is routed securely- too easy to not use. Does more than block ads, all round privacy protection - https://adguard.com/kb/adguard-for-mac/overview/
$28 for lifetime licence on StackSocial. Worth the money imo. Some people don't care as much about internet privacy though.
I could get rid of Wipr though, that's just an adblocker app but I paid $3 for it before I researched Adguard :/
It really depends the user. But 8GB is the bare minimum. And for many it is not enough. But Apple knows this don’t they the cheeky buggers love a good pricing ladder for you to creep up on.
Apples pricing model has always been centred around an up sell.
@checkingthisout: Exactly, and that profitability has moved the game forward so much in reliability and quality in both laptops and phones. Do you remember how crappy/plasticky/failure prone PCs and smart phones were before MacBooks and iPhones? In just 10-15 years they were all throw away devices after 3 years, now my kids are using 5-7 year old phones and laptops and they do 90% of things just fine.
@dtpearson: Definitely. Personally I am a CTO custom 16GB or more. But held onto 256gb for as long as possible.
Still believe the GB range should have moved to 512gb as standard now. But of course there’s $300 to be made in the upgrade for Apple.
I have relatives on iPhone 7 which are still rocking strong.
That’s quite a lot of antivirus and firewall software chewing up RAM there. Just sayin’
This or the equivalent M2 MBA if you can afford it would be the two best school laptops out there.
Even at 8GB RAM, MacOS is quite good at using it, and then memory swapping with the very high performance SSD on the rare occasion the kid would need more. If nervous, for most users 16GB would be heaps.
Now, more RAM is always ideal, but on a Mac, 32 Gb of RAM or more, apart from being ruinously expensive, would only be needed by heavy video editors or those that really know they need it. Once you start needing that amount of RAM for other purposes, such as gaming or CAD, get a windows gaming laptop or a CAD workstation. A truly decent one of either would cost more than this.
Maybe for an Android phone
People that are buying MBA, don’t generally need 16gb of ram
This. If you need 32GB of RAM, you will know if you need more than 8GB of ram or not, and you will be buying a MacBook Pro M1 at least.
People saying “not worth”. The M1 is a battery and speed game changer. It’s the best Mac air I have ever owned.
16gb Ram If you do heavy tabs on chrome. Otherwise just use the 8GB.
The M2 is 1699 at Amazon though.
Do you have a Amazon link please? I can't see a M2 for $1699… Unless it isn't Amazon AU…
Sorry. Scratch that a week ago it was $1679 or $1699. They’ve sold out it seems. I got a CTO instead from Apple education + 5% off through Macquarie bank app.
If you do Apple education, buy a gift card from Macquarie and sell the headphones you get for free (they don’t check) you’ll save 20-25%
https://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air
Step 1) get MacBook Air in cart on Apple education
Step 2) upgrade free AirPods to Gen 3
Step 3) load money into Macquarie bank app and buy the gift card
Step 4) use the custom gift card to order
Step 5) sell AirPods for $200 (easy)
You’ll come out with a MacBook Air m2 for $1509.05
1749 + $50 (Gen 3 AirPods) - 5% (Macquarie) - $200 (Gen 3 sold) = $1509.05
It’s easy
Better to wait for this deal if you wanna get Apple gift cards.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/756067
Yeah, good price for that.
I feel like the M1 Pro is better if you need to actually do any workload aka editing, music.
I've watched enough comparisons, but for 1.5k it's good value.
Damn, that’s a great bargain by selling the AirPod!
Bought on 01.02.2023 from officeworks online for $1347. Will officeworks refund the difference?
Worth asking !
I’m in the same boat, I asked my local store if they would refund the difference but they said no. Did you have any luck?
This is 2020 MacBook Pro for $100 more? I don’t want to pay extra for M2 as M1 will meet my needs. I do a bit of video editing which is why I am leaning towards Pro
You won't notice a performance difference between an M1 Air and an M1 Pro 13" - and the Pro is heftier. And where can you get a 2020 Macbook Pro anyway?
A decent step up from an M1 Macbook Air would be a refurb M1 14", which already comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB Hard drive for $2299.
It depends your codec actually. The pros come with a media encoder.
“ M1 Pro also includes dedicated acceleration for the ProRes professional video codec, allowing playback of multiple streams of high-quality 4K and 8K ProRes video while using very little power.18 Oct 2021”
You might see a bump in libx264 or 265.
MacBook Pro 13” with M1 does not have an M1 Pro chip. It has the same CPU as the MacBook Air with M1.
Have to bump up to the much more expensive MacBook Pro 14” to get an M1 Pro chip.
There is some bad phrasing going on here, mostly because the MacBook Pro 13” shouldn’t really be called a Pro…
Bigs whoopsie by me. Thought they were talking about the M1 Pro in the newer frame.
I really would not recommend a 13 inch Mx MBP.
Clunky older design, and more expensive than the only reason would be if you do heavy enough work to need a fan. And if that is the case you really should be looking at the 14 or 16 inch MBP Mx Pro machines.
This or iPad Pro 12.9" WiFi 8GB/256GB Silver
$219 cheaper.. same hardware and I believe MacOs is better than iPad OS.. I am just looking for some portability.
Both are portable. Remember add your keyboard and the iPad is now not worth it! That keyboard sucks! And you’ll want the pencil for added peripheral touch. Then it’s now bonkers.
Actually, I purchased the iPad Pro this morning from that offer and already regretting. Will think more before jumping the ship.
Get the MacBook Air.
I got the 1TB model for $1700 and then bought an Apple Pencil for $200 and the Magic Keyboard for $500… Sigh
It is really good for media consumption, though. And the display is really good, and pencil is amazing because I have to annotate and edit PDFs regularly. But keyboard isn’t as good as the MBA and the battery life isn’t as good as I thought it would be.
$500 for a keyboard is a crime against humanity. Apple is nuts.
iPads teeter on the edge of being “nearly able to replace a laptop” but the edge case when you need a computer. You just end up wishing you had the MacBook.
@checkingthisout: Yeah, agreed. A lot of things that you’d expect any computer/laptop to do (such as torrenting, using browser extensions, virtual machines/emulation, specialised apps) can’t be done easily or at all on an iPad… One good thing is that Apple is going to allow full third-party browsers on their iOS/iPadOS platforms soon
@Could Be Better: Side loading and third party browsers as well as other app stores should fix these issues I hope too!
iPad is artificially limited. Cannot wait.
@ could be better
For that Money you could have bought a Macbook Pro 14 (M1 Pro) for $2547
I have a 2020 iPad Pro 11 inches. It’s my most under-utilised piece of tech. Wish I had bought this one instead. A few months ago I even bought a Magic Keyboard to get some more use out of it. But, it is severely limited by the software for general productivity. Stage manger has made it better, but still not as good as macOS.
Those who can make good use of the pencil, it’s a great device for them.
I got the MacBook Air M1 in June 2021.
Still feels brand new till this day. Use it every evening for 1-2 hours, only charging once a week. Long battery life, no heat, no fan noise, very fast (still as fast as it was when I first used it).
Obviously a bit of a learning curve coming from PC, but once you get the hang of it, you kinda wonder why Intel/Microsoft never made PC like this.
Intel just doesn't make the chips that can match a Macbook Air. Intel and AMD chips need a lot more power to get the same performance as an Apple chip, and that means Windows laptops will be either slower or bulkier.
X86 data set is just too big. RISC-V might give it a run soon. Maybe Intel will move over.
Same price @ Gerry
Just in case that is handier for someone
HN< don't hate me- other colours also
https://www.harveynorman.com.au/apple-macbook-air-13-inch-m1…
The only time you shop at Harvey Norman is for a bed or an over priced couch .
🤣🤣🤣
Or if JB, Officeworks and every other retailer that sells the item is out of stock 😂
On the day of Harvey’s wake I will shop at Harvey Norman.
If you want to compromise your warranty?
NO thanks….
Good price for an M1 MBA. If this was a few weeks ago I'd be tempted but I just recently bought a MBP M1 Pro from the Apple Refurb store.
If I wasn't a sexy hardcore gamer, I would get the Mac Mini.
Alas, I am a SHG.
$1k for a solid all-rounder is hard to beat.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/751780
I didn't buy it but you can get the base model m2 mac mini for $800. Bargain.
Damn gonna warm up the bank account :/
You are stuck with the storage on these - you can not upgrade the SSD on these (it is custom/soldered and not an M.2)
PSA: don't buy any minimum spec Apple product.
They claim they'll last for ages but the future OS versions tend to bloat unnecessarily over time so that the minimum spec models become useless much sooner than the higher spec models. Either pay a little (or a lot) extras for memory and storage upgrades or buy from a different brand
I promise you it won’t bloat.
They're fine. I've been using a MBA M1 8gb for the last 2 years. It's just a case of understanding your requirements before purchase
I'd expect it to be fine for 2 years. But 4 or 5 is a different story. The oft told argument for the superiority of Apple over other brands is their longevity. But that argument simply doesn't hold water without buying the pricier models in the first place.
Still running a 2013 MBA which is working fine for my wife and still gets updates. Kids have stepped on it, has sat in hot cars, the thing won't die. 4GB of RAM and all!
I'm not really sure what users do to their laptops but other than one windows laptop with partial hardware failure, all my machines work.
Even a family member's 9 year old windows machine with 4gb ram is still perfectly fine for light just.
The Macs that I have had have the added bonus of being in better cosmetic condition due to better build quality.
The keyboards are awful on the Air! Even models after Apple replaced the failed butterfly keyboard. Apple was forced to pay 50 million after a class action. I had two Airs provided free from my work, they were so bad i returned them and bought a Pro.
Has been around $1250 before I think. Honestly, this is a 3 year old laptop, I would've hoped it'd be sub $1100 at this point…