![[Refurb, eBay Plus] Apple MacBook Air 13.3" M1 (2020) 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Delivered $490.62 @ Aus Computer Traders](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/19/921719.jpg?h=307b7346)
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Even cheaper than last deal by $54.60
Usual YMMV caveats with refurb condition so good luck!
[Refurb, eBay Plus] Apple MacBook Air 13.3" M1 (2020) 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Delivered $490.62 @ Aus Computer Traders
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Really?? I know the intel macs are rubbish these days but I thought the M1 held up ok?
marshmallow has never had anything good to say about any tech deal ever. I'd take their posts with a grain of salt.
My parents are still rocking an Intel macbook, this will be a great upgrade in their case. My partner has only just upgraded from an M1 mini due to photoshop work (8GB of ram is nowhere near enough for that anymore), but for a daily driver it's fine.
@marshmall0w2: 1,600 salty comments in three quarters of a year is generation levels of hate. I guess this is cheaper than therapy.
doh! silly me for not reading the username before the comment. thanks :)
marshmallow has never had anything good to say about any tech deal ever. I'd take their posts with a grain of salt.
they attempting to be a JV clone, but just dont have the same sass or fan club to support their aspirations :)
This is the laptop I use and I'm just as satisfied today as I was when I first got it. Great for 'office type' work, streaming video, etc. I think it would be perfect for 95% of peoples uses if they don't play games.
My wife and daughter both have these laptops, perfectly fine for most use cases.
I still use an M1 MacBook Air as my main workstation. Even as someone who isn't a big fan of MacOS or Apple generally, I can't deny it's still an amazing laptop and I haven't once felt constrained by it. I can't see any reason to replace it anytime soon. One caveat is that I did opt for the 16GB RAM upgrade after seeing the 8GB models heavily relied in swap memory. But with how fast the SSD is, I don't think it really has a noticeable impact for the average user.
Same here, Windows/Android die-hard with no Apple products and I also have been using a Macbook M1 Air as my daily driver for years.
8GB RAM model and I use it regularly for 4K video editing with Davinci Resolve… on battery power!
Amazing stuff, won't be upgrading anytime soon.
I'm still using my 2020 m1 8gb as my main laptop. internet with gazillion tabs, movie watching, but also light coding. Battery life is exceptional. I don't carry my charger when I go out to work.
The only thing I found I can't do is gaming and running a AI model locally.
But for sub $500 for the specs I would buy again. If you could guarantee that the refurb was free from defects and ran for a reasonable amount of time (which you can't) then it would still be an okay buy. I'd personally go a new m4 but if funds were tight the m1 is still no slouch.
The main thing is the hardware integration with the OS just surpasses any windows laptop I've used. Passive cooling so no fan noise. Great touch pad.
I do have a desktop PC for gaming so I'm somewhat platform agnostic. I don't even use any Mac exclusive apps. My ideal laptop would be a rock solid linux machine that doesn't require too much fiddling but until then the MacBook is the compromise.
Kids still have their release M1 Air's going strong. When buying I was worried about the tiny ram (8gb), but with O365 Desktop Apps, Chrome ect.. performs better than my Lenovo with 4 x the Ram. They both had "sticky keys", but Apple swapped out the keyboards in the second year.
So for kids at school, still very capable device.
I'm a tech enthusiast and I'm still using my M1 MacBook Air very happily. I did get a 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD one though. But I'd have no hesitation in saying the M1 chip itself is perfectly fast enough for 2025 tasks. The ONLY thing that a faster chip would be useful for is running LLMs locally, and maybe gaming (? don't know… don't play games on my Mac… doubt many people are buying a Mac if they're a serious gamer).
D-tier ragebait
I use an M1 16GB MB Air as my everyday work machine, still an absolute beast.
M1 is fine, M2 design is more physically polished..
I personally prefer the wedge shape and lack of notch.
Most people just need a Facebook machine, 8gb of RAM might be pushing it in Windows land these days but Mac OS makes it tolerable if you're not doing much (as someone who bought one of these last time around and uses it to remote into other machines).
Hi marshmall0w2
I'm in the market for a new Windows gaming laptop. I want an Nvidia 4060 and my budget is $800.
Can you link me to a deal?
You're obviously someone who hasn't used an M1 Mac.
Apple usually supports their devices for 7 years, so this might have 1-2 years of updates left.
Hopefully ARM versions of Linux are more mature by then
The bigger problem for apple silicon Linux isn't the arm architecture but the fact that apple has zero support for drivers outside MacOS. Everything has to be written from scratch. The fact Asahi Linux even exists is pretty amazing.
100% agree. 7 year support from Apple is terrible
Isn't the Asahi Linux project in a bit of trouble lately, lead developers leaving, etc? It'd be a real shame.
They support each version of the OS for 3 years though with security and updates, so while it might not get the latest version of macos in a couple of years it'll still be secure and running fine. Tahoe is the final version with Intel support this year and presumably that means macos27 will still support the M1. Since Apple isn't relying on third parties to maintain drivers for them they've basically got until 8GB of memory because too constrained before they actually need to think about ending support.
I'm in no rush to update from Sequoia anyway. Liquid Glass looks like the rhyming slang suggests.
brass?
Liquid ass i.e. diarrhea
You can easily updated unsupported macs to the latest OS via OpenCore Legacy Patcher
Currently OCLP only supports Intel-based Macs.
True, but all M-series Macs still receive the current macOS, so it's not necessary yet.
@Shenannigoat: Apple will eventually drop support for new MacOS releases for M1 series Macs. I am simply suggesting that OCLP is unlikely to support these machines because of advanced security features such as the T2 chip and Apple Silicon's secure boot process.
@blindferret: I wondered this too actually, if it's even possible with M-series chips. I was about to say 'but it works with T2 Intel Macs', but a quick search says that T2 is still causing issues. The last Mac I've done this with is from 2013 and that was pretty straightforward.
@Shenannigoat: I’m running Sequoia on a 2014 MacBook Pro with OCLP. Takes a little longer to boot up, but once fully booted It runs fine for my low pressure purposes. Installing minor MacOS updates is a pain as it downloads the full install and takes 2 to 3 hours to complete.
People usually praise Apple for their support but I find this MacOS support stop incredibly limiting for the used market.
I bought a PC in 2007 and was still installing new versions of Windows on it in 2020, not a peep. My 2018 PC is still inviting me to upgrade to Windows 11 for free. Just to give an example. You would say being in a closed ecosystem would make it easier to offer long support, not harder. It’s all for the $$$.
Apple tends to still provide security updates for deprecated macOS versions if they're critical enough. And Windows is far more generic, out of necessity, so hardware support is far more broad.
Looking at Windows 10 support officially ending later this year unless you pay extra, is there that much difference? They're all about money, all said and done.
I guess my main issue is that I struggle installing some software on older Macs.
I haven’t come across ‘the version of your OS is not compatible with this software’ kind of errors much on Windows. With my used MacBook (made in 2010, used in 2016) it happened often. To the point where I switched back to Windows.
@Kontiki: Yeah that's true. Mac software is deprecated sooner. This has bitten me a couple of times, most recently with a Mega Drive emulator. Usually I find alternatives though.
16GB for $568.62
wtf really
Link to share if you don't mind?
link please
16GB arrived a couple of days back.
Looks good in general with minor scratches on the bottom cover.
72 battery cycles 93% health
The haptic touchpad was jammed by dust and had weak responses, but I managed to clean it up a bit using an A4 paper.
Intel Macs are losing support after the next MacOS release, I would be iffy on buying one.
OOS
I have one of these (bought new though) and use it for video editing, photo editing etc and it has been great. No issues at all.
Yeah I cannot fathom that the M1 is a slightly souped up iPhone 12 processor and still runs desktop workloads like a champ.
Slightly souped up phone processor is downplaying it quite a bit.
8GB Ram for video editing. My 32GB Windows is struggle with multi browsing from time to time.
Can vouch the kids have done quite a bit ad-hoc for school with their 8gb machines and they perform well.
But don't do it long-term you will wear out the storage, if you need to video edit get more ram. Mac storage is almost as fast as ram so most people won't even know they are paging to disk.Making sense. I guess Mac storage has longer life or is cheaper to replace in case. Or maybe not easy to open.
I guess Mac storage has longer life or is cheaper to replace in case.
It is soldered onto the mainboard. I'm not even sure whether Apple replaces the storage or the whole mainboard if it fails.
@bio: In that case, Ram with life time warranty should hold better value for heavy users. Shared SSD should last long enough for average/light users.
Is there a definition of ‘good’ condition?
Any feedback on this supplier and quality of refurb?
If the unit is ‘not good’ (i.e. deep scratches, dents, screen issues, really low battery health etc) is refund available?
From memory I think a very small number from the last deal had an issue and they were given a replacement MBA from the seller.
Good Condition
Screen: Light to medium scratches that are only visible when the screen is off. 100% functional.
Case/Body: Signs of regular use only visible from a 12-inch distance but do not compromise overall appearance.
Keyboard/Touchpad: Signs of regular use only visible from a 12-inch distance but do not compromise overall appearance.
Think ACT have responded before and the grading varies wildly.
It's luck of the draw. I think they usually promise some minimal battery but otherwise could be anything.
I think generally speaking most in the good very good range will have like marks on the chassis or maybe some worn keyboard keys. Generally the screens are pretty fine though I've also read some issues with those who use like those keyboard covers and that kinda imprints into screens over time. Unsure if this affects ACTs batch but yeah.. I suppose ultimately, it's subjective unfortunately.
I got this from last deal. Never like Macbook during the Intel time but this M1 is a game changer. So responsive, so premium and the battery….damn….it last so long. My batt was 90% health and I used it for web browsing, netflix, spotify, youtube and some light Excel and Word doc. I didn't get a very good aesthetically looking unit but performance is top notch.
I must've gotten really lucky because mine was aesthetically top notch on top of working great (would've jumped on 16GB though just for a little bit more multitasking).
Someone said the 16gb one is less than $600. I will not hesitate to get it if I am to look for one. I was hesitating for the earlier deal because I'm a Window guy and this is my first M1. After using it even though its so "old" as many said, I was super duper impressed!!
I have this laptop but I opted to get 32GB Ram and 1TB SSD 5 years ago. It is still very fast with 32GB. Sometimes I forget to close Firefox for days and end up with 100 Firefox tabs open and it still works fast. Anyone buying a new macbook in 2025, get 48GB Ram and it will pretty much last for the next 15 years to 2040.
Any way to bump up the storage at home ?
Use cloud storage, use a NAS and have extra storage over the network when you're at home, or plug in a USB-C storage drive. No internal storage upgrades unless you want to go soldering.
You bring out some fire and burn the storage until it comes off.
If you mean opening it up to add some more yourself then no, I'm pretty sure every component in this thing is soldered to the board.
This Air M1 or HP Elite Dragonfly G2 X360 2-in-1 Laptop 13.3" Touch i5-1145G7 16GB 256GB ?? same price, just day to day computing.
Macbook Air M1
I did chuckle comparing the length of both laptop names. Something Apple always wins lol
Spec vs spec comparison, the dragonfly wins. But depends on OS preference and what you prioritise.
I would personally pick the MacBook since I own it (16gb and 512Gb storage though).
I also prefer MacOS to windows for productivity.
M1. Not even a question at this point.
For double the price you can get a new modern one?
It is new, but not really modern (M2). The latest M4 was below $1,600 a few months ago.
I would still get the M1 and save my money if 8GB is enough.
Yeah I will wait for the 16" M4 16GB to go on sale.
8GB won't be enough for my use case.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/187344500786
APPLE MACBOOK PRO(13-INCH 2020) Apple M1, 16GB, 500GB NVMe, 1YR WTY
$584.22 if you miss out MBA 16/256
oos
~$14.70 back with TopCashback
Using a m1 now still good !
Here's my anecdote of using one I bought brand new for ~$1000 about a year ago.
First things first, for $500 I would say this is a steal (I say this while keeping in mind it's a refurb)
However, as a lifelong Windows user, my overall experience with Mac has been slightly below expectations. Here are the things that have been less than ideal:
- I often run out of RAM, and this is from having the following open: A ~5MB Excel spreadsheet, ~30 tabs (of which half are usually "inactive", i.e. not loaded and I believe not consuming resources?) across 2 or 3 browsers, WhatsApp, sometimes some music, and sometimes a VPN
- I frequently ran into trouble with Excel (not Numbers) force closing whenever I would start typing while using the "comment" function to comment on a cell. Funnily enough, it doesn't seem to have happened to me in the last few months, but it used to be happen at least a few times a day, which was super annoying
- I'm a massive user of keyboard shortcuts, and there are a small handful of Excel shortcuts that don't have a Mac equivalent (but, on the flipside, there are some shortcuts that exist on Mac Excel that don't exist on Windows Excel)
- It's a little laggier than I expected after a year - but I admit I haven't done much to try and "fix" it. I used to reformat my Windows laptop/PCs every so often whenever this would happen to give it a fresh start, but I haven't attempted to do the same on the M1 Air. I expect all devices to get somewhat laggy after a year, including a Mac - it's just that it's slowed down a little more than I would've expected. I think it's still slowed down by less than how much a Windows would've slowed down by though
- I've been having this random keyboard issue, where the keyboard stops working for exactly two consecutive key presses, and it seems to only affect Excel. I even got the keyboard replaced under warranty but it hasn't fixed the issue. But I've just lived with it. It happens sporadically and is very hard to reproduce. I couldn't find any fixes online to this issue
- Caps-lock not working on first press used to be an absolute nightmare. It's apparently a "feature" built-in where the OS assumes you may have accidentally pressed caps lock for some stupid reason. The solution was to turn on "Slow Keys", which would fix it. But the side effect of this is that you can no longer hold down backspace to delete multiple characters at a time at a reasonable speed. Since I'm big on keyboard shortcuts, being able to use command+delete to delete one line at a time, and/or option+delete to delete one word at a time makes this less painful
- Scroll wheel being reversed when using an external mouse used to be really annoying. But "Scroll Reverse" fixes it really nicely
- There's no keyboard shortcut to lock a window to one half of the screen (no windows icon + arrow key equivalent). In fact, nicely allocating half of the window to half of the screen wasn't even a feature until a recent version of MacOS
- There's no equivalent to the windows "delete" key. The "delete" key on Mac is actually "backspace". To get the Windows delete function you need to press fn+delete(i.e. fn+backspace). It's an extra keypress, so it's a slight negative, but not really a dealbreaker. It's just something you need to get used to.
Here's what's been great:
- I have probably only ever shut this down properly twice. I always just shut the lid - which makes it super fast and convenient to continue where I've left off. I believe some more recent Windows laptops (ultrabooks?) can do this too, but forgive me as my most recent Windows laptop is now 7 years old.
- I love three-finger drag!
- The trackpad is awesome - it just feels more slick/seamless
- It's still generally a smoother overall experience than Windows
- Spotlight (command+enter) is generally more helpful than pressing the windows icon and doing the equivalent. Opening apps feels faster and it feels quicker to find, and you can also type in calculations and check FX rates via Spotlight
And despite it being slightly below expectations, I still wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Mac provided the price is right. That last point is key - because that's where Macs usually don't win. But when you've got Ozbargain, and deals like this, it actually becomes possible! Don't forget you'll always get more value out of reselling a mac than you would a Windows!
if I may I can add that refurbished market for Macs is where you can pick up a bargain these days. I got an M1 Max MBP 16 for less than $2000, and it pretty much closed the laptop upgrade question (and I could rebuild the desktop to something much cheaper, recovering part of the cost) for the years to come.
originally Apple hater and deeply in the other camp (Dell reseller, Microsoft partner), this was the way to go if I want to do creative things (photo editing, Affinity Designer, Publisher). What would before this require a beefy laptop with a dedicated graphics that would be painfully slow not plugged into a power outlet, and die within 1.5 hours of work if you don't plug it in, now can be done for hours on end, without any performance penalty, and I can leave the charger at home. and replaced my desktop, too..
yeah there are quirks, and in some ways going Mac after years of Windows is a complete departure, but hey it enables me to do things I want to wherever I want to. Although yeah I admit if I paid full price for this config it would have been $6.5k retail which is not funny. but that's why I say comb the refurbished (read: used) market. that's where the deal is to be had.
You forgot, same performance plugged-in or on battery, unlike my darn Lenovo, which is basically useless and slow when on battery.
yes that was a revelation. M1 Max with 32 GPU cores is equivalent to laptop 3080 plugged in or not. was mind blowing and game changing for me
I forgot about that!
I know that Macs are known for this but in practice I haven't really been able to fully test this. I still feel there's a difference but I admit this is purely a "feel" thing and nothing scientific.
Have you used Raycast? It's a replacement for spotlight which also incorporates window management (plus a lot of other things). Free version is all you'd need.
I haven't! I haven't heard of it either
I've heard of something else called Alfred which I believe is something similar which I'm keen to try out
I notice a lot of your cons are related to Excel. And I got agree with them. Mac excel is trash…
The only way I use excel on my Mac is through parallels.
If you're a heavy excel user, sadly Mac still sucks unless you can run the windows version.
I have a windows work laptop for my excel work, but the Mac is better for shit everything else.Yep I use Excel frequently so I'm exposed to it very often
It's actually not too bad for me. The most annoying part used to be the comment function crashing Mac Excel but it doesn't happen to me anymore. The rest are manageable. Ok other than the RAM running out, but I haven't suspected that that is due to "Excel Mac being crap" - maybe it is…?
I'm probably one notch below a true power user (I don't do VBA) - but I've heard the moment you want to VBA, you should just stick to Windows.
I seriously considered Parallels or some other way to run Windows on Mac just for Excel and flexibility, especially in my first few days of using the Mac. But I couldn't find a seamless way to do it on Apple silicon and I gave up and realised it wasn't really necessary for my situation anyway.
Yeah VBA is a no go with Mac.
You could try Rectangle for the windowing shortcuts. You can set up additional shortcuts in System Settings (for Excel).
marshmall0w2 on 28/08/2025 - 12:48 Comment score below threshold.
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