Exclusive April Steal Deal: Apple MacBook Air 13" M2 16GB 256GB Starlight (Brand New) - $999 + $19.80 Delivery Australia Wide ($0 C&C in Sydney)
How does this count as a deal for an over 3 year old chip? I'm not. Sure how apple works but Ig this is a steal?
nos
Can you find a newer M chip for close to this price?
As you imply, the newer models are much the same, except for performance gains in the chip.
Last year from Harris was a better deal, but they were swamped with orders.
There are some feature differences - eg, M4 Macbook Airs and up support 2 external monitors as well as the internal display. The M2 only supports 1
Yeah, like i said, "much the same" .
Check out the second hand prices for these on eBay - its crazy what people are paying.
If people don't want to pay $1639 edu for the M5, this is not a bad deal.
@bargaino: "Much the same" as Neo too. Edu discount from apple store is $720 then use 10% off gift card to bring it further down and knock off another $20 with free shipping.
They all much the same anyway, might as well knock off another $300+
Well the m5 air with 512gb (compared to 256gb) is a $554.2 difference from the AOC store. With the difference in speed and more storage (256gb is too small imo) I think the m5 is a better buy. I hear the m5 is about 2x the speed of the m2. Also this is just new. I'm sure you can get a better deal on a newer used or reverb m3 or preferably m4
Speed difference is irrelevant to most use cases.
apple & JB are selling refurbs of the same for $1469 and $1199 respectively.
FYI, the Apple refurbs have a 1TB SSD. 256GB is very easy to fill.
So they do. my bad.
I mean this is significantly better than the Neo and the price isn't that much more so while I agree it's not a great deal it's still not terribly bad.
EDIT: I've seen multiple takes below that the NEO performs better at single core performance. While that's true, if you want to do multicore tasks like video editing, photoshop, emulation etc.. M2 still outperforms
In the time of memory crisis and living cost hikes like this, find me a better Mac for $999. Why complaining about an old M3 when even the M1 is working fine for office tasks?
If you need more, you're welcome to spend more. But not everyone can afford high-end laptops 🙄
Totally agree. This a great price for new and would suit many except spec chasers.
It's an m2 and I'm not complaining. Just wondering if this is actually considered a deal. I can't see how it is when you can get an m5 Mac with more storage for $554.2 more. It seems like a lot but the m5 is 2x the speed compared to the m2 and the m2 in this deal comes with only 256gb of storage. I don't even know how you can use that even with office work. I would need at least 512gb.
Compare down rather than up.
The MacBook Neo just launched and is proving to be very popular. This is the same price but better in practically every single way.
If someone has a $1k budget, what better option is there?
@loksmack: Macbook neo is cheaper via edu discount even with more storage but that's not a workload laptop. It's just for students. This is definitely better but the storage is still restrictive I feel
Okay sorry for the typo, it's M2. But you're looking from your POV only.
This is a deal for many people who can't afford a penny above $999.You may be happy to spend extra, but for others, $554.2 means groceries, fuel, kids' tuition fee and other stuffs they need to prioritize.
256gb is not enough for you, but sufficient for those who choose to buy it. And they probably dont need x2 speed since the M2 is already fast enough for them.
Like many are happy with a 2010 Toyota, while others cant go lower than a 2026 BMW. 2010 is not the best, sure. But it's enough for their needs.
@User531437: I'm not thinking about it from my point of view at all. I'm trying to find out if this is a better deal compared to the latest one and in my opinion it's not. Having only 1k to spend on a laptop is not what I'm talking about. Of course if you can only spend 1k this is a better deal but as I said in another comment you probably should be looking at buying used not new if you have budget restrictions
@HaydosK: Why not get a 15" MacBook Pro with M5 Max chip, 128GB of memory, 8TB of SSD and Nano texture glass? It's only $10,425 more than this one!
If you can't afford that then you probably should be looking at buying used not new if you have budget restrictions.
/s
I don't think you understand price points. You want better performance, you pay more. You want to save money, you get less performance. The consumer chooses where they sit on this budget-performance spectrum.
@loksmack: That argument only works if this is the only other option. I'm just saying there probably are other options like used newer mac's for the same price.
@HaydosK: But the same logic applies to the $1600 Air. Why not buy a used Pro at that price?
Not everyone wants to buy used - there is an element of risk in purchasing used.
And the only new MacBook that is comparable in price is the Neo - and this is a much more capable machine than the Neo.
@mickydau any Silver models? Would purchase but can’t stand Starlight :(
I think many not buying it for the very reason. I was interested in the earlier 15" deal but damn, the color.
Yeah I guess. Perhaps I’m a bit boring but I’m just not interested in colours other than Silver.
Silver and grey I like both. The midnight is too dark though.
Agree. Starlight, Midnight, Fleshlight, these colours just ain’t it. Silver or pass.
have you seen this one IRL? it looks kind of similar to silver
The neo is quite faster than this, but this has more RAM and a backlit keyboard.
From what I have heard, the Neo is closer to the M1 and scenarios vary as to which is better.
Only on single core. Otw this wipes the floor
I think it's better single core performance, worse multicore and GPU performance, right?
yes, but the spread is much different. The Neo 8.6K multi using 6 cores and M2 has 9.6K score multi using 8 cores. Neo will be snappy for most day to day tasks compared to the M2 by a decent margin. Unless you are peaking all the cores to the max.
No it's not. Neo is good because it will let schools easily integrate mac's but it's not good for harder workloads.
Who does harder workloads on an Air where you are loading all cores most of the times? Snappiness is more important. But this laptop still wins though becuase of 16GB and backlit keyboard. But chip to chip I will take the 33% faster Single threaded of the neo over ~10% faster multi-threaded of the m2 air.
Important: storage on the 256GB model of the M2 is much slower than on models with higher storage.
Given recent specials on newer models, or higher-spec models of the M2 and M3 models, I am not convinced this deal is great value.
With 16GB the swap is less and you may not notice it much. Also your link does not open.
Thanks, I put the wrong link before. Fixed it.
True, 16GB will help and you may not notice as much. But not many people are aware of the storage speed difference.
I still think this is not amazing value. This model has been around since late 2022. And 256GB is not much, because once you factor in the operation system, the available free space is not very much.
well when you there be a sale of m3 @ this price point?
completely unImportant comment
as if a (profanity) synthetic benchmark from 2022 on a 8gb model (profanity) matters. get (profanity) real.
anyway, get (profanity) and read users' comments who are actually using it, not just reading the (profanity) verge https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookair/comments/yu7spf/how_noti…
Not that anybody in here cares; but this model supports installing Asahi Linux, in case you want to move away from MacOS. This is extremely tempting to me for that reason alone.
I'm curious, what benefits does Asahi Linux offer you over MacOS?
oh, the experience will be notably worse.
Linux.
I don't want to ever be in MacOs
Can't stand windows now
99.9999% of Mac users will not care. Mac Linux is for people who have too much time on their hands and get moist with excitement when their computer goes wrong.
Ha ha, well said
this is absolutely a decsription of me
You’ve just coincidentally described some of the greatest people ever.
99.9999% of Mac users
Six significant figures for 12 people. Is that like someone's left pinky finger hovering over the Terminal icon?
OK so back last year got my M4 air for $1300, compare to this M2 still a good deal? Or this deal is better?
You've got a good deal. 300 more for something that's 2 gens newer is worth it in resale value alone, that's before the value from the extra performance
Sold my MBA M2 16/256 for the MBA M5 24gb/512 and — can’t tell the difference and I’m a power user.
Obviously not a power user enough
Shush. They're a big boy now.
As a power user you should have known that
Temped to cancel my 256gb Neo order that is 3 weeks way for this. Assume the extra $300 is worth it to double the RAM?
Don't forget the support. M2 support will be over soon
Unlikely. Probably 2029. Even M1 will probably get another two releases.
$1000 and 3 years support for hardware that will last 10 years… Doesn't seem like a very good proposition…
With OCLP I think it should last as long as apple keeps the M series architecture. Tahoe is the first release that completely unusable on the 201x intel macs.
Tbh I think it's all dependent on your use cases. If it's basic productivity tools, Netflix machine, cloud based AI use. The neo is perfectly fine.
If you're actively coding, video editing, or any other process heavy activity an M2 from what I've heard will handle it better.
Great deal even though its an older CPU. I've got an M1 Max Studio and an M4 Air and in day to day use I can't tell the difference, it's only on the rare times I push them to the limit that I see a difference.
The average person comparing this to a Neo or an M5 Air won't see the difference in CPU, though the extra 8gb of ram may help over the Neo.
in the current Macbook M chip world, the ram, the storage space matters way more to an average joe, than the raw cpu power.
Was in Costco Moorabin to look at MacBook Air m5 on weekend , no price, no demo model. Asked about price and they said “sold out of the m5 MacBook Air so we don’t show price as we don’t have stock” they had m4. Not sure of people just want the m5 hence sold out or apple didn’t make enough and have plant m4 ?
I am still using a 12 inch MacBook (Circa 2015-17)………..
Lol why are you getting downvoted for a statement?
But in all seriousness you should update to a Macbook Neo for ~720 via Union store! No, it's not as light or small, but man I do enjoy mine.
256GB, is that a phone :D
Still reasonable for a 13 inch (if the price is decent)
Warning, I ordered and paid for one of these on 14th April, and it still has not even been posted as per 20th April, so expect long delays. I would not deal with this company again.
I'm in the same boat, ordered on the 15th. I'm not in a hurry to get it so I can wait another week before I get cranky.
Didnt have this issue, bought on 16th and recieved on 20th
Delivery price went up and no free usb c hub compared to your last deal last month?