I SWAPPED To the CHEAPEST M1 MacBook Air for a Week!
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator challenges the notion of always needing the latest tech by using the M1 MacBook Air for a week. Despite its lower price compared to newer models, the M1 MacBook Air proved capable for daily tasks, with only minor drawbacks like limited display brightness and a single monitor output. The video highlights the value in considering older models over the latest tech, emphasizing that for many, the M1 MacBook Air still offers a fantastic user experience without the hefty price tag.
Takeaways
- 💻 The M1 MacBook Air is still a relevant and cost-effective option compared to newer, more expensive models.
- 💰 The base model of the M1 MacBook Air can be purchased for as low as $600 renewed or up to $999 brand new from Apple.
- 🔧 The speaker praises the build quality and durability of the M1 MacBook Air, noting it has withstood travel and daily use well.
- 🖥️ The display of the M1 MacBook Air is considered good but lacks brightness and has larger bezels compared to newer models.
- 🔗 The M1 MacBook Air has limitations with external monitor support, only allowing for a single monitor connection.
- 🎮 For gaming, the M1 MacBook Air can handle older and less demanding games with lowered graphical settings.
- 🛠️ The user found the M1 MacBook Air to be easily integrated into their existing desk setup, despite the lack of an HDMI port.
- 🔑 The keyboard on the M1 MacBook Air is described as comfortable for typing, with a design that fits the user's typing style.
- 🎒 The lightweight design of the M1 MacBook Air makes it easy to carry around without causing discomfort.
- 📉 The webcam quality on the M1 MacBook Air is criticized as being poor, even by the standards of its release.
- 📊 Cinebench R24 benchmarks showed that the M1 MacBook Air's performance is still good, though not on par with the latest models.
Q & A
What is the purpose of the video?
-The purpose of the video is to test the relevance and performance of the M1 MacBook Air, an older and more affordable model, to determine if it can still meet the needs of a modern user.
What is the sponsor of the video?
-The sponsor of the video is iFixit, a platform that provides repair guides and tools for various electronic devices.
What is the base model of the M1 MacBook Air and its specifications?
-The base model of the M1 MacBook Air has an 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU, 256 GB of storage, and 8 GB of unified memory.
What is the price range for the base model of the M1 MacBook Air?
-The price for the base model of the M1 MacBook Air can range from as low as $600 for a renewed unit on Amazon to as high as $999 for a brand new one from Apple.
What is the main issue the user faced while using the M1 MacBook Air?
-The main issue the user faced was the limitation of the M1 MacBook Air to only support a single external monitor, which was a significant drawback for the user.
How does the M1 MacBook Air compare to newer models in terms of display quality?
-The M1 MacBook Air has a good display but it lacks the brightness and the larger display size of newer models like the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro 16-inch.
What are the user's thoughts on the build quality of the M1 MacBook Air?
-The user praises the build quality of the M1 MacBook Air, noting that it has withstood travel, drops, and daily use while maintaining its appearance.
How does the M1 MacBook Air perform in terms of gaming?
-The M1 MacBook Air can handle older games like WoW Classic at reasonable frame rates with lowered graphical settings, but it is not as powerful as newer models for gaming.
What is the user's opinion on the ergonomics of the M1 MacBook Air?
-The user finds the M1 MacBook Air to be the most comfortable MacBook for typing due to its sloped body design, which fits their typing style well.
What is the user's view on the webcam quality of the M1 MacBook Air?
-The user is not satisfied with the webcam quality of the M1 MacBook Air, stating that it is straight up bad, even for the time when the computer was released.
What is the conclusion of the video regarding the M1 MacBook Air?
-The conclusion of the video is that the M1 MacBook Air is still a fantastic option for those who do not need the latest and greatest features, and it is a significant upgrade over Intel-based Macs.
Outlines
💻 Testing the M1 MacBook Air's Relevance
The speaker embarks on a week-long experiment using only the M1 MacBook Air, an older yet affordable model, to test its performance and relevance against newer, more expensive machines. The hypothesis is that the M1 MacBook Air, despite its age, still offers sufficient capabilities for modern tasks. The speaker thanks the sponsor, iFixit, and shares their experience using the laptop for various activities like holiday planning, work, and gaming. They find the laptop to be surprisingly capable, with only minor issues such as limited monitor support and a less impressive display compared to newer models. Despite these drawbacks, the M1 MacBook Air proves to be a cost-effective choice that still delivers on performance.
🛒 Value and Practicality of the M1 MacBook Air
The speaker discusses the cost-effectiveness of the M1 MacBook Air, comparing its price to both refurbished and brand new options. They highlight the laptop's ability to handle everyday tasks smoothly, despite not being as powerful as the latest models. The speaker also addresses the limitations of the laptop, such as its inability to support multiple monitors and the lower screen brightness, which could be a deal-breaker for outdoor use. They emphasize the importance of being disciplined with computer usage to maximize the laptop's capabilities. The speaker also praises the build quality, typing comfort, and lightweight design of the M1 MacBook Air, making it a portable and ergonomic choice. However, they note the mediocre speaker quality and poor webcam performance. The conclusion is that the M1 MacBook Air remains a fantastic option for those who do not need the latest features and are looking for a reliable, cost-effective device.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡M1 MacBook Air
💡Hypothesis
💡Relevance
💡M Series Laptops
💡Display
💡Benchmarks
💡Gaming Workload
💡Desktop Management
💡Build Quality
💡Ergonomics
💡Webcam
Highlights
The M1 MacBook Air is considered for a week-long test to assess its relevance and performance against newer models.
The hypothesis is that the M1 MacBook Air, despite being an older model, still has considerable capabilities.
The M1 MacBook Air can be purchased for as low as $600 renewed or up to $999 brand new.
A refurbished M1 MacBook Air from Apple is recommended for its return policy and Apple Care.
The M1 MacBook Air has limitations, such as only supporting a single external monitor.
The display of the M1 MacBook Air is criticized for its large bezels and lower brightness compared to newer models.
The M1 MacBook Air's performance was satisfactory for the user's work and gaming needs.
Cinebench R24 benchmarks show the M1 MacBook Air's performance is still competitive.
The M1 MacBook Air's gaming capabilities were tested with WoW classic and RimWorld.
Discipline in computer use is necessary due to the M1 MacBook Air's limited multitasking compared to higher-end models.
The M1 MacBook Air's build quality and durability are praised, even after extensive use.
The MacBook Air is noted for its comfortable typing experience due to its ergonomic design.
The lightweight design of the M1 MacBook Air is beneficial for portability.
The M1 MacBook Air's webcam quality is described as poor, even for its release time.
The M1 MacBook Air is recommended as a significant upgrade from Intel-based Macs.
The necessity of upgrading to newer models like the M2 Max or M3 Pro is questioned, suggesting they may offer more power than needed.
The M1 MacBook Air is still considered a fantastic option, emphasizing the value of older models over constant pursuit of the latest technology.
Transcripts
I'm sick of arguing about bar charts
today I'm embarking on an adventure to
only use the absolute cheapest M series
Apple laptop the M1 MacBook Air for the
next week this laptop costs a fraction
of the other machines that we've
recently talked about but my hypothesis
is this thing still has it word counts
so let's get to it but before this week
is over I'd like to thank today's
sponsor I fix it okay one week later no
kidding that was a pretty crazy week
between holiday planning work YouTube
and my crippling wow classic Obsession I
put in a serious amount of work on the
old M1 here and I'd have to say if we
were to summarize this whole video at
the beginning it wasn't too bad the
point of the video was to show just how
relevant this older computer could be
and that those of us Chasing the
shiniest and newest thing we kind of
spending money that we don't need to so
I'm not sure why I was so surprised with
how well it went the whole point was to
kind of just have things work and they
did just kind of work work first off
let's talk about how much you yourself
would spend if you bought an M1 MacBook
Air Now quickly glancing at the internet
it looks like you can get one of these
base models which is the model that I
use the 8 core CPU 7 core GPU 256 GB of
storage and 8 GB of unified memory you
can get that for as low as $600 renewed
on Amazon to as high as
$999 brand new from Apple obviously I
personally wouldn't buy one of these
brand new I would go refurbish from
Apple for about
$849 which yes it's a little pricier and
you will have to balance that out but
for me it's worth it because I really
like the Apple return policy and Apple
Care ability either way the point of
this starting section is save yourself
some money and don't go brand new this
next part of the video I was going to
save for problems I found over the past
week honestly I didn't find many the
biggest problem that I ran into is
something I've been complaining about
with the standard M Series Laptops for
years it only exports out to a single
Monitor and I'm so sick of saying this
specific section that I'm just going to
leave it at that it sucks Su for me it
might not suck for you if you're a
single monitor person don't worry about
it if you're a double monitor
person it's a little worse another thing
that was a problem but very noticeable
is having gotten used to the display on
my M1 and later M3 Max MacBook Pro 16s
this display is kind of lacking it's not
that it's bad it's actually a pretty
good display and it's not that it's bad
because of a slower refresh rator rather
geek talk okay In fairness though it
does take your eyes some time to adjust
the slowness though my main two I guess
you could call them issues are the
gigantic bezel and the lower brightness
ability the bezels speak for themselves
this is an older computer built from an
older time and design you get used to it
it's not that much of a problem the
brightness though is kind of a problem
for me it only goes up to 400 nits of
brightness which is fine in controlled
lighting environments Library lecture
hall your home office Etc but it's not
very useful the second a beam of
sunlight comes in through the window and
if I had to say there was one deal
breaker in this whole video and all this
time later it would be this specific
gripe and it sounds like a small thing
to call a deal breaker I totally get it
you're like oh the screen brightness is
a deal breaker but if you are going to
be outside using your computer a lot I
wouldn't get this one like it is just
harder to see this than other variants
out there thanks again to iFix it for
sponsoring this video you can learn how
to fix just about anything at ifixit.com
search through thousands of free repair
guides and find the highquality parts
and precision tools to fix your phones
laptops game consoles and so much more I
fix it as your place to to skip the
materialism of the holiday shopping and
focus on giving gifts that are actually
meaningful iFixit is now offering a
brand new essential repair bundle that
includes their essential Electronics
toolkit Electronics cleaning bundle and
even limited edition stickers and
patches I just I cannot get over how
much I like stickers thankfully I have
not grown out of that as I've gotten
older go to their website today by
clicking on that very easy Link in the
description below and find your fix for
performance I'm going to put up some
benchmarks taken throughout the course
of the the past week using cinebench r24
it's okay obviously numbers going up
Wise It's not up to speed with the
latest and greatest from Apple but it's
still pretty darn good one thing to note
of these arm-based Apple Computers they
punch way above their literal weight and
price tag weight prices don't have
weights so while the M1 MacBook Air is
less powerful than most powerful Apple
Computers it's still way more usefully
powerful than any competing Windows
computer not just in power because I
will admit that the latest Intel and AMD
processors they are faster than this one
but it's in useful power it's really
hard to Max gaming is never Apple strong
suit but I was very impressed with how
the M3 Max handled my gaming workload
which frankly it should at that very
steep price tag the M1 MacBook Air
especially the Basse model has probably
the weakest of Apple's gaming suits in
their current gen Apple computer set yes
computers wear suits I don't know if you
knew that I was able to play WoW classic
at reasonable frame rates after kicking
down the graphical settings very very
low and it is like a 15-year-old video
game I was also able to play some Rim
world and In fairness that's a basic 2D
simulation game so it should be able to
do that but personally I don't play many
Cutting Edge game releases sorry I we're
not much of Gamers here in the house for
normal use I did have to be careful one
thing that the M3 Max MacBook Pro 16 has
allowed me to do is get in a real bad
habit of desktop management I just leave
crap programs open all the time
Photoshop battl net launcher whatever I
just keep it all running in the back
ground all the time because I have the
CPU and the memory headp space to allow
for it here you don't have such luxury
you will need to be a bigger aesthetic
in keeping only the programs you want
open at any given time and definitely
you need to break yourself of the habit
of having many internet tabs open at
once if you can get around that though
and be a little bit more disciplined in
your computer use and I imagine most of
us could easily just click the red X to
save ourselves some money in that
circumstance the MacBook Air holds up
very well operation was smooth I never
really had stutters or slowdowns
functionally it was just like any other
week of mind and I think that's the
important note from this whole video
there wasn't really a standout benefit
or a standout detraction from using the
MacBook Air if you can save a ton of
money and not notice that difference in
your computer that's great this is the
bag brand cereal from the grocery store
of computer technology in a good way
we've got MacBook Pro at home and this
is the MacBook Pro at home you've got
another thing I was pretty happy about
was the ease in which it plugged into my
existing desk setup sure that isn't
overly surprising right my desk setup is
made up for Apple computers and this is
an Apple computer but it's nice to know
they haven't changed standards around or
done anything too crazy over the past 3
years with an asterisk being that my
second monitor was blank over the last
week which did kind of suck and okay it
didn't plug into my entire desk setup
this doesn't bother me as much here for
two reasons though one is it's a much
cheaper computer than others with this
specific handicap the M3 standard
MacBook Pro costs so much more and has
the equivalent problem and number number
two in regards to that standard M3
MacBook Pro this only has Thunderbolt
ports you don't see an HDMI here so it's
not like you have an HDMI and a
thunderbolt port and only one works at a
time yes I haven't yet emotionally
recovered from that frustration someday
someday I will let it go other
functional positives were the build
quality I've had this computer since its
release it's been all over the United
States through many airport security
scanners it's knocked around on car
rides plane rides it's been dropped a
few times yes I'm clumsy I've let kids
use this to play Roblox on like the darn
thing still looks like it did on the day
I bought it the screen does kind of look
gross because I don't clean it as often
as I should but besides that this looks
immaculate also functionally this
continues to be the most comfortable
MacBook to type on I haven't said this
in a minute but the sloped body design
fits my I guess you could call it typing
style it fits my style of typing really
well because of these front slopes I
never get the edge of the computer
digging into into my wrist here and it
just feels ergonomically better now I'm
not a doctor or a hand expert so don't
take this as medical advice that the
MacBook Air will solve or fix any
problems but I personally feel more
comfortable typing here than on other
computers the weight is also awesome you
can't even tell this thing is in your
Satchel or backpack and that's really
important to me because a couple of
weeks ago I was carrying around a
backpack walking around the town of
Savannah and I was carrying my MacBook
Pro in a backpack for hours a day and no
kidding my my shoulders still hurt from
that no the airor probably wouldn't have
totally solved my shoulder pain but it
maybe would have lessened it greatly and
that's something I'm willing to explore
in the future the speakers are kind of
mid though they're not terrible in any
way shape or form but they absolutely
cannot keep up with the newer Mac
computers especially the MacBook Pro 16
and then something else I guess I should
have added to the problems but I'll talk
about it now the webcam is just bad like
I can't make up some kind of waffle
about well it's good for the price and
in combination with the rest of the
value it's actually good no this webcam
is straight up bad and even when the
computer was released years ago they
should have put something better in here
so after a solid week of use yes the M1
MacBook Air is still a fantastic option
you don't need to go chasing the
waterfall of the latest and greatest
every time apple has a big event some of
these older things are just ABS they're
just F they're just so good yes I do
think the M1 MacBook Air is a big
upgrade over any of the Intel Macs if
you still have one of those seriously
consider this machine but the M2 Max air
isn't all that much better and the M3
Pros are so much more expensive you
really need to stop and ask yourself if
you need that much capability because
frankly you probably don't but what
about you do you still have an M1
MacBook Air how is it holding up years
later let us all know in the comments
below and if you like this video click
here if you decided you do need some
more horsepower click click click click
click click
click thanks for watching
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
M1 MacBook Air 2020 — BIGGEST MISTAKE I’VE EVER MADE
En Ucuz Macbook Alınır mı? Macbook Air M1 Uzun Kullanım Deneyimlerim
14" MacBook Pro vs M1 MacBook Air - Worth $1,000 MORE? 🤔
you should buy the m1 macbook air right now in 2024.
MacBook Air M3: Tudo sobre o novo laptop da Apple | REVIEW HONESTO
Here's the Thing about the M3 Macbook Air...
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)