Sure, we have the new M3 MacBook Air and a new one is just around the corner, but nothing beats the M1 MacBook Air to this day.
The M1 MacBook Air is the Best Laptop Apple has Ever Made and Still Delivers More Value Compared to Everything Else
When you take a look at Apple’s product portfolio, you’ll see a ton of great products. Probably the most iconic one is the MacBook Air. This laptop alone has shaped the entire industry into what it is today.
However, while the initial MacBook Air was a work of art and an impressive feat of engineering, it was severely marred by the technology that was available at the time.
It was released with an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, 13.3-inch display with 1280-by-800 resolution, 2GB of RAM, and an 80GB spinning hard-drive that could be upgraded to a 64GB SSD. That SSD upgrade option was very expensive, too.
All of this was announced back in 2008.
With time, the MacBook Air kept on ‘improving.’ A 11-inch model was introduced to the lineup in 2010, then the entire MacBook Air was redesigned in 2018, but it dropped the 11-inch model in favor of just one 13-inch display model.
It took Apple almost 10 years to redesign the MacBook Air.
However, the thing that kept the MacBook Air back was the processor – every single time. Though it was fine for most people, but it just couldn’t keep up if you added an extra pound of workload on it. The internal active cooling system did nothing to help either.
Buying a MacBook Pro just made sense if you needed more processing power.
In fact, the fan inside the laptop was useless, as it did nothing to disperse the heat properly either. Clearly, Apple had an issue with the processor in such a thin laptop.
In 2020, Apple announced the M1 chip. The first-ever Apple-designed silicon for the Mac. It was big news, it was a huge wake-up call for the entire industry towards efficiency and portability.
Apple put the M1 chip inside the MacBook Air, too. While doing so, it removed the active cooling system for a passively cooled design. It was a bold move. But, the best one in Apple’s history. The goal Apple had in mind for the MacBook Air was complete.
A thin laptop with the processing power of a high-end computer.
Overnight, the MacBook Air was a beast. It shipped with 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, 13.3-inch Retina display, 2 Thunderbolt ports, a fantastic keyboard a large trackpad and more.
Believe it or not, the MacBook Air was now offering the same performance as the M1 MacBook Pro, because it had the same chip inside it. With that change alone, the laptop was able to crunch through apps and games like it was no big deal at all.
At the time of writing, you can still buy the M1 MacBook Air. You can buy it from Walmart, brand new, for a low price of just $649. Though that laptop was released back in 2020, it still offers performance levels that is perfect for the everyday computing and a little extra, thanks to the more efficient chip.
The M3 MacBook Air exists, but when it comes to value alone, you won’t find a better deal than the M1 model to this second. The only thing that can beat the MacBook Air is the MacBook Air.
To make things interesting, the M1 model will get all Apple Intelligence features coming later this month, too. Yes, all of them.
In 16 years of its existence, the M1 model has really managed to propel the entire lineup to a whole new level. Overnight the notebook turned into a value king and still is to this moment.
