Is the Apple MacBook Air M1 still the best laptop in 2024? Read before buying – the discontinued beast.

Last updated on July 26th, 2024 at 02:46 am

Introduction

The Apple MacBook Air M1, launched in early 2020, is a game-changing product in the world of laptops. Its design, lightweight, screen quality, performance, and build quality attract the masses.

It was the first laptop by Apple based on their own innovative processor named M1. It was a major shift by Apple from their previous Intel-based processors such as i5, i7, etc. It was Apple’s thinnest, lightest notebook, integrated with their powerful M1 chip along with an 8-core CPU, cutting-edge 5-nanometer process technology, and packed with an astounding 16 billion transistors.

2024 Pricing of Apple MacBook Air M1

The base variant of the MacBook Air M1 (8GB RAM, 256GB fast storage) was launched at a starting price of $999 (Rs 92,900). But now it can be sold for around under $750 (Rs 70,000), not only this but with the help of credit card discounts and student discounts the price even go much lower.

Apple MacBook Air M1 Is Feature Proof 👩🏻‍💻

The MacBook Air M1 is a silent machine with no fan. Apple engineers designed it in such a way that it doesn’t heat up even with hours and hours of work. It handles all tasks like a charm. Although the screen is subjective, it is bright and vibrant with a 720p HD camera built-in camera. However, it is a little smaller. The screen doesn’t have any option to adjust the brightness manually. macOS automatically adjusts the brightness as per the required environment, and it works very well. We do get dedicated buttons to increase and decrease the brightness if we want.

The keyboard of the MacBook is very tactile and handy. It is not a full keyboard, meaning we don’t get a dedicated numpad on the right portion of the screen. We get a numpad along with useful symbols on the top layer of the screen.

Things To Know

The laptop has only 3 ports: two ports of USB Type-C (we can charge the laptop with either of the ports) and one 3.5mm port to attach earphones. We cannot attach pen drives or other peripherals directly to the laptop. If we want to connect all these devices, we need to buy a connector, a USB Type-C hub, which costs around $15 (Rs 1,250) or less.

The trackpad of the MacBook is also one of the satisfying things in the laptop. It is big, with vibration motors in it. It is actually not a clickable trackpad like left and right buttons because it is a solid metal piece. But the way it is designed and implemented, it gives us vibration and feels like we are clicking something. Although it takes people time, usually 1-2 days, to get familiar with the Apple trackpad, after using it, it is hard to work with other trackpads because the Apple trackpad has so much functionality. People can literally do everything with gestures.

Still, in 2024, the performance is top-notch. It gives more performance than required for the price it is available now.

Also Apple other older products like Apple iPhone 13 , 14 is still relevant in 2024 . But should you wait to buy iPhone 16 ? read more : How Apple iPhones impact asian regions

Battery Life

And the main concern in a laptop is its “BATTERY.” But when it comes to MacBook with their own silicon chips M1, M2, and M3 (recently launched), you don’t need to worry about the battery. MacBook can easily give you 1-day battery backup if you usually use it for medium to high-performance tasks such as coding, web development, etc. And in light work scenarios such as just web browsing on Safari, it can easily give more than 1-day battery backup.

Touch ID Feature

Also, the MacBook Air M1 has the feature of Touch ID, i.e., a fingerprint scanner. It is one of the best implementations of Touch ID. People don’t understand it unless they use it. But Touch ID doesn’t work for opening the laptop after shutdown. For that, we need to type our password. It is just an Apple tactic so that the user doesn’t forget their password in the ease of Touch ID.

Finally, the main question is, should we consider MacBook Air M1 in 2024?

Well, it depends on the user. If a user is new to the Apple environment or has never used a MacBook and wants to buy one, then it is a perfect entry-level laptop for them. It is very fast, powerful, efficient, and good for coding and development, etc. It is going to be a good decision for them.

Also, with the new launch of MacBook Air M1, the M1 lineup is officially discounted by Apple. But they are still in high demand and there is a lot of stock in the market. If we compare the MacBook Air M1 to another Windows laptop, people tend to lean towards MacBook. However, Windows has its own plenty of advantages.

Should you consider a Windows laptop in the same price range?

For users who work on Excel or make PowerPoint presentations or use Microsoft tools, they need to know that Microsoft tools don’t come with MacBook , yes you can download whole Microsoft tools from App Store for free but again if you have product key of the Microsoft tools then only one can use them otherwise , user need to buy the Microsoft services such as Microsoft 360 .

On comparison in majority of window laptop Microsoft services are already inbuilt you don’t need to do anything to use excel , ppt or other tool , just click and use. So it depends on user how they want to use a laptop whether it is window or MacBook , there are many features in MacBook Air M1  which are not easy to find or present in a window laptop or vice versa .

Also user needs to know that MacBook Air M1 is not for gaming , it is not designed that way , it is designed to do productivity and multitasking work 

But at last In 2024 MacBook is still so smooth , with so many updates by Apple over the time , it has reduced all the initial problems which users complained , so it is still a very great laptop for editing , browsing , coding , moderate development , photoshop , for school and college students etc.