Walmart resurrects the M1 MacBook Air as an entry-level $699 laptop

Price undercuts Apple's own refurbished pricing for the M1 Air.

See full article...

 

[ERIFNOMI]

Shit, for $700 that's a pretty decent deal for a laptop that's going to be used for browsing the web. That's pretty close to "fuck it, I just want to play with one" price.

E: I'm being sincere. My wife has been wanting a new laptop and everything she does on her laptop is done in a browser. She has a beefy desktop for anything else. This would be a great replacement for her dying Chromebook.

 

[Allthecheese]

They are going to sell a BUNCH of these. That's a price point a Walmart shopper would jump at.

Edit to clarify: The average Walmart shopper is not concerned with long term software support or know to care about it, much less look to see storage and RAM options. They will see that they can get an Apple laptop for $699 and pull the trigger.

 

[ERIFNOMI]

The m1 air was not good when it was first released and it’s not now. There are good Apple laptops of course, but there are many stinkers and handicapped years. This laptop is worth maybe 200 to 300 new.

You're out of your fucking mind. $200-300? This is plenty of laptop for a lot of people.

 

[redtomato]

For that price, it's an extremely solid entry level package, good battery, amazing chassis, good screen etc.

I would factor into the price an Apple iCloud subscription, sized to be big enough to keep everything online. That's backup and theft / breakdown protection sorted out. Solo iCloud with large storage is somewhat poor value, but when shared with a family (or just good friends) it becomes good value.

(I used to be in the 1TB onboard or die crowd, but since getting 2TB iCloud my storage needs barely touch the sides of my 512gb onboard storage. That 2TB is shared with 4 other people and it's still only half-full. Looking back, this is mainly because of the shift in family habits from ripping / downloading dvds to store onboard to watching via streaming / YouTube.)

Running Windows on the Mx series is also becoming better and better supported.

One of the good things about the M1 Air being offered new at that price is it should become easier to find used for another couple of hundred dollars cheaper in good condition.

 

[th3suffering]

You're out of your fucking mind. $200-300? This is plenty of laptop for a lot of people.

100%, M1 is more laptop than some of the higher end windows laptops. $300 is chromebook and budget windows machine territory.

 

[fivemack]

You're out of your fucking mind. $200-300? This is plenty of laptop for a lot of people.

I was delighted to be able to get them for my partner and my eldest child at £1000 each a year ago (including AppleCare, which has repaired one screen per person in that year); they're enough laptop for most purposes.

 

[ChocoboGuy]

I bought my base model M1 air for $799 two years ago, and I love it as my ultralight internet / basic media consumption device. Even with only 8GB of ram, its better and more powerful than any Chromebook I've used. The battery life is also insanely good.

At this price, I would recommend it over a Chromebook or iPad.

 

[KnightRT]

Historically, Apple has provided new macOS versions and security updates based on the date that new Macs were introduced

From what I see, they discontinue support when the base hardware configuration for that model would have unacceptable performance or they no longer support that architecture (32-bit, x86, etc.). I wouldn't expect M1 support to lapse before M3.

 

[traumadog]

I certainly hope Apple keeps up with the OS and security updates for the older Airs... My friend just got a $400 Dell on sale at Best Buy with similar memory and storage specs. Sure, it's less performant in terms of processing power, but for web browsing and light word processing/email use it's fine.

And since it shipped with Win 11, I'm thinking OS and security updates will last more than 2-3 years. (My 8th-gen Intel Inspiron just got a bios security update just yesterday as a matter of fact)

 

[marsilies]

From the article:

The strongest argument against buying an M1 Air in 2024 is software support. Historically, Apple has provided new macOS versions and security updates based on the date that new Macs were introduced, which for the M1 Air is November of 2020. Apple could change its approach to software updates in the Apple Silicon era, but it has been fairly consistent on this point throughout the PowerPC and Intel eras.

Is this actually true? I've always seen Apple ending hardware support based on certain architectural/hardware changes.

Like, Snow Leopard dropped support for all PowerPC Macs, and Lion dropped support for all 32-bit only Intel CPU Macs.

Looking at WIkipedia's Hardware Compatibility for MacOS, there's a lot of variability in the year models supported for a given version. For example, MacOS 12 supports a 2013 Mac Pro, but only MacBooks from Early 2016 or later. So it's never been a flat "Macs from this date or later," it looks to has always varied depending on the model/type of Mac.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS#Hardware_compatibility

 

[ERIFNOMI]

100%, M1 is more laptop than some of the higher end windows laptops. $300 is chromebook and budget windows machine territory.

I'm honestly considering one for myself at this point. My ancient personal laptop is really for mobile networking duties, and occasionally browsing on the couch. The 720p screen is a huge hindrance, even when I just need to ssh into something.

 

[DistinctivelyCanuck]

I mean, aside from having to spend money with Walmart and contribute to their evil staff management policies? Yeah the laptop is a great deal. The need to shower repeatedly to try to clean off the stain from interacting with Walmart? harder to justify.

I can afford to avoid Walmart: and I know many can't, but that doesn't mean tolerating their labour policies, their supplier destruction policies etc, justifies saving a couple of hundred bucks on a Macbook.

 

[Jim Salter]

This is Asahi bait, is what it is. Honestly a bit tempting on that score.

 

[Danrarbc]

And OS support is a bigger deal on these machines than it has been in the past. So far at least, there's no good option for installing and running an alternative OS on the Apple Silicon Macs, unlike the Intels. Installing Linux/Windows after Apple ends OS support for old models has kept a lot of old Macs trucking along after their best-before date, but you're banking on the Asahi Linux project and that alone for these new Apple Silicon models.

Which, don't get me wrong, is a cool project and great to see, but it's a far cry from the ease of installing basically any Linux distro or even Windows on an otherwise-EoL Intel Mac.

Asahi Linux is not a single distro. Yes it's one team working to develop Apple Silicon support - but multiple distros will eventually be run by Asahi. Fedora was only the start.

 

[OrangeCream]

From what I see, they discontinue support when the base hardware configuration for that model would have unacceptable performance or they no longer support that architecture (32-bit, x86, etc.). I wouldn't expect M1 support to lapse before M3.

I expect it to be unsupported in 2031 or so. M3 in 2034 or 2035.

 

[icrf]

I don't understand how people could justify only have 8GB in a laptop today even considering the price is $700.

Most things don't honestly need more than that. If you spend the bulk of your time in a web browser, even with lots of tabs, you're plenty fine with 8 GB.

I'm not personally in need of such a device, but I absolutely see the appeal, especially at this price point.

 

[Danrarbc]

Most things don't honestly need more than that. If you spend the bulk of your time in a web browser, even with lots of tabs, you're plenty fine with 8 GB.

I'm not personally in need of such a device, but I absolutely see the appeal, especially at this price point.

Even with some content creation 8GB is fine on Apple Silicon Macs.

Far too many people haven't tried one and it really shows.

 

[antibolo]

I don't understand how people could justify only have 8GB in a laptop today even considering the price is $700.

People have different needs than you (GASP!)

 

[Deleted member 228006]

Good thing Target isn't carrying these at that price. Imagine all the poor souls who just stopped in to pick up toothpaste and paper towels, and walked out with a M1 MBA.

 

[approximate_pi]

And OS support is a bigger deal on these machines than it has been in the past. So far at least, there's no good option for installing and running an alternative OS on the Apple Silicon Macs, unlike the Intels. Installing Linux/Windows after Apple ends OS support for old models has kept a lot of old Macs trucking along after their best-before date, but you're banking on the Asahi Linux project and that alone for these new Apple Silicon models.

Which, don't get me wrong, is a cool project and great to see, but it's a far cry from the ease of installing basically any Linux distro or even Windows on an otherwise-EoL Intel Mac.

Asahi is pretty solid on M* Macs these days though, and all that code flows upstream, other distros inherit it…

 

[olePigeon]

And OS support is a bigger deal on these machines than it has been in the past. So far at least, there's no good option for installing and running an alternative OS on the Apple Silicon Macs, unlike the Intels. Installing Linux/Windows after Apple ends OS support for old models has kept a lot of old Macs trucking along after their best-before date, but you're banking on the Asahi Linux project and that alone for these new Apple Silicon models.

Which, don't get me wrong, is a cool project and great to see, but it's a far cry from the ease of installing basically any Linux distro or even Windows on an otherwise-EoL Intel Mac.

Apple has, on average, supported their machines for 7 to 8 years. So the M1 Airs should be good for another 4 or 5 years till 2028 or 2029. Apple has stated that Windows on Apple Silicon is 100% up to Microsoft. Microsoft's exclusivity deal with Qualcomm ends in 2025, so we can hope for the return of Bootcamp.

Edit: Fixed typos.

 

[antibolo]

The m1 air was not good when it was first released and it’s not now. There are good Apple laptops of course, but there are many stinkers and handicapped years. This laptop is worth maybe 200 to 300 new.

You're adorable. The M1 Air was a great laptop in 2020 that got plenty of positive reviews, and is still plenty good enough for many people today.

 

[alansh42]

I wonder why Apple had such a large number of leftover M1s. This isn't a grey market situation. They're new and AppleCare is available.

 

[Danrarbc]

You're adorable. The M1 Air was a great laptop in 2020 that got plenty of positive reviews, and is still plenty good enough for many people today.

I bought a refurbished one last year. It's absolutely all the laptop I need (minus gaming - but I'm not too broken up about not having something for that).

I wonder why Apple had such a large number of leftover M1s. This isn't a grey market situation. They're new and AppleCare is available.

I fully expected to see the M1 Air carrying on at ~$799 after the M3 came out and that didn't happen. Maybe it actually did happen and this is sanctioned BY Apple? They just didn't want to sell them themselves for some reason?

 

[stdaro]

the M1 macs landed at the wrong time. There were supply chain slowdowns that delayed wide availability, so by the time orders for m1 mac came through, it was followed really closely by m2 laptops.


There's a big glut of m1's around in inventories that need to get cleared out.

 

[Deleted member 545801]

For mostly just Web browsing, you're much better off with an iPad (or other tablet).

Some people prefer the laptop form factor, even for "just" web browsing. I personally like having a physical keyboard, and most of the weight on the bottom of the device, rather than the screen being most of the weight.

 

[Deleted member 545801]

I wonder why Apple had such a large number of leftover M1s. This isn't a grey market situation. They're new and AppleCare is available.

Who says they're leftover? Apple controls the production, they may be manufacturing them just for Walmart and other low-cost retailers to have a presence there.

 

[ikjadoon]

Software updates can a genuine concern, IMO, for spending $700 in early 2024 when an M2 should net you at least 1-2 more years of updates for $150 more on a refurbished M2 Air from Apple.

https://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/202...es-than-they-used-to-heres-why-its-a-problem/
Interestingly, Chromebooks have a clear & public end-of-OS-updates target as soon as the product goes on sale; Apple & Windows OEMs should do the same.

 

[Windhaven]

I’m a researcher that got an M1 that I’m still using, and it’s still bloody fast. Everything runs fast, I can do everything I need to on it, and the stuff that it slows down on is stuff that would take time on a faster computer anyways.
(Caveat: I work with small/medium datasets, and nothing compute intense like simulations or AI. But people overestimate how much compute they need, when all they do is process stuff in R or MATLAB)

 

[tu2thepoo]

I bought the M1 Air in a hurry last year (on sale for $750 and I needed first-party access to iCloud/iCloud Photos for manual backups… long story) and it’s been an astounding daily driver. I could use it for work if I wanted since my job is 100% web apps and Citrix workspace, and it’s still more than enough for personal tasks and even light video editing (quick instagram reels).

Truly the only thing is I wish I’d gotten the 512gb version- even with offloading to iCloud my photo and Apple music libraries are too large to keep on the 256 internal. A reliable USB-C dock and a few NVME-USB adapters take the sting out of that for the most part.