The MacBook Air is one of the best laptops around, as long as Windows isn’t a hard requirement. The M1 model from 2020 goes on sale frequently, but now it’s back to its best price ever.
This is the 2020 MacBook Air, one of Apple’s first computers with its Apple Silicon M1 chipset. The base model on sale has a 13-inch non-touch display, 256GB of internal storage, 8 GB RAM, and a spacious touchpad. Even though the M1 chip still packs a punch, its low power consumption means the Air has no fans, making it as silent as a phone or tablet. For connectivity, there are two Thunderbolt/USB 4 Type-C ports, Wi-Fi 6, a headphone jack, and Touch ID on the keyboard.
The M1 Air was superseded by the M2 MacBook Air earlier this year, but Apple is still selling this model as a cheaper alternative — the new model starts at $1,199, a whopping $400 discount from the M1. The newer model has an extra MagSafe connector for charging, an even lighter design, an upgraded webcam, and the faster M2 chipset. Still, the M1 Air is plenty powerful, as long as you aren’t doing workloads that need active cooling (like extended 4K video editing or 3D rendering).
