If last year's rumors about a new, more affordable MacBook got you excited, then we have some bad news, as it looks like they might have been referring to the MacBook Air (2020, M1) getting a new price cut. $699.
So instead of getting a new type of MacBook with a price that could challenge the best Chromebooks out there, as some of the rumors suggested, the reality seems that it's actually a four-year-old MacBook with a cheaper price, although even so. not exactly budget – price. Worse yet, it appears to only be available at Walmart, which will annoy anyone like me who lives outside the US.
The M1 MacBook Air was first released in 2020 and was officially discontinued by Apple this month with the launch of the latest MacBook Air models. However, Walmart is selling the MacBook Air M1 at a better than Black Friday price of $699. At this price, you might think these are refurbished MacBooks, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Before its discontinuation, the M1 MacBook Air typically sold for $999.
According MacRumors, these are new devices and appear to be “new inventory”. So while Apple is no longer selling the M1 MacBook Air in its own store, it may still be producing new ones for sale elsewhere. It seems that the rumored new cheaper MacBook Air isn't actually “new” in the way we expected, but simply a discount on a popular, albeit older, MacBook, which is a bit disappointing.
Disappointed is an understatement.
While this is good news for people who have been eager to buy a MacBook but remain skeptical due to the price, it is quite disappointing to know that we are not going to get a new cheaper alternative, especially for those of us outside the US. I can't easily shop at Walmart.
I've been saving up to buy a new MacBook Air for quite some time, and I have to admit that I was incredibly excited to hear that Apple might try to enter the affordable laptop market and take on Google's budget Chromebooks. Don't get me wrong, some of the best Chromebooks on the market right now can handle heavy workloads and do most of what you'd expect from a MacBook, but as someone deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem, it wouldn't make sense. for me to buy one.
The 2020 MacBook Air is still going strong today and the M1 chip is more than capable of keeping up with everyday tasks, but just because it's already four years old doesn't mean you're going to spend money on an older machine. Not exactly prepared for the future. If last year's rumors were really about the M1 MacBook Air, I can't be too mad (well, I am), but I hope one day we see a newA cheaper alternative to the MacBook Air M3.
