Buy MBA M1 now, or wait for MBA 2022?

It's the usual story. With current offers, I'm able to get a brand new base MBA M1 for £850 and given the rave reviews, I'm incredibly tempted.

But it feels silly given that the next iteration is probably less than 6 months away? And will see a big redesign, rather than just slight improvements?

Here's what I'm worried about missing out on if I purchase the MBA M1 instead of waiting:

• Larger screen (a 14" MBA would be great)
• Magsafe charger (I currently have a MBP 2012, so would like to retain this feature)
• Possible Wi-Fi 6E (for futureproofing)
• Possible Bluetooth 5.2 (futureproofing)
• Improved 1080p webcam (LONG overdue and for futureproofing)
• Slimmer/lighter model (I want maximum portability. My current MBP 2012 is a heavy beast at 2kg!)
• Anything else that will allow me not needing to upgrade for another ~10 years!

I'm not so bothered about any upgraded chip, as judging by rumours, it either won't happen or will be a marginal improvement. And MBA M1 seems super powerful as it is for my kind of use.

What's a guy to do? Any considerations I'm missing? Would be great to get people's thoughts.

Thanks in advance - love this forum!

I’d wait. I’m not in a totally dissimilar position where I’m not having my hand forced but I want to upgrade. I need to upgrade soon from my 2015 13” Pro but there’s no killer urgency just yet.

Even though I’m certain the M1 would be more than adequate for my needs, it’s a killer machine, I’m interested enough in the new Air to wait. And if the new Air isn’t super impressive I’ll look for a refurb on the current version.

Howard2k said:

I’d wait. I’m not in a totally dissimilar position where I’m not having my hand forced but I want to upgrade. I need to upgrade soon from my 2015 13” Pro but there’s no killer urgency just yet.

Even though I’m certain the M1 would be more than adequate for my needs, it’s a killer machine, I’m interested enough in the new Air to wait. And if the new Air isn’t super impressive I’ll look for a refurb on the current version.

My wife is still using her 2011 13" MBP without issue. (I did pop an SSD in a few years back, and had the battery replaced.) She only uses it for email, web surfing, and pictures. Honestly, her current computer is still "plenty", but I think she's due for an upgrade. She wants nothing to do with iPads, so I'm leaning toward the expected MBAir when it comes out... Unless there's a new Macbook on the horizon.

Hoping she'll get another decade+ out of the next device.

The realistic update expectation is two years after the M1-Air which means late-fall/early-winter so if you can wait that long you should. But you better be ready to order as soon as the the store is live, don't come on MR asking which M2 Air you should buy, or it will end up being December or January before you'll get one.

We should hear something chip related at WWDC this summer, but if the MacPro comes with a super M1 then we wont hear anything about the M2.

PowerMac5500 said:

My wife is still using her 2011 13" MBP without issue. (I did pop an SSD in a few years back, and had the battery replaced.) She only uses it for email, web surfing, and pictures. Honestly, her current computer is still "plenty", but I think she's due for an upgrade. She wants nothing to do with iPads, so I'm leaning toward the expected MBAir when it comes out... Unless there's a new Macbook on the horizon.

Hoping she'll get another decade+ out of the next device.

Aside from graphics card failures, the 2011 MacBook Pros were super solid machines. I wish that Apple still made them like that.

I make money with my computer, so I needed it now. I bought it about three weeks ago from the refurbished store. If a new one comes out in a couple months, I don't mind - I earned enough in that couple months to justify the value lost.

But if I didn't absolutely need a new laptop, I wouldn't have minded waiting. I would have actually done the opposite. I would have worried about it, logged into MacRumors everyday figuring out when it's coming out, watched all the tech youtuber for any insight, etc. Just wasn't worth that stress for me.

And new MBAs "soon" isn't a guarantee - you need to prepare yourself to accept that it could be released in November for all we know.

TL;DR: Need it now? Get it now. Do you want to wait? Then wait.

You might get magsafe and lighter but super doubtful on the other things if you look at the current lineup. However a lighter/slimmer MBA might introduce keyboard and chassis flex issues which will have people screaming for and old design.

A big thing to think about is the design. The new ones are rumored to have a notch, white bezels, and lose the wedge design which is far more comfortable to type on.

I don’t think MBA’s are intended to be a 10yr device or anything with battery really but wishful thinking I guess.

Sheepish-Lord said:

You might get magsafe and lighter but super doubtful on the other things if you look at the current lineup. However a lighter/slimmer MBA might introduce keyboard and chassis flex issues which will have people screaming for and old design.

A big thing to think about is the design. The new ones are rumored to have a notch, white bezels, and lose the wedge design which is far more comfortable to type on.

I don’t think MBA’s are intended to be a 10yr device or anything with battery really but wishful thinking I guess.

Click to expand...

Good points. What's your feeling on the cracking screens of current MBA M1s though?

Drosera said:

I had forgotten about the reports of cracking screens... https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/cracked-screens-m1-mac-3807153/

Think I'll wait after all.

This was debated here and on couple of YT video, the image is the only one that can be found on the internet and supposedly is much older than M1 and isnt of M1 Air. It was, as its popular to call it these days, fake news without any truth to it.

VaruLV said:

This was debated here and on couple of YT video, the image is the only one that can be found on the internet and supposedly is much older than M1 and isnt of M1 Air. It was, as its popular to call it these days, fake news without any truth to it.

Would you mind linking me to these debates? I'd love to come to the conclusion it was fake news!

was literally in the same boat last week, from what i researched, the m2 air might not be a direct successor, but a step above the m1 air, meaning m1 air still selling for 850, and the m2 air is slot above for 1099 or higher,

the 2nd thing that pushed me to get the current m1 air was the possibility of a off white bezels, and non taper edge, although i would very much like a magsafe, there are enough aftermarket accessories that can mitigate this.

last of all, i don't think the m2 will be miles ahead of the m1, that would cannibalize rest of apple's current m1 lineup if m2 is more than 50-60% faster than base m1. a 20-30% increase in single core speed is more likely.

all in all, the m2 would probably come out in sept or oct, not anytime sooner. if you waited this long, might as well keep waiting. if u need a laptop now like i do. might as well.

Definitely wait. $850 is what you should have been paying last year. You shouldn’t be paying the same amount this year for a computer that’s about to be refreshed.

Drosera said:

Would you mind linking me to these debates? I'd love to come to the conclusion it was fake news!

Just google it or search for cracked display or similar here on MacRumors, it was a while ago so I dont have these threads/posts handy.

I wonder if this is a great time to buy the air. This model is widely considered the best value/performance balance is a mac laptop. The new device with its new colors and it’s new notches, whatever, and all the r&d that comes into that, it’s going to be more expensive.

applesed said:

I wonder if this is a great time to buy the air. This model is widely considered the best value/performance balance is a mac laptop. The new device with its new colors and it’s new notches, whatever, and all the r&d that comes into that, it’s going to be more expensive.

i fear  is going to spice up these MacBooks in 2022
for the wrong reasons
to appease the wrong users
like the iMac.
I might get one an keep that in a box if this happens

If you're not in a rush, hold out for the refresh. If your current machine is on its last legs, I don't think you'll have any regrets getting the current offering.

Another vote for waiting. I’m rocking a 2012 MBP and I’m waiting.

Drosera said:

I'm able to get a brand new base MBA M1 for £850

Drosera said:

Anything else that will allow me not needing to upgrade for another ~10 years!

I'm in the same boat, patiently waiting to see what the successor to the current MacBook Air might be. I've been seeing some pretty good deals on base MacBook Air around here as well, and several times almost took the bait.

There is one thing that stopped me, and that is the 8GB RAM in the base MacBook Air. I have other machines for heavy usage, but after briefly owning a base M1 Mac Mini and returning it, I can definitely say that bumping to 16GB RAM would be worth every dollar (even if it is a little overpriced). Because of the Unified Memory architecture, RAM is shared with the GPU and I really don't think that 8GB is enough today, and most definitely not enough for 10 years of usage. Fast SSD speeds can sure help mask not having enough memory, but in reality swap is no substitute for actual RAM.

Everyone will have a different take on this, but for anything other than extremely light usage, I would say bumping up to 16GB RAM would definitely be a good move.

OldMike said:

I can definitely say that bumping to 16GB RAM would be worth every dollar (even if it is a little overpriced)

In my case, M1 Air 512/8 was mine for $935 pre-tax(bestbuy open-box). Education store (i am in educator's team for university) would yield me $1329 pre-tax, roughly speaking $400 difference to have that 16 GB of RAM. Because we didn't have refurbished at month 2 after the release to shrink the gap and $400 wasn't worth it for me for additional 8 gb. I regret having 8GB but not like the money saved.

So I am on the waiting boat to pick-up a new Air with 16gb of ram.
However, I am already buying Air M1 16/512 for my sister's college, because it is $1229 on refurbished and we can't wait until the new Air rolls out.