Apple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 [MGN63]

Still a handsome man

It would seem that buying a 4-year-old laptop is not the best idea, but not in the case of the 2020 MacBook Air. It was the first model based on the M1 processor from the Apple Silicon line, so the Cupertino giant went all out, making a solid device for years to come. No joke, the 7-core M1 shows itself excellent even against the background of much more modern processors, including the new Apple M3 and M4 models, the updated Intel Core Ultra line and ARM Snapdragon Elite chips. And this is still a rare chip that, despite all its performance, does not need active cooling, thanks to which the thin aluminum case still looks good against the background of competitors.

Up to 18 hours of operation on a single charge

In Windows-books costing up to $1000, you regularly have to deal with saving on matches - either the touchpad is inconvenient, or the case is loose, or the fans are noisy. And these problems may not appear right away, but during use. In this regard, the MacBook Air is like an old, well-assembled and reliable Toyota Camry with a convenient touchpad and keyboard, excellent speakers, a long-lasting battery (up to 18 hours!), Touch ID and Wi-Fi 6. We can hardly say anything new about the Retina display, it still looks gorgeous, both against the background of other IPS models and in comparison with mobile OLED displays. There is nothing to add about the build quality either - it is a solid five.

Old sores

All the disadvantages of the MacBook Air have also been known for a long time and will not come as a surprise to anyone. The USB ports have been cut down to two, as usual. There is only 8 GB of RAM, which is unlikely to affect everyday tasks, but when working with loaded projects in, say, Final Cut or Ableton, problems may arise. And traditionally, Apple sets a high price for SSD drives, so the basic version has 256 GB and cannot be upgraded. And after Windows, you need to get used to MacOS. But, again, against the background of all the advantages, such disadvantages are not at all annoying - the RAM is more than enough in 90% of cases, you can connect an external SSD to work with large projects, and the lack of ports is solved with a USB hub.