The MacBook Air M1 from Apple combines power and portability in a sleek package, making it one of the best laptops we've tested for most people. It is normally priced at $999, but Amazon has reduced the price to $850 once again. This is for the 256GB model, but the 512GB model is also $150 off, bringing the price down to $1,099. We've seen this discount come and go in the past few months, so now's a good time to get the laptop if you've been wanting to upgrade to a daily driver.
When it was released about a year ago, we gave the Air M1 a score of 94, thanks in part to its thin-and-light design, lovely Retina display, comfortable keyboard and trackpad, and impressive performance. The former is powered by Apple's M1 chipset, and if you're upgrading from an older MacBook, you'll notice a significant performance boost. When you open the lid, the laptop almost instantly wakes up, native apps run smoothly, and the machine is generally quite responsive. The GPU performance has also improved — while we wouldn't recommend running intense games on the Air M1, it can easily handle Apple Arcade titles and even Fortnite.
We also like how quiet the MacBook Air M1 is due to the lack of an internal fan. When you put the laptop through its paces, you won't hear any constant whirring, and you'll be able to do so for up to 16 hours thanks to the machine's excellent battery life. The Air M1's biggest drawbacks are its 720p webcam and two USB-C ports, the latter of which means you'll be living the dongle life for a little while longer. But if you can live with those minor flaws, the MacBook Air M1 is a solid laptop that can go almost anywhere with you.
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