The new lineup of M3 MacBook Airs was released on March 4, and unsurprisingly, the M2 and M1 are already seeing big discounts. What is surprising, though, is that the M3 MacBook Air is already discounted (just a little). Walmart has the M1 MacBook Air 13.3-inch laptop for $699 (originally $999.99), which is the lowest price I've seen after checking price comparison tools. If you're looking for an extra $50 discount, Best Buy has the same MacBook for $649.99 as "open-box," which are products that customers returned.
This M1 is the basic model from 2020. It has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. You can expect about 18 hours of battery life from this MacBook. Although it pales in comparison to the new M3 chip and all of its new features, the M1 is still enough for most of us. As Lifehacker's Senior Technology Editor Jake Peterson pointed out, the M1 is still a fantastic computer over three years after its release. The main reason behind this is that Apple is able to optimize macOS to the M1, embracing new macOS versions gracefully and enjoying their new features while Intel Macs struggled. That's why the M1 today will outperform an i9 Intel Mac.
If you're worried about software support from Apple, Jake says the M1 doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon and might even keep supporting it for a record time. The only thing you'd be missing from the new macOS Sonoma is the ability to connect hearing devices to your Mac.
Keep in mind that Apple did discontinue the M1 MacBook Air after the release of the M3 and no longer sells them on their website. If you're looking for a reliable MacBook that has withstood the test of time and is still a great buy in 2024, get the M1 for $649.99.