2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Gold (Renewed Premium)

I bought this 2020 MacBook Air (8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD storage) to replace a 2014 MacBook Air (4GB RAM, 256 GB SSD storage). I am undeniably a fan of Apple products in general, because they work with little fuss and are built to last (note that my old MacBook Air is more than 7 years old and still working perfectly). Although I've been underwhelmed by some Mac models in recent years, this one is stellar IMHO. Unless you have very heavy system requirements this machine would be an excellent choice.The M1 processor is very impressive, delivering outstanding performance and power/thermal efficiency simultaneously. Battery life is every bit as good as advertised; I can charge overnight and use it all day without plugging in. Connecting USB devices such as external drives will shorten battery life, but that's to be expected. I love the fanless design, which means the machine is absolutely silent at all times, while the thermal efficiency of the M1 chip allows it to remain amazingly cool. In use, this computer feels very fast, especially with apps optimized for Apple processors (as MacOS Big Sur is). Interestingly, Microsoft has been on board early with M1 optimization; the latest Office 365 version is smooth and fast on this machine. I also tried out MS Edge on my new laptop based on a recommendation from another user and have been so pleased with its speed and efficiency that it's my current default browser. The touch ID and Apple Pay capability is a welcome addition.The only cons I see are minor in my opinion. Because RAM is integrated into the M1 processor, post-purchase memory expansion is not possible; if you think you'll need 16 GB of memory that model can be had from the Apple Store. There has been criticism of the fact that this machine has only two ports, which is fair. For me that's not insurmountable; I simply use a USB-C hub to provide additional connectivity. I've read recently that some users have had certain hubs cause problems with their M1 Macs, which appears to be related to battery charging through these hubs. To be on the safe side I use a built-in port for charging and have had no issues.Reading through the relative handful of critical reviews, it looks to me like most (excluding actual defects, which happen with all products) are based on lack of understanding. For example, I saw a large number of reviews complaining that this machine "has NO USB PORTS!!!", which is patently false. In fact, its two ports are both USB, they just require a different connector. What these users are looking for is the old USB-A connectors, which this MacBook does not have; however, that's easily fixed by using a USB-A to USB-C converter cable, or with a USB-C hub. USB-A peripherals are gradually disappearing as well, in favor of the new connector.All things considered, I really love this machine. The $899 price (at the time I bought mine) was $100 less than I would have paid at the Apple Store, and I believe I can probably get $200 on eBay for my old MacBook Air (try that with a 7-year-old PC!) leaving me with a total outlay of $699. Considering that I'll almost certainly get 5 or more years use out of this model, I'm very happy with my purchase and would do it again.

I have two MacBook Airs (MBA), a 13" and a 11, both with the previous form factor (the wide, body colored bezel around the screen, 1280x800 resolution) and this new 13" MBA improves upon it in every way (almost) and makes it nearly perfect.Good:- SCREEN looks great! 2560x1600 resolution is bright and sharp and looks good with the thin black bezel. I usually don't go above 50% brightness.- KEYBOARD is good. Some have mentioned that it still sucks, but I find it much better than the older MBAs that I own and better than say, the Magic Keyboard. Even with a thin silicone keyboard cover I find the typing experience to be much better and I can type faster and with fewer mistakes.- BATTERY LIFE is fantastic. Haven't done any real testing yet and obviously it depends on a lot of factors (wifi usage, video streaming, HD vs 4k video viewing/processing/etc., screen brightness, type of app being used, etc.) but for my usage (mostly web browsing, video viewing on YouTube, accessing VPN for work (Citrix, EPIC), etc., it has been great. Easily tops 10 hours and super impressed so far.- LOOKS GREAT. Love the newer (I know that the actual exterior design is a few years old by now) design, looks and feels great. Form factor is nice and it is a reasonable weight.- NO FAN. That's awesome, as it not only stays quiet all the time but you also do not need to worry about blocking any fan vents on the bottom or back of the case while you have it on your lap. Pretty amazing really for a laptop to have no fans.- PERFORMANCE. It works great so far on what I have used it for, which is not terribly a lot, but it is what it is for a laptop using Apple silicon for the first time. For just day to day use and things like Chrome, Office (Word, Excel), Citirx, EPIC, etc., it has been super smooth and fast. Have not tried gaming yet but do not have high hopes given it is the base model with 7-core GPU. Also, things like start up are noticeably faster with the M1 versus my 2020 iMac 27" (top end) with Intel chips.- TOUCH ID is great still. Works very fast and the button does not get greasy (which makes it not work well) like the old iPhone home buttons. On the other hand, it should really have Face ID at this point.- APPLE ECOSYSTEM is great as usual and a real reason to get this MBA. Apple Watch easily unlocks it (so you do not really need Face ID if you have the watch). You can easily send/receive files using AirDrop or cast using AirPlay. And so on and so forth.- BIG SUR comes preinstalled but you need to update to get 11.0.1.NOT GOOD:- WEBCAM still sucks. Still low resolution and just does not look good in FaceTime, Teams, etc. Shame that Apple is so slow to upgrade webcams on the Macs (the 27" iMac FINALLY upgraded to 1080p front cams only a couple months ago... I got one and it looks so much better than this MBA's camera).- ONLY 2 PORTS. Sad that this thing has only 2 USB-C ports (that cover thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, charging, DisplayPort). Given that it is used to charge, it leaves only one USB-C port for other use, pretty lame. I wish they had squeezed (I think it would fit) a USB-A port so that I could plug in my wireless mouse USB-A dongle as I have never liked any bluetooth mouse, or at least one more USB-C port.- NEW TECH (Apple silicon) means the M1-optimized apps are still being rolled out, e.g. Photoshop still not available at release.- BATTERY still cannot be removed, no surprise here, but means that like all Apple mobile tech it will have a useable lifespan determined at least partly by the non-removable battery. Easier to have an iPhone's battery replaced than a MBA I would imagine but hopefully it maintains a high level of performance for 4 years at the minimum.OVERALL:A few negatives (mostly the webcam) but enough significant improvements that this MBA is really a no-brainer for anyone needing a non-power notebook compute, especially if s/he is already in the Apple ecosystem. Love it so far!