Apple MacBook Air Apple MacBook Air 2020 Laptop Apple M1 8GB Memory Review

So you're looking at the 2020 Apple MacBook Air with the M1 chip. It's the laptop that kicked off Apple's whole silicon revolution, and you can find it for around $460 these days. That's a wild price for what you get: a super thin and light 13-inch machine with a gorgeous Retina display, Apple's first-gen M1 8-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It runs macOS, and it's built like a tank. If you're a student, a casual user, or someone who just needs a reliable, portable computer for web browsing, documents, and streaming, this is still a massively compelling option. People often ask, 'Is the M1 MacBook Air still good in 2024?' For basic tasks, the answer is a resounding yes. It feels snappy for everyday stuff, and the battery life, while we don't have the exact hour count here, was legendary when it launched and still holds up well.

Let's talk about what that M1 chip can and can't do. Its CPU performance lands in the 34th percentile compared to all laptops. That sounds low, but remember, this includes massive gaming rigs and workstations. For its class of ultraportables, it's still plenty fast. You'll zip through apps like Safari, Mail, and Microsoft Office without a hiccup. The integrated GPU is a different story, sitting in the 18th percentile. This is not a gaming laptop. You can play some older or less demanding titles, but forget about modern AAA games. The 8GB of RAM is its biggest limitation today. It's fine if you're a light user with a handful of tabs and apps open, but if you tend to have 30 browser tabs, a video call, and Photoshop running, you'll feel it start to slow down. The 256GB storage is also on the tight side, but you can always use external drives.

At $460, the value proposition is simple: you're getting a near-flawless macOS experience in a beloved design for less than half its original price. The main trade-off is future-proofing. That 8GB of RAM is the ceiling, and you can't upgrade it. For the price, though, it's hard to beat if your needs are modest. The closest Windows competitors at this price are often bulkier, with worse screens and trackpads, though they might offer more RAM or storage.

Compared directly to its successors, the M2 or M3 MacBook Air, this M1 model is the budget king. You lose the newer design, MagSafe charging, and a slightly better webcam, but you save hundreds of dollars for very similar core performance. Against a Windows machine like the ASUS Zenbook Duo, you're choosing between macOS simplicity and incredible battery life versus Windows flexibility, more ports, and potentially a touchscreen. Compared to gaming laptops like the MSI Vector or Lenovo Legion, there's no contest for gaming—this MacBook Air isn't in that race. It's a productivity and portability machine first.

Should you buy this MacBook Air? If you need a dependable, ultra-portable laptop for everyday tasks and you're on a tight budget, absolutely. It's a steal at this price. The combination of build quality, screen, and battery life is unmatched in this price bracket. But, if you're a power user who multitasks heavily, needs to run Windows software, or wants to do any serious gaming or video editing, you should look elsewhere, either at a used MacBook Pro with more RAM or a Windows laptop. For everyone else—students, writers, casual users—this M1 Air is still a fantastic buy that feels anything but cheap.