Should You Consider the Cheapest MacBook Air for Your Work?

Despite coming in at under $1,000, the cheapest 2020 MacBook Air still offers some advanced features that can make it a great option for photographers on the go who want a portable work laptop without lots of bulk. This great video takes a look at the laptop and what you can expect from it.

Coming to you from 9 to 5 Mac, this video takes a look at the cheapest model of the MacBook Air. At just 2.8 lbs and with 11 hours of battery life, the MacBook Air remains one of the most portable devices that can offer all-day battery life without adding much bulk to your setup. In addition to that light footprint, it comes with a 1.1 GHz 10th generation Intel Core i3 dual-core processor with boost to 3.2 GHz, 8 GB of 3,733 MHz LPDDR4X RAM, and a 256 GB SSD. The 13.3" screen is a Retina display with 2,560 by 1,600 resolution. It also includes True Tone technology, which automatically adjusts white balance to the ambient light (I have this in my iPad Pro and really enjoy it). The MacBook Air also supports external GPUs for more intense work. The Air also comes with a redesigned backlit keyboard and a large trackpad. Altogether, as long as you aren't doing ultra-intensive work, this version could be a great option, and if you need more power, you can upgrade to 16 GB of RAM and an i7 processor for $450, with an i5 option in-between. Check out the video above for more. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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10 Comments

No proper ports as usual? Its yet another MacBook NO.

Okay, I didn't watch the video.
But just the price itself, you can get a used XPS 13 or 15 with 7th gen Intel and it would easily be a better deal.

*Considering the user is okay with windows.

I used the XPS15 4K touch screen display i7 and the speed is remarkable. I mostly use it for AE, Premiere pro, PS, Audition, and games. I think the last one makes me never ever going to use Mac, big Mac or small Mac.

I wonder how much is the box costs? 499$?

I needed a laptop that could handle a lot of raw files on deadline as well as edit 4k video quickly. The last laptop I had was Macbook 2015 and Macbook Pro 13" 2011 with 16gb. Macbook was good for travel or light work but dog slow on deadline. It just choked when I had to download Sony A9 files from dual card reader. Both machines could not process 4k video fast. I considered Macbook Air 2019 but the weight difference was .3 lb and Macbook 2019 2.8ghz qudcore intel core i7 with 16gb has been stellar after almost a year. Macbook Air is like cheap insurance with BIG deductible. When you need to crunch through 4k video or 61 megapixel a7riv files this laptop delivers. Macbook 13" is a laptop you can grow into. Worth every penny altho the thermals require fire resistant Nomex pants if you are editing 4k and stills in your car.

No

MacBooks are just a waste of your money if you want to get the most of your money just buy an AMD based laptop.
Just as a reference on the high end, while a top MAC is $15,000 an AMD workstation with a Threadripper CPU (32 cores) that outperforms the top of the line Mac is only $5,000. You will always get a better performance at any price level if you go for AMD
Look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ2Bq7jTN7M&t=538s

I think it all depends on the user's preference. Some people just like MacOS or Apple's after sales services.
Without a doubt, most Windows alternative will outperform a Mac but sometimes Apple's brand influence do take a piece of the cake.

i suffered through crappy dell unisys home repairs for 10 years for our work laptops. what a joke. i am so glad that there is an apple store in most cities where i have to cover assignments. Once my phone was destroyed by water during coverage in Baltimore and thank god apple store was near and they replaced my iphone on the spot for $80. My macbook pro 13" 2011 and Macbook 2015 are still running fine. My XPS 14 from the same time as Macbook 2011 can barely run windows anymore.

Okay, point taken.
But I won't completely say Dell produces crappy computers. There's always a bad apple (no pun intended) in the bunch. Apple themselves do make faulty products from time to time.

And like what I just said, some do purchase Macs because of the after sales support.
Apple is known for supporting older generation products via software updates. This is thr reason why your 2011 Macbook still "runs". But hardware wise - it'll be limited to what it can do.

Sometimes, Windows laptops fail because of the user itself (not saying you are, just in general). XPS laptops are known to be reliable enough. I don't own one, but people I do know that uses Dell XPS laptops are happy with it.

So yes, if you think Macbooks are the way to go as it suits your needs and performs as you expect it. Then good for you.

Hi, please stop apologizing for Hell and blaming user. I started using and programming computers since Casio PB-100 and ZX Spectrum and never had to endure such bad machinery on laptop and desktop lines as I did with dell. I used Dell for 15 years and while they might be ok for a table at home they were unreliable as hell. Take the Dell xps 13 which had bad thermal paste on cpu. Unisys had to come 2 times to replace motherboard due to it burning itself out. I found out on third replacement you can ask for new one so they replaced with L401x after hours on the phone. Dell plus windows was a two-time loser.

" I don't own one, but people I do know that uses Dell XPS laptops are happy with it." Please stop talking out your behind. If you haven't gone through Dell hell then you really cannot understand.

My business depends on a reliable machine that can quickly be serviced around the world.