I bought this a week ago and finally accepted Amazon's offer for their own credit card, something I had stupidly ignored for years. My big point about Apple prices is that they are surprisingly "bouncy" at Amazon and everywhere. Today's price is very competitive with the market, still $50 less than pricing being advertised by another widely respected vendor. But a week ago, it was $250 less than today's price, which I combined with the $150 gift card promotion and so paid $400 less than today's fair and competitive price. Most notably, there was no particular promotion from Apple or Amazon and this was a couple of weeks outside Amazon's recent Prime Days. I often look at Apple prices on Amazon, and I am sure I checked them during Prime Days, although I don't remember exactly what that price was. It may have been as low, but temptation is a combination of price and my mood on any given day. Lucky for me that my endorphins were high a week ago, and I went for it!
About M1 and M2: I have both models of the Mini. When the M2 was new, amazingly, it was available here and elsewhere at about a 10% discount on the M1 price. (Yes, the newer model was cheaper!). Meanwhile, reviewers where saying that the M2 advantage was minimal for ordinary users. Be careful what garbage you trust! It seemed solid, careful reviewers on Youtube NOT pushing the latest and greatest. But they were so wrong! The M2 is strikingly snappier than the M1, at least with 8 MB of memory. (Time was when I wouldn't think of less than 16 GB of memory, a habit born on Windows PCs when we were were talking ~mega~ instead of ~giga~ bytes. I am a "power user" but not a user of "power apps," i.e., no games, no video editing, etc. But I run a lot of simultaneous apps and keep a LOT of browser tabs open. On the modern Mac, I don't notice any performance difference between 8 and 16 GB. This is huge on the Mac given Apple's memory pricing and inability to upgrade.)
Back to M1 v. M2, I notice that this listing from Amazon includes the claim (with Apple logo) that the M2 is 1.4x faster than the M1. Believe it! 1.4x is a huge performance boost and sure feels snappier to me (although the M1 is no slouch).
Although this is my first M-series Macbook, I have owned several other Macbooks, all 13". Obviously, smaller is a bit more convenient, especially for students and other who lug them around a lot. And I have always felt that lighter laptops were more durable, because heavier ones tend to get banged around a lot more in daily use even if you don't drop them. But I had not realized how light this 15" Macbook is! A total joy that handles very easily. And, oh yea, obviously that bigger screen is great.
One new feature that I considered trivial is the magic key that reads your fingerprint. It's not trivial! It is super convenient in an era when (Apple and Google) are constantly pestering you for passwords. Just love this new wrinkle.
Mostly, I have written toward the Apple user, which I certainly am. But back in the day, I was in the Microsoft boat to the extent of having my ticket as a Microsoft Systems Engineer. I made the break strictly for the light and elegant Macbook and gradually got sucked into the AppleVerse. It is certainly not the cheapest way to go with laptops although the Mac minis are, imo, far the best value in desktops. As I mentioned above, you help yourself a lot on price if you are realistic about your memory needs. And external storage is so cheap and convenient that you should never consider upsizing your SSD spec on a new Macbook. Like I said, Apple prices are pretty bouncy, but it's not a day to day thing. And, to me, it seems rather unpredictable. Patience can definitely save you some money.
Oh, and I am thrilled with this new Macbook! Did I say that?
| Product Dimensions | 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 3.3 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Apple |
| ASIN | B0C75ZRQLB |
| Item model number | MQKR3LL/A |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Date First Available | June 5, 2023 |
