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Three Macs you shouldn't buy from Apple-and three you should buy instead
Macworld
|September 2023
Unless you get a fantastic deal, avoid these models.

Apple's Mac lineup offers a customer. But with that comes a bit of confusion as to whether a particular Mac model is actually a good deal. When researching a new Mac purchase, it can become dizzying to compare models and model for every user, which is great because more choices are always good for the prices. Apple's online comparison tool (fave.co/3Q4fmUU) can help, but some customers may find sorting through the different specs intimidating-and it doesn't include pricing.
Fortunately, there are some clear-cut choices on which Macs you should avoid. There are three models that stand out, not because they're bad performers, but because you can get more for your money. Here are the three Macs you should avoid and the Macs you should consider instead.
AVOID: M1 MACBOOK AIR GET: M2 MACBOOK AIR
The M1 13-inch MacBook Air (1) was introduced in 2020, so it's nearly three years old. The M2 13-inch MacBook Air was released last year. Both laptops are currently in Apple's MacBook lineup, with the M1 Air offered at $999/£999 to make it the most affordable MacBook. The only problem is, Apple didn't lower the price, so it's just selling an older Mac for the same price.
But the M2 Air is only $100/£150 more and offers a ton more for that extra money.
You get:
>A faster CPU (by 15 to 20 percent, according to our M2 MacBook Air review, fave.co/3zbn711);
> Faster graphics;
> A new design that offers more available screen real estate (13.6 inches versus 13.3 inches);
> A brighter screen (500 nits versus 400 nits);
> A better FaceTime camera (1080p versus720p);
> A better speaker system (four speakers versus a stereo pair) with support for Spatial Audio; > Support for high impedance headphones; > A tiny bit less weight (2.7 pounds/1.22 kilograms versus 2.8 pounds/1.27 kilograms).
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Macworld.
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