Shifting from Windows-powered laptops to Apple MacBook Air M1 came to me as a hasty decision but a blissful one. The MacBook Air comes as a silent powerhouse meant to be a wild workhorse.
I have been using the MacBook Air M1 for more than a year. Interestingly, this is my first MacBook Air, after using Sony Vaio and Acer E-Series laptops for more than a decade. Shifting from Windows to macOS was a conscious decision but with a sizeable share of anxieties. Initially, it was more of an aspiration to own a MacBook rather than a necessity. However, I was worried about adaptability to the new operating system as I have been so far accustomed to the good old Windows operating system. But after a few initial hiccups, things became easier with the MacBook and I started feeling confident and comfortable with it. After more than a year of using the Apple device, I must say that I have been having a game-changing no-compromise experience with the MacBook, which changed my perception of laptops.
No more compromise
Despite being the most used and popular laptops, Windows OS-powered devices have their well-chronicled shortcomings. The battery lives for my last two chunky laptops were never great. Loud fans and constant slowdown were some issues that became a part of my life when I was using those two laptops over the last 10 years.
MacBook Air M1 came as bliss after that. Be it look or performance, the laptop appears perfect. The machine is thin, light, portable and nimble. At the same time, it offers an incredible battery life as well, which is really great considering my hectic schedule and random meetings. It’s fast and swift compared to the Windows laptops I have used so far. In short, it is a wild machine.
Charging worries: Gone
At any given time, if you ask me when was the last time I charged my MacBook, I won’t be able to tell you that, as I simply don’t care about it anymore or the MacBook Air M1 doesn’t require me to be bothered about it anymore. Seriously. The battery life on the MacBook Air M1 is so good, that I don’t even know how long it lasts on a single charge. This is because I’ve never been able to use the MacBook continuously long enough to kill its battery from 100%. Once your laptop’s battery reaches the point of not needing to be charged every day and be worried about that, it’s absolutely not worth trying to keep track of the typical longevity of the laptop battery. You simply know in your mind that all your charge-related worries will be taken care of by the device.
Travelling with the Windows OS-powered laptops was a real worry as the charge sustainability was dubious. However, with the MacBook Air M1, it’s gone. For instance, I flew from Kolkata to Kochi with a one-hour layover in Bengaluru last month. My hotel in Kochi was one hour drive from the airport and all the way, the MacBook was on and I was working on it whenever I was getting time. Now after all that, when I reached the hotel and checked that it still had more than 50 per cent battery juice left. Such is the aura of the MacBook that it allows me carefree freedom and doesn’t force me to do anything to conserve power, which is completely opposite to the Windows OS-powered laptops I used before.
With this freedom, I can set my display brightness to whatever it needs to be. I don’t use Safari, but Chrome and that too with nearly 10-12 tabs open at any time. Apart from that, back-to-back video meetings over Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Also, Messages, TweetDeck, and Web WhatsApp remain open most of the time. I’m sure there are lots of laptops that come assuring great battery life, but what they don’t mention is the workload vs battery life ratio they offer, as compared to MacBook Air M1.
Silent powerhouse
After using Windows-powered laptops for a decade, the MacBook Air M1 seems blissfully silent. It is indeed a silent powerhouse. No matter how many tabs are open on Chrome and how much multitasking pressure you put on the laptop, it remains blissfully silent. What’s more interesting is that even without fans, the MacBook Air M1 doesn’t get anywhere near as warm as my old Windows-powered laptops used to be. No more sweaty legs when you use the laptop on my lap.
Bit expensive, but justified
The MacBook Air M1 that I purchased at around INR 90,000, was way more expensive than my previous two laptops. While the Sony Vaio was priced at around INR 35,000, the Acer E-Series was priced at around INR 25,000. Clearly, the MacBook cost me a bomb. But I have no hesitation in saying that the MacBook Air M1 is a value-for-money product. Being a premium Apple product, shelling out nearly one lakh rupees may seem expensive, but considering the value, convenience and peace of mind it offers is mindblowing. Hence, the expensive price tag appears justified.
Also Read: Samsung Galaxy M31: To buy or not to buy
