People who have basic needs like emails, web surfing, working with spreadsheets, documents, presentations, and even light photo or video editing will be well served with the MacBook Air equipped with Apple's M1 processor.

In addition to being the most affordable (it starts around the 1,200€ mark), it is also the lightest and, since it doesn't have fans, it’s very quiet.

And best of all, despite its wedge shape, the Macbook Air can still offer up to 15 hours of web surfing or 18 hours continuously watching videos with the TV app.

In other words, it's possible to leave the house for a full day without needing to bring along the charger.

In terms of memory, here are my recommendations:

8GB RAM is OK for email, web surfing and light document editing
16GB RAM should be preferred when dealing with large spreadsheets and doing some photo and video editing

Regarding internal disk space:

256GB is enough for email, web surfing and working with spreadsheets, documents and presentations
512GB is the strict minimum when dealing with photos and videos, and my advice is to buy as much storage as you can afford

People who are using iCloud Photo Library and have invested in 2TB of iCloud Storage should buy a MacBook with enough storage so that it's possible to download the entire iCloud Photo Library on the Macbook's internal drive.

For instance, if the current iCloud Photo Library takes around 800GB of space, then the MacBook should have at least 1TB of internal disk space.

Now, please note that the MacBook Air with the M1 processor is limited to 16GB of RAM and 2TB of disk space.

In July 2022, Apple will start selling a redesigned MacBook Air with the M2 chip, with the base model starting at around 1,500€.

The price difference is explained by the fact that the screen will be slightly bigger and brighter, the webcam and the sound system will be of better quality and it will get the new MagSafe connector.

And thanks to M2, the latest MacBook Air will be able to accommodate up to 24GB of RAM.

For people who need more memory and more disk space, I recommed to directly shoot for the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Indeed, this machine can accommodate up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of internal SSD.

As to where to buy the machine, it depends on which configuration you're after:

For the base configuration, Amazon often has great deals. For instance, the M1 Macbook Air with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is 17% cheaper on Amazon France compared to Apple's own online store. The 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD model is 7% cheaper on Amazon France.
Configurations with more RAM and more storage aren't available on Amazon, so I recommend first checking if local shops are doing any promotions, and if not, directly purchase from the online Apple Store, either via Safari or the iOS mobile app

And you, which Mac laptop are you using right now?

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