There’s an old saying in tech that you should never buy the first generation of any new product – you’re paying to be an early adopter and to iron out the kinks. The thing is, I cannot find any kinks for your average consumer with the new M1 MacBook Air.

Pros: super-fast; super cool; extremely long battery life; fanless; great screen; great keyboard; best-in-class trackpad; good speakers; good mics; recycled materials; Touch ID.

Cons: poor webcam; only two USB-C ports; can only drive one external display; expensive; some niche apps may have issues running until updated; no BootCamp/Windows.

All of which brings us to the question of whether you should leap in and buy this first-generation M1 hardware or wait for “M2”. There are reasons to wait, especially if you were hoping for a more radical redesign that takes advantage of reduced power demands and no fans.

Phenomenal performance Whisper-quiet operation Flawless display

No design change from previous generation

Blazing speeds, better battery - but a disappointing camera

Super-fast; Great battery life; Retina display is superb

Webcam poor; Thick bezels

M1 Apple MacBook Air (2020): M1 Apple MacBook Air (2020): Why buy anything else?

Fast and quiet; Great battery life; Superb display

Some software may not run; M1 MacBook Pro has better sustained performance

The MacBook Air (M1) is a small revolution. As much power as you could need in a light and silent design, with giant battery life.

Stunning performance; Fantastic battery life; Excellent build quality; Good screen

More ports would be nice; Webcam still not great; Some potential niche software compatibility issues

If you were looking to buy a new laptop for the new year and your budget is in the Rs 1,00,000 range then look no further. Also if you were planning to buy the MacBook Air, then only buy this version as it costs the same as the Intel version.

Stop press. This is the best MacBook Air we’ve ever used, and for once we aren’t overly hankering for a Pro as the M1 chip means the Air’s significant performance boost allows you to dip into both video editing and graphics-heavy gaming without breaking so much as a sweat. The battery is a trooper, and though it might age over time, a day’s work is entirely achievable. There really is only one bugbear, and it’s that rubbish webcam, which in the age of essential video calling is an annoyance we're finding hard to shake off. If you can get over it, though, the MacBook Air (M1) arguably becomes the best all-round work laptop for under a grand.

Super-fast; Great battery life; Retina display is superb;

Webcam poor; Thick bezels ;

The response times are awesome

Like driving a Corolla for ten years now jumping into a Ferrari

Everything fine with the product delivery very very slow compared with Australia Post. Wouldn’t use home delivery ever again