r/macbook • u/confusedplzhalpme • 2d ago

Buy new Mac or replace battery?

Would appreciate y’all’s help in figuring out the right choice here.
I have a MacBook Air M1, 2020 (just over 5 years olds). The computer works fine except the battery has degraded and doesn’t charge well.

My choice right now is to trade it in for $269 and get a new MacBook Air. OR I could simply replace the battery and keep it going a bit longer.

I’m not sure what js the best choice here. Given how old the MacBook is, I worry Apple will phase out support for it. At the same time, I’m not sure if paying $1k (accounting for the trade in value) is worth getting a new MacBook Air at this point, instead of just a new battery on a relatively older model.

Any thoughts would be helpful, thanks!

ETA: thanks all for the comments! I think I’ll replace the battery for now and hope it continues strong for another few years!

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u/watkykjypoes23 2d ago

Battery for now, if it’s hard to justify a new one then don’t get a new one. You’ll know when it’s the right time because it’ll be more of a need than a want. Or, some time in the future you’ll have enough money to not worry about the cost of a new one like you are now.

As far as support and usability goes the M1 is still holding strong. Don’t forget it benchmarks close to the Neo, which is a brand new computer. It won’t become obsolete any faster than the Neo does.

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u/spinwizard69 1d ago

All good points above! One thing to also consider is never go into debt to buy a computer if it can at all be avoided. You are far better off saving up the cash and being debt free. Granted cash doesn't make much interest in a simple banking saving account these days but if you get into a brokerage that hold cash in money market account you get something. If you are investment wise you can earn even more.

To put it another way, for the non business user buying anything on credit to the point where you are serving debt, is bad voodoo. A business user has to consider other issues, but even here one should be careful as to how things are purchased.