• expired

Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (M1, 2020) 8GB/256GB Silver $1,647 (Expired), Grey $1,699 Shipped @ Amazon AU

200
This post contains affiliate links. OzBargain might earn commissions when you click through and make purchases. Please see this page for more information.

Have been eyeing this model for many months but never pulled the trigger, after seeing the new M2 MBA I decided to get that instead once it comes out next month.

This is the cheapest I've ever seen this model come down to, usually lowest has been around the $1697 mark. Price applicable to both Silver and Space Grey colours

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

Related Stores

Amazon AU
Amazon AU
Marketplace

closed Comments

  • +9

    A really excellent price, but keep in mind this is the older touch strip model, and, well, there's a good reason Apple has all but abandoned it in their other models.

    I used one for about 8 months, and the whole time it continued to be a solution looking for a problem. It really disrupted my work flow because every time I needed to do something that involved the f-keys, even just shortcuts like play/pause or volume, it involved having to drag eyes off the main screen to go through the menus to find the option I needed, most things like volume required more than one tap, unlike a dedicated button you had to first tap the volume, then use the slider, then tap back out of the volume menu.

    Even the original concept of having things like scrubbing through videos or colour picking in design apps fell flat, because it was easier and faster to simply use the in-app colour picker with the mouse pad, which doesn't require you to move your hands away from their natural position on the keyboard deck

    If you like the touch pad, by all means get one of these, but be wary of it if you aren't used to it. Don't fall for the hype from seven years ago when these first came out.

    • +4

      Doesn't the M2 13 inch MBP still have the touch strip too…

      • It does, but given that it's still the same design despite the MacBook Air getting a new look in line with the current Apple design language, it seems to me that they are just using up the leftover components they have in storage. Notice it got no actual hardware upgrades beyond the new silicone.

        It's one of Apple's transitional products, they hold over the old design for an extra year or two, to use up the components, then quietly retire it.

        Notice too that the price bump of the Air brings it nearly perfectly in line with the MBP 13… Which means they're getting ready to shuffle their line up with just the Air as the Base model, going straight up to the MBP 14.

    • The main issue with the touchbar is that Apple also removed the physical function keys. Also, you need third party software to customise touchbar fully.

      If you really dislike it, you can have the touchbar always shows the function keys. However, haptic feedback will require a third party software.

      you had to first tap the volume, then use the slider, then tap back out of the volume menu

      You can hold the volume button on the touchbar, then slide. No need to tap in and out. You finger doesn't need to be where the slider is at when adjusting / sliding. Same goes for brightness.

      You can customise the touchbar and that's another problem for some people. If you don't customise it, you probably won't like it at all. I got rid of the annoying Siri button on the touchbar. You can add buttons/features which are not in a normal keyboard. You could switch between apps easier, display dock on the touchbar. Apple should have added touchbar without removing any keyboard keys.

      However, touchbar does essentially have flaws. It's too small to implement anything really useful (Apple, just give us touchscreen on Macbook Pro). Also, at that location on a laptop, it's hard to really improve productivity. Apple's own implementation on its apps demonstrates the issue. While it may kinda help people not that great with touchpad at times, it is not the right way to solve the problem. Professional users know the keyboard shortcuts so well, the touchbar can feel counter-intuitive.

  • +1

    It’s a touchbar lol

    Op $350 more just for M2.

    • And in time for TAX man.

    • just over 20% more

      • i believe you're getting more than 20% improvements with the M2 though.

        Of course, unless you really push the mac M1, i doubt you'd really find value in the new M2.

  • Grey is $1699

    • Thanks, updated description

      I swear it was $1647 when I posted, must've been snapped up in that time

  • Isn't education pricing wayy better ?

    • +1

      they don’t even sell this old model

  • FYI JB has the 512GB air on special for a similar price to this

  • +2

    New macbook pro m2 13" on apple aoc is 1775 ~100 dollars more on apple aoc https://www.apple.com/au_edu_5000447/store

  • Apple MacBook Air M2 any good guys? Looking at replacing my old iMac i7 Late 2013

    • +2

      Heard that it is the best best one yet

      • I’ll keep trying to research it but to be honest I have no real idea what is good and what isn’t hahah

        Thanks tho!

        • bit hard to research something that nobody has yet beyond looking at the specs

    • +2

      Specwise the M2 Air looks much better than this 2020 MBP. Extra thunderbolt port plus magsafe, Also quite a lot of videos posted comparing M1 vs M2 performance benchmarks. No brainer for me

      • In all fairness how much would you notice benchmark results in everyday use.
        I would personally opt for last gen with higher storage of newer gen lower storage but faster potentially unnoticeable processor.

      • +1

        Agree. Keep in mind that benchmarks are just one metric of performance. The M2 has faster RAM, more memory bandwidth and other bus improvements (e.g. Secure Enclave) meaning it should last longer:perform better in the long run than the M1.

    • If you have to get a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro 13 inch, right now, it does appear the M2 one is a better choice. Obviously, the price is a concern, but with Apple products, you generally don't want to go with the previous gen unless there is a huge discount on that.

      • You will most certainly find clickbait youTube videos raving about how great the single core performance is soon.
      • Another one those youTubers will also rave is the additional hardware video encoding improvement and 8K video editing (though if you really do 8K work, is MBA the right choice?).
      • For MBA M2, MagSafe is back. USB-C/PD passthrough via dongle is not good to be honest so MagSafe has multiple advantages. But if you do have a USB-C monitor, then I guess the MagSafe advantage is kinda not that important.
      • Better screen and better front camera (though you get the notch as a result). Better speakers.

      We need to wait and see if Apple corrected the subpar USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 gen 1 and gen 2 performance issue (potentially another plus point), unless you are all cashed up and plans to use only Thunderbolt.

      Wait for the bigger youTubers (the objective ones) to do their reviews on M2 devices. No one can give you an objective opinion yet since M2 is currently not available to the public.

  • +3

    Releasing a new computer in 2022 with 8gb of ram is a sin

    • +1

      MacOS with Apple Silicon handles Ram much better than windows somehow. 8GB is roughly equivalent to 16GB in a windows machine for a lot of workloads. I had this exact model with both 8gb and 16gb. On the 8gb i would only hit the ram limit with photoshop, lightroom and a multi-tab browser open at once. Even then there would be a 2-3second stutter as you switched apps and then it was fluid again. On the 16GB model i bascially never hit the ram limit with. Now have 64GB in the M1 Max and i can run a bunch of programs in a 32GB windows parallel session and a bunch in Mac OS and it still never runs out

      • +6

        No. Don't listen to this comment. There's a lot of people on Apple subreddits regretting their 8 GB purchases. The RAM thing is regurgitated by a lot of idiot YouTubers and there's not much truth to it. Buy what you need. You can't upgrade it later. Go for 16 unless you're casual (in which case don't buy a MacBook pro).

        • Have you actually used these systems with different amounts of ram? I have extensively and for office use, browsing and some photo editing 8gb is definitely sufficient. Sure more is always better it is more expensive and 8gb is not that limiting in practice. If you can afford the 16gb model than buy that, but 8gb can be enough for many use cases (more so than in a windows laptop)

          • @qvinto: Yep, I have a 32 GB, girlfriend has an 8 GB.

            • @FrugalSplack: So if 8gb is so unusable why buy one in the first place?

              • @qvinto: Because he didn't have your credit card. Otherwise, he would have purchased a 64GB M1 Max like you did.

                Also, a lot of people jumped on the hype train early and wanted to get the M1 really quickly and don't want to wait for the custom built 16GB model. Or, the basic rule, buy the cheapest (as you are not going to lose much in the long run). 8GB models are on discount very often.

                • @netsurfer: Well you are suggesting than that the 8GB is good value which is what i originally implied. If you are a casual user that needs a laptop for office works, browsing and some casual photo editing etc. than the 8GB is sufficient. Yes 16GB is better also more expensive, the idea that 8GB is very limiting is not true.

                  • @qvinto: No, I didn't. I wrote buy the cheapest because you are not going to lose much in the long run. For those people comfortable with desktops, you can get a better system easily and no need to lie to your brain M1's 8GB RAM is the same as 16GB RAM on Windows BS. You can easily work on big data and multiple docker containers since RAM are much cheaper on Windows PCs.

                    Let's not make M1 8GB being so magical. Windows laptop 8GB is not unusable for general usage. No one says 8GB is unusable for general public. However, it is not true 8GB of M1 equals 16GB of Windows. Don't cherry pick weak laptops or laptops with lousy Intel CPUs to make your point. If you have the guts, use the latest 12th gen Intel laptop CPU that are on par or even one that beats M1 to prove your point.

                    Please do not assume only you should use M1 Max, other people should just use M1 with 8GB RAM. I have multiple family friends who are doctors. They don't bother visiting OZB and they do get latest Apple devices and other top notch gears. It would be silly for me to suggest a 8GB RAM Macbook Pro M1 to them (and they are much smarter than you think, it would just be silly considered how complicated their home network setup are). I'm not afraid of other OZBers using much better gears than me and I give my family members better iPhones than the one I use. I normally just buy them the latest.

                    I personally would NOT recommend any of my friends to get an 8GB M1 device. However, discounted OZB deals can be hard to resist for some people. Furthermore, a lot of us get M1 due to FOMO. If you really need one, work will provide one.

              • @qvinto: Did you even read my comment? My girlfriend has the 8 GB, not me.

                Also I never said it was unusable. I'm saying that saying "8GB is roughly equivalent to 16GB" is absolutely incorrect. It's not magic just cause it's an M1.

      • +1

        The main issue is that we need to stop telling people Mac M1 8GB is roughly equivalent to 16GB on Windows. It was a BS statement from clickbait youTubers.

        • RAM is RAM, claiming 200% better RAM usage is just flat out a lie. Also, did you do an objective test? You need to use a PC or PC laptop that has the same CPU power, same type of SSD performance to compare.
        • If a docker container needs 2GB to run, there is no way you can use M1 and run it with 1GB instead.
        • This… "but it performs much better than my 2016, 2017 Macbook Pro" is comparing Apple with Orange. Furthermore, in terms of RAM usage, Macbook Pro 13 inch intel models don't run out of RAM twice as fast.
        • Most, if not all youTubers, dumb enough to come up with 8GB is like 16GB BS two years ago, pretty much all later moved to Macbook Pro 14 or 16 inch and later all stated… "8GB is enough for most people, but for their needs, they opted of 32 or 64 (yet another BS, so they use 32 or 64 GB RAM and somehow they know us so well that 8GB is enough?). Quite a lot of them sold their 8GB M1.

        The deciding factor on 8GB vs 16GB is whether you have a need to run a lot of apps at the same time (and/or intend to keep using the laptop for a long time).

        • I have used many windows laptops and the M1 8GB, 16GB and M1 Max 64GB. Over the last 4-5 years I extensively used a 16 GB and 32GB Surface books, 8GB Surface Pro, 8GB Surface Go m3, Dell XPS 15 with both 16GB and later 32GB RAM etc. In my experience, doing the same work on these systems the Mac M1 did not consume as much ram as did the windows system. 8GB on windows was a pain to use and even 16GB was limiting regularly. I had much less performance frustration on the 8GB m1 than i did on the 8GB windows system. It was an obvious difference. It was also more responsive even when having to use swap (partly due to faster ssds). You can dismiss the "dumb youtubers" but maybe consider that there is an element of trough beneath the clickbait sensationalism. If you don't believe me fine, but I tested these extensively myself so you i know how they perform. 8GB with the M1 still provides good performance for many casual use cases, not so in a 8GB windows system.

          • @qvinto: That's the thing, you were using older models with cheaper CPUs in quite a lot of cases. You need to come up with an example with an "equivalent" CPU setup.

            I already gave you an example, docker container, now, you provide some real examples. In the past, older laptops don't count. Also, I suggest you use Macbook Intel RAM usage on a per app basis. Let's also rule OS being an issue. You need to show M1 Macbook Pro/Air consistently uses 2x less RAM compared to Intel Macbook Pro/Air AND when we rule out the CPU AND potentially older SSD, it still performs the same.

            A major issue with your argument is that you are using a 64GB M1 Max. If you truly believe what you wrote, why upgrade the RAM? M1 Max doesn't just have the RAM advantage over M1, it also has SSD speed advantage.

          • @qvinto: With M2 offering 24GB RAM option, one has to wonder whether Apple intends to do more with the GPU later on, and when it does, will it take up more RAM? If more serious gaming is going to take place, some RAM has to be given to the GPU, after all, Apple Silicon uses unified memory. Under that situation, how well will 8GB RAM work?

            While console could get away with 8GB RAM, as you play 1 game at a time. I'm not sure it will be that great for M1. Also, we had some reports that M1 with 8GB RAM writing too much to the SSD for some people earlier on (I believe Apple patched it).

            It's better to move towards higher minimum RAM because when Apple does that, the industry will follow.

    • +1

      lol have you actually used a base M1 Mac before?

      • probably talking out of his arse

        • Probably you are thinking out of your arse

      • +1

        Lol, yes I have. And lol I think 8gb simply don't do it for serious work

        • +2

          That subjective. For office based work it's perfect.
          You need to elaborate on what serious work is. Because if you are talking about media creation, the MBA and MBP 13" was never targetting those users.

          • -1

            @maverickjohn: Problem is, with that argument, are we saying M1 is mostly for office based work?

            It uses unified memory. So, if we, for the moment, assume M1 is capable of some decent gaming, it will have to take some of those 8GB RAM for video when gaming. You can kinda look at it both ways, yes, the hyped up unified memory has advantages, but not have video RAM dedicated to the GPU means it does need to use that same unified memory pool. The hyped up memory bandwidth is quoted the same way as nVidia and AMD quoting their video memory speed.

            It's also a sad story if you use a Samsung T7 on an M1 Macbook Pro / Air. The performance is below even an ancient Intel laptop with an USB 3.2 gen 2 port. But no, M1 is just faster eh? One of my pain points with M1 is the need to fork out money to buy Thunderbolt devices. And, then, when you think about it, M1 is not really worth it because its internal SSD doesn't even max out PCIe gen 3 x4 speed. It's also quite annoying knowing Apple got the Thunderbolt chipset from Intel, yet by cost cutting only wired 1 external graphics for M1. Compared to my lousy 11th gen, supposedly hopeless Intel device, it can do 4 x 4K out and is cheaper (16GB RAM upgrade is dirt cheap, 2TB PCIe gen 4 x4 SSD, no problem).

            • +1

              @netsurfer: Honestly the mbp and mba is having the Mac OS system on a light portable device.
              For example with my role in health. This laptop is perfect for what I need. I use word, Excel and a few citrix based applications and like the multi desktop use with their amazing track pad.
              For me I wouldn't get anything asides from MBA.
              I understand where you are coming from but I literally referred to office work as only for office work. Not gaming as well as office work. I would never recommend a mac for gaming

    • +2

      Lol there’s always one

  • +1

    8gb ram for almost 2k.
    Doesn't make sense in 2022.
    RAM isn't even expensive? So why is the 16gb model so much pricier? Its DDR4 right?
    another 8gb cost about $60-70 at retail

    • +5

      because Apple

    • -1

      apple ram is better

      • +1

        Was that from watching clickbait youTuber videos or you actually have an objective proof?

        Apple users need to stop that nonsense. Even Apple is not dumb enough to say that. It's pure silliness to write an application to starve itself from using RAM. Has Apple released a 4GB RAM model of M1?

        Let's be honest here, with M1, we, Apple fanboys, have to use laptop class performance in the comparison. I have an M1 and access to M1 Pro. Honestly, M1 is no that great. Single external display, 2 Thunderbolt ports with subpar USB-C/USB 3.2 performance. It might be a pretty good laptop / portable CPU, but certainly no workhorse (don't expect top notch desktop class CPU performance). When you move to M1 Pro or better, 16GB RAM is bare minimum. Bear that in mind when you attempt to sugarcoat 8GB RAM.

        • +1

          ozbargain comments are always 100% true. unlike those dastardly clickbait youtubers, no wonder you hate them!

        • It has great battery life, CPU performance, its quiet, no fans so no dust degradation inside the machine, but the lack of RAM and high price is the worst factors.

          • @unahb: Only if you get Macbook Air M1, then it has no fan.

            I get the M1 advantages. I have access to multiple M1 series machines.

            I don't agree with either camp trashing each other on the RAM. There is 16GB option from Apple and PC laptops don't have 16GB as standard last time I checked. RAM is a different discussion altogether.

        • Nope it was just to get someone like you go on a 3 paragraph rant lol
          I didn’t even read it.
          Well done

          • @[Deactivated]: I don't agree with someone negging your comment earlier. It's equally bad for PC fanboys indicating 8GB is so dated considering most PC laptops start with 8GB RAM standard.

            When we write apps, we don't go, okay, this is for Apple silicon, I have to use less RAM. Also, for developers, companies won't starve them with machines with insufficient RAM.

    • Apple uses LPDDR5 for M1 series.

      Apple always charges more for RAM, even with Intel Macbook Pro's. Most PC makers, if not all, start their base model laptops with 8GB RAM (for M1 Macbook Air / Pro equivalent).

      The main issue with this one isn't RAM. It's more M2 is on its way. The RAM argument will be harder for PC fanboys later on as M2 appears to support triple channel memory configuration (24GB RAM) so in the next round, PC fanboys will have to go for 32GB RAM on laptops argument.

      • This isn't a PC vs Mac issue. Its a value problem. Any machine at this price with 8gb of RAM is poor value

  • -1

    In 2012, I bought a refubrished Macbook Pro with 8GB of RAM and 2.5GHz i5 processor for $1,000. It's shocking to see that 10 years later, the same specs laptop (well, sort of!) is even more expensive that what I paid for it back then! (ignoring the inflation rate of course).

Login or Join to leave a comment