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MacBook Air 15 Inch with M2 Chip 8GB/256GB $1699.99 Delivered @ Costco Online (Membership Required)

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MacBook Air 15 Inch with M2 Chip 8GB/256GB $1699.99 Delivered @ Costco Online (Membership Required)
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RX7 on 27/03/2024 - 09:37 costco.com.au (753 clicks)

I'm not in the market for a laptop but noticed it's $400 off their marked online price. My guess is that they're clearing this run-out model since it's no longer available through the Apple online store.

It is on the lower end spec with only 8gb ram (queue the comments) and 256gb storage.

All colours available.

You may be able to price beat at Officeworks for a further 5% off for those near stores that accept Costco as a valid competitor.

MacBook Air 15 Inch With M2 Chip 256GB
The 15-inch MacBook Air is impossibly thin and has a stunning Liquid Retina display. Supercharged by the M2 chip — and with up to 18 hours of battery life1 — it delivers incredible performance in an ultraportable design.

  • M2 chip for incredible performance
  • 8-core CPU and up to 10-core GPU to power through complex tasks
  • 16-core Neural Engine for advanced machine learning tasks
  • 8GB of unified memory makes everything you do fast and fluid
  • Up to 20 per cent faster for applying image filters and effects
  • Up to 40 per cent faster for editing complex video timelines
  • Go all day with up to 18 hours of battery life
  • Fanless design for silent operation
  • 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nits of brightness and P3 wide colour for vibrant images and incredible detail
  • 1080p FaceTime HD camera
  • Three-microphone array focuses on your voice instead of what’s going on around you
  • Six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio for an immersive listening experience
  • MagSafe 3 port, two Thunderbolt ports and headphone jack
  • Backlit Magic Keyboard and Touch ID for secure unlocking and payments
  • Fast Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity
  • Superfast SSD storage launches apps and opens files in an instant
  • macOS Ventura gives you powerful ways to get more done, share and collaborate — and works great with iPhone and iPad4
  • Available in Midnight, Starlight, Space Grey and Silver
Computing 15inch Apple Computer Laptop

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closed Comments

  • BargainBenno on 27/03/2024 - 09:40
    +3

    It's only 8GB. This is why it is discounted. Not very popular.

    • CyberMurning on 27/03/2024 - 09:52
      +4

      but steve jobs say 8GB of unified memory makes everything you do fast and fluid

      • PainToad on 27/03/2024 - 09:58
        +9

        Time to update your knowledge on Apple. Think you mean Time Cook.

      • BargainBenno on 27/03/2024 - 10:14
        +3

        I had an 8GB MacBook Pro with 256GB storage. It froze and basically was useless. I wanted to edit my photos on it but the memory just constantly paged. I sold it about a month after buying it and will never go there again.

        • dtpearson on 27/03/2024 - 11:34
          +7

          How long ago? It cannot be in recent years with the new apple silicon chips (M1, M2, M3). I have no problem editing my Sony A7R5 RAW images (130MB each) in Lightroom on a M2 Air (but I do close other programs if I have a lot to process). It is not super fast, but I call BS on "froze and basically was useless" unless you left every other program still running while editing photos.

          • rk1314 on 27/03/2024 - 11:54

            @dtpearson: yeah sounds like he had other stuff going on. 8GB is more than enough for most image processing needs. Even photoshop does amazingly well on my 8GB M1. On intel, my previous machines had no problem either. Either he had a lot going on, or there was legit something wrong with his device.

        • ihfree on 27/03/2024 - 11:53
          +1

          A good reminder to properly spec out a machine before purchase.

          • What apps were you using?
          • What were their requirements?
          • What were other people's experiences like with a similar workflow?
  • pizzaguy on 27/03/2024 - 09:42
    -2

    It's the 8GB one. This is why it is discounted. It's the ubiquitous base model that's sold everywhere.

  • Caped Baldy on 27/03/2024 - 09:45
    +11

    Apple really takes the piss with the RAM and storage configurations so that they can upsell. My 2 year old phone has the same storage and more RAM.

    • Maths Debater on 27/03/2024 - 11:59

      Yet people continue to purchase their pov-spec laptops.

  • Carrian on 27/03/2024 - 09:46
    +3

    Got one second hand on marketplace over the weekend.
    Upgraded from base M1 air.

    Very nice screen I’ll tell you what.

    Not worth the $1,700 though.

    • CyberMurning on 27/03/2024 - 09:53

      how much?

      • nightelves on 27/03/2024 - 10:14

        Three fiddy.

      • Carrian on 27/03/2024 - 10:16

        Bought the M1 second hand for $700.

        Traded it with someone in marketplace for an extra $400.

        Mind you, mine had 50 battery cycles at 100% battery health, theirs had 2 battery cycles. Almost brand new in box.

        Boy math, effectively $1100.

    • nuts on 27/03/2024 - 10:10

      Not worth the upgrade from the m1?

      • Carrian on 27/03/2024 - 10:17
        +11

        Not unless you get a better deal than $1700.

        $1700 is ridiculous for 8GB ram 60hz laptop in 2024.

        Apple are genius. Frustrating, but genius.

        8GB is enough for me for a laptop I use occasionally for travel and work at a cafe sometimes.

        I have a 7900XTX gaming PC for horsepower at home lol.

        • nuts on 27/03/2024 - 15:30

          Oh yeah, wouldn't be upgrading to 8GB RAM, I got this one as soon as m1 was announced and got the 16GB version, had to wait a bit longer for it but bloody love this machine, I reckon it's still got a few years in it left before I upgrade. Thanks for replying.

      • Flintz on 27/03/2024 - 10:42
        +1

        If you currently have an M1, no you shouldn't be upgrading 1 gen up 1 year late. The main thing you'd be missing out on is screen real estate, this model also being a 15inch and the bezels are smaller on the M2, but if you're already used to the M1 it'd be fine to wait

        • nightelves on 27/03/2024 - 12:20

          There was no M1 15 inch MBA.

    • Churna on 27/03/2024 - 17:57

      How much would you say its worth?

      • Carrian on 27/03/2024 - 18:01

        brand new? they shouldn't be selling these for more than $1,500.

        but people keep buying them

  • flypig on 27/03/2024 - 10:22
    +1

    Apple is accustomed to continuously developing powerful M series chips and is obsessed with releasing a large number of models equipped with 8GB, for fear that entry-level models will take away the business of high-end models.

    • chrism238 on 27/03/2024 - 10:32
      +1

      Or, perhaps, trying to attract new users at the lower end of the market?

      • lookingforadeal7 on 27/03/2024 - 10:37
        +1

        Why produce powerful chips when their capabilities are limited by ram though, it's more so to catch out new users who aren't technically inclined.

    • Caped Baldy on 27/03/2024 - 10:36
      +4

      I feel like they can advertise that models start from a particular price like $999. I don't have a problem with this necessarily but they charge like $600 to upgrade to 1TB and another $300 for 16gb ram and removed user upgrades. It is very anti-consumer.

      • FujinShu on 27/03/2024 - 10:51

        They haven’t removed memory and storage upgrades (yet), it’s just become exponentially more difficult to do, since you need an entire soldering and metal rework station, and an extra Mac, as well as a shit ton of time to account for trial and error, just to upgrade the parts.

        Which is still absolutely unequivocally very anti-consumer, mind you.

    • SimAus007 on 27/03/2024 - 11:27
      +5

      Costs differences between 8GB and 16GB of RAM are negligible now, they really should be starting at 16GB but they won't for now as they can rip people a new one who are prepared to pay an obscene amount of money for the extra 8GB of RAM that probably costs Apple maybe $30-$40 more than the base 8GB.
      Apple are geniuses are marketing to suckers, that's their forte.
      For the record, I have an iPhone, so I must also be one of those suckers ;)

  • lookingforadeal7 on 27/03/2024 - 10:33

    If I get an iPad for graphic design work is there anything I'd be missing out on by not getting a Mac to also work with it? These prices are just insane.

    • Caped Baldy on 27/03/2024 - 10:37
      +5

      You buy into the ecosystem, almost everything will be seamless and efficient but $$$$

      • congo on 27/03/2024 - 11:26
        +4

        You mean $$$$$

    • SimAus007 on 27/03/2024 - 11:30

      I would not be buying an iPad for (serious) graphic design, terrible. Are you using Adobe CC?
      Much better to get a PC or Mac for this (i7 or M1 and above).

      • lookingforadeal7 on 27/03/2024 - 11:32

        Yes I am, it's more for an on the go to show clients work etc. I'm thinking it'll be easier to do from a tablet than laptop.

      • lookingforadeal7 on 27/03/2024 - 11:35
        +1

        I have a laptop for editing currently although it's quite slow and will be upgrading in the future. I do custom shirt/apparel designs at markets using templates I've made up and allow customers to change images/text/colour. Holding a laptop to them or giving them the laptop to hold can be awkward, I'm thinking an iPad to hand them and zoom in on details etc. might be better. Will also serve as a general home use tablet. I'm just also interested in other creative apps Apple has like certain sculpting apps etc.

    • rk1314 on 27/03/2024 - 11:59

      have you tried the affinity apps? They're quite capable for design work IMO. Honestly, if you're doing fine with an iPad, I don't see any reason to go with a Mac unless you're finding your current setup restricting. You'd also need to consider there will be a learning curve if you're going to use a new app(s).

  • Noslee on 27/03/2024 - 10:38

    superseded model, that really is not a discount. you'd better off latest M3 (at least apple claims better 8GB RAM management) 10% off JB or just get EDU from apple.

    • FujinShu on 27/03/2024 - 10:53

      Or just get the M1 Air if you just want an ARM MacBook.

      If you can find one at a reasonable price.

  • rabid_monkey on 27/03/2024 - 10:52
    +7

    As I mentioned in another MacBook post, can Qualcomm and the PC manufacturers hurry up and get the Snapdragon X ARM processors finished and into windows laptops, so we can get better battery life and be freed from Apple’s ram and storage rort.

    • netsurfer on 27/03/2024 - 11:32

      It will be good, but does that mean we will transition to Arm based OS and apps eventually? Or, we will be dealing with x86 and arm. Snapdragon X Elite does look impressive against M2 and M3, but it seems to be waiting for Windows 12 (ARM edition). It can emulate x86 like Apple Silicon but native apps are still better.

      • rabid_monkey on 27/03/2024 - 12:53

        I heard the ARM x86 translation (like Apple’s Rosetta) is looking very promising and performant. Native will always be better, but look at the non-ARM apps on Mac, they run incredibly well. But we’ll have to wait and see.

    • rk1314 on 27/03/2024 - 12:04

      I'd imagine most, if not all SD X PCs will also have soldiered ram and storage. Most likely going to be a similar situation given what ARM PCs have been like so far.

      • rabid_monkey on 27/03/2024 - 12:50
        +1

        That’s my fear as well, they’ll probably want, or need, to emulate the very profitable Apple business model.

  • botchie on 27/03/2024 - 10:59
    +4

    256gb, so you buy this to watch netflix? and pay $1800?
    I cant believe ppl exist that buy this crap

    • beltdrive on 27/03/2024 - 11:31
      +3

      my work laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. it's fine for office work.

    • netsurfer on 27/03/2024 - 11:38
      +4

      It is easy to criticise Apple, but PC makers really need to stop selling junk Windows laptop too:

      HP 14" Celeron 8GB 256GB Laptop

      That laptop with a 1366 x 768 display. No wonder people who know nothing about computers / laptops have bad impression about Windows laptops. Releasing laptops / desktops with 1x1 WiFi 5 + BT 4.2 nowadays is really a joke, especially for latest platforms (AM5).

      Just make decent cost effective laptops that blow entry level Macbooks away with a quality screen, 16GB RAM minimum, Gen 4 SSD, Wifi 6E, decent USB-C ports etc… Even if the CPU is a bit weaker, it doesn't mean the rest of the laptop need to be glued together with unwanted junk parts.

      • beltdrive on 27/03/2024 - 11:48
        +2

        That's awful. I can't believe you can still get a laptop with a celery CPU and that resolution

      • Gdsamp on 27/03/2024 - 12:00

        ewaste product

      • botchie on 27/03/2024 - 12:24

        Apple actually has a nice product but they rip ppl off with their storage - its literally the most expansive storage in the world - It wont cost them $5 extra to put 2 TB in this laptop and even then at $1800 its expansive but I would be ok with buying it because its a good product.
        they treat their customers like mugs but ppl still buy into it so who can blame them.

    • moortoozzy on 27/03/2024 - 13:11

      I have 1Tb one for more than 1year, using daily, but only used 200Gb of storage.. Is 256Gb really that limiting? what do you need to store

      • botchie on 27/03/2024 - 13:38
        +1

        depends on what you use this for? net browsing and netflix, YouTube? then your paying big bucks for something simple you can do with much cheaper device.
        if you want to use the chip for what its made like photos editing , video etc then you would use up storage

      • Caped Baldy on 27/03/2024 - 14:03

        You're close to going over soon. The difference is that Apple is ripping people off with the upgrades that they overcharge for.

  • gadgetguy on 27/03/2024 - 11:48
    +2

    Isn't the M2 the one with the gimped SSDs?

    Single channel I think and they went back to dual for M3.

  • Slimmantitties on 27/03/2024 - 12:03
    +2

    So I got an air 13 m3 16gb so cant speak for 15, however let me say why I think the m3 16gb is worth it:
    8gb 256gb M2 will slow right down once the 8gb ram is used and the ssd takes over given it uses a single chip. The M3 however brings back dual ssd chips for 256gb models making the 8gb a more viable option.
    Now considering the 16gb upgrade on the m3 will automatically add the $130 upgraded cpu, that brings the insane $290 price hike to a more palatable $160, which will likely have it retain a higher value once 16gb becomes the baseline in the near future.
    M3 also includes wifi 6e for when that is the mainstream in a few years.

    Now I haven't had this laptop for long but I will say its a lovely piece of machinery besides the low refresh rate of the screen, however this does work well for battery life and looks great when not scrolling. without oled there are no concerns for future burn in.

    I've mentioned future a lot. That is because no other brand will ever hold a candle to the 2nd hand value of apple. Once its time to upgrade 5 years down the track (or more), you will almost certainly make back a good chunk of change.

    • dzhay on 27/03/2024 - 12:14
      +1

      5 years down the line that chunk of change might cover your memory upgrade… to 16gb.

      • Slimmantitties on 27/03/2024 - 12:43

        A bit more than that..
        My other point was that not many laptops can last 5 years without some decent tech knowhow to clean install +/- debloat. Even then windows will force most to upgrade without a choice. I haven't used mac for a while but previously it has been easier to ignore the system updates that eventually slow the machine down and they keep running fast even without a reinstall years down the track.
        I would also recommend that most people do not need more than 256gb if deciding between the SSD or RAM upgrade cause if you can afford a mac you can afford a NAS.

  • Dunks on 27/03/2024 - 17:29
    +1

    Overpriced

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