Over the past two years, we've been inundated
with all this new Apple Silicon, M1 Pro, M1 Ultra,
new MacBook Airs, brand new Mac Studios.
And we've just had another round of refreshers
with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips,
but what about the Mac that started it all?
Now that it's 2023,
what's going on with the M1 MacBook Air?
Because if you remember, there was a fair amount
of controversy surrounding it in 2021.
Killer USB-C hubs, a supposed a defect in the screen,
causing the glass to completely shatter
and crack without warning,
a subsequent class action lawsuit against Apple
consisting of all the affected users,
the swap memory issue,
writing terabytes and terabytes of data to the SSD,
meaning the SSD would die within two to three years
and supposed overheating due to the lack of a fan,
supposedly causing the battery to swell
and stop working much quicker than usual.
I covered all of these topics on this channel back in 2021
but now that it's been over two years
since the launch of the M1 MacBook Air,
has anything changed?
Should you be worried?
Well, probably not, but let me explain.
So let's start with the killer USB-C hubs.
Now this one actually has a bit of merit
because it did happen to a few users
shortly after the launch of the M1 Air.
A couple of people reported dead MacBook Airs
or a strange clicking noise after plugging in a USB-C hub
and using the pass through charging feature,
which is when you plug the power brick into the hub
and then the hub into your Mac.
It seems like in some situations the USB-C hub
bypassed the Mac's built-in safety mechanisms
that prevent over voltage
and this in turn fried the logic board of the MacBook.
Now it's hard to say who was at fault here.
Was it cheaply built hubs,
or maybe an oversight on Apple's behalf?
There's no way to tell for sure.
I can tell you though, if it was Apple's fault,
they'll do everything they can to not admit it.
But Apple did release a software update
shortly after these issues started popping up.
It was macOS Big Sur 11.2.2
and Apple listed this firmware change in the description.
In layman's terms, this is the equivalent
of a surge protector you'd use to protect it
from lightning strikes or power surges
but the software equivalent of this.
So it does seem like this was in fact an actual issue
and I scoured the internet
trying to find evidence of it reoccurring since then.
And I did find a several month old Reddit post
where someone supposedly had this happen
but they were also running macOS Catalina, not Big Sur
where the firmware update happened
and it was also an Intel MacBook from 2019.
If you are worried about this happening to your MacBook,
just make sure you only use good quality hubs or docs
from established brands
like Anchor, OWC, Belkin for example,
and keep your Mac updated.
Or like many others, including me,
err on the side of caution
and don't use pass through charging on a hub.
Use a proper dock for that instead,
like the CalDigit TS4 I use on my desk.
Speaking of things you can use with your MacBook
and just before we get into the next topic of swap memory,
here's an app that can make your life a little bit easier.
Recently I had to send someone instructions
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I realized it takes a lot of time
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It records exactly what I'm doing on the screen,
automatically takes screenshots,
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Don't take it from me.
Here's who else is also using Scribe.
All you have to do is install the extension
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Hit start recording and Scribe records your clicks
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You can remove steps, edit, highlight,
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You can even annotate screenshots.
Once you're done,
Scribe automatically formats the guide for you
and you can share it via a link,
save it as a PDF, or even embed the guide into your website.
So, check out Scribe for free
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and start saving yourself a ton of time.
Okay, moving on.
We have everyone's favorite M1 MacBook Air controversy:
swap memory.
Now, swap memory is what happens
when all of your available RAM,
which stands for random access memory
is currently being utilized but your Mac still needs more.
For example, maybe you only have 8 gigabytes of RAM
and you have a lot of internet browser tabs
open at the same time.
So, some of the memory currently in use
is swapped to your internal SSD,
so that your MacBook doesn't slow down too much.
Obviously the SSD is much slower than your RAM,
so it's not ideal, but this solution is still better
than your Mac simply crashing or telling you
that opening more programs isn't possible, for example.
Where this becomes a problem
is if you're constantly using a lot of swap memory.
All of this swap memory
is being written to your internal SSD,
which has a finite amount of data that can be written to it
before eventually dying.
Dead SSD is bad because it's soldered onto the logic board
of your Apple Silicon MacBook and cannot be replaced.
Back in early 2021,
there were reports of extremely excessive swap memory usage
to the tune of up to several hundred gigabytes per day
from normal everyday use.
I did a number of experiments and tests
on this channel back then
and was able to replicate some of it
but just like the Killer USB-C hub's issue,
Apple released a couple of software updates
to the macOS operating system.
Swap memory usage appeared to decrease
and the controversy died down pretty quickly.
So two years later, is it still an issue?
Possibly.
Swap memory still occurs in almost every workflow,
regardless of how much RAM you have.
It's not a bad thing at all and actually does a great job
at improving the overall Mac experience.
However, if you are consistently
maxing out your available RAM,
over time this can add up.
The biggest example of this I see
is people purchasing MacBooks
with only 8 gigabytes of RAM
and then slamming them with intense multitasking
or 4K video editing, for example.
Workflows that should really be done
on a machine with more RAM
or an entirely different machine altogether,
like the more powerful M1 Pro or M1 Max.
For example, this is a base model M1 MacBook Pro
with just 8 gigabytes of RAM,
editing a fairly complicated DA Vinci resolved timeline
with a lot of fusion effects.
You can see the memory pressure is quite high
with a large amount of swap memory being used.
Now ideally, this person would have
at least 16 gigabytes of RAM in this situation
because just the resolve application itself
is using over 8 gigabytes of RAM
and that's before all the other apps
and even macOS itself is taken into consideration.
But if we take a look
at the total amount of data written to their SSD
after one year of doing this kind of extreme workflow,
you can see they've written about 31 terabytes in total.
Considering this MacBook also has a 256 gigabyte SSD,
what kind of lifespan could they expect
before the SSD might fail?
Well, the TBW rating or terabytes written rating
is a good indicator of this,
TBW is the amount of data that can be written to an SSD
before the SSD might begin to have issues
and potentially develop a greater risk of failing.
The key word there is might.
The TBW value for most 256 gigabyte SSDs is 150.
So hypothetically, this person who is an extreme example
can likely keep using this MacBook in this exact way
for five years and not have any issues.
But remember when I said might?
In reality, most SSDs actually blow through their TBW rating
and can double or even triple it before failing.
I won't go into too much detail here
as I made an extremely in-depth video on this topic
with tons of research,
which I will link down below if you want to learn more.
So even if you did make a mistake
when configuring your MacBook
and went with the base model RAM option
instead of 16 gigabytes, for example,
or you simply couldn't afford to upgrade the RAM,
probably not a big deal,
even if you do use a fair amount of swap memory.
The SSD will likely last longer than the MacBook itself.
Also, if you want to find out
exactly how much RAM you should get,
I made a video on that too.
Anyway, after scouring the internet
over the last couple of weeks, I couldn't find any evidence
or examples of M1 MacBook's failing
due to a TBW exceeded SSD.
So I don't think it's anything to worry about
but to play devil's advocate here,
if this is in fact an issue, it likely won't come to a head
until at least the five year mark, which is in 2025
where the MacBooks like the one I used
as an example just before
actually start to exceed their 150 terabyte TBW ratings.
Next up, let's talk about the cracked screens.
A couple of months after the USB-C hub issue,
another issue popped up,
this time with the glass screen on M1 MacBook Air models.
Now I made a really detailed video at the time
going through all the allegations, evidence,
and seeing if there was any truth to these claims,
and I encourage you to watch that video
for all of this information
as well as how to take care of your screen
and ensure it won't get damaged.
Long story short, at the time,
it didn't seem widespread enough
to be considered a major issue.
There were a couple of hundred people
in an Apple support thread
that claimed to have cracked screens and a few Reddit posts
but this was out of millions of M1 MacBook Air units sold,
which to me is within manufacturing tolerances.
I mean, you'll always have a small percentage
of manufactured products like a glass screen that just break
or have imperfections causing it to be more brittle.
And also, I mean let's be honest here,
some people straight up crack the screen themselves
by using webcam covers or closing the screen
with debris on the keyboard
or something blocking the screen from closing properly
like a sweatshirt, drawstring, or a bag buckle.
For example, some of the randomly cracked screen posts
are similar to this one, which has an obvious impact point.
And you can see the keyboard is quite dirty too.
All it takes is closing the screen on something small
like a grain of rice and the glass can crack.
And this is true for any laptop, not just MacBooks.
But something I couldn't investigate further at the time
was the concept of fatigue failure.
Basically, fatigue failure means
if you do something over and over again,
over time any small flaws or imperfections may grow larger
and sometimes turn into a complete component failure
or a cracked screen in this case.
A lot of people claimed that the hinge
or entire display assembly of the MacBook Air
was just too tight
and over time it could put stress on the glass.
So by opening and closing the screen hundreds of times
over the course of two years,
if there is a manufacturing defect in this model,
around now is when we should start to see
major issues occurring.
And note that at this point in time,
no one has identified a specific defect or flaw,
not even Louis Rossmann.
So, after doing some research
and searching for any new updates on this topic,
I've pretty much come to the same conclusion I did in 2021.
Doesn't seem like this is a widespread issue
or there's an inherent flaw in the display.
That being said, the videos I've made
and the articles I wrote on this subject
are at the top of Google search results.
So they're one of the first things people see
if they search for this topic.
As a result, I have seen quite a few comments
on my own videos about cracked M1 Air screens.
If I had to estimate,
I'd say anywhere from maybe 100 to 200 people
have commented explaining their situation
and that the screen did crack without any input from them.
But still, there's just not enough hard evidence
to suggest these screens are defective even after two years.
I mean, even if a couple of thousand people, for example,
have experienced this issue compared to the millions
and millions of MacBook units out there,
that's a tiny percentage
and I'm certainly not defending Apple here either.
They do have a track record of major defects like this one
that only reached settlement last year and countless others.
So that being said, just be aware that the screen
on the Air model in particular may be more fragile
than maybe what you are used to,
especially due to the sheer thinness of the air chassis.
Just err on the side of caution
and don't put anything between the screen and keyboard,
like a webcam cover or keyboard cover
and watch out for any debris on the keyboard
when you're shutting the screen.
Use a good case for transport and you should be fine.
This also extends to the class action lawsuit
that was announced in 2021.
Pretty much nothing about the situation
has changed since then.
Apple has asked the law firm spearheading the lawsuit
to gather more evidence and plaintiffs.
And as of the date of this video,
it still seems to be stuck in limbo
with not enough traction to go anywhere.
Again, if you're interested in a full breakdown
and explanation of this lawsuit,
I made a separate video about it.
Finally, we come to the overheating issue.
Now, I'm going to take too long here to, A, save you time
and B, 'cause I've already debunked this a few times before,
the too-long-don't-watch summary is,
don't worry about it.
The M1 MacBook Air will only heat up
to a significant temperature
when undertaking an extremely demanding task
like rendering a video or playing a game.
Even then, the majority of the heat
is emitted from the very top of the device
where the actual M1 SOC is located.
As you can see in these thermal readings,
the battery is located
at the complete opposite end of the chassis
away from the concentration of heat.
Sure, the chassis does heat up overall
but the internal temperature of the battery itself
only increases slightly
and is still within normal tolerances.
And again, 99% of the time, you're not going to be running
your fanless entry-level M1 MacBook Air
this hard and this hot.
That's pretty much it.
Despite all of these controversies,
I think the M1 MacBook Air
still stands out as one of the best laptops
we've seen in recent history.
And I'll see you in 2025 for my next update.