MacBook Air M1 2020 For Writers

Tech reviewers love it but what about writers?

I have recently been watching a lot of tech reviewers on YouTube as my old Microsoft Surface was dying and I needed something new. I finally reached a critical mass of everyone saying the same thing — the new MacBook Air and Pro were astounding.

So I bought a MacBook Air 2020 with the shiny new M1 chip inside. The reviewers effuse over the fact that it can render 4K video faster than real-time, which is good to know, but not something I do.

The big question for me was — what’s it like to write on? I write for a living so this is pretty essential. If you already have a MacBook Air would you notice the difference? Let’s have a look.

Quick recap

A brief bit of history is required to let you know where I’m coming from.

All my laptops and PCs were Window-based until 2012. Back then ultra-lights were pretty new and innovative and as my old laptop was behaving badly, I decided I needed one. I travel a lot and a light laptop would be perfect. I did some research but pretty much every review kept comparing Windows ultralights to the MacBook Air. It seemed to be the gold standard.

I read so many articles about devices claiming to be a ‘MacBook Air killer’ that it…