Why Is EVERYONE Buying THIS LAPTOP!? 

This is where I bought the $300 MacBook Air: amzn.to/3mVS5Z0 (affiliate link)

I think the biggest story here is not the machine itself-it's the fact that people think a laptop made a little over 5 years ago is "vintage." We have all been changed by rapid iteration cycles. COVID has also modified our sense of time. Of course, professional youtubers (no offense Greg) get new machines every year. It distorts the the perception of the machine cycle most people are on. My 2017 iMac is just fine.

I am speaking from personal experience when I say that these things last. My family bought 2 of these back in 2017 and only had to change the battery in 2022 to one of them and It still works perfectly for productivity.

My brother still uses a 2017 MacBook Air, and he loves it for how strong and long lasting it is. What's crazy is that he has a friend who was selling a 14" M1 Pro MBP for $900, and he rejected the offer because his 2017 MBA still works perfectly well for him. Although, I'm glad he turned the offer because I ended up buying that $900 14" MBP instead lol

Every time I see an older Mac I'm reminded how much I miss the glowing Apple logo

Before watching the video i'm gonna state why I think its a top seller... 1. Retro design. That design is already considered to be retro, it takes shape of the 2008-2012 Macbook Air that released and hasn't changed since then. 2. Older update capabilities. Users can downgrade and visit OS X High Sierra. This update is similar to the older updates like Yosemite, that released back in 2014. I currently have the Macbook Air 2015, and I was able to downgrade to El Capitan, After that I was able to upgrade to Catalina (My favorite update). 3. Functionality. Its still new, and useful for College, or just Netflix streaming. Its pretty powerful for Mobile games, and can game on Roblox, and Minecraft Java. I have the 2015 model and I can currently play Java, not on great settings, but on good enough gameplay. Runs similar to that of an Xbox 360! 4. Keyboard. The keyboard is the "scissor" mechanism keyboard that was later discontinued on the Macbook Pro in 2015. This keyboard was far more reliable than the "Butterfly" keyboard found on Macbook Pro 2015 & finally on Macbook Air in 2018. this keyboard also has higher backlight leakage and the light travels around the squared keys, people just LOVE that. 5. Backlight Apple Logo. People REALLY just love the glowing logo. It's unique and RETRO. It stands out and not many people see it. 6. Ports. The older Macbooks had more ports. A Macbook Air 2018-2023 still has not moved on from the portless design. only using two to four USB ports (don't remember the amount). 7. It's Affordable. People like the pricing. A Macbook 2017 offers everything I've just listed for a lower price. For anybody who needs a Macbook for School, or just regular neediness, it's reliable. 8. The Body. The body of the Macbook Air 2017 is just comfortable. Its a 13 Inch screen, but easy to type with and it isn't a small form factor. It's larger than the 13" Macbook Air 2018. 9. Speakers. Speakers are housed UNDERNEATH the keys... Where do you get that?? It's something I've just never seen before. These are all the reasons I believe exist. I mostly feel like it has much more to do with the Nostalgia. People like the ports, Speakers, Apple logo, Display, and form factor.. and its pricing is great. My Macbook Air 2015 is SUPER reliable in Catalina, and I'm using it for college. Later in the future I'll Possibly purchase a Macbook Air 2017 so it equals out after two years with my current one.

A friend of mine still has a 2013 Macbook Air. He bought it new back then. Till this day it runs surprisingly fast and recently for the first time I cleaned the fan and applied new thermal paste.

The school I work at has been a Mac school (for student machines) since it started in 2002. I had a big part in that decision, and it hasn't let us down. We have 10-year-old iMacs still serviceable as classroom machines, and the cart of 2018 MacBook Pros is still the one I use for my computer science class (other than the two computers that have cracked screens). The only exception is when we started using a couple of carts of Chromebooks in 2019. The Chromebooks were good for basic tasks like accessing the students' Google Workspace or the Web for research and information retrieval, and the Macs were good for everything else. We were restricted to Windows computers for administration, because all the Department of Ed Intranet apps required Internet Explorer!

Software isn’t really an issue because you can actually upgrade this to the current macOS Ventura, just requires patching that an app will just do for you. It’s seamless and you’ll be updated

I have the 2013 version which looks exactly the same. It was really starting to show it's age with some lag, but still totally usable for most people who just want to browse the web and do some word processing or excel.

I bought a refurbished 2017 MacBook Air directly from the Apple Store Online back in 2019. I like it because of the backlit logo. I am a young corporate professional and have an iMac and Alienware at home. However, I still use my 2017 MacBook Air to this date when I'm outside of my home doing my school work as I enjoy signing up for online courses to continuously upgrade my skills and knowledge with new or updated information, and I'm still loving it!

I just purchased this computer-- the exact make, and model from amazon. I have a macbook pro that I got in 2014, which is still going strong, with some issues. I work from home more now so I wanted a macbook just for work from home stuff and for when I travel. Thank you for the review. It confirmed my doubts about the machine, but also reassured me that for what I need it to do it will be a great laptop!

I used this MBA for a while, the turning point was the screen when Retina display started to be mainstream. I can see this 2017 model as a very cheap but still capable machine.

It’s still a very viable machine even today for things like web browsing,emails and for word processing or students looking for a budget Mac 💻 while still getting to experience MacOs and the wonderful ecosystem

The keyboard on these Macbooks are iconic. Some of the best feeling laptop-keyboards of all time.

I got my MacBook Air 2017 5 years ago and have been using it nonstop since. I think it works perfectly for what I look for in a laptop. I have actually dropped it a couple of times from more than 2 m height and so the metal bent a bit but there is no problem with it’s capabilities. I am contemplating getting the M1 (really dislike the M2 because of it’s design) but the charging is what keeps me questioning. I think the MagSafe has saved my laptop from major falls so many times I cannot count them.

This is the first video of yours I'm watching. Your articulation of the language is enjoyable, there are so many vloggers (here and on other platforms) whose vocabulary is either limited or they use the wrong synonyms and end up being a joke.

I still use my Mid-2015 15-inch MacBook Pro. It works perfectly & the battery is still pretty healthy at 97%. That’s impressive considering I bought it brand new back in 2015!

I'm still using this very version of the MacBook Air, though I upgraded the SSD to 500GB a while back. Battery is at 78%, but it stays up quite well. This is not my main computer (M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14") though. I'm using it mainly when I'm providing MS Office training outside, where it's connected to a PJ, so the non Retina is not that of much of an issue. Also I keep it mostly because it runs Windows 10 in BootCamp, where most of my training happens. Could run it in Parallels, but that isn't the same as native. And it's a back-up in case the other one has a problem. I like it a lot. Don't plan to sell it anytime soon. Surprised to see I coud still get that kind of money out of it, if I wanted to sell it. And I DO have the original box and power brick!

I just upgraded from a 2015 to a 2020 MacBook Air last month. The 2015 was still working perfectly for daily tasks, but I found a nice deal on the 2020 and decided to upgrade. I love the new keyboard and Retina display, just makes the whole experience more pleasant.

i am a developer and bought it 2 weeks back in india..so far i am loving it as my earlier window laptops used to have too many issues..BSOD, updates breaking everything, open source softwares repositories not compatible with windows etc etc..this one is pretty smooth

My mom still using one of this and works very good for her for pretty much everything she needs. She bought it in 2017 and is still in pretty good condition.

Love your sense of humor, Greg. Thanks for the opportunity to make a fool of myself at the breakfast table this morning by LOL mouth open.

I still have the MacBook Air 2014 just changed the battery. It works fine for me. I use my iPad mini 6th gen for book reading and movies. My MacBook Air is used for school emailing web browsing

"The software support concerns me" -Me with my 2012 Macbook Pro running OSX Catalina...

I used to have a 2017 Macbook air and I loved it for as long as I had it (all the way until 2021--it gave up after about a year of working from home and I sold it). It was such a reliable machine. (Currently on an M1 Macbook air these days)

I bought this for $185 on eBay. Pleasantly surprised. I used OpenCore to upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14.2. Upgraded the 128GB SSD to 1TB SSD.

Great video, cool to see how older tech stacks up today. Consider doing a series on how older tech stacks up in 2023, super interesting!

It’s built like a tank and the keyboard is the most comfortable out of all the MacBooks I’ve tried. TBH I wish the new models used the same chassis and keyboard.

I purchased a MacBook Air Mid-2013 just a few years back very inexpensively, and it runs very well. It is not my main device, as I have a Mac Mini M1 & a Galaxy Book LTE. I use the MacBook when I need to do long typing and don't want to sit at my desk. The keyboard is the main reason I really use it. 2021 I installed a new battery. Great review of an older device, just shows Apple devices last a long time.

I had and used one of these until a month ago. It had started to run out of SSD space, but it was working pretty well for basic tasks, just a bit slow sometimes. When the store offered double the normal amount in their trade-in scheme I went for it and got a new M2 MacBook Air while being pretty amazed at the fact that they would refurbish and resell the old one. I guess not only hams have 9 lives MacBook Airs do too… Generally I start feeling bad when can’t run the current OS version and it can have security implications too so… But thanks for many great videos and greetings from a subscriber in 🇩🇰😊

Hey, I have that one! I use a 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro now. I miss the SD card slot; I used it with a flush-fitting adapter for a micro-SD card (1TB) to give it more storage. I like the dedicated MagSafe connector. The TB2 port is a DisplayPort connector for external display. I think the wide silver bezel looks good. Definitely inferior in battery life (compared to my M1). It’s a great deal (for $300 in good condition) for someone who needs just the “basic stuff” and can’t afford a new or refurbished M1 MacBook Air.

I'm using m2 now but my 2015 MA still works perfectly fine. I really wish if apple didn't make all laptops similar and reimagined the design language of iconic MacBook air

I bought the same Macbook Air in 2020 from the Apple store Refurbished section for school. I’ve had it 3 years still have apple care on it and used it for everything lectures, notes assignments, exams and watching shows. I love that it has all the ports and uses the magnetic charger.

Greg you get more entertaining by the day. Nice work mate

I'm using a 2014 one and it still works flawlessly. It just works. That's why.

I still use this model! I bought it in october of 2018, and it still runs perfectly !!!! i’m very happy with it just sad it doesn’t update to the latest version of mac os… but still, it’s does everything you need it to, it’s light, it’s sleek and it has usb, sd card and thunderbolt ports ! my only regret is not buying more storage at the time of purchase, otherwise i wouldn’t have a need to upgrade. I don’t even notice the screens ‘lower’ quality.

My wife and my daughter both use a 2017 MBA for general use. Both have had them for a couple of year now. The one my daughter has was actually originally mine before I upgraded to the 16” MBP in 2019. My daughter even uses hers for things like Roblox, Rocksmith 2014, and DXO PhotoLab 6. I patched my wife’s using OpenCore, and it works flawlessly.

Got this 2017 Macbook Air prior to Covid and it is pretty. The machine I got had 256GB but I still used the SD card slot to add a 512GB using this silver SD card holder so the slot is flushed to the machine. Took this with me to the Starbucks to study. Definitely worth it's price.

After using Apple Mac towers and laptops for over three decades, I can only say that each generation is a perfect package when it comes to the design, OS integration and overall user experience.

This is my Main Machine that I use for development and stuff and it works awesome!! I just upgraded the storage for my Mac from 128 GB -> 2 TB and now I have a lot of space!!

One of the reasons why it’s still a big seller is because it was the last MacBook to still have a user replaceable SSD.

For a student this is the perfect laptop. If I had more money I would buy this for my eldest niece that just graduated high school but I remember how bad those screens are since I first tried the 2015 MacBook air same TN display and returned it back for a MacBook Pro 2015. For a young teen this is perfect at that price.

I really wish they had stuck with the glowing logo. Even though I have the M1 version, I still feel impressed whenever I see a MacBook with the apple lighted up.

I am watching this video on my late 2013 MacBook Pro. It is still like a new machine. It has a brand new battery & new SSD in it. Runs like a beast & it is 10 yrs old.

Hear me out: I want the light-up Apple logo back. Or at least the option to pay for it if its going to weeks to get your customized laptop.

I'm also still using a MB Pro 13 from 2014 as mostly daily driver for the light tasks and even some little editing stuff, if I'm not gonna see my workstation machine for some reason. It's crazy, how long this machines can last and what they're still able to do, even if they're getting a lil slower over time. Would've never bin so happy during such a long time with a windows laptop

Never watched a video, 30 seconds in I subscribed bc I was already charmed by Greg

I wonder how the performance stacks up to a Macbook Pro 2012 15-inch with the i7. I might be mistaken but usually, the Air uses a lighter type of the cpu compared to the Pro. My 2012 runs fine and fast for daily things. It runs better than a Microsoft Surface pro 3 I got for portability. It's a lot easier when traveling compared to the heavy Macbook Pro 15-inch.

I used to have one of these several years ago and the 1 thing that I loved about it was the easily upgradable SSD. If you want to load a lot of stuff on a mac, this is the cheapest way to go right now by replacing the drive. Personally I could never go back from my M-series MacBook now, but for that use case, I could understand it.

I have a 2015 11” base model, nowadays the battery is almost useless (I need to replace it) and the charging cable is extremely worn out. However, it still works almost as smoothly as it did when I first bought it. I can even do 3D modeling on SketchUp, I literally designed a house that it’s actually being built! Anyways, I also have a 2021 iPad pro and I use both at work. I’m a private English teacher so I teach using the iPad while a student use my mac air.

I'm still using my MBA 2017 now and it's usability keeps me off from buying new ones. 👌

Currently watching this on a 2015 Macbook Air running Linux Kubuntu. Love this thing.

Updated my 2017 Macbook Air to Ventura with OCLP, instaledl a 1TB ssd inside with a $10 adaptor. Everyday laptop for browsing, email, youtube video viewing, screen mirroring to my tv via apple tv puck and watching movies off the sdxc card reader. Love the portability and excellent build quality. Sure its not the greatest screen out there but adequate for my needs and will keep it til it dies one day. At 70 it might just outlast me.

I still have my 2015 13” MacBook Pro I got just before Christmas 2014, battery had to be swapped and I had to swap out a dead bit on the board but yeah, screens great by modern standards and it’s a backup computer that’s always there

One fun thing, i had laptop that was able to play 4k video but the problem is that when you're trying to play it just started to be laggy...

I am still using my 2016 entry level MacBook Pro and all I have done since then is replace the battery and upgrade the ssd to 1tb. It still dose everything I need in a laptop.

Because it strikes a good balance between being modern enough to suffice for basic use and being old enough to be cheap. A couple years ago it was the 2015 mba

I have written a similar post on several video like this; I still have an 11" MBA 2013 that I use when I travel to China, or other countries with aggressive spying. I have 500gb storage, and 4gb RAM. For my MBA, I have a generic Apple ID that has not personal information, plus a VPN. I only use it with VPN turned on, and when I leave that country, I turn off all connectiibility, and then shut it down. When I get back to my office, I reformat the drive before connect to Wifi, and install a fresh iOS. I have sold off all my TB2 Mac technology with the exception of this MBA, and MagSafe charger.

I’ve got a 2014 MacBook Air 11 inch and a 2014 Apple iMac, both work great, definitely still usable in 2023, the hard drive in the iMac is a huge bottle neck though and a ssd is most definitely needed, other then that, they are great machines.

Wife had a 2015 Air that we just replaced with a 2023 15" Air with the M2...that 2015 was a little work horse and just worked!

My 2015 Air has been a workhorse for nearly 9 years now. It's incredible the machines that Apple has engineered. Getting an M2 Air soon ;)

I have the 2015 version of this (The 2017 one is almost exactly the same as 2015) and it still works great today! Both versions have the same latest os and processor, the 2017 one just has a slightly higher cpu clock

The real thing to do here is to compare this laptop to a public school issued chromebook. This is what parents and students are buying to avoid those junk plastic machines

I had a mid 2012 11". i7 2ghz Macbook Air that I kept until a couple of years ago. Was pretty much the top model at the time and it worked well. The only reason I sold it was because I like to have 2, a daily driver and one for work. I bought a newer one for work so it was excess to requirements. Try getting £325 for a windows machine the same age. I still miss it to this day.

If you don't need a touch screen, I'd take this over a iPad Air any day which is about the same price. The screen is pretty bad when off-axis; however, the keyboard is fantastic, runs MacOS, battery life and speakers are decent and I believe you can upgrade the SSD internally (could be wrong). Build quality and versatility for a light weight machine to take on the go (even to for somewhat rough use) is just excellent.

Watching from my macbook air 2015 like that rn feels like "oh yeah vintage maaan!"

I looked at Amazon. Right now the number one selling laptop is; the Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13" Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage. The price right now is $835.

Bro., i love your closing arguments. The way you ask your viewers to Subscribe to your channel is as smooth and eloquent as an ivy league lawyer asking his jury to award his plaintiff a Multi Million Judgement. Am not an Apple Guy and this video was randomly suggested to me by YT AI Algorithm but upon hearing your presentation i found myself captivated. You earned my subscription hands down!!!! Hope you hit a Million Subs in the coming months.

i just upgraded from this machine to an M2 Air... and it was and still is a great machine.

I gave up my MacBook Air in 2020 for a new M1. The real issue was the display…I needed retina. These were great laptops…mine was reliable and solid.

I get the exact same use out of a 2010 Mac that I got for about a third of the price. I use it to browse the web, play DVDs and view PDFs with no issue. Only flaw is that the security is non-existent

Since your video published, it’s at #11 😂 I bought this computer ‘new’ in 2020 on an Amazon Firesale ($250 off). I can’t upgrade ‘officially’ past Monterey, but for what I need it to do its been great. Bluntly, I like the display - I do with it were higher resolution, but meh I look at it straight on so it works. Battery life is AMAZING at 90% (I get 7 hrs, not sure what you’re doing). Oh yeah, when AppleCare expired I upgraded with OWC 480GB SSD and speed as 1400+ compared to 400+ with the 128GB … and it helps the speed.

I had a 2017 MacBook Air and gave it to my mom since I upgraded to a 2015 Retina. My stepbrother gave my stepdad a 2012 Air years ago that he still uses to this very day. I literally missed my 2017 so much that I bought my grandmas 2012 she didn't use anymore and loaded Ventura on it through a patcher. Literally even though my MacBook Pro has a lot prettier display and way better trackpad these are still my favorite MacBook and maybe even the best Apple laptop ever made. It's like an old Jeep. It's so simple and barebones and does what you need to do that it just because timeless no matter how dated it seems and its super easy to work on. Literally love these and will be ashamed when we squeeze the last drop of life out of these.

The display is the only bad thing about this laptop really....

That’s wild that this year/model is so sought after!

Awesome to see greg finally on the home screen, First you ruined your hair and then my literal machine that i've been using for the last six years to make all content on primarily

Looks like the Army finally got new tech in!

OMG!! Your hair looks so good!!!

I gave mine air 2017 to my mom with Windows installed(she was hesitant to learn new OS). Windows works at lighting speed on it and I think is a good deal for the money

Connect to an external display - Wow the bezels just got awesome! Always wonder - Where are these old devices stored ? In an amazon warehouse or someone's basement?

I still have my 2017 Macbook Air myself. I was thinking of trading it in for the 15 inch MBA, which is already shipped and on its way, but I used so many giftcards I've collected that the monthly payments already aren't going to be all that much for me. I am seriously considering keeping my old MBA as well.

Love the hair dude! Grew mine out like that during COVID and FWIW found that more random women wanted to talk to me.

I have the same laptop, and I still use it to this day! Great laptop!

A good way to enter the ecosystem. Also, good for your child/grandchild. I appreciate your impartial review.

I'm surprised there is such a big market for this MBA.

My first MacBook lasted me 6 years before I updated it to a MacBook Air. In the same time, my brother went trough 2 HP laptops. And both my mom and dad had to change laptops as well. This was years ago when most laptop were garbage tbf

My 2017 gives me the same performance now in 2024. Not even a scratch.. no single upgrade. No charging issues.. Heavy processing (IDE development , Android studio , Deep Learning models , video editing , Netflix, RU-vid + external peripherals including monitor, mouse and keyboard) No heating issues.. Slow when compared to new gen laptops.. But it has the same performance as the day I bought it.

I occasionally still use this MacBook but I know my little sister uses it all the time. It gets the job done its really only good for media consumptiion and pretty much nothing else but it doesn't have to be anything better.

I’m so glad I held out and waited for a 2020 M1 Air. It’s been the best laptop I’ve ever owned. Hoping it lasts me into like 2028.

It’s the KEYBOARD. That’s the last Macbook Air before the much hated, and deservedly so, butterfly keyboard. Every Macbook owner i know that’s owned an butterfly keyboard has replaced either their keyboards, or their machines entirely due to keyboard failures. Next of course is the port selection, modern MacBooks don’t have much in the way of ports. But 128 GB storage is positively paltry for modern macbooks. The OS will suck up more than half of that space for its own use.

The glowing apple logo was not ditched because the new MacBooks are thinner. The logo used to glow because it was made of translucent plastic, and the light came from the screen backlight. If you use it in front of a windows or in direct sunlight, you will see a big spot in the middle of the screen from the light coming in from the apple logo. That’s why they ditched imo

I have an m2 MacBook Air rn but I miss the 11inch MacBook Air it was so light and portable

😂 when you said that you do not walk out of an Apple store with a laptop for $350, well, you do not walk out of an Apple store with a new 2017 computer. Entertaining 👍

I have this machine and fire it up from time to time now, mainly to keep it up on any patches but for basic tasks still does exactly what I need. That said I mostly use an iPad for that but when I need something that I want a keyboard and need “normal” pc tasks it does the job great. Also a minor plus but when I got it in 2018 did set it up to duel boot thanks to boot camp still being on it so it does support windows if you really want to make it chug for the off chance that you need a windows app in a pinch.

I had one of them for uni, sold it in 2021 when I bought my MacBook Pro M1, but for some odd reason I sometimes regret selling it. Such a lovely machine, I had it in a case, it was 100% brand new. Went on to serve a Ukrainian refugee.

2017 macbook air user here. still a beast.. Battery has fair aged but still lasts me 5+ hours with one full charge. i remember early pandemic its keyboard just didnt work so I was using it with an external keyboard. A year after, it healed itself and it never happened again. LOL!! of course I figured why that happened, i dont shut down my Mac before because it is so much efficient to just open it and do your daily task. now i take care of it, shut down when not in use. it doesnt take long to open it anyway too. I think also upgrading it to big sur helped but im not sure 😂 the only problem ive got recently is that i have an external sd card glued to this for 3 years.. and now it corrupted. all my files were there because 128gb on Mac just could never. but thats not the laptop's fault tho. its the SD CARD and i didnt back that shit up 😭😭

Macbook Air 2017 very useable today and easy service with replaceable battery and upgrade ssd with either adapter or bigger stock apple ssd

So much finesse!

Have a MacBook air 2017 and a new M2. Funny thing is my 1997 is my go to machine. Have had it since brand new and still rocks. Don’t think will ever get rid of it. Something about that  glow in the back I guess…. lol