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0 pointsMBCook22d ago0 comments

So really this appears to be a replacement for the M1 MacBook Air that they were still selling at Walmart.

But now more colorful and official.

I’m pretty interested in benchmarks. We haven’t had a phone chip and a desktop chip running the same OS so we could compare them better with benchmarks since the original Apple Silicon dev kits.

Also it’s $499 to start for students, which is impressive.

But the base model has no Touch ID which seems terrible to me. Having that is such a huge improvement over having to type passwords constantly.

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crazygringo22d ago

> But the base model has no Touch ID which seems terrible to me.

But that's the point. If you're super price conscious and a student, it's only $499! Typing a password is not a big deal compared to $100 for some people.

But if you want convenience, it's $599. Which helps subsidize the $499 price.

Product differentiation like this is what enables the cheaper price to begin with.

jawns22d ago

I'd probably go for a $50 Yubikey over a $100 Touch ID upgrade.

cromka22d ago

Honestly, I don't see it. Are you gonna stay at home with yubikey plugged in? On your couch, in your bed, etc.? It's a matter of months, if not weeks, before you break it? And also need to remember to remove, because otherwise what's the point?

Used to own Yubikey before fingerprint scanners were a thing. I don't see the appeal now, to be honest. I considered it now that I use Asahi on my M1 with no support for TouchID, but still just type in the password because I couldn't be bothered with Yubikey.

Or I'm missing something?

cweagans21d ago

You're missing that the Yubikey Nano exists. You just leave it in the port. You don't need to remove it - you have to physically touch it to activate it in the same way that you'd have to touch the Touch ID sensor.

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