You don't have to run macOS. There's full support for Windows and Linux and x86 applications. This is also upgradable. Run out of storage? You can replace the drive! Add more RAM! Choice is good.
Asahi's making decent enough progress that, eventually, you may not need to run macOS to enjoy macOS hardware.
Why would I pay ~$930 for this, instead of buying an M1 Air? The comment you're responding to hit the nail on the head - once you've gone fan-less and sleek, it's really hard to go back.
Few vendors, if any, hit the quality feel of Apple's products.
32GB of RAM? Good Linux support today? Don't have to pay $400 for 1TB storage?
Kinda a bad move to buy something that may or may not down the line do what you need to do today. I need features like USB 3 and DP USB output today not 6 months or 2 years from now if it even happens.
32gb is the only reason.. but then again, doesn't matter, because developers claim RAM is cheap anyway.. so there's no problem buying a macbook pro instead.
The screen is not 4k, trackpad not as good, it's plastic, It has this oldschool barrel powercharger, etc. etc. etc.
Except you can just buy whatever M.2 SSD you want and slot it in and it doesn't even void the warranty. So for the same $400 to get a 1TB MBA you can easily get a 1TB Samsung 980 Pro (~$160) + 32GB RAM (~$130) and still have money left over.
Plastic is a pro IMO anyways, doesn't have to feel cheap and it also doesn't get nicked or dented nearly as easily.
