Ask HN: I'm looking for a cheap M1 laptop. Any suggestion?

If you are only going to use it for a short while, buying it and then re-selling it should re-capture most of it's value.

Do you need the actual device or just access to its compute?

Services like Scaleway offer Apple Silicon as a Service. No affiliation, just the top google result.

had no clue, i'll look into it. thx.

Apple sells refurbished M1 and M2 MacBook Airs (starting at $849 US).

Buy a refurb or break into a car in San Francisco.

Or just hang around seedy pubs and somebody will try to sell you one - real cheap.