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Are You Happy With Your MBA M1?
- Thread starter gregpod9
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This is the first base machine I have ever purchased from apple so I was not expecting a lot out of it and I just got more than I paid for. The machine is 256 gigs and 8 gigs of RAM, but it flies and the battery is enough to make me fall in love with it. I had purchased an iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and Pen and I paid more for those three things (all returned) than I have for this base MacBook Air. I'm extremely happy with the purchase and would not go with the PRO because I have one already even if its Intel based. I would not go for a mini because I do not want to go off an purchase a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. I already have an iMac for that.
Using MBA 16GB Ram, 512GB version, for past 13 hours or so pretty much non stop and still have 25% of the battery left. Fanless, great keyboard experience, very snappy performance and very light to carry around. Doing lots of work in Notion, Citrix, emailing, multiple tabs open in safari and multiple windows open. Not once did it get warm and just an all time fantastic laptop. Only software issue I have experienced is with Darkroom which keeps crashing when not in use.
So far so good, have a 16gb, 1tb. I do keep looking at the Pro cause I do miss the touchbar (have it on my 2018 15”) but I really like having no fan. None of the reviews are really clear on fan noise for the Pro, no one has run any useful dB meter tests.
I do look forward to the 16” or maybe iMac and will probably get one. So far the Air has replaced mostly all of my iPad 12.9 usage. The Air gets better battery life than my iPad.
I do look forward to the 16” or maybe iMac and will probably get one. So far the Air has replaced mostly all of my iPad 12.9 usage. The Air gets better battery life than my iPad.
I am all in on the M technology. Bought the M1 Mini and the M1 MBA and now could not be happier. Paid for both the Mini and the MBA (about $2300) with the sale of my 2019 16" MBP at a decent price the day after the M1 announces. I had bought a 27" Dell 4K monitor to connect with the Mini, but was able to trade up to a 32" Dell 4K today on Amazon's Black Friday sale for only $200 more. The icing on the cake was that my wife was thrilled to get handed down my 2015 iMac. Fortunately, I did not have any Intel stock to get rid of. Life is good.
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Your sentiment is similar to mine. I wonder how many sale iPad Pro will be affected. This Air is still worse than my iPad in 3 situations: Bedroom, Restroom and eating table. Luckily I have Air 3 just for those situations and it's plenty enough for me. I don't need a Pro.
I'm extremely happy with my new new base MBA. The build quality is much better than my old Air and everything inside is like coming from the future. How can this thing last all day and some more with everything I did?
Beyond happy. Even posted a thread gushing about it!
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-laptop-ive-ever-owned.2271785/
I've got 16GB/1TB Air, which is more than enough for my present needs. I think that, for most people, the Air is probably going to be a better choice than the Pro. In most cases, it's just as fast and doesn't have a fan to suck dust into the machine. If I was running very heavy workloads that run the cpu flat out for a long period of time, then I'd have chosen the Pro, but for general home use the Air is perfect.
Hang on! So you're taking it into the bogger, but also to where you sleep and eat!?!?!
Anybody who is unhappy with the Air probably didn't actually want an air in the first place. They just bought it for the M1 then tried to force it into something it's not supposed to be.
This is best computer Apple has ever released. Well, until the redesigned 16" MBP is released next year!
I have owned a Mac for the last 20 years, usually several at any one time.
My favorite laptop was always my Titanium PowerBook G4 followed by an intel macbook in black.
However, now, the M1 MBA is my favorite laptop. it's just that good. Incredibly fast, completely silent, and absurd battery life. There is no compromise here.
My favorite laptop was always my Titanium PowerBook G4 followed by an intel macbook in black.
However, now, the M1 MBA is my favorite laptop. it's just that good. Incredibly fast, completely silent, and absurd battery life. There is no compromise here.
My fave was the Clamshell SE in key lime. Wasn't the best but certainly the funkiest! I also had a Ti PB and while I liked it, I actually prefer my 09ish 17incher. The screen on that thing was great. But the M1 MBA is a revolution.
This M1 Air is my first macOS machine, I've had iPads from when they first came out (best tablet) and I've had 2 iPhones but cannot get on with them for some reason so sticking with Android, as I am primarily a PC gamer. I've never had an interest in a Mac computer but for some reason when I started seeing reviews of the M1 chip I became intrigued so I bought the base model.
What I like about the MBA M1
Performance - What can I say that hasn't been said. I did some test rendering in DaVinci Resolve of a 12.5 min 2560x1440 clip from Assassin's Creed Valhalla and the rendering speed was significantly better on the MBA, using Beta 17.1, than on my Ryzen 3600 PC.
Battery Life - This out performs my 2018 iPad Pro and I can easily go all day and not have to think about plugging in the charger.
Noise - There is none. I have a couple of Windows laptops and they are reasonably noisy.
Heat - Even when rendering video the MBA has still not got to the point where I'm thinking I am going to become sterile or burn my fingers.
Gaming - Not that I will be, I have a desktop PC for that, but if I wanted to do so I can run quite a lot of games.
Keyboard - This is good keyboard to type on and it's accurate (as long as my fingers are). I heard horror stories about the butterfly keyboard on older Macs so I'm glad they've changed it
Menu Bar - I really like the menu bar and the way it's contextual to the app/program you have running when the window's selected. I'll admit it took me a couple of days to notice that.
Build quality - Don't get me wrong I won't be risking trying to knock a wall down with it, but it's a sturdy bit of kit.
Plus there will be other things I can't think of right now.
What I don't like about the MBA M1
macOS (more to do with me than an actual dislike)- I'm still getting used to it. I still find myself moving the cursor to the top right of a window to minimise or close it ? though I am slowly learning the shortcuts.
Delete Key - Or lack thereof.
@ symbol - Even though I have a UK machine the @ symbol is on the 2 key where we have it on the ' key.
I'm looking forward to see how this new chip from Apple progresses over the coming years and whilst my main PC will always be Windows based, for gaming purposes, my laptops will almost certainly be MacBooks of the Air or Pro variety. I have even recommended the MBA M1 to a friend and his wife as they are both looking to get new laptops. Yes they could get cheaper Windows ones that will be perfectly fine for most, if not all, of what they do, but for £999 for the base MBA, you'll be hard pushed to find a laptop that's as powerful and as long a lasting battery.
What I like about the MBA M1
Performance - What can I say that hasn't been said. I did some test rendering in DaVinci Resolve of a 12.5 min 2560x1440 clip from Assassin's Creed Valhalla and the rendering speed was significantly better on the MBA, using Beta 17.1, than on my Ryzen 3600 PC.
Battery Life - This out performs my 2018 iPad Pro and I can easily go all day and not have to think about plugging in the charger.
Noise - There is none. I have a couple of Windows laptops and they are reasonably noisy.
Heat - Even when rendering video the MBA has still not got to the point where I'm thinking I am going to become sterile or burn my fingers.
Gaming - Not that I will be, I have a desktop PC for that, but if I wanted to do so I can run quite a lot of games.
Keyboard - This is good keyboard to type on and it's accurate (as long as my fingers are). I heard horror stories about the butterfly keyboard on older Macs so I'm glad they've changed it
Menu Bar - I really like the menu bar and the way it's contextual to the app/program you have running when the window's selected. I'll admit it took me a couple of days to notice that.
Build quality - Don't get me wrong I won't be risking trying to knock a wall down with it, but it's a sturdy bit of kit.
Plus there will be other things I can't think of right now.
What I don't like about the MBA M1
macOS (more to do with me than an actual dislike)- I'm still getting used to it. I still find myself moving the cursor to the top right of a window to minimise or close it ? though I am slowly learning the shortcuts.
Delete Key - Or lack thereof.
@ symbol - Even though I have a UK machine the @ symbol is on the 2 key where we have it on the ' key.
I'm looking forward to see how this new chip from Apple progresses over the coming years and whilst my main PC will always be Windows based, for gaming purposes, my laptops will almost certainly be MacBooks of the Air or Pro variety. I have even recommended the MBA M1 to a friend and his wife as they are both looking to get new laptops. Yes they could get cheaper Windows ones that will be perfectly fine for most, if not all, of what they do, but for £999 for the base MBA, you'll be hard pushed to find a laptop that's as powerful and as long a lasting battery.
I’m extremely happy with my M1 MBA. It’s incredibly fast, runs cool, crazily long battery life, excellent compatibility with Intel apps.
Agreed, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the 12” return in some form, even if it has somewhat lower battery life.
I absolutely love this machine. I got the 8 core 512/16 config. The performance is incredible. It barely gets warm. The battery life is absolutely insane. I can't believe how much I can get out of a single charge.
Had my MBA for almost two weeks now. Easily the best Apple laptop I have ever had, and my first non 15” Pro laptop.