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mrchinchilla

macrumors 6502
Mar 6, 2009
478
164
What exactly do you prefer about it?

Cheers.
Well first of all the bezels are thinner than on my 15" MBP, giving it a cleaner feel, and it's probably half the weight of the MBP and extremely thin and idles at around 27°C instead of 40°C+. Overall it's just better as a portable laptop. Unless you have a massive bag or rucksack (which in itself isn't great), carrying around a 15"/16" laptop isn't a very pleasant experience, and it's even worse when going through airports. And something else I've been really impressed by is the speakers, I was expecting a bit of an improvement over my 7 year old MBP, but wow! They're far louder, clearer and have much more bass all in this tiny chassis.
 

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,468
6,570
US
My M1 MBP was delivered yesterday, to my nan’s place, so I’ll be unboxing it today.

However, I popped into the Apple Store to buy a USB-C to USB cable and I had a moment to play around, very briefly with a 13” MBP.

It’s so small!

I’m coming from a 24” iMac, so that’s probably why.

No pun intended, but do you think the 13” will grow on me?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Hook it up to a 27" QHD monitor and it won't be small no mo...
 
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The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
3,430
This is my last concern :)
Coming from a 17" laptop then my current 15" rMBP I too am worried that 13" may be too small.
Maybe I can find a new way of organising things to combat this. I'll have to wait and see.
I'd love to wait for the 16" new model but that will be just too expensive for me, so 13" is realistically my only option.
Are you going to get one?
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
3,430
Yes, an 8 core, 16/512 MBA. Not ordered yet.
Waiting for the hullaballoo to die down and get a couple of potential issues sorted out - ie BT/wifi, whether they be M1 issues or Big Sur issues.
Hope you manage to get what you want soon, buddy.
 
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jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
Yes, an 8 core, 16/512 MBA. Not ordered yet.
Waiting for the hullaballoo to die down and get a couple of potential issues sorted out - ie BT/wifi, whether they be M1 issues or Big Sur issues.
I haven’t had any WiFi or Bluetooth issues. Maybe it helps that my WiFi is an Apple airport and my Bluetooth devices are all Apple as well.
 
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Captain Trips

macrumors 68000
Jun 13, 2020
1,860
6,355
My M1 MBP was delivered yesterday, to my nan’s place, so I’ll be unboxing it today.

However, I popped into the Apple Store to buy a USB-C to USB cable and I had a moment to play around, very briefly with a 13” MBP.

It’s so small!

I had similar concerns, since I have a 2014 Mac mini with a 34" ultrawide monitor and a 2010 MBP with 17" screen (that has now been replaced as my primary laptop by the M1 MBP).

So I went into a local Best Buy store, played with the M1 MBA and MBP, and realized the sharpness / crispness / high resolution of the Retina screens were fine, so I bought a M1 MBP.

So far I have not had any issues with the M1 MBP retina screen. However, with the MBP 17" screen I did drop it down to the next lower resolution since at the default resolution the menu bar were too small.
 

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,468
6,570
US
Yes, an 8 core, 16/512 MBA. Not ordered yet.
Waiting for the hullaballoo to die down and get a couple of potential issues sorted out - ie BT/wifi, whether they be M1 issues or Big Sur issues.

Haven't had any wifi issues using two different routers (two locations).

Also no bluetooth issues, though my BT usage is largely just external Apple keyboard & trackpad.

Working really will with my Caldigit TS3+ and a Dell U2717D via displayport from the TS3+
 

Quackers

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2013
1,938
708
Manchester, UK
I haven’t had any WiFi or Bluetooth issues. Maybe it helps that my WiFi is an Apple airport and my Bluetooth devices are all Apple as well.
A fair point.
We've seen numerous complaints about wifi and BT and monitors not waking up properly but if you take away the 3rd party peripherals how much is left? We don't know.
Some problems may well be Big Sur problems rather than M1 problems.
Certainly not everything will be sorted but it's got to help if you use the laptop like a laptop with just an Apple mouse.
Or that's my thinking.
 
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Quackers

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2013
1,938
708
Manchester, UK
Haven't had any wifi issues using two different routers (two locations).

Also no bluetooth issues, though my BT usage is largely just external Apple keyboard & trackpad.

Working really will with my Caldigit TS3+ and a Dell U2717D via displayport from the TS3+
Yep, the TS3+ is also on my list for some serious expansion (once I can see everything's alright).
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
3,430
A fair point.
We've seen numerous complaints about wifi and BT and monitors not waking up properly but if you take away the 3rd party peripherals how much is left? We don't know.
Some problems may well be Big Sur problems rather than M1 problems.
Certainly not everything will be sorted but it's got to help if you use the laptop like a laptop with just an Apple mouse.
Or that's my thinking.
Go on, buddy ... just get one.

You know you want to :).
 
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jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
A fair point.
We've seen numerous complaints about wifi and BT and monitors not waking up properly but if you take away the 3rd party peripherals how much is left? We don't know.
Some problems may well be Big Sur problems rather than M1 problems.
Certainly not everything will be sorted but it's got to help if you use the laptop like a laptop with just an Apple mouse.
Or that's my thinking.
I’ve definitely had problems with my cheap 24” 4K LG not waking properly. Luckily it only seems to happen with USB-C to Display Port but works fine with HDMI. This is just about the only problem I’ve had though. Mostly the M1 MBA has been trouble free.
 
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James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,847
1,897
Bristol, UK
I switched from a 15" MBP to the 13" Air. I have always brought a 15" MBP prior to this Air. The screen size was me No1 concern. Would I be happy? After a couple of weeks with the new Air, I can say I am completely happy with the screen size. Because the 15" was significantly larger and heavier I hardly used it around the house. I tended to use my 12.9" iPad Pro instead or my 27" iMac. With the Air my usage of the iPad in particular has decreased and so has the iMac.

So for me I am happy with the screen size and don't plan to upgrade to a 16" when an  Silicon 16" is released.
 

jerryk

macrumors 604
Nov 3, 2011
7,421
4,208
SF Bay Area
If you are learning to code, get an external monitor. You will need to be able to see documentation and/or video tutorials and the IDE at the same time. 15" or even 16" is too small for this. Get a separate monitor and use the big one for coding, and the laptop screen for video or documentation.
 

bunnspecial

macrumors G3
May 3, 2014
8,353
6,495
Kentucky
I'm behind the curve I realize, but I primarily use a 2012 15" MBP with the BTO 1680x1050 HR-AG screen. I have a 13" Retina(2015) as a back-up computer that I also keep set to 1680x1050.

The 13" is certainly a lot smaller, but I find it very useable at that resolution.

Of course 1680x1050 still isn't a ton of space. Right now, I don't have my Mac Pro(5,1) set up, but it's SO much more comfortable. I have a 27" Cinema on it as the primary display and a secondary 23" 1920x1200 Cinema. If not for lack of space I'd have had dual 27" displays. With doing all my grading and everything on line now, the more screen space the better. If I even physically had the space, I'd set up the 27" display now to use with my MBP. Don't forget that external displays, space permitting, are always an option.
 

consumeritis

macrumors member
Mar 9, 2015
86
43
I have always had 13" laptops, and that screen size has been great for me. Especially with Retina.

But my new Air *does* feel tiny! The slimmed down bezels, the taper, and the lower-travel keyboard make it feel a lot smaller than my old laptop with my hands on the keyboard. It's definitely a lot lighter.

Not sure I how I feel about it yet lol! :-D
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
3,430
I switched from a 15" MBP to the 13" Air. I have always brought a 15" MBP prior to this Air. The screen size was me No1 concern. Would I be happy? After a couple of weeks with the new Air, I can say I am completely happy with the screen size. Because the 15" was significantly larger and heavier I hardly used it around the house. I tended to use my 12.9" iPad Pro instead or my 27" iMac. With the Air my usage of the iPad in particular has decreased and so has the iMac.

So for me I am happy with the screen size and don't plan to upgrade to a 16" when an  Silicon 16" is released.
Thanks for the detailed response, bud.

I'm actually really getting used to the size.
 
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