For me 16:10 Retina Display has been crucial feature of MacBook, because it allows me to work on 13" screen without much sacrifice. All 13" 16:9 Windows based laptops were a compromise between portability and usability. Right now I can buy 16:10 Dell XPS, Lenovo X1C, but they either have FHD+ or 4K+ resolution. I am looking forward to seeing MBPR14 which might have a perfect balance of portability, power and screen size coupled with thin bezels. Or new MBA M2 which might be a perfect "budget" EDC laptop.
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Should I buy a M1 MacBook Air?
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For me 16:10 Retina Display has been crucial feature of MacBook, because it allows me to work on 13" screen without much sacrifice. All 13" 16:9 Windows based laptops were a compromise between portability and usability. Right now I can buy 16:10 Dell XPS, Lenovo X1C, but they either have FHD+ or 4K+ resolution. I am looking forward to seeing MBPR14 which might have a perfect balance of portability, power and screen size coupled with thin bezels. Or new MBA M2 which might be a perfect "budget" EDC laptop.
Me too. So much so that I had to find a Windows laptop (for work) with a 16:10 display.
If the 12.9 xdr ipad loaded macos the decision would be easy. too bad it doesnt
Hi, since you are already an user, have you felt the need for 16GB RAM already?
By futureproof, I mean how would 8/512 do for like 3 years for a daily driver - on a work environment?
For me its the new magsafe battery. Im so excited to see what they come up with. Its what they been missing this whole time. Best part of the older macs. Magsafe for macbooks
I was initially put off with the switch away from magsafe, but ended up liking USB C more, given the easy availability of cables and redundancy of charging ports.
I also like MagSafe more. I wanted to like USB-C on Macbook but MagSafe is more fun.
I don't mind usb-c, because M1 has changed the way I charge. I now charge my MacBook like my other mobile devices, instead of having the charger connected all the time. I like that I can use my charger for my iPad pro, headsets and Android, but sadly Phone still uses lightning and I still have a separate charger just for it.
this is SO true! I had a MacBook Pro before, sold it got the M1 Air and I am honestly surprised what this thing can do, and the portability is amazing! NOW it is making me not use my iPad M1 12.9 very much... lol
I recall for many years most PC laptops were 16:9, so the Mac's 16:10 really offered a significant usability benefit. Oddly, while that provided a nice bit of product differentiation, I don't recall Apple mentioning that distinction in their advertising.
Now most PC manufacturers are coming around to Apple's approach:
For my workflow 8 GB of RAM is enough.
I use MS Office 365 native and Horos via Rosetta. I do not expect any need for 16 GB in predictable future. But i.e. recent games would need more than 8 GB, albeit I do not game.
I intended to buy 16 GB version but it was early december 2020 and I simply grabbed best MBA which was instantly available in my country (Poland).
First, "futureproof" is a very bad idea considering how fast the technology is moving forward. In fact, a top 2019 15'' MBP will become completely obsolete this year. Well, not completely, but you get the idea. It's much better to make decisions based on what you need rather than some abstract concept.
As for the RAM - I have a baseline MBP Air with 8GB of RAM and I honestly have to push it really really hard to slow down. I tried having 10 or so apps open (Messengers, Excel, Notion, etc), around 25 tabs in Chrome, listening to youtube in the background while playing a moderately demanding video game, and that worked absolutely fine.
Yes, but You probably ride over SSD.
IMO 16 GB is a sweet spot nowadays.
Writing futureproof I had next ca 4 years in mind, since this is my period of intended hardware upgrade.
But it is solely my opinion.
I understand a concept of purchasing a base model, since in Apple case it should work. However better model should work better, especially in certain scenarios.
My 8/8/512 runs probably cooler than 8/7/256 due to better binning of SOC, and half-full 512 SSD would last longer than nearly full 256. But again, this is my strategy.
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I have an iPad Pro 12.9" from 2020, 16" MBP 16GB 1TB, M1 MBA 8GB 512GB. I can't really compare the MBA to the iPad Pro too much because I really don't use the iPad much at all these days. It's comparable to my 16" MBP though speed wise. The MBA brightness isn't as bright as my 16" MBP but it's about the same as the iPad Pro.
The MBA handles three browsers open with about 16-20 tabs open on each just fine plus using airplay to play YouTube vids to my Apple TV. Nothing I've been doing slows down my 8GB MBA one bit. I even ran a video through iFlicks and it took about 3 minutes just as it the same video did on the 16GB MBP.
The MBA handles three browsers open with about 16-20 tabs open on each just fine plus using airplay to play YouTube vids to my Apple TV. Nothing I've been doing slows down my 8GB MBA one bit. I even ran a video through iFlicks and it took about 3 minutes just as it the same video did on the 16GB MBP.
I bought the M1 MBA recently.
If you don't have to run Mac specific software, consider the LG Gram 16 as well. Almost the same weight but with a much larger display. Benchmarks aren't as good compared to M1 but real world performance is quite similar.
I have the LG Gram 16 too.
If you don't have to run Mac specific software, consider the LG Gram 16 as well. Almost the same weight but with a much larger display. Benchmarks aren't as good compared to M1 but real world performance is quite similar.
I have the LG Gram 16 too.
Future proof, in my opinion, means delayed obsolescence. Think of the old MBAs offered with four gigs of RAM. Those devices are now kneecapped by the lack of extra RAM, which is an important consideration for a fully soldered device. Doubling the RAM might keep a device out of the landfill for an extra five years as a media PC or hand me down.
If you plan to keep the device for more than ~ four years, I'd pay for the extra RAM.
Exactly--it's a term I kind of wish would go away because it doesn't really mean what it says, and I don't think anyone really thinks that, but the correct term should probably be future resistant rather than future proof. Maybe there should be an FR scale for tech! Like IP ratings!
As I am not native English speaker, I appreciate this short lesson about proof vs resistant ?
I like the idea of an FR scale. It could help inform buyers who aren't tech enthusiasts.
Like the IP scale, I'm thinking it would consist of FRxx
The first number would represent future resistance without upgrades, graded from 0-9, and based on:
-Benchmark score, single threaded
-number of computational threads
-GPU performance
-RAM size
-Storage amount
-provision to replace consumables, Ex: batteries
-subjective build quality
-Future OS support
-Repairability
-Component longevity, Ex: burn in prone displays
The second number would evaluate the future resistance with upgrades, also from 0-9.
Example: FR45
All this future proofing/resistance is less about running future macOS, but more about having resources to spare for workload changes, so you can throw just about whatever might come your way. Most of the time, I could get by with base model. But I also like to look into new stuff and new technologies, so I don't want to be limited by my computer and/or having it dictate how many things I can have going on. I have 16GB/1TB, but would have preferred 32GB/1TB if that was an option, since I know how well my my late 2009 imac is doing with 24GB and difference it made from 16GB.
Yes and No, The only reason I'll update/upgrade my MacBook Pro M1 is for the 32GB of RAM as for now 16GB works but as I'm use to run multiple windows, developing etc. It runs out of RAM fast. But I can manage with it so depending of what they do release now this year I might wait until next release.
My next machine will be 32GB of RAM an 512GB of storage. Today I have the 256GB of storage and it works no issues there but as I'll have it for 3 year I need the 512GB.
My next machine will be 32GB of RAM an 512GB of storage. Today I have the 256GB of storage and it works no issues there but as I'll have it for 3 year I need the 512GB.
