U.K. M1 Mac preorder thread

[widestload]

So after initially waiting for the reviews to start coming out and then taking a few more days to mull over whether I needed to get a new laptop (If I'm honest I probably don't, but the urge for yet another new Apple toy was too great ), I've finally pulled the trigger and gone for a BTO 8 core Air with 16GB ram and 512GB HD.
Looks like my 2015 pro should hopefully cover ~half the cost when i sell it and then this'll see me through the next couple of years hopefully before moving on to a 14 inch M2 pro or whatever there is by then.
Delivers 10-17th Dec, but think i might try to resist it and stick it under the tree for Christmas

 

[Mechanism]

I ordered the 8 core GPU MacBook Air, 16GB, 1TB on the evening of the 11th; it's showing as "processing" and "arrives 26 Nov".

Overnight my bank declined payment and blocked my card which probably won't have helped. Hopefully back on track now but still at processing.

 

[LeeW]

Discovered BetterTouchTool and fixed the Touch Bar - Apple's implementation of it is lazy

I have always had mixed feelings about the touchbar but I actually do find it more useful than not, F keys were not something I really used that much anyway. I don't think it was so much lazy on Apple's part. More a case of, "here is a new thing that can do lots of things" and left it to developers to make it useful.

 

[playtech1]

I installed this:

GoldenChaos-BTT: The complete Touch Bar UI replacement

I love the Touch Bar. That's why I was so upset that Apple just sat on its useless user interface. So, inspired by Vas3k's popular blog post on the subject, and determined to make good on the promise that Apple broke, I've spent a (ridiculous) amount of time reworking the foundations of the...

community.folivora.ai

And customised it - it comes with a settings app to enable/disable things. It's MUCH better than the default.

As well as Better Touch Tool I installed Haptic Touch Bar, which makes the mouse click when you use the touch bar - still not perfect, but I needed some kind of feedback.

After 18 months of having a touch bar I still hate it though, even with the tweaks, and am going back to an MBA in large part because it's a constant annoyance. It just doesn't work so well if you have a touch typing muscle memory and don't want to look at the keyboard.

 

[revs]

So after initially waiting for the reviews to start coming out and then taking a few more days to mull over whether I needed to get a new laptop (If I'm honest I probably don't, but the urge for yet another new Apple toy was too great ), I've finally pulled the trigger and gone for a BTO 8 core Air with 16GB ram and 512GB HD.
Looks like my 2015 pro should hopefully cover ~half the cost when i sell it and then this'll see me through the next couple of years hopefully before moving on to a 14 inch M2 pro or whatever there is by then.
Delivers 10-17th Dec, but think i might try to resist it and stick it under the tree for Christmas

I'm still in the dithering stage. I cant decide if I just want it as I want new shiny, or if I need/use it (My current Macs are 2012/2013 models).

Watching the estimated ship date move keeps nudging me to order, and I know I'll do it sooner or later.

 

[ascender]

I'm quite a fan of the TouchBar, especially having worked-off an iPad with keyboard for some time as my muscle memory is used to using my fingers to occasionally reach up from the top roy of the keyboard to touch the bottom of the screen. I quite like the sliders for volume, brightness etc and things like BetterTouchTool w/Golden Chaos open up a whole world of new possibilities.

Given you can make it permanently display function keys, I think most of the animosity towards it on here comes from the fact Apple haven't done much to further its development since it was introduced... and the fact it can't be specced/un-specced.

I was so close to going for another Pro but the fan-less Air swung things for me this time round. I actually prefer the non-tapered shape, but I'm only occasionally doing things which would benefit from the extra power of the Pro.

Anyway, I've tried to stop checking the tracking obsessively, but mine is still en route to Eindhoven I guess.

 

[exharris]

So annoying that Amazon UK do not stock the 16GB version of the MBA otherwise I would cancel my Apple.com order and have the one from Amazon tomorrow. As it is, looks like I could be waiting until 3rd December.

 

[revs]

4th December at the earliest for me.

Checked Amazon, Argos and John Lewis just in case they had the 16GB versions. But no.

 

[trailmonkey]

15th Dec here

 

[exharris]

Keep seeing people saying 8GB is enough but I am not risking it.
On my 2020 MBA i7 16Gb here and with Edge, Safari, Parallels (windows 10) and email open, am hitting 14Gb+
Aware that I won't be able to run Windows 10 VMs on M1 MBA, but I do intend on running Linux VMs in Paralells (when available).

 

[widestload]

I'm still in the dithering stage. I cant decide if I just want it as I want new shiny, or if I need/use it (My current Macs are 2012/2013 models).

Watching the estimated ship date move keeps nudging me to order, and I know I'll do it sooner or later.

I think for me it was that although it wont 'Do anything meaningfully new' what it does will, on balance, be better.
- Benchmarks put the single core and multi core speeds at double what my 2015 MBP can do (a nice to have)
- Benchmarks seem to suggest graphics performance should at least be on a par with its 5yo dedicated graphics (a nice to have)
- It's going to be more portable, have a much better battery life, TouchID and is fanless. (nice to haves)
- USBC. I've been moving more and more of my kit to USB C, so having the laptop on this too for me is now actually a good thing compared to the initial (arrgh i'll lose all the other ports). I now have docks and extension leads where ever i'd need them. (another nice to have).

- screen size reduction is a downer, but a trade off vs the portability and the 15 inch is just a bit too chunky for me when moving it round.
- The thing that had been holding me back was losing bootcamp. I don't use it much but its nice to basically have a mac and windows laptop in one. But seeing the homepage story today that the first option to run windows programs had appeared (and the hope many more options will follow) tipped things for me.
- The 2015 MBP still seems to command ~£800 resale value, so with educational discount on the Air, that leaves the new one 'only' costing £500.

That's my excuse list anyway, and i'm sticking to it

 

[ascender]

I went for 16GB RAM because currently I need to run some Windows programmes and do so today using Parallels. Obviously I can't do that on day one with the M1, but I'm assuming whatever solution appears, having more RAM will be a good thing.

What's really exciting is that even the 8GB machines look to be ultra-responsive and snappy.

 

[josh bear]

Hi all

Joining the wait list with many of You. 11th Dec for me. MBP / 1TB / 16Gb. Replacing my MBP 2020 i5 which goes to my son who starts uni next year. Selling his MBA 2018 for about £500. Everyone’s a winner. Man maths!

Josh

 

[welshboyuk]

Was contemplating selling my iPad Pro and buying a base mba... got an iPhone and I hardly use the iPad for my needs. YouTube, videos, office typing, teams , internet pages. Spotify connected to airpods / HomePod.

Anyway, bought base mba from Amazon ... eta tomorrow... excited
Figured I will see if I use 8gb / 256 then if I do sell/upgrade next year

 

[ascender]

Its great to see people getting machines really quickly from places like Amazon, especially when delivery times from Apple seem to be slipping.

 

[The Game 161]

/I’ve done it and decided to order the air

delivery date is 4th December as it stands

 

[welshboyuk]

/I’ve done it and decided to order the air

delivery date is 4th December as it stands

What spec?

 

[The Game 161]

What spec?

Went with 8GB of ram with 256GB of storage and will hope the chip will help with Optimisation so loads more ram isn’t needed but will see.

 

[ct2k7]

I caved in and selected an 8GB RAM for pickup tomorrow. Cancelled my 16GB RAM order

 

[Star Stuff]

I caved in and selected an 8GB RAM for pickup tomorrow. Cancelled my 16GB RAM order

I don't blame you as I have been stuck at Shipment information received since the 17th and it's driving me crazy, seeing all the praise it has received on reviews is just making the wait even more unbearable.

I'm praying I wake up in the morning with some movement.

 

[limesmoothie]

MBA arrived today, so I've now got that plus the Mini in the house. Just waiting on my HomePod Minis and then I'll be sorted for the long cold Scottish winter indoors ?

 

[jazz1]

MBA arrived today, so I've now got that plus the Mini in the house. Just waiting on my HomePod Minis and then I'll be sorted for the long cold Scottish winter indoors ?

Just add Single Malt to that lineup, and winter will be even easier ? That is what I do! Still waiting for my M1 MacMini. Hoping to get a HomePod Minis for X-Mas.

 

[Table Top Joe]

Ordered my MBA on 11th, changed to shipping with the Eindhoven message two days ago, for delivery on 25th Nov.

Big concern: It appeared on my credit card (on line statement) as "pending" when it changed to "preparing to ship" and has been shown as "pending" since then.....until today.

Today it does not appear on my Credit Card at all !

Apple order status does not show anything wrong.

On hold to Barclaycard

I’m based in ireland and I had the exact same thing happen with my card today (different bank though), was a bit worried so glad to see its nothing serious from the replies

My 1tb Macbook Air is in “Eindhoven” since Tuesday too.....not gonna lie Im refreshing the page like a lunatic since then, delivery changed from November 27th to 26th after it arrived in “Eindhoven” but nowt since.....Im still hoping that Apple will deliver earlier than the delivery date like they normally do....but if it hasnt budged by end of day tomorrow i think it actually will be the projected date (prove me wrong Apple!)

 

[Feek]

Just to give you an idea, when the Apple watches were showing in Eindhoven, we actually had a bit of excitement when they moved but that was short lived as there had been a power outage which stopped shipment. They eventually arrived on the official scheduled day whereas they might have turned up one day early.
I’m expecting Wednesday but hoping for Tuesday for my MBA 8/8/16/512

 

[Ted Lasso]

Ordered a MacBook Air tonight. 10th-17th dec.