Went from a MBA M1 to MBP M1 and Now Back To a MBA M1

[deeddawg]

It is not the same, not only about the feedback - think about how you can turn volume up/down, brightness, etc... with the function keys.

I do this by simply tapping the brightness-up or brightness-down or volume-up or volume-down hotkeys, stepping them up or down one notch per tap.

EXACTLY the same functionality as with the physical hotkeys.

Only difference is they're not physical keys so no tactile feedback (irrelevant to me), bonus though is you can easily remap them if you wish. Plus the default gives you keyboard backlight up/down controls and Launchpad, which were replaced on the M1 MBA with the far less useful (IMHO) DND, Spotlight, and Dictation keys.

Setting for this is SystemPreferences->Keyboard and changing TouchBarshows to Expanded Control Strip.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Unsure what you mean by this?

Many folks never learn that they can configure the touchbar to replicate the function keys or replicate the quick-action row, and thus incorrectly think they've lost functionality. See SystemPrefs->Keyboard settings.

You can set the touchbar to display this by default:

View attachment 1716178

or this by default:
View attachment 1716179

You can set it to swap between the two with a press of the Fn key.

Just like with the physical row of keys. Same functions same capabilities are available if that's how you want to configure it.

Or (what I do) leave the default as the App Controls to benefit from apps which make use of the touchbar, and display the expanded control strip (1st image) with the Fn key to quickly access the hotkey functions you were used to using.

Plus you can re-order and swap out what items are on the touch bar. I'd rather have launchpad & keyboard backlight controls than spotlight, dictation, and do-not-disturb. I use command-space for the first and never use the other two, waste of a key to dedicate that function.

View attachment 1716180


All that said, some folks do prefer the tactile feedback of hard keys, but as to functionality & customizability the touchbar clearly exceeds the hard keys... and that's even without an app like Better Touch Tool.

I was watching YouTube videos about the Touch Bar yesterday, and there's an app that can add haptic feedback to the Touch Bar (using the track pad's technology).

Thus, it can make it feel just like pressing a "real" button.

I've added screen shot and annotation to my Touch Bar, and I have it set to display all the time.

It's my first experience of the Touch Bar, and I quite like it.

 

[Zazoh]

Those using Touch Bars, are you affected by loss of functionality when using Clamshell or a Desktop with keyboard? In other words, is productivity affected so that you only want to use your laptop as a laptop?

 

[Never mind]

I do this by simply tapping the brightness-up or brightness-down or volume-up or volume-down hotkeys, stepping them up or down one notch per tap.

View attachment 1716853
EXACTLY the same functionality as with the physical hotkeys.

Only difference is they're not physical keys so no tactile feedback (irrelevant to me), bonus though is you can easily remap them if you wish. Plus the default gives you keyboard backlight up/down controls and Launchpad, which were replaced on the M1 MBA with the far less useful (IMHO) DND, Spotlight, and Dictation keys.

Setting for this is SystemPreferences->Keyboard and changing TouchBarshows to Expanded Control Strip.

Thank You for this info. Still learning the new M1 Pro and Touch Bar. Actually like it now. 👍

 

[darngooddesign]

Pock lets you display the dock on your TouchBar which means you can hide it on screen.

Pock: Widgets manager for MacBook Touch Bar

Widgets manager for MacBook's Touch Bar

pock.dev

 

[deeddawg]

Those using Touch Bars, are you affected by loss of functionality when using Clamshell or a Desktop with keyboard? In other words, is productivity affected so that you only want to use your laptop as a laptop?

FWIW - Same question applies to those using TouchID.

These days I seldom use clamshell mode at my home desk - I leave my MBP open and to the side of my external monitor, and have an Apple Magic Keyboard & Trackpad on the keyboard shelf. Note though that the Apple Magic Keyboard has the same function keys (except keyboard backlight).

Previously with my MBP15, I did generally use it in clamshell mode. But that was back when I disliked touchbar - both due to lack of physical ESC key (no longer an issue) and because I hadn't yet learned about the SysPref->Keyboard settings to enable the hotkeys on the touchbar.

 

[Jacoblee23]

FWIW - Same question applies to those using TouchID.

These days I seldom use clamshell mode at my home desk - I leave my MBP open and to the side of my external monitor, and have an Apple Magic Keyboard & Trackpad on the keyboard shelf. Note though that the Apple Magic Keyboard has the same function keys (except keyboard backlight).

Previously with my MBP15, I did generally use it in clamshell mode. But that was back when I disliked touchbar - both due to lack of physical ESC key (no longer an issue) and because I hadn't yet learned about the SysPref->Keyboard settings to enable the hotkeys on the touchbar.

What are hot keys and how do I enable them? This sounds interesting.

 

[deeddawg]

What are hot keys and how do I enable them? This sounds interesting.

See my posts earlier in this thread - #9 and #26. SystemPreferences->Keyboard->TouchBarshows -- play around with different settings to see what you prefer.

 

[darngooddesign]

What are hot keys and how do I enable them? This sounds interesting.

Also

Customize the Touch Bar on Mac

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can change settings for the buttons it shows by default and customize the buttons it shows for specific apps.

support.apple.com

 

[Jacoblee23]

See my posts earlier in this thread - #9 and #26. SystemPreferences->Keyboard->TouchBarshows -- play around with different settings to see what you prefer.

I had no idea about this. You have just changed my mind on the Touch Bar. Congratulations and thank you! I am pretty excited that I can now use the screenshot feature on my Touch Bar.

 

[deeddawg]

I had no idea about this. You have just changed my mind on the Touch Bar. Congratulations and thank you!

You're welcome. I didn't know about it for a long time either. Changed my mind as well.

My preferred setup is this:

Effect is that in general use I have access to whatever touchbar stuff an app may provide (email, safari, etc) plus the control strip (allows for finer volume/brightness control), and then by pressing the Fn key (lower-left of keyboard) I get the full set of hotkeys.

One could just as easily flip this functionality if they preferred.

Net effect is the original hard key functionality is available if you wish to set it up that way, or you can set up the touchbar in a hybrid model giving additional functionality.

 

[1240766]

I do this by simply tapping the brightness-up or brightness-down or volume-up or volume-down hotkeys, stepping them up or down one notch per tap.

View attachment 1716853
EXACTLY the same functionality as with the physical hotkeys.

Only difference is they're not physical keys so no tactile feedback (irrelevant to me), bonus though is you can easily remap them if you wish. Plus the default gives you keyboard backlight up/down controls and Launchpad, which were replaced on the M1 MBA with the far less useful (IMHO) DND, Spotlight, and Dictation keys.

Setting for this is SystemPreferences->Keyboard and changing TouchBarshows to Expanded Control Strip.

Great, where are the function keys now

Don't take me wrong... I love the MBA, it is a best "value" (depending on what value means to you)...and the fact the MBP is more premium cannot be denied.

Bottom line is both are awesome - depends on your workflow.

 

[darngooddesign]

Great, where are the function keys now

I think you just hold down the Fn button and then tap one, just like you would have to do with physical keys.

 

[deeddawg]

Great, where are the function keys now

Same place/functionality as with the hard keys if that's how you wish it to be...

Choose whether you want the hotkeys or function keys as primary and get the other with a press of the Fn/globe key.

Easy peasy.

Don't take me wrong... I love the MBA, it is a best "value" (depending on what value means to you)...and the fact the MBP is more premium cannot be denied.


Bottom line is both are awesome - depends on your workflow.

My primary point here is that folks shouldn't erroneously factor hotkey functionality into their choosing between models. Apart from tactile feedback of touchtyping the function-row (which as a touchtypist of 30+ years I still don't), the touchbar does not lose any functionality vs the hard keys and in fact provides greater functionality.

 

[deeddawg]

I think you just hold down the Fn button and then tap one, just like you would have to do with physical keys.

Bingo, exactly that - if it's how you configured your touchbar.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I wonder how many folks out there are like me ...
I buy base. Always. I use the hell out of it. 8+ hours a day. In 18 months, if there is a new model, I repeat cycle.

Keyboards are like forks, I’ll make do with what I have in my hand. There is not a fork I can’t use.

Any Apple screen is a good screen.

Regarding quality, the only other laptop that I didn’t regret purchasing was Google’s Pixelbook Go.

Brian,

This is a very practical post and one more people should consider implementing. The part that struck a nerve was the Google product usage. As a programmer / Developer etc. I can see how it might be beneficial but, the anti advocate in me still twitches with the mention of Google.

 

[Zazoh]

the anti advocate in me still twitches with the mention of Google.

I got better.

I have a family of 4. We are entirely Apple now, including HomeKit and outlets. That's 4 iPhones, 4 iPads, 3 laptops, 3 watches. I don't wear a watch and my 14 year old daughter doesn't want a laptop, she does school on iPad. For a year I did an experiment with Google Pixel 4 and Chromebook. It was decent on its own, murder on the blended ecosystem.

 

[DSMinAtlanta]

I’m curious about the difference in WiFi speeds you saw between the MBA and MBP. I’m still trying to decide which to purchase. I have a 2018 15” MBP now and the WiFi speeds are awful compared to any other device in my house. My 5th gen iPad sitting on the same desk has double the speed of the 2018 MBP. I’m hoping these newer models are better.

 

[dizmonk]

About 2 months ago, I bought a MBA M1 8C/16/512, I had to returned due to awful keyboard feel and a very red tinted screen issue. About 14 days ago I received my MBP 16/512 and I returned it this morning. The MBP had defective keyboard backlight, about half the keys had uneven brightness compared to the rest of the keys, and the speakers sounded muffled. Also it WiFi 6 card in it was not very stable, its maximum speed was 867 Mbps and the lowest was about 585 Mpbs. The router I have is the Asus RT-AX58U, and its not the router that caused the connection speed issue on the MBP, my other WiFi devices have excellent connection at maximum speeds. So this afternoon I decided to try out the MBA M1 again. I got the SG MBA 8/8/512 at Best Buy. I couldn't wait a month for a custom built one, I needed a laptop right away.

I know that the ram is dropped by half from my first MBA and MBP, however I never utilized more than 6GB of ram in my workflow. On average I use about 5GB of ram for usage. I'm glad to tell you that this MBA has a better keyboard feel and better screen than my first MBA, however the good news is that the red tint screen on this MBA is not as red as my first MBA, its like a pink to light red which is acceptable. There's one minor problem with it: my Logitech MX Anywhere 2S Bluetooth mouse cursor stutters at random times. It could be related to the bluetooth issue the M1 Macs have or it could be the Logitech Options software that has only Intel based drivers.

These are the other reasons why I returned the MBP:
1. I absolutely disliked the touch bar. It's very useless and requires flipping to other screens to use other functions. At random times it froze.
2. It's not worth the extra money for so little gains.
3. It's going to drop in resale value when the redesigned MBP comes out this year.

The reasons why I like my new MBA:
1. Its comfortable to type on and I really like the design of it.
2. Stable WiFi 6 card speed at 1200 Mbps
3. Screen is decent
4. Faster 512GB SSD speed than the MBP 512GB SSD
5. Keyboard has even backlight
6. Better build quality than the MBP
*Most of you MBA M1 owners know what other things make the MBA better than the MBP*.

This MBA 8/8/512 will be for temporary use until the new designed MBP or when the 24 inch iMac gets released in a couple of months.

How did you test your Wifi settings? Speed tests only tells me I'm peforming at the max I've contracted with Comcast for... (400mb)

 

[ddhhddhh2]

Unsure what you mean by this?

Many folks never learn that they can configure the touchbar to replicate the function keys or replicate the quick-action row, and thus incorrectly think they've lost functionality. See SystemPrefs->Keyboard settings.

You can set the touchbar to display this by default:

View attachment 1716178

or this by default:
View attachment 1716179

You can set it to swap between the two with a press of the Fn key.

Just like with the physical row of keys. Same functions same capabilities are available if that's how you want to configure it.

Or (what I do) leave the default as the App Controls to benefit from apps which make use of the touchbar, and display the expanded control strip (1st image) with the Fn key to quickly access the hotkey functions you were used to using.

Plus you can re-order and swap out what items are on the touch bar. I'd rather have launchpad & keyboard backlight controls than spotlight, dictation, and do-not-disturb. I use command-space for the first and never use the other two, waste of a key to dedicate that function.

View attachment 1716180


All that said, some folks do prefer the tactile feedback of hard keys, but as to functionality & customizability the touchbar clearly exceeds the hard keys... and that's even without an app like Better Touch Tool.

I didn't like the MBP 16" touch bar at first, but I'm glad it was returned to the ESC, but as time went on, I got used to it and decided it wasn't so bad, and switching through fu was actually as easy as using a physical keyboard, so I stopped complaining.

 

[dizmonk]

I was watching YouTube videos about the Touch Bar yesterday, and there's an app that can add haptic feedback to the Touch Bar (using the track pad's technology).

Thus, it can make it feel just like pressing a "real" button.

I've added screen shot and annotation to my Touch Bar, and I have it set to display all the time.

It's my first experience of the Touch Bar, and I quite like it.

What app are you talking about to add haptic feedback to the Touch bar?

 

[dizmonk]

It's interesting as I went back and tried the MBP again (even though I'm generally very happy with the MBA). As the refs say... "Upon Further review..." I didn't see much if any difference in brightness. Speakers were a tad louder. Battery life was better but definitely not a $200-300 upgrade. It's really hard to walk away from the MBA if you're a casual user. One thing I will say is that Apple is appropriately differentiating the new MBP lineup from the MBA and the casual users.