Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Are you going M1 Air or Pro?

  • Base M1 Air

    Votes: 143 27.9%
  • Higher end M1 Air (16gb)

    Votes: 195 38.0%
  • Base M1 Pro

    Votes: 57 11.1%
  • Higher end Pro (16gb)

    Votes: 90 17.5%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 28 5.5%

  • Total voters
    513

schmidt65

macrumors 6502
Jun 23, 2010
413
97
I’m currently bouncing between a M1 MBA & Pro at the moment (both 16GB/1TB). Really hard to decide which one I prefer! Prefer the design,weight and wedge of the MBA (especially for typing), but agree with the others that the MBP has a nicer keyboard. MBA is kinda mushy to type on compared to the MBP (although still an excellent keyboard, it’s just slightly different to the MBP). Hated touch bar, but now I’ve added BetterTouchTool it’s quite useful having quick access to app and my calendar appointments always on show. Battery life is great on both, but on MBP it’s so good I can literally forget about the charger for days. On the MBA it’ll do a solid day and a half, possibly 2 days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1240766

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,630
52,388
In a van down by the river
I thought about getting the MBP but, since I wouldn't really use the Touch Bar, I purchased the MBA yesterday.

I am curious as to the difference in keyboard between the two devices. Is there an actual Apple recognized hardware part number etc. between the two, or is it just a matter of user perception during use?
 

Chairman.Jobbie

macrumors 6502a
Sep 9, 2011
501
200
I think the keyboard is noticeably different - from my own experience of 3+ weeks with pro and recently the Air and the other people that have noticed on this thread. Id say at least "15% different (better)"

Watch this from 5:17 - its set to start from here.

 
Last edited:

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,630
52,388
In a van down by the river
I think the keyboard is confirmed different - from my own experience of 3+ weeks with pro and recently the Air and the other people that have noticed on this thread. Id say "15% different"

Also, watch this from 5:17 - its set to start from here.

Thanks for the reply. That is very interesting to read and note that Apple didn't officially note the difference on their packaging.

I was not able to test the keyboard on the pro before purchasing my M1 MBA. If I am able to do that next month, I will do so.
 

2499723

Cancelled
Dec 10, 2009
812
412
The M1 kind of changes things for me. My previous machines have been Pro variants (PowerBooks > iBooks, Pros > Airs). This has usually been because Pro machines have given the option of dedicated graphics. However, my experience with an M1 mini has been such that the GPU capabilities of the M1 are more than adequate for my needs (even if throttled depending on load on the MBA). So, I’ve now ordered an MBA instead of a Pro for the first time. Other benefits for me are that I have wanted to move to a slightly slimmer form factor and I prefer function keys to the touchbar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane

Chairman.Jobbie

macrumors 6502a
Sep 9, 2011
501
200
Thanks for the reply. That is very interesting to read and note that Apple didn't officially note the difference on their packaging.

I was not able to test the keyboard on the pro before purchasing my M1 MBA. If I am able to do that next month, I will do so.
Would be interesting to know if the 'tear down' people have stripped the M1's and found anything different in the keyboards or its fixings to know why its different - just curious.

Fwiw, I used the MBP all yesterday and then I switched to the MBA and noticed the difference, however, an hour later the difference faded, which tells you both keyboards are similar / good.

Plus there isn't anyone with the just the Air saying its a bad keyboard, because it isn't.
 
Last edited:

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,847
1,897
Bristol, UK
I thought about getting the MBP but, since I wouldn't really use the Touch Bar, I purchased the MBA yesterday.

I am curious as to the difference in keyboard between the two devices. Is there an actual Apple recognized hardware part number etc. between the two, or is it just a matter of user perception during use?

The keyboard in the new M1 Notebooks are much better than the Prior Butterfly keyboards ( although there are some people who like the butterfly design). I don't think the keyboard on the Air or the Pro is better than the other, as I have seen a number of people why have tried both. Some prefer the Air and some prefer the Pro. I think the Air is softer and Pro firmer, based on the reviews that I have seen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apple_Robert

fang-woem-rai

macrumors newbie
Dec 21, 2020
13
9
सर्वजगत्
Keyboard on MBA doesn't sound kinda hollow as it does for MBP.

So overall a better built feel with MBA than MBP. ;-)
It's not called "hollow".. pro's keyboard is more similar to a mechanical keyboard than air. And that means pro's keyboard is better with more tactile feedback and provides a better and more satisfactory feel in long (and short) typing sessions... Dont delude yourself thinking that air's keyboard is similar. It's mushy and has a cheap feel... But that's to be expected, pro's a higher end machine for the "pro class" of customers..... keyboard, screen brightness, screen quality, speakers, microphone, graphics, cpu, ssd speeds, trackpad, internal audio card (for better sound output through high end headphones), battery life.. literally everything is better and significant so. And if you get reasonable storage space and RAM, pro is only like 15% higher cost.
 

1240766

Cancelled
Nov 2, 2020
264
376
I think the keyboard is noticeably different - from my own experience of 3+ weeks with pro and recently the Air and the other people that have noticed on this thread. Id say at least "15% different (better)"

Watch this from 5:17 - its set to start from here.


Thanks for sharing, I do feel the more “click” on the Pro, which I prefer coming from mechanical keyboards...that being said, I have zero issues with the Air keyboard, both awesome
 

KShopper

macrumors member
Nov 26, 2020
84
116
Thanks for sharing, I do feel the more “click” on the Pro, which I prefer coming from mechanical keyboards...that being said, I have zero issues with the Air keyboard, both awesome
My MBA has pretty great tactility. I wonder if the perceived difference is because of the "hollow" sound that the wider MBP case results in?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Never mind

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,467
6,570
US
Not having a Touch Bar is great. I only had a Touch Bar for about a month when I bought a 16 earlier this year, and then a day with the M1 Pro.

I much much prefer having the function keys. Wonder when Apple will backpedal and decide the Touch Bar isn't a good idea. Hopefully with these M1X's! I won't mind too much since I will keep it docked 95% of the time, but still a useless thing.

Unless you need the tactile feedback of physical keys, the functionality is available on Touch Bar with a couple clicks in SystemPrefs->Keyboard to change the defaults to show either expanded control strip or Fn keys.

Plus you retain launchpad key and the keyboard backlight controls -- instead of having to go to control center.

Touch Bar Shot 2020-12-07 at 9.42.20 PM.png
Touch Bar Shot 2020-12-11 at 7.21.20 AM.png
 
Last edited:

fang-woem-rai

macrumors newbie
Dec 21, 2020
13
9
सर्वजगत्
Unless you need the tactile feedback of physical keys, the functionality is available on Touch Bar with a couple clicks in SystemPrefs->Keyboard to change the defaults to show either expanded control strip or Fn keys.

Plus you retain launchpad key and the keyboard backlight controls -- instead of having to go to control center.

View attachment 1700947 View attachment 1700948
That's really great. I haven't ever tried the Touch Bar but I think it's a really great addition and the only people who dislike it are those who are too slow-witted to be able to customize it and understand all its functionality.
 

k1im

macrumors member
Dec 16, 2020
36
39
I keep hearing people pushing the MBA but I still wonder how it would take 4k video 2-3h Davinci Resolve color grading or some Fusion? Has anyone tried working on it for some time (not just rendering as most of us would still leave the laptop alone) and 10-20% more render time due throttling seems ok, still pretty fast!
 
Last edited:

turbineseaplane

macrumors P6
Mar 19, 2008
17,368
40,135
That's really great. I haven't ever tried the Touch Bar but I think it's a really great addition and the only people who dislike it are those who are too slow-witted to be able to customize it and understand all its functionality.

Not at all

Those of us who touch type and know shortcuts out the kazoo simply value normal keys up there for core functions — and also no light emitting from down there.

Also if you ever dock and clamshell, the TB becomes useless and you can’t really integrate something into your workflow if the hardware is inaccessible for large percentages of usage time.
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,630
52,388
In a van down by the river
That's really great. I haven't ever tried the Touch Bar but I think it's a really great addition and the only people who dislike it are those who are too slow-witted to be able to customize it and understand all its functionality.
Calling people who don't care for the Touch Bar option stupid is not logical as you know nothing about those unnamed people.

I had the Touch Bar model as soon as it was released as well as the subsequent year. At that time, said option was very limited in what it could do. I also found that it slowed by work flow having to look down at the bar all the time to make sure I was touching the right section, or having to undo inadvertent key presses from my fingers getting in the way, not to mention all the OS bugs that it was involved with.

I liked the idea of the option but, never found it truly useful for me. As such, I haven't made a point to spend extra money to get the TB MBP.

Using logical fallacy to call other people stupid is not very wise.
 
Last edited:

darngooddesign

macrumors P6
Jul 4, 2007
18,362
10,114
Atlanta, GA
That's what I thought it was; I just thought there was some reason why hiding the Touchbar is worse than hiding a row of function keys. There are a couple of apps which mirror the toucher to external monitors and it's display on iPads via Sidecar.
 

Zazoh

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2009
1,516
1,121
San Antonio, Texas
That's really great. I haven't ever tried the Touch Bar but I think it's a really great addition and the only people who dislike it are those who are too slow-witted to be able to customize it and understand all its functionality.

You haven’t tried it but think those that have, and dislike, are slow-witted. It’s great to have opinions, but they are more valuable when there is an once of fact associated with it.

You - you must be new here.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.