New shiny - MacBook Air M1

[DaveE]

So, having exclusively used MacBooks for work for the past 10+ years, I finally decided that I'd switch to one for my own use

A friend of mine is a part time student, and so we managed to wangle a student discount, which meant I got the base spec Air M1 for £800 (which is a bit of a steal for an Apple product)

Initial impressions:
- the M1 chip/architecture is indeed impressively powerful
- it does run nice and cool (it doesn't have any fans/other active cooling)
- battery life is indeed stunning

Looks like it'll be an awesome machine for everything I need (mostly music related - ripping CDs, converting files, Audacity etc)

[Jobbo]

I got my stepdaughter one for Christmas last year - using her student discount. It was a bargain then and remains so now; I just hope Windows machines catch up soon because I'm tied to Windows for my work software.

[DaveE]

I'm in the process of looking for another job at the moment, and the fear of having to go back to a Windows laptop (for work) is a real fear...

It could even be a dealbreaker for me - I just find Macs so productive

As an example of the M1 performance, I have a 3 year old i5 Windows laptop, also with 8GB of RAM as per the Air

Exporting a 2 hour MP3 from Audacity (i.e. an Essential mix) used to take c6-7 mins on the Windows laptop - on the Air it takes 1.5 mins

Converting FLAC to MP3 is at least twice as quick on the Air as well

[Jobbo]

It's funny, the M1 remains so good that I can't really see the point of the new 14" and 16" Macbook Pros. They have more ports built in; whoop. But in the real world they won't be any faster, they're far bulkier devices physically and they cost so much more.

[DaveE]

It's funny, the M1 remains so good that I can't really see the point of the new 14" and 16" Macbook Pros. They have more ports built in; whoop. But in the real world they won't be any faster, they're far bulkier devices physically and they cost so much more.

Yeah, I did these mental sums as well

The Pro does have: better screen, sound, ports etc

But the Air is "fine" in that regard - yes, all could be better on the Air, but a Pro is at least 2x the price

And the whole "notch" debacle is just unacceptable IMO

I did wonder about getting a better spec'd Air (mainly the larger SSD) but I figured it wasn't worth it (no deals on the 512GB)

[Mito Man]

I have no complaints about my Air M1 after nearly a year. It really is an exceptional bit of kit for the price.

[Jobbo]

And the whole "notch" debacle is just unacceptable IMO

I keep forgetting about that until I see the screen again. FFS, it's not a massive hassle on a phone but looking at my computer screen there is *always* something along the top of the screen which would be obscured. Fucking awful design.

[Simon]

It's funny, the M1 remains so good that I can't really see the point of the new 14" and 16" Macbook Pros. They have more ports built in; whoop. But in the real world they won't be any faster, they're far bulkier devices physically and they cost so much more.

Don't forget that the MBP comes with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, and whilst the standard M1 is very good the pro and max chips are on another level of performance again.

[Jobbo]

Only when you’re using all the cores - so unless you’re massively multitasking or doing something intensive like video rendering it’s not going to make a noticeable difference. Hence ‘in the real world’.

[DaveE]

And the whole "notch" debacle is just unacceptable IMO

I keep forgetting about that until I see the screen again. FFS, it's not a massive hassle on a phone but looking at my computer screen there is *always* something along the top of the screen which would be obscured. Fucking awful design.

At the moment, it appears that the menus are still there and accessible, they're just hidden/behind the notch

And the notch itself doesn't add any value - it doesn't include sensors for Face ID (for example) - just a basic webcam

I'm not really sure what an elegant, "Apple" solution would be?

Some how have MacOS realise that menus will be obscured, and insert a new "More" option under which you can then hang the missing menu items?

Genuinely interested to see what they do...

[Simon]

I suspect they'll do face-id in the notch in a year or two. Or else what is the point of it'?

[Ascender]

The Air is a great machine, almost perfect.

You really don't notice the notch on the laptops - they've increased the screen size too so you're not actually losing any screen space. The only time I notice it is if I have a lighter desktop background on and suddenly remember its there. Honestly, storm in a teacup, its nothing compared to how jarring it was on the phone.

I think they've done it so they can get a better webcam in there today and gives them options down the line for things like FaceID and/or more sensors if they want-to. The lid is thicker than on previous laptops but still not as thick as an iPad for example, so it might even be that they were planning FaceID or a 4K camera in there but supply chain issues made them postpone it. Who knows.

[Jobbo]

Dell fit a 720p webcam in the bezel of the XPS and that barely looks any bigger than the Macbook Pro's bezel - is a 1080p webcam that much larger?

[Ascender]

Dell fit a 720p webcam in the bezel of the XPS and that barely looks any bigger than the Macbook Pro's bezel - is a 1080p webcam that much larger?

Not sure. There's also the True Tone sensor, but that fits in the MacBook Air lid which is a good bit thinner than the new ones, so I think its just a future proofing move on the design side.

Its a total non-issue though because most of the time the laptop looks exactly like that one below - you wouldn't know there was a notch if you'd never used a light wallpaper and its part of the menu bar.