UPDATE 3/8/2023: i bought parallels desktop and a windows 11 license. I need it to try a certain amount of things in IT, however, the performance when running windows in a virtualized environment (like parallels is) it gets seriously affected on the M1, something that didn't happen with intel processors. You notice the performance degrading (but not that much, maybe 10, or even 15% i risk to say) when switching between full screens and main desktop with windows (full separate screen, remember that there's an option to seamlessly integrate within your macOS). You kinda feel the stutter but i can see the M1 processor get in the way and prioritize the screen, and that's a good thing to re-prioritize tasks that are being done in one screen or another (take the word "screen" as full-screen apps or software that switches between desktop and full-screen apps or between apps). In my case, running windows 11 makes the mbp m1 run hotter than i'm really use to, but it does not affect battery performance as much as i expected!... weird, isn't it?... love it!
If you're going to virtualize something, that isn't Windows, you shouldn't worry that much on this laptop. Just remember that's still have 8gb ram and usable 228gb, therefore, performance wouldn't be the same as bare metal.
Still, other regular software from apple or safari (or any other browser), Office365, Adobe XD, Photoshop do not affect performance nor consume that much battery, although if you are a graphic designer or a photographer making a quick change could make you brighten your screen, in which may lead to higher power consumption, which also could be confused by software running.
One bad thing that i found with heavy usage is that the keyboard gets "oily", meaning, it wears in time and amount of usage per day; funny enough, the aluminum part of the palm rest don't have any signs of wear.
Another thing that i found is that the left speaker sounds like it broke when hearing at 70% volume, i don't know if that's fixable or not, anywho anyhow... i'm gonna stick with that because i rarely use it.
One thing that i've also found is how i got used to the fact that this mbp m1 takes nothing to return from suspended state, why? Because no matter what other laptop i use (or desktop, for that matter), all of them takes a few seconds to access to their respective desktops and another few seconds to actually be productive (after booting software)... This one literally takes nothing to wake and start using it... that's why i'm not changing this laptop... and yes, even with its flaws... why? because in critical cases when i need to go somewhere and fast react to do something at work, i just do it! it takes me 0 seconds to wake up the mbp and enter another desktop via anydesk or teamviewer or ssh... this takes time on most windows laptops... i love it!
I just wish this laptop was upgradeable... after all at the end of the day, it makes my life so useful and convenient despite the down side of it... what a masterpiece! i just wish i could do more and more with it, i feel limited... but happy!
and by the way, i still stand on my original review.
ORIGINAL:
I believe i've found my unicorn because this particular macbook air still lasts an insane amount of time! Although i don't use it on full brightness, i regulate it a lot. Connecting several devices to it via bluetooth is transparent, but unfortunately, Apple made the macOS more inconvenient to handle in terms of simplicity.
User experience on the macOS is weird, you know as a mac user where things used to be, then you have to relearn some things and it doesn't feel like home, the new normal isn't good so far.
Keyboard is relatively quiet, also, there's the missing keyboard light on this iteration of the macbook air, why did you take (probably) the most useful key from us?! if you're watching a movie you have to literally stop the movie, go through the menu from above and turn off the keyboard lights, or if you're on a presentation and everything is dark, you just turn your screen light down but you can't with your keyboard because you need to actually stop paying attention to the presentation and go through the menu, inconvenient as heck!
I know (and i'm very well aware) that there are some workarounds to change to the keyboard light again using a small software... but that isn't the end-game, the thing is that we shouldn't need an extra software or aditional configuration just to use something the macbook had for, literally, over 10 years!
Speed on this macbook: you don't even feel it... everything is instant, nothing is slow, if something is, it's most likely the software or the website you're on, is that simple! If you're planning on using massive storage, you should use an usb-c one, not an usb-a through usb-c dongle, you will have a bottleneck, that's guaranteed.
I haven't used it on games because that's why i have my pc and xbox for. However, if you're planning on developing software on it, just make sure your libraries fit within 228gb (the half of it is recommended for all ssd's) of storage, if that's gonna be an issue, then go for usb-c massive storage.
Weight isn't a problem, it makes you feel like you're having a premium laptop on your hands, but not enough to make your bag heavier. Construction feels like you own something premium and well-made.
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| Price | From: $849.00 | From: $999.00 | From: - | From: - | From: $1,399.00 |
| Ratings | (18,977) | (8,389) | (2,338) | (1,251) | (25) |
| Display | 13.3-inch Retina display | 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display | 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display | 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display | 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Processor | Apple M1 Chip | Up to Intel Core i7 processor | Apple M2 Chip | Apple M2 Chip | Apple M3 Chip |
| CPU | 8-core CPU | 2-core CPU | 8-core CPU | 8-core CPU | 8-core CPU |
| GPU | 7-core GPU | Intel HD Graphics 6000 GPU | Up to 10-core GPU | 10-core GPU | 10-core GPU |
| Memory | Up to 16GB unified memory | 8GB memory | Up to 24GB unified memory | Up to 24GB unified memory | Up to 24GB unified memory |
| Battery | Up to 18 hours battery life | Up to 12 hours battery life | Up to 18 hours battery life | Up to 18 hours battery life | Up to 22 hours battery life |
| Touch Bar and Touch ID | Touch ID | Touch ID | Touch ID | Touch ID | |
| Storage | Up to 2TB storage | Up to 512GB storage | Up to 2TB storage | Up to 2TB storage | Up to 2TB storage |
| Launch Year | 2020 | 2017 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023 |
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