Poll: *** The official 2020 MacBook Air/13" MacBook Pro thread (it has the M1 chip and everything!) ***

What 2020 Apple Silicon notebook have you ordered?

  • MacBook Air

    Votes: 72 71.3%
  • 13" MacBook Pro

    Votes: 29 28.7%

  • Total voters
    101
Soldato
Joined
15 Sep 2009
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Manchester
If you're near a store get an appointment and get them to have a look at it - rather it be fixed / replaced before it becomes a major issue that takes longer to resolve.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
16 Jul 2009
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7,984
Location
Edinburgh
So I went into the Edinburgh Apple store yesterday and picked up a MacBook Air (512GB, 8GB model with the 8 core GPU/CPU) - if I decide to keep I'll probably return this and upgrade for a 16GB RAM Model.

So far though this thing is incredible; I can't believe how nicely built it is v the Windows laptops I've had of late; the screen is lovely; the keyboard is great and I can't believe the battery life.
The webcam and mic's seem great for VC/Teams.

Its fair to say that since my last sojourn with MacOS (15" MBP back in 2014) that I find MacOS easier to get my head around now; possibly partly as I've used an iPad for a lot of that time so I'm more familiar with shortcuts, etc.

Really very impressed and I think as a portable, work device this will be awesome; I'm actually tempted to go for an Air and try and find a used 2020 iPad Pro to accompany it.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Sep 2015
Posts
3,673
I'm not all that impressed with the webcam in the MBA, it's OK but nothing special. Audio is very good for Teams and SIP calls though.

The keyboard is superb, really superb. My expectations were not too high (I generally don't get on too well with laptop keyboards) but they've been massively surpassed. I even surprised myself by switching to the Mac layout almost instantly despite not using a Mac laptop for probably 5 years.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
16 Jul 2009
Posts
7,984
Location
Edinburgh
I'm not all that impressed with the webcam in the MBA, it's OK but nothing special. Audio is very good for Teams and SIP calls though.

The keyboard is superb, really superb. My expectations were not too high (I generally don't get on too well with laptop keyboards) but they've been massively surpassed. I even surprised myself by switching to the Mac layout almost instantly despite not using a Mac laptop for probably 5 years.

Don't get me wrong I know the MBP one is meant to be better; but the webcam on this is easily better than about 90% of Windows one's I've ever used; I do use an external Logitech C920 at home anyway though!
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Sep 2009
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9,203
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Northumberland
So I went into the Edinburgh Apple store yesterday and picked up a MacBook Air (512GB, 8GB model with the 8 core GPU/CPU) - if I decide to keep I'll probably return this and upgrade for a 16GB RAM Model.

Got this spec with 16GB RAM. Absolutely epic machine. Only today have I noticed it used file swap on the memory. A massive 32MB!

Webcam on the MBA looks to be identical to the MBP from what I can tell.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Sep 2015
Posts
3,673
Don't get me wrong I know the MBP one is meant to be better; but the webcam on this is easily better than about 90% of Windows one's I've ever used; I do use an external Logitech C920 at home anyway though!

To be fair to the MBA, I usually use a Logitech Brio webcam so the camera on the MBA was never going to look all that good in comparison. It's not a bad camera, but it's not the best 720p camera I've used.

As others have said though, the cam in the MBP is the same 720p unit as in the MBA.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
16 Jul 2009
Posts
7,984
Location
Edinburgh
Well 48 hours has convinced me that at least my laptop future is one of these MacBook Air's but I'm going to get the 16GB variant ordered and return this one!

I think I'm going to ignore the iPad though for now and just keep my Galaxy Tab S7+; the MacBook will fill in the gaps of things that the Galaxy can't do (Desktop Creative Cloud mainly) and the S7+ works nicely with my mobile, etc - don't feel like I "need" the Apple ecosystem integration on all devices; rather keep a foot (and hand) in all camps (Windows Gaming PC, Android Phone, Android Tablet and MacOS Laptop!)
 
Associate
Joined
26 Jan 2012
Posts
1,478
Location
London
Looking forward to seeing the new MacBook's later this year but can't decide between:
Mac Mini M1, 16GB + iPad Pro 12.9 combo
or
MacBook Pro 16'' 16GB only

Total will come to more or less the same and the use-case will be the same in either case -- 70% stationary, 30% mobile.
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jul 2005
Posts
775
Location
Earth
Looking forward to seeing the new MacBook's later this year but can't decide between:
Mac Mini M1, 16GB + iPad Pro 12.9 combo
or
MacBook Pro 16'' 16GB only

Total will come to more or less the same and the use-case will be the same in either case -- 70% stationary, 30% mobile.

getting a bit painful waiting for the new laptop to arrive!
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2005
Posts
2,355
Location
OcUK
Looking forward to seeing the new MacBook's later this year but can't decide between:
Mac Mini M1, 16GB + iPad Pro 12.9 combo
or
MacBook Pro 16'' 16GB only

Total will come to more or less the same and the use-case will be the same in either case -- 70% stationary, 30% mobile.

I don’t think they will refresh the line this year, 2022 at the earliest.

They haven’t done yearly refreshes in a long time for Mac.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Apr 2007
Posts
5,255
They haven’t done yearly refreshes in a long time for Mac.

Arguably because updating to a new i3 with +0.00001% additional performance wasn't worth the effort.

Now Apple has their new silicon, things might be different. Certainly every rumour site and analyst believes the MacBook Pro is heading for a refresh this year.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Sep 2009
Posts
2,895
Location
Manchester
Everything is suggesting that we'll get everything that we want, the majority of it based on wishes/desires and no actual evidence. Apple have had a crackdown on leaks since last year in particular.

I do think personally, based on zero evidence, that if they do a 14" model it will be in the same form factor with smaller bezels, or I hope it will be.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,236
They’ll be a faster, more expensive ‘small’ pro to replace the existing Intel modes they still sell but they’ll continue to sell the 13” M1 for a long while yet. Just like a bigger iMac is coming to replace the Intel machines they still sell.

Whether this new pro will be 13” or 14” is another question.

Basically, if they still sell something with an Intel badge, expect it to be replaced with an Apple silicon product at some point in the near future.
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2005
Posts
2,355
Location
OcUK
Arguably because updating to a new i3 with +0.00001% additional performance wasn't worth the effort.

Now Apple has their new silicon, things might be different. Certainly every rumour site and analyst believes the MacBook Pro is heading for a refresh this year.

Heard the same with the IPad Pro mini led version, took over 3 years to turn up.

There is no way they launch a new M series MacBook this year unless it’s an additional model.

They won’t update the Air yet, zero need. M1 MacBooks are doing great business.
 
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