Do I bite the Apple

daytripper!

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The new Apple Mac Book Air M1 2020 costs a grand and looks to be a game changer so the Apple business model of quality control and innovation is reborn. Other quality stuff like MSoft Surface Pro3 is similar money but only a pedestrian i5, 8/128Gb. Looking at the Windows laptop market generally below say £600 the laptops seem a bit of a mixed bag in terms of performance and quality. There are some great deals around, eg the Huawei MateBook XPro i7, 8/512Gb plus dedicated 2Gb GPU for games and video-editing is available for £899 from places like LaptopOutlet and LaptopDirect but are such retailers genuine??? Am not normally an 'early adopter' but the M1 appeals!
 
Not a lot of money for a Macbook, is it. I'm pretty sure my 2011 Macbook Air which is still going strong was c. £1100 at the time.

I only have one Windows machine, an old Compaq laptop that a friend gave me to run VCDS. Apart from running applications which don't work when running Windows in Virtual Box or Parallels on the Mac, I can't think of another reason for having a Windows machine.
 
I'm the opposite, tried an Ibook a good few years back, found the Mac system too controlling and utterly annoying. Had a friend for example recently ask me how to export his email address book from MAC, turned out he had to pay for an ap to do it. It's a feking nightmare, and Itunes just has to be the worst program ever.
I am typing this on an Asus I7 laptop that I bought 9 years ago still going strong.

Oh and yes pricewise a good price I paid 1000€ in 1999 for my Ibook.

By the way, I understand those of you who like Mac, I just don't.
Had Ibook
Ipod
Ipod Mini
Ipod Touch
Iphone
 
My experience with M1 macbook air

daytripper! said:
The new Apple Mac Book Air M1 2020 costs a grand and looks to be a game changer so the Apple business model of quality control and innovation is reborn. Other quality stuff like MSoft Surface Pro3 is similar money but only a pedestrian i5, 8/128Gb. Looking at the Windows laptop market generally below say £600 the laptops seem a bit of a mixed bag in terms of performance and quality. There are some great deals around, eg the Huawei MateBook XPro i7, 8/512Gb plus dedicated 2Gb GPU for games and video-editing is available for £899 from places like LaptopOutlet and LaptopDirect but are such retailers genuine??? Am not normally an 'early adopter' but the M1 appeals!
Click to expand...

I use some apple products but also use a windows laptop for certain tasks. My present apple machine is a 2011 MBP which I have upgraded. Bought off this site 3 years ago.
I ordered a M1 base configuration MBA about 1 hour after the site released them. So I got my machine the second day after release. My machine was one of those that locked up after trying to install the latest software. At the time this was not a known issue, Despite apple on line help it couldn't be sorted. Its now acknowledged as a common fault but the work around fix is not for those that are not IT literate.
My MBA was returned the next day for a cash refund.

Was I just unlucky ? yes but I was not alone. Macrumors has a big thread on the subject, plenty more experienced the same problem.

Will I buy another ?

Yes but I'm waiting for the OS "Big sur" to be sorted its still has some issues. Note you can only run "Big sur" on M1 chipped models. As for the the machines looks, the MBA is showing its age but is a very capable machine.
If you do get a Macbook you will need a transition period to reach familiarity with its systems. If you like plugging in devices there are only 2 USB-c ports.

Loads of videos on you tube about this model but be wary of those that only have irises shaped like an Apple.

If you run certain programs on a win 10 machine they may just have a compatibility issue with the M1 chip. But you may already know that.

Good luck in your decision. At least Apple has a good returns policy.
 
I have one and have experienced no lock ups, it has been rock solid. I replaced a 2012 Air and am very pleased
 
I'm tied into Mac as all my devices are Apple and just sync together so well, it'd be a right ball ache to change now (which is what they want).

If I was starting again it'd be a top spec Windows machine such as a Surface thingy running W10. The quality is now up there with Apple (possibly better) IMO and W10 actually works! I also hate the way Apple make you pay a fecking fortune for a machine with feck all memory in order to force you to use the Cloud; it's outrageous that you can spend £2k on a MacBook Pro and then have to buy a USB memory pack to store your files on :rolleyes:

Andres
 
I bought my wife a surface Pro thingy with W10. It is a right ball ache to use compared with my MacBook Air, so I disagree and still think Mac is a better option.
 
steveC said:
I use some apple products but also use a windows laptop for certain tasks. My present apple machine is a 2011 MBP which I have upgraded. Bought off this site 3 years ago.
I ordered a M1 base configuration MBA about 1 hour after the site released them. So I got my machine the second day after release. My machine was one of those that locked up after trying to install the latest software. At the time this was not a known issue, Despite apple on line help it couldn't be sorted. Its now acknowledged as a common fault but the work around fix is not for those that are not IT literate.
My MBA was returned the next day for a cash refund.

Was I just unlucky ? yes but I was not alone. Macrumors has a big thread on the subject, plenty more experienced the same problem.

Will I buy another ?

Yes but I'm waiting for the OS "Big sur" to be sorted its still has some issues. Note you can only run "Big sur" on M1 chipped models. As for the the machines looks, the MBA is showing its age but is a very capable machine.
If you do get a Macbook you will need a transition period to reach familiarity with its systems. If you like plugging in devices there are only 2 USB-c ports.

Loads of videos on you tube about this model but be wary of those that only have irises shaped like an Apple.

If you run certain programs on a win 10 machine they may just have a compatibility issue with the M1 chip. But you may already know that.

Good luck in your decision. At least Apple has a good returns policy.
Click to expand...

Interesting what you say about running Big Sur on M1 chipped models.I am typing this on a 2013 MacBook Air and it is running Big Sur !!

Kimbo ( definitely a Luddite ;) )
 
casbar said:
I bought my wife a surface Pro thingy with W10. It is a right ball ache to use compared with my MacBook Air, so I disagree and still think Mac is a better option.
Click to expand...

That’s interesting as that’s what I was thinking of getting next, what’s the main issue?

Andres
 
Nothing wrong with either, Andres. (Typing on my M1 MBP, Have a Surface Pro too. No, I am not flash, it is part of my job.) Here is a comparison, from my perspective, for you and others...

Surface has touch-screen, MBP does not. M1 MBP is really good for battery, wakes up really quickly and they fixed the keyboard from the previous MBP [Yes, older Macs DO run Big Sur. Verified.] Apart from that it is bog-all difference with Intel-based MBPs, in real terms. 64-bit apps written for Intel chips need something called Rosetta, but work perfectly fine. 32-bit apps will not work on any Macs running any OS past Catalina. It is natively 64-bit.

Simply, Surface uses Windows and that is likely to be your major factor, the OS itself. If you are used to Windows, you will like it.
If you like mashing things with your fingers, carrying less weight and having better connectivity (USB-A +USB-C, SD card [on Surface7, I have not had the X yet]) AND like using the pen on screen - go with Surface.It uses "Windows hello" (Face ID) and that is really good actually. Windows updates are a chore and they happen all the time, but it is no big deal when you get used to them and set things to go overnight/when not using the device. You also need your wits about you as there are more viruses written for Windows than MacOS.

If you want things "30% shinier", live in Mac /iOS ecosystem, want better battery life- go for MBP. It will connect with your iPhone/pad so that you can have your docs and images everywhere. The "touch bar" is a gimmick, The hype is hard to get through but the touch-id is decent.

Frankly, as "accessories" they are both great, but as mere tools, they are massively overpriced for what they are. A "Wintel" laptop for half the price will do the job just as well, and you'll be able to get more out of it as you can upgrade later on in life.

Just my opinion.... many others are available, hope it helps. Good luck.
 
walkingpictures said:
Interesting what you say about running Big Sur on M1 chipped models. I am typing this on a 2013 MacBook Air and it is running Big Sur !!

Kimbo ( definitely a Luddite ;) )
Click to expand...

Hi, Perhaps I worded that incorrectly. By backwards compatible I mean that M1 chipped machines can only run on Big sur. You cannot downgrade ( go backwards) to Catalina, or lower.

Previous generation machines up to around 2013 (approx.) can run Big sur. That I would class as forward compatible. Older machines (pre 2013) cannot, for example my 2011 MBP is limited to High Sierra.

Big sur is just getting refined but for certain jobs its still causing headaches.
 
steveC said:
Hi, Perhaps I worded that incorrectly. By backwards compatible I mean that M1 chipped machines can only run on Big sur. You cannot downgrade ( go backwards) to Catalina, or lower.

Previous generation machines up to around 2013 (approx.) can run Big sur. That I would class as forward compatible. Older machines (pre 2013) cannot, for example my 2011 MBP is limited to High Sierra.

Big sur is just getting refined but for certain jobs its still causing headaches.
Click to expand...

Ah,makes sense,thankyou :okay
 
(Basecamp will only run in ‘3D mode’ with Mac Big Sur ; there’s another thread on here about the subject )


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
abraxas said:
Nothing wrong with either, Andres. (Typing on my M1 MBP, Have a Surface Pro too. No, I am not flash, it is part of my job.) Here is a comparison, from my perspective, for you and others...

...............

Just my opinion.... many others are available, hope it helps. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Really good points, it's actually through work that I've rediscovered 'decent' Windows machines after years of Macs which has got me thinking..... Anyway, thank you for taking the time to run through all that, very helpful :thumb2

Andres
 
trying to get my new MacBook Air M1 to update to Big Sur, its on Catalina and keeps saying update failed
 
skid06 said:
trying to get my new MacBook Air M1 to update to Big Sur, its on Catalina and keeps saying update failed
Click to expand...

I had a similar issue on my old Mac Book when trying to update to Catalina. It turned out to be available memory. Not just the amount needed for the more memory hungry OS but it seemed to need quite a bit of additional memory to update.

Andres
 
skid06 said:
trying to get my new MacBook Air M1 to update to Big Sur, its on Catalina and keeps saying update failed
Click to expand...

That's odd. I thought all M1s come with Big Sur... Anyways, the "trick" that helped my Intel-based one when it would not upgrade was clearing NVRAM/PRAM.
1) back it up using time machine
2) go back up and ensure you didn't skip step one :)
3) Shut it down
4) Hold down Option+Command+P+R keys all together and then turn it on.
5) Mac should re-boot.
6) Ensure that you have enough hard disk space
7) re-try upgrade.

The "scorched earth" way would be to boot into either recovery (command+R) or internet recovery (command+option+R) and try that way...But really go back to step-1 before you do either of these.

Good luck and hope that helps you.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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