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Any 12" Macbook users holding out for an ARM Macbook?

I've decided to bite the bullet and pulled the trigger on an entry-level MacBook Air M1. Yes, it may be a bit heavier but fanless, scissor switch keyboard, and no touchbar for $999? That's a win-win-win in my book, regardless of weight and size. I'll keep the 2017 m3 around for a bit but if the new Air turns out to be as fast and long-running as Apple claims then I certainly won't miss it.
 
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Here's my uninformed guess of what's to come in 2021 in terms of laptops.

16" MacBook Pro (M1X, MiniLED, FaceID)
14" MacBook Pro (M1X, MiniLED, FaceID)
13" MacBook (M1, FaceID)
12" MacBook Mini (M1, FaceID)
 
calstanford said:
Lol. Apple won’t need to sell us a 13” MacBook, 13” MacBook Air and 13” MacBook Pro
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Likely not, but here's the goal:

Apple shrinks the bezels of the 12" Macbook allowing them to fit a 13" screen, and that is the new Macbook Air.
Apple shrinks the bezels on the 13" MacBook Pro, and that becomes the 14" MacBook Pro (we already know this is happening).

The lineup becomes:
16" MacBook Pro
14" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Air (but it's the 12" MacBook body).
 
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EugW said:
This is impossible. The 13.3" MacBook Air's screen alone is wider than the 12" MacBook entire body.
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apple-macbook-12-inch-2017-03.jpg


i said 13" not 13.3" ... but even if it ends up being 12.6" or 12.8" ... there is def room for a larger screen with the bezels shrunk similar to how the 15" --> 16" MacBook Pro shrunk.
 
EugW said:
12.5" is more realistic. 13" is not.

Also, remember that the 15" MacBook Pro was not 15". It was 15.4".
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Sure, but at this point the M1 devices have kept the prior form factors. We might get a slightly larger 12" MacBook style, just enough to fit a 13" screen ... who knows. Either way the current Air and 13" MBP are too similar in size to stay that way after redesigns, IMO. I imagine the Air will get a redesign that will end up being more similar to what the 12" was than what the Air is currently.

Current dimensions:
0.16–0.63 H x 11.97 W x 8.36 D, 2.8lbs (Macbook Air)
........0.61 H x 11.97 W x 8.36 D, 3.0lbs (13" MBP)

They're basically the same footprint.
 
essential said:
Sure, but at this point the M1 devices have kept the prior form factors. We might get a slightly larger 12" MacBook style, just enough to fit a 13" screen ... who knows. Either way the current Air and 13" MBP are too similar in size to stay that way after redesigns, IMO. I imagine the Air will get a redesign that will end up being more similar to what the 12" was than what the Air is currently.

Current dimensions:
0.16–0.63 H x 11.97 W x 8.36 D, 2.8lbs (Macbook Air)
........0.61 H x 11.97 W x 8.36 D, 3.0lbs (13" MBP)

They're basically the same footprint.
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Right,

The current MBA is actually very close to what the old non-touchbar (2016) MBP is, only with a different shape. It's basically what Apple thought that stripped down MBP would be (but for some reason a lot of consumers refused to accept as an MBA replacement.

Most likely scenario is that theree would be a approximately 13" screen consumer notebook after redesign, and a approximately 14" MBP. Both of them would have much thinner bezels than currently, and the screen would be less tapered (so can fit a better webcam). The 13" consumer laptop would end up pretty close to the dimensions of the 12" Macbook. It's pretty evident that they could fit a bigger screen on the 12", especially when you consider that it has somewhat thicker bezel than even the current MBA. Even if you have the same footprint, a 12.8 inch display would b very feasible.

The current MBA is fine, except it is just too heavy to carry around comfortably, not really in the class of ultra-portables. If they can get the weight down to close to 2lbs, then the lineup would look much better, and there would be more legitimate separation between that and the MBP.
 
As a user of both MBP 16 and MB 2017, im holding off for a 12.5 inch MB. M1 was designed for the MB device. Its what the INTEL chip couldn't be. I still resort to the slower MB 50% of the time because its almost perfect for lap, bed, couch whatever comfort. The only reason I can think of where Apple is holding back on releasing it would be the keyboard. Apple either has to redesign the butterfly keyboard or redesign the MB to fit the 2020 keyboard. Apple releasing the iPhone 12 mini was a signal that they do listen. Ive always felt that the MB Air was a temporary product which will get wiped out and I have a feeling 2021 is the year where it disappears and a 12.5 appears. Apple made the 12 inch for 3 years so that tells you there were sales to keep it going. They will probably sell it for $999.

I just dont think I would ever let go of a 12 inch form laptop. I'll use the 2017 until 2027 if I have to.
 
After just two days with the M1 Air I have decided to sell my 2017 MacBook and replace it with this beast. As much as I love my MacBook, and I really do, I have to admit that the new M1 Air is simply astounding. Yes, it is quite a bit bigger than the MacBook. It is also quite a bit heavier. However, it is so much faster and, much more importantly, runs sooooooo much cooler than my MacBook that it makes the additional weight and size worthwhile. With the MacBook, I was unable to use it on my lap for more than a few minutes because the bottom got uncomfortably warm rather quickly. With the Air, I spent all day today outside in the backyard doing my job, and it didn't even break a sweat. After 10 hours of work it's not even lukewarm yet.

I know I will miss the compact size and low weight of the MacBook the first time I pack my bags and board an overseas flight again sometime next year. But in my personal opinion it's worth it.
 
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mj_ said:
After just two days with the M1 Air I have decided to sell my 2017 MacBook and replace it with this beast. As much as I love my MacBook, and I really do, I have to admit that the new M1 Air is simply astounding. Yes, it is quite a bit bigger than the MacBook. It is also quite a bit heavier. However, it is so much faster and, much more importantly, runs sooooooo much cooler than my MacBook that it makes the additional weight and size worthwhile. With the MacBook, I was unable to use it on my lap for more than a few minutes because the bottom got uncomfortably warm rather quickly. With the Air, I spent all day today outside in the backyard doing my job, and it didn't even break a sweat. After 10 hours of work it's not even lukewarm yet.

I know I will miss the compact size and low weight of the MacBook the first time I pack my bags and board an overseas flight again sometime next year. But in my personal opinion it's worth it.
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I'll never cave!!! Neverrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
 
mj_ said:
After just two days with the M1 Air I have decided to sell my 2017 MacBook and replace it with this beast. As much as I love my MacBook, and I really do, I have to admit that the new M1 Air is simply astounding. Yes, it is quite a bit bigger than the MacBook. It is also quite a bit heavier. However, it is so much faster and, much more importantly, runs sooooooo much cooler than my MacBook that it makes the additional weight and size worthwhile. With the MacBook, I was unable to use it on my lap for more than a few minutes because the bottom got uncomfortably warm rather quickly. With the Air, I spent all day today outside in the backyard doing my job, and it didn't even break a sweat. After 10 hours of work it's not even lukewarm yet.

I know I will miss the compact size and low weight of the MacBook the first time I pack my bags and board an overseas flight again sometime next year. But in my personal opinion it's worth it.
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What are you doing with it on your lap? Which model do you have? My m3 MacBook 2017 gets a bit warm, but it's never uncomfortable if I'm just surfing.
 
After 2 days with an M1 Air on Big Sur, I am back to my faithful 12inch and Catalina.
Amazing performance from the chip but realized that my current setup is better. Well, better for me.
Big Sur is just too ugly (including Safari) to make the switch. I know I will be forced at some point but am going to hold off for as long as I can. Professional rather than 'fun' for me...
The 12 inch is just perfect for everything I do. Even though that doesn't include any travel at the moment. 13 inch just didn't feel right for some reason. All the improvements of the new Air (and there were a lot of them) were not enough to overcome the comfort of the more compact size.

Do I like new, shiny things? Yes.
Will Big Sur and an M1 machine increase my productivity? No.
 
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Oliver Christie said:
After 2 days with an M1 Air on Big Sur, I am back to my faithful 12inch and Catalina.
Amazing performance from the chip but realized that my current setup is better. Well, better for me.
Big Sur is just too ugly (including Safari) to make the switch. I know I will be forced at some point but am going to hold off for as long as I can. Professional rather than 'fun' for me...
The 12 inch is just perfect for everything I do. Even though that doesn't include any travel at the moment. 13 inch just didn't feel right for some reason. All the improvements of the new Air (and there were a lot of them) were not enough to overcome the comfort of the more compact size.

Do I like new, shiny things? Yes.
Will Big Sur and an M1 machine increase my productivity? No.
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I prefer Big Sur on my MacBook 12. Feels like a fresh new machine to me. YMMV.
 
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My 12" 2017 fully-loaded MacBook is so perky with Big Sur! Loving this! Regardless of what I do with regard to perhaps purchasing an M1 machine, my beloved sweet little 12" MacBook isn't going anywhere.... I'm going to keep her, as she's terrific for travel and for casual use around the house.

I would not at all be surprised if one day sooner rather than later Apple offers us the opportunity to purchase a 12" or similarly-sized body with M1 inside..... I'd buy that in a heartbeat!
 
EugW said:
What are you doing with it on your lap? Which model do you have? My m3 MacBook 2017 gets a bit warm, but it's never uncomfortable if I'm just surfing.
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Honestly, I can't remember the last time it didn't get uncomfortably hot. Most of the time I really don't care because I'm using it on a table but whenever I do decide to sit outside or on the couch with the laptop on my, well, lap it gets uncomfortable every single time.

I haven't really been pushing it too hard I believe. On a normal work day, the applications I use all the time and have open simultaneously more often than not are Office 365 (Outlook, Word, and Excel), Mail for all non-Exchange mail accounts, LibreOffice, Safari with various web apps, Teams and Zoom for conference calls, 3CX softphone for regular phone calls, Microsoft Remote Desktop, a terminal with SSH, and sometimes a music streaming service such as Amazon Prime Music or Spotify in the background. There are various cloud services synchronizing their respective folders in the background (1x iCloud, 1x Dropbox, 2x OneDrive, various SMB and SSH shares via GoodSync) and some background tools and helpers such as Hazel, Haste, Deepl, or Magnet. That's really it. I don't believe that should be too much to ask for, and the MacBook never really slows down or struggles with the workloud, it simply gets uncomfortably hot at the bottom and noticeably warm to the touch at the top.

Activity Monitor usually lists WindowServer at the top so I'm not really sure what's going on.
 
mj_ said:
Honestly, I can't remember the last time it didn't get uncomfortably hot. Most of the time I really don't care because I'm using it on a table but whenever I do decide to sit outside or on the couch with the laptop on my, well, lap it gets uncomfortable every single time.

I haven't really been pushing it too hard I believe. On a normal work day, the applications I use all the time and have open simultaneously more often than not are Office 365 (Outlook, Word, and Excel), Mail for all non-Exchange mail accounts, LibreOffice, Safari with various web apps, Teams and Zoom for conference calls, 3CX softphone for regular phone calls, Microsoft Remote Desktop, a terminal with SSH, and sometimes a music streaming service such as Amazon Prime Music or Spotify in the background. There are various cloud services synchronizing their respective folders in the background (1x iCloud, 1x Dropbox, 2x OneDrive, various SMB and SSH shares via GoodSync) and some background tools and helpers such as Hazel, Haste, Deepl, or Magnet. That's really it. I don't believe that should be too much to ask for, and the MacBook never really slows down or struggles with the workloud, it simply gets uncomfortably hot at the bottom and noticeably warm to the touch at the top.

Activity Monitor usually lists WindowServer at the top so I'm not really sure what's going on.
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OK, you usually have more running than I do, since for the more complex stuff I use my iMac.

However, it also may depend on the model. I have an 2017 m3 with 16 GB. If you have 8 GB it could run hotter if it's running out of memory.
 
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I would love a new 12" MacBook. Going to wait for one as long as I can (I have the early 2015 model... it's hanging in there so far).

I really don't understand where Apple is headed with the MacBook Air these days... for all intents and purposes it's the same size and weight as the 13" MBP, with the exact same processor to boot. Both are more "computer" than I need or want to carry.

I'd consider an 11" iPad Pro w/ magic keyboard, but it (strangely) weighs almost as much as the Air... and I also don't feel the keyboard or iPad OS are really "there" yet. The keyboard feels cheap (despite the price tag) and I can't imagine using iPad OS as my primary OS. Maybe in a couple years.

In the meantime, I'll keep crossing my fingers for a 12" :)
 
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EricNau said:
I really don't understand where Apple is headed with the MacBook Air these days... for all intents and purposes it's the same size and weight as the 13" MBP, with the exact same processor to boot. Both are more "computer" than I need or want to carry.
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It's pretty clear that the new M1 MacBooks are stopovers and represent no new industrial designs.

I would be serious money the entire line is overhauled in the next 18 months giving each its own reason to exist.
 
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EugW said:
OK, you usually have more running than I do, since for the more complex stuff I use my iMac.

However, it also may depend on the model. I have an 2017 m3 with 16 GB. If you have 8 GB it could run hotter if it's running out of memory.
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I honestly don't believe it's a memory issue. Last night, after posting this, I performed a quick test. After working with the M1 Air all day long and several hours on my lap in the backyard enjoying the nice Texas fall weather I took out the MacBook in the evening and did the following:
  • Closed all applications
  • Rebooted to make sure there are no background processes
  • Took the laptop on my lap on the couch. At this point, the underside was still pleasantly cool
  • Launched Safari to browse the web, catch up on the nerd news, etc. and Amazon music to stream music through my Bluetooth headphones while my wife was watching TV
Those were the only applications running and in use. No Outlook, no Word or Excel, no Mail, Teams, or any other shenanigans. After around 10 minutes I could already feel my thighs getting warm. After 15 minutes it got uncomfortable. Not painful by any means but uncomfortable to the point where I could feel my thighs starting to sweat. I honestly don't know if there's something wrong with my laptop, my lap, or my heat perception. But this should not be happening methinks.

Anyway, it's a moot point now. I am going to put this MacBook up for sale next week. In my personal opinion, the M1 Air does everything better than the MacBook by orders of magnitude except for weight and size, and I am willing to put up with this compromise. Plus, the price these old MacBooks are going for right now is crazy, and it makes it all the more worthwhile - upgrading will only set me back around $300, if not less. It's a no-brainer, really.

If anyone is interested in a Gold 2017 12" MacBook (m3/8GB/256GB) in pristine condition covered by Apple's Keyboard Repair program until January 2022 PM me. It'll be up for grabs early next week.
 
EricNau said:
I would love a new 12" MacBook. Going to wait for one as long as I can (I have the early 2015 model... it's hanging in there so far).

I really don't understand where Apple is headed with the MacBook Air these days... for all intents and purposes it's the same size and weight as the 13" MBP, with the exact same processor to boot. Both are more "computer" than I need or want to carry.

I'd consider an 11" iPad Pro w/ magic keyboard, but it (strangely) weighs almost as much as the Air... and I also don't feel the keyboard or iPad OS are really "there" yet. The keyboard feels cheap (despite the price tag) and I can't imagine using iPad OS as my primary OS. Maybe in a couple years.

In the meantime, I'll keep crossing my fingers for a 12" :)
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Dito. Sometimes I don't get Apple, well a lot of times.

I understand the Pro line but bringing out an M1 Air 13.3 AND Pro 13.3 at the same time with only small differences (battery, fan, touchbar, some power maybe)?! Why not make the Air 12inch or just no Air and a normal new MacBook 12 or MacBook Mini? That would differentiate the MacBook line way more. They could have stayed with same specs and price. 12inch MacBook (Mini), 13.3inch MacBook Pro and 16inch MacBook Pro, all can be hardware set to each liking at their store. That is it. Simple and a MacBook for (almost) everyone. Now people who just want a small and light MacBook need to wait and other people don't know what to buy, Air or Pro 13.3. Strange decisions...

BTW: I love my MB 12 2017 8GB/512GB/i5 so much. I am on the fence of buying the MBA M1 but I really, really just want a new M1 MacBook 12. Nothing more. Please Apple!

And the new OS Big Sur is boon and bane at the same time. On one side it rans amazing after a clean install, in no way any comparison to the imo really bad Catalina. So fast, even on a 2017 MacBook 12. No colored balls which happened ALL the time on the earlier versions of Catalina (have gone back to Mojave then). But on the other hand it really does use unnecessary space in it's design. The bars in Safari and other apps take really much space, totally unnecessary. Space which could be use for the website itself. And with this small screen it is even more annoying. I don't care about icons. But THIS is really annoying.

Still, gotta stay with MB12 for a while, it really runs amazing with Big Sur installed.

PS: One reason could be that they want us to buy the iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard as an alternative. And that may be a possibility if the iPad would run Mac apps and you could sync devices via USB-C port etc. But that is not possible. So it is no alternative to a MacBook 12.
 
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for now, i'm holding with my 12 inch 2017 mac. waiting for the second gen or the next major redesign of the macbook air. my 2017 mac is still good enough for zooms, managing my online store and typing long documents. if i need to do basic video editing, i will do it on my iPad Pro. i'm shifting some of my work to the iPad anyway.
 
I've tried the new M1 MacBook Air, lovely laptop, fast, touch-id, etc, everything good that has been said about it. I was going to pass my MacBook to my wife, but swapping between the two, I realised that the smaller lighter MacBook is so much better for my use, lite browsing, emails etc on the sofa or dining table. I have my Mac mini and dual monitors for work. It is going back to Apple and I wait for an M1 12" light laptop. I haven't seen any MacBook's on Apple Refurb (UK) for a while now or else I would get another. As others have said, I see no difference between the M1 Air and the M1 Pro.
 
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