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kofman13

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 6, 2009
585
168
My current main workstation is a Mac Studio M1 Pro, and i want really light small M1 portable companion laptop thats QUIET. so i want to trade in my 2019 macbook pro 13 base i5 model (super loud fans and terrible battery for audio prodiction) for base M1 MBA. in theory its a downgrade going from Pro to Air, but its also an upgrade because its M1, and its thinner and lighter which is a plus for me since its not a main computer. Anyone went from intel i5 MBP, to base MBA M1? any regrets? i am wondering mostly about the speakers. were they worse? what about the keyboard? is it different? i really cant stand how short/shallow the key travel is on my current 2019 macbook pro
 
There's no downgrade in performance. You can see some performance comparisons I did when the M1 Air came out in 2020 vs. the 2018 i7 MacBook Pro 13" here. The keyboard is much better on the 2020+ M1 Air. The keys have excellent travel and feedback. The speakers are also better on the newer laptop. I should note that I loved my 2018 MBP i7. I just hated the fan and battery life. Once you go M1, there's no looking back :)
 
I literally just did that very same upgrade. I went from an i5 2019 MBP with 4 Thunderbolts and 16GB ram to a 2020 M1 Air with 8GB ram. Nice upgrade to day the least. Much better battery life, quieter, faster, lighter, and better keyboard. You won’t regret the switch at all. Anything with an M1 is gonna completely outperform your i5 guaranteed. And I promise you won’t regret it if you’re looking for better battery life and a quicker machine!
 
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