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Best Form Factor - M1 vs M2 Air?

What's your preferred form factor - design and usability?

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erkanasu

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2006
739
690
Hey gang, I can't help but feel the m1 air is still the superior form factor.

1. M1 air 'looks thinner' even though it's not.
2. M1 air feels thinner even though it's not. I.e. Does not hurt wrists for big hands due to super thin wedge (I assume M2 will hurt, it's height next to the 13" MBP looks almost the same for hands and lots of people get wrist pain....see my other thread...)
3. Clean, no notch, if you have your menu bar hid on the M1 air, it's almost the same screen space!
4. Timeless design - it will always be recognized as the real MacBook Air - the jobs era design.

I know the m2 wins on non-form factor considerations (screen brightness, CPU/GPU, etc.) ... but this thread is about form factor...

What do ya'll think?

I have the budget to upgrade my m1 air to the m2, but I feel like I'm loosing too much with the upgrade.

the m1 air is legendary.
 
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erkanasu said:
in 1 week we will, in the meantime try the AR app
Click to expand...
my wife has no issue with the 13" (hand on the left), however, at rest, my hand feels perfect on the m1 wedged design, on the 13" or 14" MBP, it hurts after 2-3 mins of use
 

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erkanasu said:
Hey gang, I can't help but feel the m1 air is still the superior form factor.

1. M1 air 'looks thinner' even though it's not.
2. M1 air feels thinner even though it's not. I.e. Does not hurt wrists for big hands due to super thin wedge (I assume M2 will hurt, it's height next to the 13" MBP looks almost the same for hands and lots of people get wrist pain....see my other thread...)
3. Clean, no notch, if you have your menu bar hid on the M1 air, it's almost the same screen space!
4. Timeless design - it will always be recognized as the real MacBook Air - the jobs era design.

I know the m2 wins on non-form factor considerations (screen brightness, CPU/GPU, etc.) ... but this thread is about form factor...

What do ya'll think?

I have the budget to upgrade my m1 air to the m2, but I feel like I'm loosing too much with the upgrade.

the m1 air is legendary.
Click to expand...
Glad you think the M1 Air is the better choice. This highly subjective and others will feel differently. But it is hard to say since the M2 Air has been released yet.
 
fisherking said:
you find the M2 air uncomfortable to type on? oh wait, no one has one yet... 🤔
Click to expand...
Cute response but it doesn’t take a lot of thought process to realize it will be very similar to the MBP 14” I’m typing on. Additionally, a wedge design compared to a flat design is inherently more comfortable which is why keyboards typically have angle/height adjustments which is why I commented in the wedge design aspect not necessarily the laptop itself.
 
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The “wedge” is largely an optical illusion created by the curvature of the bottom of the case and the rubber feet (and emphasized by the lid).

It drops less than 3/16” over the 8.36” depth of the laptop.

Do we know the distance from tabletop to wrist deck on the M2?
 

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Sheepish-Lord said:
Cute response but it doesn’t take a lot of thought process to realize it will be very similar to the MBP 14” I’m typing on. Additionally, a wedge design compared to a flat design is inherently more comfortable which is why keyboards typically have angle/height adjustments which is why I commented in the wedge design aspect not necessarily the laptop itself.
Click to expand...
i'll wait until i can (literally) get my hands on one. am coming from a 12" macbook (no wedge!) and have been perfectly happily typing on it, so am sure the M2 air will feel just fine.

which keyboards have angle/height adjustments? i mean, every mac user i've ever met uses the apple keyboard. no wedge, nothing to adjust. and they're all doing fine.
 
fisherking said:
and this is based on your experiences trying out the new M2 air? oh, wait... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I personally think I can judge from my MBP 16' 2021. Isn't that what the new MBA designs are based off? I just imagine it a little smaller and already know my MBA M1 design feels better.
 
erckrns said:
The “wedge” is largely an optical illusion created by the curvature of the bottom of the case and the rubber feet (and emphasized by the lid).

It drops less than 3/16” over the 8.36” depth of the laptop.

Do we know the distance from tabletop to wrist deck on the M2?
Click to expand...
No, we don't know that distance. But it is fun to guess at:
  • Total stack (without feet) of the M2 Air is 11,3 mm (Apple's specs.)
  • M2 Air's feet look similar to the Pro 14" which are around 2 mm height (just measured of the missus')
  • Lid / total screen thickness looks a bit thicker than the M1 Air, but let's err on the side of caution and say 2 mm height
  • In summary: 'guesstimate' of wrist deck height of the M2 Air could be around 11,3 mm maybe a bit less.
At wrist rest my M1 Air is around 9-10 mm.

Look forward to July 15 for some actual data ;).
 
erckrns said:
The “wedge” is largely an optical illusion created by the curvature of the bottom of the case and the rubber feet (and emphasized by the lid).

It drops less than 3/16” over the 8.36” depth of the laptop.

Do we know the distance from tabletop to wrist deck on the M2?
Click to expand...
imo that's not as relevant, it's how much edge of the air gets pushed into your lower wrists. the thin edge pushes less surface area into the lower wrist.
 
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I find typing on laptop keyboards unbearable to be honest. The keys so close to the screen forces me to either (1) have the screen too close to my eyes or (2) have my arms stretched like an idiot when I’m typing. External keyboard ftw
 
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The M1 form factor for the Air never really got a fair shot since the first two releases had the butterfly keyboard and a REALLY crappy 8th Generation Y-series Intel Core i5 processor and given that the third release had really crappy 10th Generation Y-series Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors and that all three of those releases had extremely flawed cooling systems. The M1 model is the only iteration of that design of Air that actually worked and well.

This all being said, my only hesitation when recommending the M2 body style is that it's still very new. It's similar enough to the M1 Pro and M1 Max 14" and 16" MacBook Pros, which are nine months old. But that's still fairly young and not exactly tried and true. Statistically, this hasn't been a problem on MacBook Air computers anywhere near as much as it has been on MacBook Pro computers. But, nevertheless, if stability and reliability are what you're going for, a Rev A adopter you shouldn't be. If I had to pick a Mac to have an M2 in it, I'd buy a 13" MacBook Pro.

But that's not the question you asked. The question you asked is which form factor would I prefer for a MacBook Air. My answer is the one that has proven reliability. Otherwise, I hate the notch and am otherwise okay with the M2 Air's design.
 
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erckrns said:
The “wedge” is largely an optical illusion created by the curvature of the bottom of the case and the rubber feet (and emphasized by the lid).

It drops less than 3/16” over the 8.36” depth of the laptop.

Do we know the distance from tabletop to wrist deck on the M2?
Click to expand...
So why do people harp on about the angled keyboard so much when it’s so negligible… does it mimics any actual real keyboard? What’s the slant on that mr measuring tape? 😛
 
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