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


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Check out the thread titled “A Wedge Issue…” for more empirical assessments on this matter.


Five key points.

1. The front edge height of the M2 MBA is nearly 3x that of the M1 MBA!​

2. The M2 MBA's front height is much closer to that of the MacBook Pros than that of the M1 MBA.​

3. The average height of the M1 MBA is slightly less than that of the M2 MBA!​

4. The volume of the M1 MBA is also slightly less than that of the M2 MBA.​
5. What matters is the height with the case open.​

6. How Macs feel while typing depends upon a host of factors — the size of a person's hands and palms, whether they are a touch typist, whether one uses the Mac in their laps or on a desk, the size of the palm rest, the height of the front edge, etc.​

For many people, the squared-off higher front edge of the MacBook Pros dug into their palm and wrists, even leaving red lines and imprints after long typing sessions. It was quite uncomfortable. They found the tapered, lower, thinner, front edge of the tapered MBA much more comfortable.

Odds are that if the MacBook Pros were not a problem for you, the M2 MBAs won't be, either. OTOH, if the MBPs produced lines and felt uncomfortable, then the odds, although reduced, are that the M2 MBA may do so, too.
 
Check out the thread titled “A Wedge Issue…” for more empirical assessments on this matter.


Five key points.

1. The front edge height of the M2 MBA is nearly 3x that of the M1 MBA!​

2. The M2 MBA's front height is much closer to that of the MacBook Pros than that of the M1 MBA.​

3. The average height of the M1 MBA is slightly less than that of the M2 MBA!​

4. The volume of the M1 MBA is also slightly less than that of the M2 MBA.​
5. What matters is the height with the case open.​

6. How Macs feel while typing depends upon a host of factors — the size of a person's hands and palms, whether they are a touch typist, whether one uses the Mac in their laps or on a desk, the size of the palm rest, the height of the front edge, etc.​

For many people, the squared-off higher front edge of the MacBook Pros dug into their palm and wrists, even leaving red lines and imprints after long typing sessions. It was quite uncomfortable. They found the tapered, lower, thinner, front edge of the tapered MBA much more comfortable.

Odds are that if the MacBook Pros were not a problem for you, the M2 MBAs won't be, either. OTOH, if the MBPs produced lines and felt uncomfortable, then the odds, although reduced, are that the M2 MBA may do so, too.
Thickness of the front edge doesn’t matter as much as the distance from the top of the front edge to the desk does, in my opinion. As the posters in that thread correctly identify, the “much thinner” case at the front edge of the wedge airs is suspended much further in the air than the new designs, negating the benefit of the thinness of the front edge for typing-on-a-desk purposes.

A 1 mm plane that’s an inch off a desk would be more annoying to type on than a 10mm thick plane sitting right on a desk, again in my opinion.

The distance from the top of the front edge (the palm rest) to the desk appears to be very close between the two designs, but we’ll have to wait for some measurements to find out the actual delta.
 
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Check out the thread titled “A Wedge Issue…” for more empirical assessments on this matter.


Five key points.

1. The front edge height of the M2 MBA is nearly 3x that of the M1 MBA!​

2. The M2 MBA's front height is much closer to that of the MacBook Pros than that of the M1 MBA.​

3. The average height of the M1 MBA is slightly less than that of the M2 MBA!​

4. The volume of the M1 MBA is also slightly less than that of the M2 MBA.​
5. What matters is the height with the case open.​

6. How Macs feel while typing depends upon a host of factors — the size of a person's hands and palms, whether they are a touch typist, whether one uses the Mac in their laps or on a desk, the size of the palm rest, the height of the front edge, etc.​

For many people, the squared-off higher front edge of the MacBook Pros dug into their palm and wrists, even leaving red lines and imprints after long typing sessions. It was quite uncomfortable. They found the tapered, lower, thinner, front edge of the tapered MBA much more comfortable.

Odds are that if the MacBook Pros were not a problem for you, the M2 MBAs won't be, either. OTOH, if the MBPs produced lines and felt uncomfortable, then the odds, although reduced, are that the M2 MBA may do so, too.
Epic response, nailed it
 
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Thickness of the front edge doesn’t matter as much as the distance from the top of the front edge to the desk does, in my opinion.

The distance from the top of the front edge (the palm rest) to the desk appears to be very close between the two, but we’ll have to wait for some measurements to find out for sure.
Disagree, that thickness is what digs into large hands
 
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For many people, the squared-off higher front edge of the MacBook Pros dug into their palm and wrists, even leaving red lines and imprints after long typing sessions. It was quite uncomfortable. They found the tapered, lower, thinner, front edge of the tapered MBA much more comfortable.
'for many people'... can you share your resource for this statement? i mean, on a personal level only, i know a lot of ppl with laptops (mac or otherwise) who don't have 'red lines and imprints after long typing sessions'. etc

just saying something does not make it true... 🤔
 
Disagree, that thickness is what digs into large hands
Confused how this is possible, are you saying the flesh of large hands is able to wrap around the thin wrist rest and occupy the space between the desk and the front edge of the computer, rendering it more comfortable than a design that’s equally far from the desk (and equally sharp at the edge), but doesn’t have a large gap between the wrist rest and the desk for the hand flesh of large hands to occupy?

Now, I know we don’t know the relative heights of the wrist decks yet, but for argument’s sake to illustrate:

21E96366-2745-4067-B409-673B20A9FB4E.jpeg
 
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Confused how this is possible, are you saying the flesh of large hands is able to wrap around the thin wrist rest and occupy the space between the desk and the front edge of the computer, rendering it more comfortable than a design that’s equally far from the desk (and equally sharp at the edge), but doesn’t have a large gap between the wrist rest and the desk for the hand flesh of large hands to occupy?
I agree. The only thing that could possibly be causing someone to feel discomfort for two top edges at the same height from the top of the desk is that the M1 MBA is tapered and the M2 isn't. We won't know how much difference that makes until the M2 MacBook Airs are available and people can test for themselves.
 
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Check out the thread titled “A Wedge Issue…” for more empirical assessments on this matter.


Five key points.

1. The front edge height of the M2 MBA is nearly 3x that of the M1 MBA!​

2. The M2 MBA's front height is much closer to that of the MacBook Pros than that of the M1 MBA.​

3. The average height of the M1 MBA is slightly less than that of the M2 MBA!​

4. The volume of the M1 MBA is also slightly less than that of the M2 MBA.​
5. What matters is the height with the case open.​

6. How Macs feel while typing depends upon a host of factors — the size of a person's hands and palms, whether they are a touch typist, whether one uses the Mac in their laps or on a desk, the size of the palm rest, the height of the front edge, etc.​

For many people, the squared-off higher front edge of the MacBook Pros dug into their palm and wrists, even leaving red lines and imprints after long typing sessions. It was quite uncomfortable. They found the tapered, lower, thinner, front edge of the tapered MBA much more comfortable.

Odds are that if the MacBook Pros were not a problem for you, the M2 MBAs won't be, either. OTOH, if the MBPs produced lines and felt uncomfortable, then the odds, although reduced, are that the M2 MBA may do so, too.
Um, you quoted my post, where I showed that the keyboard deck height above the desk of the M1 Air is much higher than the actual thickness of the laptop at its very front edge. Really not sure what you're trying to say.
 
Confused how this is possible, are you saying the flesh of large hands is able to wrap around the thin wrist rest and occupy the space between the desk and the front edge of the computer, rendering it more comfortable than a design that’s equally far from the desk (and equally sharp at the edge), but doesn’t have a large gap between the wrist rest and the desk for the hand flesh of large hands to occupy?

Now, I know we don’t know the relative heights of the wrist decks yet, but for argument’s sake to illustrate:

View attachment 2029381
^^^^This. Also, a larger surface area would help to spread the pressure of any contact from hands or wrists. So what they are saying makes no sense logically.

So much disingenuous argument here from people who dislike the new design.
 
Logically that makes no sense. The greater surface area of the thicker front edge would help to alleviate the edge ‘digging’ in to large hands vs a thinner edge. Do you hold knives by the blade?
lol... I'll let the pain receptors in my hands know you you think they are liars. haha

I am someone who has tested both 13" and 14" MBP and had to return both due to pain, whereas, the air feels perfect. the air is not a blade. it just does not hurt the hands like the thick 13" and 14" do....
 
lol... I'll let the pain receptors in my hands know you you think they are liars. haha

I am someone who has tested both 13" and 14" MBP and had to return both due to pain, whereas, the air feels perfect. the air is not a blade. it just does not hurt the hands like the thick 13" and 14" do....
ok. that's one experience. how many MBP users are not experiencing pain while typing?

either way, it's irrelevant. both form factors have their champions, and both are currently available. so as long as there are M1 airs out there, you can buy one. for the rest of us, the present moment is the M2. and next? who knows; this IS apple we're talking about, so anything can happen...🤔
 
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lol... I'll let the pain receptors in my hands know you you think they are liars. haha

I am someone who has tested both 13" and 14" MBP and had to return both due to pain, whereas, the air feels perfect. the air is not a blade. it just does not hurt the hands like the thick 13" and 14" do....
I have owned the 13” and Air for a long time and this was my experience as well.
 
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lol... I'll let the pain receptors in my hands know you you think they are liars. haha

I am someone who has tested both 13" and 14" MBP and had to return both due to pain, whereas, the air feels perfect. the air is not a blade. it just does not hurt the hands like the thick 13" and 14" do....
I don’t think your hands are liars.🙂

I do think that some people in this thread are used to the M1 Air design and are somewhat confused about certain things. And attribute this confusion to things it should not be attributed to.

FWIW I like both the M1 and M2 designs of the Air, although I think the M2 design is superior. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the only winner in this contest is Apple.
 
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I have a soft spot for the wedge design but times change, the new device does look good.
They will bring it back again. At that point we will have wedge + MagSafe just like 2017. Maybe they’ll even get rid of the notch by then.
 
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