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This machine is really good as it stands. However given the opportunity the first thing that I’d change is having a USB-C on both sides. From there making the ports TB 4 ports to support more than one external display would be great. An SD card reader & HDMI would be nice to haves although Apple probably has data on consumer use of SD cards which is probably low. They want people to avoid HDMI & airplay so that’s probably why they don’t put that on it either.
 
Thickness is not the issue. The MacBook Pro has thicker displays too but the notch is just as big. Basically, Apple is just trying to make it seem like the notch is a part of their identity. Next will be the island.

Here, you can see what's underneath the notch:
View attachment 2226281

Source: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...s-more-than-just-a-1080p-camera.574456.0.html

Clearly the notch can be smaller if not gone. Maybe they'll turn it into an island next just like the iPhone...
This will not fit with the current bezels (excluding the area with notch)
 
The trackpad is bigger than the 13” so not sure what ‘normal’ is.
The size it is in the 13” M1 and M2 MBAs. The size it was in the 2013-2018! But not this 15” trackpad on steroids!

Would like to see SD Card slot. The Air had it till the 2020 Intel model was released.

My 2019 Intel MBA has no card slot… 😎

As to the wish list…

1. MagSafe on both sides! Of course, given the supposed 20-hour battery life, who needs to charge while using it, anyway?!

2. Something groundbreaking; something none of us has suggested that we don’t know we want until brilliant Apple designers channeling Steve Jobs show it to us!

As the old saw goes — Henry Ford once said, if you had asked people what they wanted, they would have said, “A faster horse!” — not the Model-T.

Or, as Guy Kawasaki said, “If you asked people what they wanted, they would have said, “A faster, cheaper, better Apple II” — not the Macintosh!
 
Sure, they make for a nice and shiny store demo, but...
PWM=headaches, sore eyes, nausea. Add burn-in on top of that, and I'd take a good old IPS LCD any day for real work (several hours staring into the screen).
hmm might be.. i havent had any adverse effects to OLEDs yet. And i have seen folks affected by the non-pwm m2 air panels too.
 
Just joining the choir… USB on both sides and ideally a SD card slot.

Sad to think that my 2011 Air has a more useful port selection than the current lot.

The USBs being on one side and close to the power connector is especially infuriating. I have an USB-C adaptor that breaks out into multiple ports, like USB-A/SD/etc and it’s a solid thing, no cable, you stick it on the side of the laptop. With the current MBA design, if you plug it in, you cannot have anything else including power.

I like my connector because it’s portable and does a lot. I don’t like the MBA port situation, it‘s hare-brained design catering to the lowest possible denominator without any apparent reason why it should be so.

The Airs were not always this lacking in functionality, after Apple changed to its own silicon to make more money they’ve also started nickel-and-diming every other feature.
 
Base storage but Apple is smart because people will pay for the upgrade $$$
I would pick two external display support but that's a M2 limitation.
 
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This machine is really good as it stands. However given the opportunity the first thing that I’d change is having a USB-C on both sides. From there making the ports TB 4 ports to support more than one external display would be great. An SD card reader & HDMI would be nice to haves although Apple probably has data on consumer use of SD cards which is probably low. They want people to avoid HDMI & airplay so that’s probably why they don’t put that on it either.
Yeah, having USB-C on both sides seems to be the main design oversight on the 15MBA. I'm fine with it having only 2 USB-C ports, but just put one on both sides.
 
With the new speaker system, having the speaker grilles on the side of the keyboard would have been a nice touch.

Really cannot complain though, this is 100% one of the best MacBook's Apple has ever made, in my humble opinion.

:apple:
 
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Add that beautiful black framing around the keyboard. instead we're left with a 10 year old outdated keyboard design :(
 
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Thickness is not the issue. The MacBook Pro has thicker displays too but the notch is just as big. Basically, Apple is just trying to make it seem like the notch is a part of their identity. Next will be the island.

Here, you can see what's underneath the notch:
View attachment 2226281

Source: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...s-more-than-just-a-1080p-camera.574456.0.html

Clearly the notch can be smaller if not gone. Maybe they'll turn it into an island next just like the iPhone...
I think Apple is reserving space with the current notch. Yes the current hardware behind the notch can be smaller, but they don't want to later increase the size of the notch if more stuff is added back there - like the IR dot projector and cameras for FaceID. This way, users and developers will work with a consistent notch size for many years, rather than a notch that grows or shrinks model to model and year to year.
 
(Without turning it into a MacBook Pro)

M3 chip is the obvious answer (and next step), but I really wish they would have put at least 1 USB-C port on the right side. I don't mind the 15MBA being limited to two USB-C ports, but I just wish there were one on each side.
This bugs me too, especially when it comes to charging. Somehow it seems like more than 50% of the time, the outlet I want to charge from ends up being on my right...
 
Secondly, Apple uses TouchID to switch between multiple users, which is great, because if somebody with an account on your computer touches that key, they probably want to and should use their own account.
I do this all day when I switch between my work and personal accounts -- registered each with a different finger, so all I have to do is press down with the correct digit. It's very handy (no pun intended).

On the other hand, imagine you only want to show something to a family member on your MacBook. Then FaceID picks up their face and switches to their user. Not good. Touching an extra special key is much more appropriate for this intent.
Agreed. The Mac is often a shared device, which muddies the use case for FaceID. I would also not like to pay for my Mac to have all the extra hardware required to make FaceID work.
 
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