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are you closer with a decision yet. :)?
Yes, I decided to go with the Air 15 in the end. The better keyboard, larger screen, better ergonomics, pretty midnight color, and lighter weight of the Air, for me outweighed the better trackpad, backlight uniformity, deep blacks, better speakers, better performance, and smaller form factor of the Pro.

At least, I had, but now I'm experiencing quality control issues. The Pro had a stiff keyboard and I was constantly missing keystrokes on certain keys which were even stiffer than the others, particularly the A and E keys. The Air is much better but the space bar is stiff and I end up missingspaces between words. The Air also has a backlight uniformity issue where the right side is noticeably darker than the left, and the trackpad is sluggish and sticky.

So I got a second Air 15. But the second Air has a stiffer keyboard, with the space bar, return, and various other keys too stiff. The trackpad is noticeably smoother than the first Air (actually has a different coating, checked under the microscope!) and it doesn't have the backlight uniformity issue, but it has worse backlight bleed with alternating red and green colors along the bottom. And the back cover has a ridge around the edge where it's not flush with the rest of the case.

I really don't want to have to return both the Airs and get a third... I don't want to get banned by Apple. But I'm really frustrated by the poor quality control on these things, and worried that if I ever need to get something replaced under AC+, I'll end up with a bad screen, bad keyboard, bad trackpad, or some other issue I can't fix. Not sure what I'll do.
 
Yes, I decided to go with the Air 15 in the end. The better keyboard, larger screen, better ergonomics, pretty midnight color, and lighter weight of the Air, for me outweighed the better trackpad, backlight uniformity, deep blacks, better speakers, better performance, and smaller form factor of the Pro.

At least, I had, but now I'm experiencing quality control issues. The Pro had a stiff keyboard and I was constantly missing keystrokes on certain keys which were even stiffer than the others, particularly the A and E keys. The Air is much better but the space bar is stiff and I end up missingspaces between words. The Air also has a backlight uniformity issue where the right side is noticeably darker than the left, and the trackpad is sluggish and sticky.

So I got a second Air 15. But the second Air has a stiffer keyboard, with the space bar, return, and various other keys too stiff. The trackpad is noticeably smoother than the first Air (actually has a different coating, checked under the microscope!) and it doesn't have the backlight uniformity issue, but it has worse backlight bleed with alternating red and green colors along the bottom. And the back cover has a ridge around the edge where it's not flush with the rest of the case.

I really don't want to have to return both the Airs and get a third... I don't want to get banned by Apple. But I'm really frustrated by the poor quality control on these things, and worried that if I ever need to get something replaced under AC+, I'll end up with a bad screen, bad keyboard, bad trackpad, or some other issue I can't fix. Not sure what I'll do.
Eeeeks do you have base model? If not ordering is time consuming! I just got my replacement one last night. Still noticing trackpad issue which I’m hopeful will be handleled during software updates. I haven’t looked at backlighting yet I will later today.
Lmk how it goes!!
 
Eeeeks do you have base model? If not ordering is time consuming! I just got my replacement one last night. Still noticing trackpad issue which I’m hopeful will be handleled during software updates. I haven’t looked at backlighting yet I will later today.
The 16GB/1TB, so always available for same day pickup (the secret model all the stores keep in stock). The process is annoying for sure. I just want a MacBook that works. Hope your replacement is better for you!
 
The 16GB/1TB, so always available for same day pickup (the secret model all the stores keep in stock). The process is annoying for sure. I just want a MacBook that works. Hope your replacement is better for you!
The stores keep 16GB/1TB 15 MBA? I've asked and they said no.. lol
as a science and medical person I may just keep the 14 m2 Pro, it will perform data task much better.
 
Yes, I decided to go with the Air 15 in the end. The better keyboard, larger screen, better ergonomics, pretty midnight color, and lighter weight of the Air, for me outweighed the better trackpad, backlight uniformity, deep blacks, better speakers, better performance, and smaller form factor of the Pro.

At least, I had, but now I'm experiencing quality control issues. The Pro had a stiff keyboard and I was constantly missing keystrokes on certain keys which were even stiffer than the others, particularly the A and E keys. The Air is much better but the space bar is stiff and I end up missingspaces between words. The Air also has a backlight uniformity issue where the right side is noticeably darker than the left, and the trackpad is sluggish and sticky.

So I got a second Air 15. But the second Air has a stiffer keyboard, with the space bar, return, and various other keys too stiff. The trackpad is noticeably smoother than the first Air (actually has a different coating, checked under the microscope!) and it doesn't have the backlight uniformity issue, but it has worse backlight bleed with alternating red and green colors along the bottom. And the back cover has a ridge around the edge where it's not flush with the rest of the case.

I really don't want to have to return both the Airs and get a third... I don't want to get banned by Apple. But I'm really frustrated by the poor quality control on these things, and worried that if I ever need to get something replaced under AC+, I'll end up with a bad screen, bad keyboard, bad trackpad, or some other issue I can't fix. Not sure what I'll do.
Banned lol, please you have bought a faulty product.
 
Banned lol, please you have bought a faulty product.
Haha, three times in a row! I'd be perfectly happy to keep one that doesn't have an annoying issue with the display, trackpad, or keyboard... I'll probably just keep bouncing them on the 14-day return period until I get lucky and find one that wins the display, keyboard, and trackpad lotteries. (1 in 8?)
 
Haha, three times in a row! I'd be perfectly happy to keep one that doesn't have an annoying issue with the display, trackpad, or keyboard... I'll probably just keep bouncing them on the 14-day return period until I get lucky and find one that wins the display, keyboard, and trackpad lotteries. (1 in 8?)

Three in a row? I have bought a crap ton of Apple stuff for decades, and never had one that was return worthy let alone three. I suggest giving up on Apple and grabbing a super high quality Dell XPS 15. I'll bet your experience will be much better.
 
I suggest giving up on Apple and grabbing a super high quality Dell XPS 15. I'll bet your experience will be much better.
I am an old fan of the XPS line - the famous era of 2008-2011 when XPS shined.

But even then and now, Dell XPS stays to be exactly that: Dell XPS. You can revisit their reviews page on the website - lots of people writing what is wrong with their machines. At least big props to Dell for not hiding the real reviews under censorship.

Dell XPS is a Jeep Wrangler of the computer world. It must be better than most of the Windows laptops while being very close to Apple. The issue is that there a lot of small things that go wrong and it needs constant tinkering. It can be made to achieve something best, but it will fail at anything else(Jeep is a king of rock crawling but besides is not so great).

This is the reason why i switched to Apple - at least it works as it should. It will not get better or worse - it just works.
 
This is the reason why i switched to Apple - at least it works as it should. It will not get better or worse - it just works.
That’s all very well and I hope they send you your check, but we’re talking about the same company that forced the butterfly keyboard on us for half a decade, and still won’t admit the Touch Bar is a dead end product. With Apple, it does get worse sometimes, and quite often it doesn’t just work, either on day one or after a short time.

There’s a reason the three largest laptop manufacturers by market share are Lenovo, HP, and Dell, in that order. Apple is in the top 10 but is way behind the competition and not even close to catching up, and in fact is losing market share relative to its peers.
 
That’s all very well and I hope they send you your check, but we’re talking about the same company that forced the butterfly keyboard on us for half a decade, and still won’t admit the Touch Bar is a dead end product. With Apple, it does get worse sometimes, and quite often it doesn’t just work, either on day one or after a short time.
That is why i don't receive checks cause I am not a preach. One needs to have a head on the shoulders and make weighted decisions. There was no real incentive to fall victim of butterfly/touch bar era.

Apple had wonderful 2012-2015 old school retina MBP line up. I bought one in 2012 and it chugged along until 2020. Friends were enjoying the most refined and latest 2015 models. There was really no need to buy faulty product right at the start.

In 2020 I just jumped into the M1 models. In the interim I used Lenovo to bridge me in the time until they released M1 in late 2020.

There’s a reason the three largest laptop manufacturers by market share are Lenovo, HP, and Dell, in that order.
The most manufacturing means the total sales. Porsche also loses in sales to Toyota, Honda and Ford.

Apple is in the top 10 but is way behind the competition and not even close to catching up, and in fact is losing market share relative to its peers.
Apple was never to be judged by the market share because that is not their goal. Having 50-80% market share would mean that 80% of buyers are able to buy Apple Macbook which is not the case cause it is priced high - it is not a windows laptop that one can snag for $200-$300 which creates that market share.
 
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how much more space and do you have to do a restart?
You do not have to do a restart. Here is a screenshot comparison. It is pretty substantial (15" default vs 15" "more space") On my 13" a single safari tab would take up the entire screen.
 

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Just makes it larger or improves clarity?

Both are very clear. I just prefer to be able to use multiple windows and easily be able to see and navigate. I still use "three fingers" up to see all of my open windows/apps, but the extra space makes me much more efficient.
 
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