About
Just wanted to share my experience moving to the new MBA.
Only 0.7 lbs. lighter but feels like a lot more. The contoured shape and smaller size make this significantly more comfortable to hold & carry around.
Display
Brightness: At first it seemed pretty dim. After turning off True Tone & auto brightness, perceived brightness seems quite a bit higher to me.
Brightness seems similar to my old MBP. Specs are similar @ ~380 nits.
Colors are quite fine. Overall display quality seems similar or maybe slightly better than the old MBP but I don’t have it any longer for a direct comparison.
Tried it outside in the sun & it’s usable.
Text isn’t as crisp as another 15” PC I have with 4K but higher resolution displays consume more battery so there's always a tradeoff. Wish the iPad Pro displays could be used.
Speakers
Similar to & slightly better than my 11” iPad Pro. Highs are more clear with the speakers facing up vs. the sides of the iPad.
Much better than the old MBP or other PCs with downward facing speakers which are muffled.
Little bass. No fullness like a bluetooth speaker but clear & quite ok. Much better than other laptops I have used.
Keyboard
Excellent key pressure & feel. I really like it.
Keys are not wobbly like my old MB with less light bleed. Overall a big improvement to me.
Thermals & performance
Heard the fan come on once when installing Office. Barely audible.
Bottom was warm for the first couple hours while indexing & installing Office but nothing concerning. I have been using it all evening, including Excel, Music, Safari, YouTube with no issues & little heat.
I don’t do games & may occasionally edit a 1080p video but haven’t tried yet. Otherwise system works great with no lag or stutters.
The magic touchpad is a huge upgrade to me. I really dislike all the others with the CLICK of the physical switch. Feels much more refined.
Touch ID is really convenient for logging in & signing in without entering passwords. Face ID would be even better but no complaints.
The webcam is poor as others have said. Good enough for work video calls but very grainy. Wonder if the real challenge is to make a 1080p camera that will fit in the very thin bezel…
Sidecar is great. If you hover over the green dot on any window you can select “Move to iPad Pro 11”. Brilliant!
Overall I think this is going to be a stellar upgrade from the old MBP for my use case. Extremely pleased so far.
By vipbloger
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