I have been a most of my life a Windows user. When I was a kid, I tried out different versions of Ubuntu at some time for a short period. I also learned a lot about Linux servers and command-line while studying at Tallinn Polytechnic school computers and computer networks. I got quite quickly fond of Linux servers though, used them in my gaming communities a whole lot but that is a different story.
One and a half a year ago I bought M1 Macbook Air because my friend recommended it to me. At first, I was quite sceptical about Apple products because of the memes and other people’s opinions. I had only used Mac in Tallinn Polytechnic school and that was also for a very short period and at that time I did not like it at all. Maybe it was because the Apple keyboard and mouse are not my cups of tea as they say. Nonetheless, I needed a fast, lightweight laptop that I could get notes, send emails, browse the web, and participate in meetings and program websites. My friend told me it had exceptional battery life and was the fastest on the market for that price at that time. Pretty much everything I required. Before I bought the M1 Air, I did my fair share of research and watched countless reviews from different people. Finally, I decided to buy the base model of M1 Air.
Fast-forwarding 1.5 years and I have to say the battery life is still as the day I bought it and all my needs as listed before are still covered. The build quality is great, the battery lasts for me about 2 workdays. Depending on the tasks I throw at it. The screen is great (though I dislike that I cannot set the specific resolution in settings). But for the resolution, I downloaded an app – Display Menu. In the Display Menu app, you can select whatever resolution you want. So when you do not have an external display you can crank up the resolution to put a whole lot more windows side by side to get that extra space. Audio speakers are great, so there is no need to buy cheap computer speakers to get passable music. It’s very light so it is comfortable to pick up and leave wherever you want to go. The trackpad is one of the very best I have used, it is so good that I feel in some cases it is easier and more comfortable to use a trackpad than an external mouse. It looks classy and representational so it is ideal for business meetings. The only thing I dislike about Mac as life long Windows user is the MacOS behaviour of window management (minimize-maximize behaviour and no mouse auto-focusing when hovered on different windows), somewhat inaccurate mouse pointing clicks and some other tinier MacOS UI quirks as I like to say. Finally, the one thing that bothered me was it only supported up to 1 external display. But by the time I had two 24-inch monitors. So after a year or so I could not take it and bought 49 inch Samsung monitor and it works perfectly with it.
One of the best things I like about my iPhone and Macbook Air M1 is that I can copy something on my Macbook and then just paste it into my iPhone and vice-versa. Plus when someone calls my iPhone then there’s a notification bubble on my Macbook that I can accept the call on the computer and talk through the headset. What makes it even better is that I do not need to keep Bluetooth enabled on my iPhone, the phone turns it on by itself if it needs to on demand.
As I developed one mobile app on my M1 Air with React Native I noticed also some things were tedious to set up and some frustrating errors only occurred on Apple Silicon devices. But some of the things are not for Apple to cover so I am not mad at them. Just be ready when you have that computer and try to use RN.
I think the only thing that I have not gotten used to is the keyboard. After one and a half a year, I still mistype very often, compare to the full-size keyboard where I hardly do not make mistakes. But I guess it is because I have used full-size keyboards most of my life and I use so many different computers and their keyboards daily (3-4 to be exact) that I do not use the M1 keyboard so much so it would merge with my muscle memory. But I got to admit, I like the keyboard button clicks when typing.
In conclusion, I think I am going to use it until it dies because it has all the power & efficiency I need. I like the M1 Air very much and I think it is the best laptop I have ever owned. But I do not think it will happen anytime soon considering that there are pretty much no holes in the computer’s body so no dust could get in except for tiny speaker holes and the keyboard button slits. I know there are newer Apple models out there which are faster at some tasks but considering M1 Air has faster SSDs (combined) and better long-term performance than the M2 Air for example then I think the M1 is still a great option to buy for the price and I highly recommend it even today. But before you buy, look out that all the necessary apps you use are available on for MacOS.