Apple 13.3" M1 MacBook Air (2020 Model)

As the owner of Intel Windows-based computers for the last 30 years, I bought my first Mac: Macbook Air M1. Got a good deal in Thailand with an 8GB-512GB machine for under $1100 U.S. - and unlike the U.S. models, mine has the 8-core GPU. I currently own six Windows laptops, including two high-end gaming machines. Here are the pros and cons I see with a Mac: PROS: - Quick and quite powerful with the 8-core CPU/8-core GPU. Geekbench single/multi-core results just beats out my 2022 MSI Summit E14 Flip-Evo with 12-core i7-1260P. - A virus scan of 650,000 files took 12'. On my MSI, takes 2 hours to scan 450,000 files. - LOUD audio volume for headphones. Intels machines are pathetic here; I have to jack the volume button on my Bluetooth headphones to the max. - Easy to work with .PDF files, just make a copy of the file and you can fill it in more easily on a Mac. On Intel machines you have to use Adobe Acrobat Reader, and have to pay annually for the full working version. - On the the Monterey OS, you having a working desktop on only 50GB of storage space for the apps. Try that on an Intel. The built-in word processing programs work fine. - No overheating on the Mac, no fan noise. CONS: - Bought the Mac for the battery life. This is greatly exaggerated by Mac users! I expected 10-15 hours battery life. Just playing video files on VLC player and nothing else going on I get 8-9 hours at best. The Retina screen eats up power at QHD resolution. You can get 10-15 hours of battery life on a Mac if you don't use the screen - Ha Ha. - Hardware incompatibility is the Achille's Heel of the Mac. Trying to get your external monitor recognized on boot is an issue with the M1 chip. Trying to get a (gaming) USB keyboard and mouse to work is a comedy of errors. USB-C hubs which work fine on my Windows machines are buggy on the Mac. I can't charge thru the hubs on the Mac, even though one hub is designed for the Mac. If I try to charge thru the hub, the keyboard and mouse hooked up to the hub goes dead. To revive them, I have to shut down completely and reboot. - No way to upgrade RAM or storage on the Mac, as the chips are soldered to the motherboard. My MSI came with 32GB of DDR5 PC4800 RAM, and a 1TB PCIE Gen4x4 SSD. Both are user upgradeable. The SSD on the MSI gets 7000/5000 read/write scores. I hear on the Macbook Air M1, you are lucky to hit 2500/2500. - No touchscreen on the Mac. - No 2-in-1 screen positioning on the Mac, or capability to use a WACOM pencil to draw on the screen. - No full HD webcam like on my MSI. - No infra-red camera like on my MSI, for facial recognition. - The MSI has 4-way noise cancellation mikes, Tobii aware software, Dolby audio. - Two Thunderbird 4 ports on the MSI, versus two TB3 ports on the Mac. - HDMI port on the MSI, so no need a USB-C hub. - 16:10, thin bezel QHD screen on the MSI, at 600 nits versus 450 on the Mac. Now granted, you are comparing a 2022 Intel laptop with the latest tech advances to a Mac built in 2020. Basically, if you are really into the latest, greatest high tech features on your laptop, and the ability to upgrade (for cheap), you have to go with Intel/Windows machines. I have heard about how much better the audio is on an Apple machine, but for some reason, I prefer my Windows laptops. Decent quality audio files sound somewhat shrill and bright on the Mac. There seems to be better resolution (can hear background vocals a bit clearer), however the Windows machine sounds cleaner and more foregiving, with a bit of air and transparency. The Mac sounds clinical. It's like the Mac is a solid state amp and the Windows machine a tube amp. Some of my Windows machines are running Nahimic audio, some MaxxAudio Pro. So due to the overrated battery life, the hardware issues, and the somewhat harsh and bright audio of the Mac, I am underwhelmed. Still 8-9 hours of battery life is better than the 4.5 hours I am getting at best on my Intel machines, to say nothing about the chronic overheating issues with their gaming laptops. Also sick and tired of Windows, with their weekly cumulative updates taking around 2 hours to download and install. Oh well, I guess there is no perfect laptop.