[least]

> I bought the Macbook Air with the intention of using it to replace my aging desktop rig, but was pretty surprised to find that it couldn't drive both of my monitors.

> I can't use my OS of choice on it, I can't use my software of choice on it, I can't upgrade or fix anything on it, and I can't trust the swap to not shred the SSD.

Minimal due diligence would probably have helped you not waste 1000+ dollars on a laptop that pretty apparently wasn't going to meet your needs.

You can't will the laptop into running linux/windows or x86_64 software. You can't will it into having better connectivity or supporting more than one display. These are things that you knew or should have known before purchasing it.

I think the value in a macbook air is that it's relatively powerful for its form factor, has excellent battery life, and is completely silent due to being fanless. A lot of the attractiveness of the product goes away if you _must_ run linux/windows or if you're using it primarily docked.

[volta83]

+1 I'm in a similar situation as the op, but I didn't buy a new macbook air due to most of the reasons mentioned.

Everybody knew that Linux support was going to be broken on day 1 and require multiple months of work to get better.

TBH I was surprised at the lack of multi-monitor support, this is something that one just expects "it just works" on 2021. Only discovered it reading the comments here, completely missed it when watching the Keynote and looking at Apple's website.

[rattray]

Speaking as another sad owner of a Macbook Air (pre-M1), I do wish Apple made it more clear that they can't drive monitors well, but I agree with your overall sentiment – OP probably would have been much, much happier with a higher-spec'd M1 MBP (though given the price and their OS preference, maybe still not happy enough).

[perardi]

I too agree that the display limitations are non-obvious.

I’m not sure if it’s a typical use case to run 2 displays on an Air, but that is a way more obvious set of affairs on a Mac mini, especially for a developer porting/testing software for the new architecture. You can run 2 displays on the Mac mini…but not the same way you used to.

https://thesweetsetup.com/running-multiple-monitors-on-an-m1...

(That is actually a clearer guide than Apple’s support docs.)

[rattray]

Yeah, another gotcha is that my MBA can't even drive a single 4k display at 60FPS, which I'm not sure was visible anywhere on the product page. (Not sure whether this limitation holds for the M1 MBA).

[smoldesu]

Yep, that was particularly disappointing to me. My 1440p panel supports up to 144hz, but MacOS only acknowledged 50hz and 60hz for the panel. Not that it made much of a difference in the first place, a flashing panel at 60hz is just as unusable as a flashing panel at 144hz.

[silicon2401]

Thanks for sharing this, I've been wanting a Mac Mini but am now wondering if it's worth it with this strange caveat

[MarkSweep]

Both the MBP and MBA say this in their tech specs, so getting the MBP would not help:

> Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: > One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz

The M1 Mac Mini can drive two displays: 6k on Thunderbolt and 4K on HDMI.

[cowmoo728]

The 2020 M1 macbook pro made no sense though. It was a macbook air with a cpu fan, touch bar, improved sound + display for an extra $300. The CPU and GPU and ports were identical.

[rattray]

Wow, right. The M1 MBP available now doesn't even have 4 ports. Definitely still worth waiting...

[smoldesu]

I agree, and they were big mistakes on my behalf. I'm not particularly hostile towards Apple, and I exclusively used iPhones for the first half of the last decade. My assumption was that Apple would have these issues ironed out, especially on a product they were comfortable calling "Pro".

[musicale]

> I can't use my OS of choice on it, I can't use my software of choice on it, I can't upgrade or fix anything on it, and I can't trust the swap to not shred the SSD.

If your OS of choice is (Windows/Linux), Apple doesn't have a strong incentive to support it.

If your software of choice is x86 Docker, Apple doesn't have a strong incentive to support it.

As a company that makes money from hardware sales and prioritizes thin, light laptops, and has moved to SoC design for better battery life on said laptops, Apple de-prioritizes upgradability and fixability.

However, shredding the built-in SSD is a bug that I'd expect them to fix. I'd also expect them to replace the SSD if it fails.

> My assumption was that Apple would have these issues ironed out, especially on a product they were comfortable calling "Pro".

Apple's definition of "Pro" is probably different from yours. For Apple, "Pro" seems to mean "runs Apple's Pro apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Xcode." And even though the M1 Macbook and M1 Mac mini aren't called "Pro", they are still excellent machines for FCP, Logic, and Xcode.

Overall, it sounds like Macs and macOS may not be a good fit for you.

[whoisburbansky]

Isn't the SSD on the M1s soldered on, like all the other components? Replacing it would involve replacing the entire motherboard, right, or am I missing something?

[dwaite]

Yep. I would expect them to either send it off for a logic board replacement or offer you an equivalent model if they have one in stock.

[aaomidi]

They're likely to just give you a new laptop and send you on your way.