[pwpw]

Just for clarification, the parent I was originally responding to was expressing their negative view about the Nano and how they love their M1 MacBook Pro, so I wanted to provide my experience with the two laptops that I have used extensively.

I did briefly have a 2020 M1 Air for 2 years. It was fine for carrying around. It failed for portability primarily in its inability to dock to a 2 monitor workstation. I still vastly prefer my Nano as a portable laptop to travel with (e.g. plane or bus travel outside of my city). The Air indeed weighs very little, but it still weighs 40% more than a Nano! I usually travel with a portable screen that weighs half a pound, so my combo still weighs less than just an Air.

It’s hard to describe the experience with an Air, since weight is about physical feel, but that weight saving does make a difference. The Nano is so lightweight that I can quickly pick it up and use it on the sofa as comfortably as an iPad. My Nano even has a 5G SIM card slot that I can pop my cellphone SIM into. However, that only works on the Windows side for now. Finally, the keyboard is much more pleasant to type on with the Nano. It really is a great travel laptop. Add in the ability to natively run Arch Linux, and I’m happier than ever with it.

[brailsafe]

I'm always interested to learn about the setups that people eventually find working for them. Right now, I have a MS Sculpt keyboard (which I can toss in my backpack and use at a cafe, a little bulky for travel but doable) on a regular desk, and a somewhat budget 13" 2019 Intel MBP with 16gb of ram and a touch bar; the computer sits on stand next to my Dell 30" Ultrasharp (U3011 that I bought in ~2014) and a Logitech MX Master, as well as an old gaming PC that still provides use and I swap all the peripherals over to when needed. Have never personally owned an air or any other laptop than 13" Macbook Pros of varying specs now that I think of it, but used to develop on Windows when I was starting out, and typically do any server stuff on Debian over ssh or running Docker.

There are two areas that seem like such a miss to me on current macs, one of which you mentioned; cellular connectivity. I don't know if a physical SIM slot would be necessary, but it's just ridiculous that I still need to tether. That and a lack of any other appearance than grey or silver. Let me get a damn red, forest green, or lavender Macbook Pro!

I don't particularly care for the keyboard on the laptop, but my opinion more broadly, hence the Sculpt keyboard, is that any situation where my arms come in from an angle and I have to strain my wrists toward a rectangle of keys isn't really ideal. Went through a series of other external keyboards, apple keyboards, and what tends to be my preference is the key-depth of probably your Lenovo, a manta-ray like shape, wireless, and 10-keyless size; I'd really like backlit keys and a non-proprietary dongle or better wireless and internal battery that charges over usb-c.