Thoughts on My New Work Computer

My daily-use work notebook (the trusty old MacBook Air) was replaced with a 2018 MacBook Air a few months ago.

The Good

• “Looks like 1680 x 1050” means more space for seeing things. ✅
• There is a physical Esc key. ✅
• The keyboard lights up. ✅
• Battery life is pretty good. ✅
• Performance is fine. ✅

The Bad

• The clackity-clack keyboard is already goofing up sometimes. There’s a chance I’ll get more than one “o” when I type one “o”. Anecdotally, this seems to happen most when writing email, which is both weird and exactly when I don’t want a goofy keyboard.
• I now have a USB-C adapter that has become part of my life, mostly for connecting to presentation equipment. It’s one of those Dell hockey-puck devices, and it works, but the fact that it must exist and be with me is unpleasant. I put it in my pocket when heading to meetings and it looks like I’m carrying a can of dipping tobacco. (Unfavorable flashbacks to my retainer case in junior high.)
• Touch ID worked for a while, now it doesn’t. I don’t know why, but I think it’s local to our environment. This one is weird and we’re working on it. Fixed! ✅
• I would like to stay on our internal WiFi, but I have auth problems that are weird and totally disrupt the “minimum ceremony upon opening lid” requirement. I think I know why, and I’m sure it’s local to our environment. This one will be solved soon. Fixed! ✅

The Verdict

It’s a good computer, and definitely what most people should use unless they have specific requirements. Should Apple get it together and replace the keyboard on this model, it will be a great computer – as long as you don’t mind dealing with an adapter from time to time.