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The M1 Macs Are Winners With Only a Couple of Disappointments
Apple’s new Mac’s which use the M1 chip is just not exceeding performance expectations it is being called the great leap forward. The M1 SoC has passively-cooled 13-inch devices like the MacBook Air as sharp and snappy as much-higher (and much more expensive) laptops. But in cranking out that performance, they have much better efficiency:
The M1 is the thing that matters. But the new Macs have some of the tired old problems: a terrible 720p webcam, iOS and iPadOS apps are mostly low performance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro still has a TouchBar that’s useless. The lack of external GPU support is limiting for some use cases. Apple is completely nailing the most difficult parts: SoC hardware, software integrations, emulation.
Apple has announced an iOS App Store small business program: Apple will only take 15 percent, down from 30%, for small businesses “earning up to $1 million per year”. Thanks, Epic for the forceful lawsuit, that shook Apple’s tree.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is nearly identical to its Intel-powered predecessor, while the big change in the new MacBook Air is the notably-absent fan. On the MacBook Pro, it appears to have the same fan as the 2020 Intel revision, so any difference in
noise comes down to the M1 hardware requiring less cooling under load. The T2 security chip is also gone, with Secure Enclave tech residing inside of Apple’s new PC CPU. Even on the M1 chip, iFixit points out that the SOC memory setup sports two built-on SK Hynix LPDDR4X chips, similar to what’s inside of recent iPads.
Figure 1: Apple M1 Mac’s Uncovered
Apple’s new Mac’s which use the M1 chip is just not exceeding performance expectations it is being called the great leap forward. The M1 SoC has passively-cooled 13-inch devices like the MacBook Air as sharp and snappy as much-higher (and much more expensive) laptops. But in cranking out that performance, they have much better efficiency:
- Anandtech has released its first take of the M1-based Mac Mini. The detail and benchmarks show that the M1 SoC has the kind of incredible leaps over and above year-to-year improvements when powered by Intel and AMD.
- The M1 in the Mac Mini has less constraints than the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and is still a low-power device drawing 20-24W. The CPU performs at twice the typical thermal loads. Quote: “The M1 undisputedly outperforms the core performance of everything Intel has to offer, and battles with AMD’s new Zen3, winning some, losing some.” These are low-power chips, with superb battery life, and only AMD’s best and newest Zen3 competes, consuming far, far more power.)
- The Verge has useful reviews, not getting into the depths of benchmarks and numbers, more what it means for your computing. Review: Dieter Bohn with the MacBook Air.
- Wired: “Spend a day with the new MacBook Air and the improvements are immediately noticeable. … The M1 is no Mac evolution, it’s a Mac revolution.”
- TechCrunch: “I personally tested the 13” M1 MacBook Pro and after extensive testing, it’s clear that this machine eclipses some of the most powerful Mac portables ever made in performance while simultaneously delivering 2x-3x the battery life at a minimum.”
- Something that will help, too: Google is launching a native version of Chrome for Apple’s Arm Macs on Wednesday (The Verge).
The M1 is the thing that matters. But the new Macs have some of the tired old problems: a terrible 720p webcam, iOS and iPadOS apps are mostly low performance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro still has a TouchBar that’s useless. The lack of external GPU support is limiting for some use cases. Apple is completely nailing the most difficult parts: SoC hardware, software integrations, emulation.
Apple has announced an iOS App Store small business program: Apple will only take 15 percent, down from 30%, for small businesses “earning up to $1 million per year”. Thanks, Epic for the forceful lawsuit, that shook Apple’s tree.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is nearly identical to its Intel-powered predecessor, while the big change in the new MacBook Air is the notably-absent fan. On the MacBook Pro, it appears to have the same fan as the 2020 Intel revision, so any difference in
noise comes down to the M1 hardware requiring less cooling under load. The T2 security chip is also gone, with Secure Enclave tech residing inside of Apple’s new PC CPU. Even on the M1 chip, iFixit points out that the SOC memory setup sports two built-on SK Hynix LPDDR4X chips, similar to what’s inside of recent iPads.
Figure 1: Apple M1 Mac’s Uncovered
- Anandtech has released its first take of the M1-based Mac Mini. The detail and benchmarks show that the M1 SoC has the kind of incredible leaps over and above year-to-year improvements when powered by Intel and AMD.
- The M1 in the Mac Mini has less constraints than the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and is still a low-power device drawing 20-24W. The CPU performs at twice the typical thermal loads. Quote: “The M1 undisputedly outperforms the core performance of everything Intel has to offer, and battles with AMD’s new Zen3, winning some, losing some.” These are low-power chips, with superb battery life, and only AMD’s best and newest Zen3 competes, consuming far, far more power.)
- The Verge has useful reviews, not getting into the depths of benchmarks and numbers, more what it means for your computing. Review: Dieter Bohn with the MacBook Air.
- Wired: “Spend a day with the new MacBook Air and the improvements are immediately noticeable. … The M1 is no Mac evolution, it’s a Mac revolution.”
- TechCrunch: “I personally tested the 13” M1 MacBook Pro and after extensive testing, it’s clear that this machine eclipses some of the most powerful Mac portables ever made in performance while simultaneously delivering 2x-3x the battery life at a minimum.”
- Something that will help, too: Google is launching a native version of Chrome for Apple’s Arm Macs on Wednesday (The Verge).
The M1 is the thing that matters. But the new Macs have some of the tired old problems: a terrible 720p webcam, iOS and iPadOS apps are mostly low performance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro still has a TouchBar that’s useless. The lack of external GPU support is limiting for some use cases. Apple is completely nailing the most difficult parts: SoC hardware, software integrations, emulation.
Apple has announced an iOS App Store small business program: Apple will only take 15 percent, down from 30%, for small businesses “earning up to $1 million per year”. Thanks, Epic for the forceful lawsuit, that shook Apple’s tree.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is nearly identical to its Intel-powered predecessor, while the big change in the new MacBook Air is the notably-absent fan. On the MacBook Pro, it appears to have the same fan as the 2020 Intel revision, so any difference in
noise comes down to the M1 hardware requiring less cooling under load. The T2 security chip is also gone, with Secure Enclave tech residing inside of Apple’s new PC CPU. Even on the M1 chip, iFixit points out that the SOC memory setup sports two built-on SK Hynix LPDDR4X chips, similar to what’s inside of recent iPads.