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Anecdotally I recently grabbed a M1 MacBook Air and it’s an incredible machine. I prefer it over my work issued 2019 pro. It could be that the MDM software has

Anecdotally I recently grabbed a M1 MacBook Air and it’s an incredible machine. I prefer it over my work issued 2019 pro. It could be that the MDM software has slowed down the pro, but overall the experience with the M1 is very good.

STRML 6y ago
It's excellent. I have the 8-core i9 16" Pro and I prefer the Air in every way for development. The keyboard is better (no touchbar), it doesn't get as hot, the battery life is better, it's faster, and it cost 1/4 as much ($999 vs about $4k). I bought the 16" in February, only 10 months ago. What a leap.
- spideymans 6y ago
  I've been using my girlfriend's M1 Air, and I am superbly impressed. You can feel how much more responsive the system is with every click. I am so tempted to upgrade my from my 2017 Pro. The only thing holding me back is the knowledge that the M1 is the slowest Macintosh chip Apple will ever make.
  - breakfastduck 6y ago
    Feeling exactly the same. I am trying my hardest to wait for a couple of generations after grabbing a 2019 16".
    - rubicon33 6y ago
      Same boat. Tough to hold out given these incredible reviews!
      - STRML 6y ago
        It's not even that expensive, so it's a much easier product to recommend. Compare to the 2012 MBPr, a similarly innovative Apple laptop. The 2012 was $2,199 in 2012 dollars (nearly $2,500 today). This is that kind of leap, and more. $999 (sometimes $899) is a bargain.
      - andy_ppp 6y ago
        I am just going to do it and sell the machine once some absolute best of a machine comes out. 32 firestorm cores please! But still have to decide which one...
volkadav 6y ago
Agreed; I received my new m1 mba this week and it is _nice_. Anyone reading who is on the fence, I don't think you'll regret getting one (and I say that as a cheap bastard unix greybeard in general, heh). Cool-running, quiet, good keyboard, gorgeous display, insane battery life, it's just a phenomenal machine. :)
christoph 6y ago
I jumped on the hype train and got a M1 Mac Mini with 16gb and 1TB SSD, as it felt like a steal at around £1k Ex. VAT. for something that reviews told me would be quicker than my MBP. I've been blown away at how much faster/snappier it feels in day to day use compared to my 2018 16GB MBP. With the COVID situation I'm seated at my home office 95% of time now, rather than ~35%. One of the biggest changes has been that instead of having a jet engine level of noise next to me most of the day now, I have something that I haven't heard a noise from once in three or four days. It takes up way less desk space as well. It's much easier to tuck away somewhere than a laptop which you always have an emotional connection to needing portability with. I've had Photoshop, Illustrator, Media Encoder running encodes, After Effects, loads of web tabs open and it still feels cold to touch. More desk space, faster, less noise, less heat. It's ticked all those boxes.
- culturestate 6y ago
  Have you seen any issues with UI lag? I've been testing an M1 Mini for the same reasons, and connected to a 27" 4K display it feels much less responsive than my Intel MBP with the same monitor.
  - bognition 6y ago
    I have a 27” 4K Dell that connects over USB-C and haven’t seen any lagging
  - stunt 6y ago
    It could be a USB-C adapter issue if you are using HDMI. Just try different adapters until you find one that works well with your monitors. I don't understand why Apple doesn't make a high-end multi port USB-C dock after all these years. Third-party quality isn't consistent.
  - christoph 6y ago
    I'm running two LG 34" ultra wides off it and I've not noticed anything to aggravate me, but maybe I'm just not that susceptible, I'm generally pretty forgiving having spent hundreds of hours doing VR dev work. I think my brain has become somewhat immune to visual lag effects. The one issue I have had is that one of the monitors on USB-C (HDMI connected monitor has always been fine) seems have some sort of bug waking up sometimes, that I can only solve by powering it off and back on. Irritating. Not sure if it's the monitor or the Mac. I'd say the Mac, as I never had this issue with the MBP. Also, the colour profile/difference between two identical monitors, one connected on HDMI, one on USB-C was startling. No idea why... I had to spend 20 minutes with Apples advanced calibration tool get them to match up. Even selecting the same colour profiles on both monitors gave a staggering difference in colour representation which I found very odd.

STRML 6y ago

It's excellent. I have the 8-core i9 16" Pro and I prefer the Air in every way for development. The keyboard is better (no touchbar), it doesn't get as hot, the battery life is better, it's faster, and it cost 1/4 as much ($999 vs about $4k). I bought the 16" in February, only 10 months ago. What a leap.

spideymans 6y ago
I've been using my girlfriend's M1 Air, and I am superbly impressed. You can feel how much more responsive the system is with every click. I am so tempted to upgrade my from my 2017 Pro. The only thing holding me back is the knowledge that the M1 is the slowest Macintosh chip Apple will ever make.
- breakfastduck 6y ago
  Feeling exactly the same. I am trying my hardest to wait for a couple of generations after grabbing a 2019 16".
  - rubicon33 6y ago
    Same boat. Tough to hold out given these incredible reviews!
    - STRML 6y ago
      It's not even that expensive, so it's a much easier product to recommend. Compare to the 2012 MBPr, a similarly innovative Apple laptop. The 2012 was $2,199 in 2012 dollars (nearly $2,500 today). This is that kind of leap, and more. $999 (sometimes $899) is a bargain.
    - andy_ppp 6y ago
      I am just going to do it and sell the machine once some absolute best of a machine comes out. 32 firestorm cores please! But still have to decide which one...

volkadav 6y ago

Agreed; I received my new m1 mba this week and it is _nice_. Anyone reading who is on the fence, I don't think you'll regret getting one (and I say that as a cheap bastard unix greybeard in general, heh). Cool-running, quiet, good keyboard, gorgeous display, insane battery life, it's just a phenomenal machine. :)

christoph 6y ago

I jumped on the hype train and got a M1 Mac Mini with 16gb and 1TB SSD, as it felt like a steal at around £1k Ex. VAT. for something that reviews told me would be quicker than my MBP. I've been blown away at how much faster/snappier it feels in day to day use compared to my 2018 16GB MBP. With the COVID situation I'm seated at my home office 95% of time now, rather than ~35%. One of the biggest changes has been that instead of having a jet engine level of noise next to me most of the day now, I have something that I haven't heard a noise from once in three or four days. It takes up way less desk space as well. It's much easier to tuck away somewhere than a laptop which you always have an emotional connection to needing portability with. I've had Photoshop, Illustrator, Media Encoder running encodes, After Effects, loads of web tabs open and it still feels cold to touch. More desk space, faster, less noise, less heat. It's ticked all those boxes.

culturestate 6y ago
Have you seen any issues with UI lag? I've been testing an M1 Mini for the same reasons, and connected to a 27" 4K display it feels much less responsive than my Intel MBP with the same monitor.
- bognition 6y ago
  I have a 27” 4K Dell that connects over USB-C and haven’t seen any lagging
- stunt 6y ago
  It could be a USB-C adapter issue if you are using HDMI. Just try different adapters until you find one that works well with your monitors. I don't understand why Apple doesn't make a high-end multi port USB-C dock after all these years. Third-party quality isn't consistent.
- christoph 6y ago
  I'm running two LG 34" ultra wides off it and I've not noticed anything to aggravate me, but maybe I'm just not that susceptible, I'm generally pretty forgiving having spent hundreds of hours doing VR dev work. I think my brain has become somewhat immune to visual lag effects. The one issue I have had is that one of the monitors on USB-C (HDMI connected monitor has always been fine) seems have some sort of bug waking up sometimes, that I can only solve by powering it off and back on. Irritating. Not sure if it's the monitor or the Mac. I'd say the Mac, as I never had this issue with the MBP. Also, the colour profile/difference between two identical monitors, one connected on HDMI, one on USB-C was startling. No idea why... I had to spend 20 minutes with Apples advanced calibration tool get them to match up. Even selecting the same colour profiles on both monitors gave a staggering difference in colour representation which I found very odd.