I'm a few months in on my M1 Air 8GB base model. To fund it I sold a 2020 Intel Air (before the prices started dropping) and a ThinkPad L14. I have no regrets.

I'm a few months in on my M1 Air 8GB base model. To fund it I sold a 2020 Intel Air (before the prices started dropping) and a ThinkPad L14. I have no regrets. For context, I'm a dev. I do DotNet Core, Node, Go, Python, and Ruby. All of them are far faster than previously on the Intel Air, and at least as fast as the L14 with its 16GB and Ryzen 7 Pro. The only performance downside being an initial hit of up to a second or two for the tooling the first time it's used since the last restart (whilst it does its Rosetta wonders). Everything is working as it should, although I have no current need for Docker so can't comment on the progress of that. I had some issues getting Homebrew using ARM versions of stuff (I think, it was a while ago now) but otherwise life is good. The biggest benefit for me, though, is that unlike previously I am getting this enhanced performance from a stone-cold fanless machine with a battery life good enough that I only plug it in daily out of habit (I could easily go several days without). Two ports is enough (for me) - bear in mind that really is two ports, as mostly there is no need to be connected to the power so you don't lose one during the day. The keyboard isn't a patch on the ThinkPads, obviously, but its the proper Apple standard not the dodgy one from a few years back. Feels good, slightly shallow travel. One oddity is there are no longer hotkeys to control key backlights. Unless you open the settings, MacOS does it automatically. I didn't think I'd like that, but it works consistently well. BTW in the couple of months I've had it, I've had three lock-ups. All when running JetBrains IDEs as it happens, but that's Java for you. Rebooting is quick enough that it wasn't an issue.