The ugliest thing about the Apple M1 is its SoC that is a closed system. Due to this you cannot install and run any other OS on it - the system is deliberately

The ugliest thing about the Apple M1 is its SoC that is a closed system. Due to this you cannot install and run any other OS on it - the system is deliberately crippled this way so that Apple has more control over your hardware and your personal data. Apple's end goal is to completely close their desktop / laptop lines like they did with their iPhones / iPads - they are just doing so very slowly because they know power users (who are influencers in their social circle when it comes buying computers) will abandon them in droves, and drive the sales of the nascent M1 models, if they made the change suddenly ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog ). Apple fanbois / Naysayers here frequently argue that Apple will never do this as it will "alienate" its power users. The sad reality is that Apple doesn't cares about them anymore. Apple no longer wants to sell an open computing device as it has perfected a business model with selling commodity closed computing devices. Apple developers also have already shown how willing they are to submit to Apple's dictates and act like bonded labours by foolishly giving them an annual fees and a share of their profit for the "privilege" of developing on Apple platforms. So Apple has no fear they will abandon them as long as it can keep them ignorant and invested in the Apple eco system. It is just waiting for the right moment do so - there are still a lot of Apple Intel desktops / laptops, and Apple is closely monitoring them to see if they drink Apple's koolaid and migrate to the M1. Unless Apple open's up it SoC ARM systems to system developers, stick with Intel and AMD PC's. (Even a Raspberry Pi is better as it can run more OSes than the M1!) The demise of Intel and AMD are also greatly exaggerated, and just clever FUD marketing by Apple - the latest AMD Ryzen processor even today offers a better computing performance than Apple's processor. And the better benchmarks of the M1 are not just because of the hardware but also because of the optimised software running on it (and kudos to Apple for that). Yes, ARM processors do consume lower power - but desktop users don't care about that aspect much (thugh it would be desirable), and both AMD and Intel processors have improved on that aspect over the decades - some of today's Intel / AMD laptops too offer upto 10+ hours of battery life. (For those of you who want to reply that you do not care about not being able to run other OSes and like Apple's closed ecosystem, please don't waste your time - this post is obviously not meant for you, but for people who want choices and are concerned about their computing freedom and consumer rights).