Disappointed in Apple Silicon: Apple Marketing vs. Reality / Intel

[booksbooks]

So I had a top end i9 MacBook Pro before moving over to a 16" M1 Pro MacBook Pro and a 14" M1 Max MacBook Pro. I've been using these now for quite some time and am in a good position to form conclusions on real world usage.

Apple Marketing:

• Runs faster and more efficient.

Reality:

• Can run almost just as hot as the Intel MBPs.
• Not always getting any better battery life, sometimes worse.
• Not noticing much in the way of increased speed on anything.

Just yesterday I was editing video running the latest iMovie on the 16" MBP M1 Pro and the battery dumped by like 20% in just 30 minutes of usage and it got very hot. This is brutal performance. Also, in day-to-day operation I am not getting really any better battery life than my Intel MBP.

What I do like is the new M2 MacBook Air I got. The battery life seems to be at least 20% better than my 14" MBP M1 Max and it runs everything seemingly as fast. Granted more intense stuff like video editing there will be a speed difference on export, etc. between the two but the reality is so much day-to-day stuff this MBA feels and seems to perform better.

Overall Apple's Silicon on the M1 MBPs in my experience has not delivered on what Apple has marketed/promised. For this reason, at this time, Apple Silicon in my experience is more hype than anything (early days with the M2 MBA, still testing). I will be interested to see how Mac OS Ventura fairs. Perhaps there are optimizations for Apple silicon as well as the advancement of software optimizations for Apple silicon.

 

[dugbug]

Just yesterday I was editing video running the latest iMovie on the 16" MBP M1 Pro and the battery dumped by like 20% in just 30 minutes of usage and it got very hot. This is brutal performance. Also, in day-to-day operation I am not getting really any better battery life than my Intel MBP.

Of course the macbook pros will get hot if you work them hard. The i9s got hot just browsing the web.

Did you edit the same video on an i9? There are millions of youtube videos and detailed reviews such as arstechnica that show tangible, significant improvements with repeatable documented tests and not feels.

 

[booksbooks]

Of course the macbook pros will get hot if you work them hard. The i9s got hot just browsing the web.

Did you edit the same video on an i9? There are millions of youtube videos and detailed reviews such as arstechnica that show tangible, significant improvements with repeatable documented tests and not feels.

I've edited similar videos on the i9. The temperature as measured was very similar to the i9. My point is, it is not "of course the M1 MacBook Pros will get hot if you work them hard". The entire marketing pitch is the opposite of that.

 

[jav6454]

This thread seems like a troll thread as several tests, benchmarks and real world usage stats have shown Apple Silicon being superior to Intel’s offerings.

 

[booksbooks]

This thread seems like a troll thread as several tests, benchmarks and real world usage stats have shown Apple Silicon being superior to Intel’s offerings.

Stop. It is not a troll thread. Anybody can vote and express their opinion here. My experience is what it is as stated.

 

[Bodhitree]

The thing is, the wattage the chip puts out may be different while the temperature is quite similar. The thermal performance of the system is an unknown, and its quite possible that the MacBook Pro’s are built in such a way that under maximum load it still gets quite warm to the touch.

 

[MacRail]

My experience is what it is as stated.

I'd say your setup and use (and results) must be a corner case. (And your poll results appear to confirm that). I went from a 2020 13" MacBook Pro top configuration to the M2 Air. I am completely blown away by the difference. Biggest improvement in experience (from an upgrade) in the last 10 to 15 years.

 

[LeeW]

As someone who came from using intel Mac Minis, MBP, MBA and MacBook, I can honestly say that despite all my moans and groans about performance and reliability to that point, the M1 was a breath of fresh air of performance and battery life.

Nobody nowhere can say they could possibly be disappointed in Apple Silicon so far.

 

[Kelly Jones]

I had a 2018 core i9 MBP with 32GB + 1TB SSD before moving to my current 16" M1 Pro Macbook Pro. For me, the most noticeable difference is that the new M1 Pro MBP is virtually silent, everyday tasks are quicker, and I get better battery life. In your case, are you moving from a more recent model 16" Intel Macbook Pro? The reason I ask is that I've read that the Intel-based 16" MBPs ran significantly cooler than my 2018 MBP, so maybe in your case the jump to the 16" M1 Pro was less significant. With respect to temperatures, the 16" M1 Pro MBP can measure high temperatures for certain components, but I think there is a vast difference in measuring the temperature of certain internal components and the total heat output of a given device. My old 2018 MBP fan turned on and stayed on all the time when doing any sort of export in Lightroom Classic or when I was playing StarCraft II. I've yet to hear the fans on my M1 MBP when doing those same exact tasks. In addition, the chassis is much cooler, while the 2018 MBP was noticeably very hot on the bottom.

In ordinary use my M1 Pro MBP is much faster for certain things but not noticeably different for other tasks. The other factors in favor of the M1 Pro MBP are the better speakers and a better webcam. I find that the screen on the new MBP is better than the old one, but for my purposes I thought the screen on the 2018 was great too.

In the end, if the new M1 Pro MBP is not significantly better for you, then that's the way it is. I might end up buying an M2 Air for the much lighter weight when I travel. In fact, I was thinking of perhaps selling the M1 Pro MBP, and then buying a lower end Mac Studio + M2 Macbook Air. That actually might be a better combo.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Well, the poll results seem to speak for themselves.

 

[clevins]

... Also, in day-to-day operation I am not getting really any better battery life than my Intel MBP.

This is the reason someone above called you out. It's counter to everything the rest of us experience. So the conclusions are you're either lying or have a very uncommon edge case. The problem is that it's impossible for anyone here to tell since you don't really tell us details. For example what are the specs on each machine? What to you mean by "day-to-day operation"? What kind of video are you editing to see that battery loss? etc etc.

Sadly, the history of this and other forums makes many of us cynical when someone posts a negative thread that runs counter to so many other experiences. I

 

[vddobrev]

I voted Yes because M1 Mac mini audio subsystem is locked at 48KHz over HDMI, vs up to 192KHz on the Intel Mac mini. Also M1 has only 2 USB C ports vs 4 on the Intel. And only up to 16GB RAM vs up to 64 on the Intel.

 

[booksbooks]

I'd say your setup and use (and results) must be a corner case. (And your poll results appear to confirm that). I went from a 2020 13" MacBook Pro top configuration to the M2 Air. I am completely blown away by the difference. Biggest improvement in experience (from an upgrade) in the last 10 to 15 years.

Ok, I understand your experience. But you did not read my post carefully enough. My focus of my post is on M1 MBPs, not the M2 MacBook Air. I clearly stated that I too have been impressed by the M2 MBA, but more testing and time is needed and I'm still evaluating it. What I stated was that my experience is resigned to the M1 MBPs regarding my experience, NOT the M2 MBA.

 

[EthanDMathews]

I moved from an Intel i7-4770 3.4 GHz Hackintosh with 16GB RAM to a Mac Studio M1 Max with 32GB RAM and it's like night and day. The Mac Studio is significantly faster, butter smooth, tiny, and effectively silent.

Boot times have gone from ~50-60 seconds to 12, plus a few seconds post login. *Everything* is much faster, smoother.

My old Intel Mac had frequent slowdowns -- even browsing with multiple tabs could slow the computer down. Facebook alone could slow the computer down. The Mac Studio doesn't slow down for anything. It's like butter.

Lightroom and Photoshop now work without lag. Even old Intel games -- including the resource hungry Cities:Skylines, which runs under Rosetta 2 emulation -- is much faster and smoother on the Mac Studio.

The closest things to disappointments:
1. A few random incompatibilities with older programs. I had to pay for upgrades for several apps to get the latest M1 compatible versions. And I have one old (seldom used) program which simply doesn't run in emulation and is no longer being updated.

2. Load times for big applications are faster (30-50% faster?) but aren't dazzling. I expected (based on nothing -- to be fair) that they'd open almost instantly (e.g. ~5-10 seconds instead of ~15-20). Better, but doesn't wow me as expected.

3. The flip side of the compactness: all hardware expansions are obviously external. I have a big USB hub and SSD external drive floating around on my desk. For backups, I converted my old Hack tower into a server. So the elegance of an all-in-one compact device is a little illusory, at least for my needs. I'd be happier if a user-expandable mini tower was an option.

4. High price of upgrades. If I had it to do it over, I'd pay the $600 to add 2TB of internal SSD storage. Yes, it's way too expensive $/TB. I added an external 4TB SSD for ~$550. But it's not as fast, it's external, and runs hot even when not in use. So I started unplugging it except when I need it, which makes it a lot less convenient.

 

[roach1245]

Yeah troll thread, especially since the 2019 i-9 is most notorious out of all Intel Macbooks for its terrible thermals running hot and throttling at the slightest instance, and OP's new M1 Pro apparently has worse battery life and run just as hot as that one, and then calls Apple Silicon a 'hype'.

 

[Jarutais]

I don't know about M2 or Macbook Air, but my 16" M1 Pro is everything that was advertised... It has crazy battery life and always runs cold to the touch.

 

[booksbooks]

As someone who came from using intel Mac Minis, MBP, MBA and MacBook, I can honestly say that despite all my moans and groans about performance and reliability to that point, the M1 was a breath of fresh air of performance and battery life.

Nobody nowhere can say they could possibly be disappointed in Apple Silicon so far.

Well I just did Mr. Double Negative.

 

[vddobrev]

As someone who came from using intel Mac Minis, MBP, MBA and MacBook, I can honestly say that despite all my moans and groans about performance and reliability to that point, the M1 was a breath of fresh air of performance and battery life.

Nobody nowhere can say they could possibly be disappointed in Apple Silicon so far.

Obviously I can say I am disappointed see post above.

 

[booksbooks]

I had a 2018 core i9 MBP with 32GB + 1TB SSD before moving to my current 16" M1 Pro Macbook Pro. For me, the most noticeable difference is that the new M1 Pro MBP is virtually silent, everyday tasks are quicker, and I get better battery life. In your case, are you moving from a more recent model 16" Intel Macbook Pro? The reason I ask is that I've read that the Intel-based 16" MBPs ran significantly cooler than my 2018 MBP, so maybe in your case the jump to the 16" M1 Pro was less significant. With respect to temperatures, the 16" M1 Pro MBP can measure high temperatures for certain components, but I think there is a vast difference in measuring the temperature of certain internal components and the total heat output of a given device. My old 2018 MBP fan turned on and stayed on all the time when doing any sort of export in Lightroom Classic or when I was playing StarCraft II. I've yet to hear the fans on my M1 MBP when doing those same exact tasks. In addition, the chassis is much cooler, while the 2018 MBP was noticeably very hot on the bottom.

In ordinary use my M1 Pro MBP is much faster for certain things but not noticeably different for other tasks. The other factors in favor of the M1 Pro MBP are the better speakers and a better webcam. I find that the screen on the new MBP is better than the old one, but for my purposes I thought the screen on the 2018 was great too.

In the end, if the new M1 Pro MBP is not significantly better for you, then that's the way it is. I might end up buying an M2 Air for the much lighter weight when I travel. In fact, I was thinking of perhaps selling the M1 Pro MBP, and then buying a lower end Mac Studio + M2 Macbook Air. That actually might be a better combo.

I came from the most recent Intel MBP mostly maxed out. I do find that there is much less fan noise on my M1 MBPs, that is very much welcomed and no complaints there. Thing is, I keep using my newly acquired MBA M2 and I can't put it down. I like it better than my MBPs... so light and thin and silent and a good performer. Battery life is very good.

 

[Romain_H]

I don't know about M2 or Macbook Air, but my 16" M1 Pro is everything that was advertised... It has crazy battery life and always runs cold to the touch.

Same here. Faster, and way cooler than my Intel. Plus about 3-4x the battery life

 

[Kelly Jones]

I came from the most recent Intel MBP mostly maxed out. I do find that there is much less fan noise on my M1 MBPs, that is very much welcomed and no complaints there. Thing is, I keep using my newly acquired MBA M2 and I can't put it down. I like it better than my MBPs... so light and thin and silent and a good performer. Battery life is very good.

Yes, the M2 MBA definitely screams, "Take me with you!"

 

[booksbooks]

This is the reason someone above called you out. It's counter to everything the rest of us experience. So the conclusions are you're either lying or have a very uncommon edge case. The problem is that it's impossible for anyone here to tell since you don't really tell us details. For example what are the specs on each machine? What to you mean by "day-to-day operation"? What kind of video are you editing to see that battery loss? etc etc.

Sadly, the history of this and other forums makes many of us cynical when someone posts a negative thread that runs counter to so many other experiences. I

No need to keep stating the same thing over and over. Obviously as a long-time member here with a deep posting history there is no need to make accusations and hijack a thread by calling a person a troll. It's absurd and it needs to stop or posts will be reported.

I have owned almost every single Apple laptop ever made. That's for starters. Here are answers to your questions:

• Editing a 6 minute video that is 4k in the latest iMovie
• 16" MacBook Pro with only 20 battery cycles on it. It's 16 GB RAM, 1 TB, M1 Pro and a spec up GPU.
• Day-to-day is exactly the same as what I would use my prior MBP (latest Intel gen MBP). Have about 8 programs open (Mail, Safari, Calendar, Numbers, Pages, a few others). Around 20 tabs in Safari give or take.

 

[booksbooks]

I don't know about M2 or Macbook Air, but my 16" M1 Pro is everything that was advertised... It has crazy battery life and always runs cold to the touch.

Ok, that's good for you. How do you use your machine? Because there's a big difference between light computer use and heavy computer use, and I'm working with spreadsheets, editing video, etc. Also day-to-day I'm just not seeing much difference across the board.

 

[unrigestered]

my M1s are the best systems i ever had.

 

[booksbooks]

my M1s are the best systems i ever had.

Why, specifically? And how do you use them?