Has Apple Silicon made you reconsider the Mac platform?

[Queen6]

Indeed, that is why I went for the MM, dipping a toe back in but I will find a use for it elsewhere if I pull it back out so nothing lost.

I considered a MM, however once this blight is done with I'd have little use for one. The 13" M1 Pro I can always use as a secondary or pass to one of the family. MM attracts due to the relatively low entry price, IO and greater cooling capacity.

I actually prefer the Air as not a fan of the TB, however with a yet to be known load on the SOC, active cooling seems more prudent and at this point storage and RAM are not so relevant.

Q-6

 

[serpico007]

I don't know, I use OSX, Windows and Linux but I'm not rushing out to buy a new M1 Mac. I'll wait until my Mac Mini or Mac Pro dies and can't run Linux. I've gone through a previous transition and it wasn't fun and I know this time is much better with Rosetta 2 and iOS apps. I think if Apple changed the hardware to introduce this new future of theirs, it would have changed my mind for sure. But using the same old hardware and switching internals, nah.

It is a remarkable chip and I look forward to next year when they announce M1X or whatever to give us more ports and GPU options.

 

[ctjack]

I would have gladly bought m1 Air, but i can't tolerate retina screens. It really strains my eyes, so i figured it out that i will stay away from macs. There is an option to connect to external, but then what is the point in Air if mini will be suitable for this case. But i also don't have space for this setup, so now i have to stick to 17 inch win laptop.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Only the new Mac (half-sized Mac Pro) will get me to consider one for my primary desktop.

 

[Queen6]

M1 13" MPB is fast in many so many respects; CPU, SSD & WiFi. Still far too soon for me to make a definitive call as there are many SW obstacles to overcome. You can feel the walled garden closing, yet the likes of the Library remains to be accessible with the limitations remaining to be seen.

Right now I'm leaving the M1 MBP stock and will be digging into what needs to be accomplished and what can be achieved before I move forward. As for the hardware it now feels like your once again getting value for your money, with the sole criticism being just the two USB C ports which for some will be a bind. From what I understand it's a limitation of the current SOC which is likely to change in the near future.

M1 you need to go in with your eye's open and and an open mind. Software limitations may take several years to resolve if at all. Many sites & Apple evangelists are foaming at the mouth and milking it for all it's worth, equally one should remain pragmatic as despite the impressive performance if the machine/system is not capable of doing what you need it to, the advancements are moot...

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[LeeW]

Many sites & Apple evangelists are foaming at the mouth and milking it for all it's worth

For the most part, they are probably right, the target audience with the MBA is the type of user who likely doesn't need to operate outside of the eco-system or not so much that it would be an issue.

But for the rest of us? The performance improvement is real, there is rumoured to be 16/32 core chips coming. But it's all fairly useless if the walled garden closes in further. The software that would really make use of such powerful chips in the future is not available for macOS as it's not a platform seen for many purposes. That needs to change. If it doesn't then we go from underpowered/throttled devices that couldn't handle what was available to over-performing, costly devices that have little to take advantage of all that new performance.

 

[Queen6]

For the most part, they are probably right, the target audience with the MBA is the type of user who likely doesn't need to operate outside of the eco-system or not so much that it would be an issue.

But for the rest of us? The performance improvement is real, there is rumoured to be 16/32 core chips coming. But it's all fairly useless if the walled garden closes in further. The software that would really make use of such powerful chips in the future is not available for macOS as it's not a platform seen for many purposes. That needs to change. If it doesn't then we go from underpowered/throttled devices that couldn't handle what was available to over-performing, costly devices that have little to take advantage of all that new performance.

I have a feeling that Apple & Microsoft will find a way, nor is the perceived hatred of each other a reality in business. Apple has far too much to gain as does Microsoft by collaborating. At the end of the day there's a vast plethora of SW well beyond Apple's own few Pro packages that can benefit from the M1 technology.

Can you imagine the cost saving in power alone for companies that run 10K's of systems, the performance gains on multi rack systems the development, the advancement in AI? I'm as sceptical as you, however this is undoubtedly a very significant step change in computing. As Apple delivers on 16/32 core SOC's and further upwards it's going to change a great of what we currently understand.

Intel's greed, slavishly feeding of the short-term needs of the stockholder, all fuelling a lack of investment has now firmly switched the company from top to reverse gear. AMD seems in a far better position to make the switch to a new platform, while Apple has already taken the high road. Yes Apple was very much a braggart on the Keynote, the charts being ambiguous at best. That being said I do think that Apple has every right to be proud of this accomplishment as if I can see the potential, so will many far smarter and capitalise ever more.

M1 MBP for me is a testbed to see what it can do and yes I'm well aware all the avenues are currently not open, equally. Last time I was this excited about a hardware platform was the Amiga which sadly failed under the might of MS of the day and poor sales & marketing. Apple could really make a differnce here, however as you and I know all to well what should occur and what frequently transpires is often a very different matter.

What I do know right now is that Apple's claims are factual M1 is without any doubts the most responsive and performant hardware in it's class and easily surpasses past many more heavyweight systems. You know all to well yourself of the potential with the MM only questions are if and when...

My background is initially hardware architecture, exciting days ahead

Q-6

 

[iluvmacs99]

Maybe its just me, but this section of the forum seems to have gone a little quieter lately. I wondered if the advent of the M1 Macs and their incredible performance (plus how they are likely to perform in the future with the next chips) has made any defectors consider returning to the Mac?

While I need to always have a PC for my work, these new machines have really got my interest and I can’t honestly see the PC industry being able to respond to this any time soon in any meaningful way. I’m also seeing increasing numbers of discussions on Windows forums where people are expressing frustration at both the glacial pace of progress from Intel and Windows itself.

I do wonder if the promise of incredible battery life will be enough to move the needle for the Mac platform - although Apple’s pricing will never give them huge market share, these new machines are surely going to look like the best thing on the shop floor for a lot of buyers in the next couple of years.

If you’re a consumer with no platform preference in the market for a $1000 premium ultrabook, which would you buy - the Air or some Asus Zenbook variant with half the battery life? I can see Apple at least sewing up the premium end of the market now.

Apple is currently heading towards a locked down eco-system, which is why I switched to a PC having being an Apple user since the Apple II+ days. Price is still high for newer Macs, but justified for now being a performance beast and all that. Macs will always attract a loyal crowd of fans who have to have it, but I suspect that most people who have PCs will look forward to the PC version of the M1 which I suspect are in development now.

I will eventually need to replace my current 2014 Macbook Air with something new. It's getting old and slow and the new M1 MBA is amazing and the price is very reasonable for what it does! Probably stay with PC for expandability and perhaps the M1 MBA for portability and synergy with my iOS devices since the software I own now are platform agnostic.

 

[LeeW]

And then.....$549 headphones.

 

[WC7]

Bought the M1 Mac mini. If it works then may wait to buy another ... with the M2.

 

[Queen6]

And then.....$549 headphones.

Exactly, but not remotely close to the price or reproduction of the seriously good players & headgear...

Q-6

 

[TSE]

I purchased an NR200 Case that I was going to build my first PC on... until this nvidia RTX 3000 and AMD CPU stock debacle would prevent me making my PC until well into 2021 without wasting my time refreshing pages or buying hiked up prices online.

Then the M1 chip basically destroys everything in it's class... I returned my computer case and will wait for the iMacs to be released or possibly the M2. We'll see. But I think all this BS and poor experience making a PC turned me off, some people just don't have time for that.

 

[ghanwani]

I would have gladly bought m1 Air, but i can't tolerate retina screens. It really strains my eyes, ...

Any idea what is causing the eyestrain? Did you try turning off auto everything (true tone, brightness, etc.).

 

[ctjack]

Any idea what is causing the eyestrain? Did you try turning off auto everything (true tone, brightness, etc.).

I have tried everything - f.lux, color options and etc. It helped very little. Now looking at my retina mbp is fine as of now, but i know that it is false feeling, because my eyes are relaxed after my 17 inch win laptop. I know that as soon as i work on it for 8 hours, it will happen again.
But to tell the truth, i have zero problems when looking at retina while watching full screen movies or playing games. But as soon as i work with text and forums, i have problems. I guess it is too sharp/contrast for me, which is not natural with the way our eyes see the world. The actual world is not so sharp, unless you look at something close in macro mode.

 

[LeeW]

What I do know right now is that Apple's claims are factual M1 is without any doubts the most responsive and performant hardware in it's class and easily surpasses past many more heavyweight systems.

It makes a change that we are so surprised and impressed with Apple for a change!

 

[The_Interloper]

It makes a change that we are so surprised and impressed with Apple for a change!

They’ve been working towards this for years. I was a huge sceptic of the “Intel is holding Apple back” narrative, but I guess this partially proves that line of thinking. Don’t forget, the M1 is only the entry level. For the first time in my memory, Apple could be in a position to make the Mac the most performant, energy efficient and best value* computer in each of its price points. Wow.

*Not the cheapest, but the best value.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Has Apple Silicon made you reconsider the Mac platform?​

No, it hasn't.

It has given me better perspective on when I might acquire an Apple Silicon-powered Mac. It has also solidified my resolve in keeping my Mac mini 2018 around with a bootable Mojave system drive for legacy applications.

For me, it's not really a hardware thing. It's primarily software related, specifically the maturity and availability of stable, well-written, and well-supported code from both Apple Inc. and third-party developers.

M1 support will be better six months from now both in macOS Big Sur as well as a bunch of third-party applications. There is no need for me to dive into Apple Silicon today since it didn't stop my Intel Mac mini 2018 from running.

Admittedly, I'm not an early adopter type. Hell, it took me 10 months before I upgraded to iOS 13 on my iPhone XS and I'm STILL running Mojave on my Mac mini 2018 (instead of Crapalina).

I'll upgrade my Mac mini 2018 to Big Sur likely in Q2 2021. With a brand new M1 Mac mini, I'd be forced to eat Cupertino dog chow whether I like it or not. My Mac mini 2018 gives me a choice.

Yes, I used to be one of those people who would enthusiastically upgrade to the new macOS/iOS on release day. The last time I did that was about three years ago. Those times are past. Apple's software QA has slipped recently so I'm basically saving myself a lot of headaches by staying behind.

 

[Thysanoptera]

I'm very sorry for a highjack, but just had to do it.

Last time I was this excited about a hardware platform was the Amiga which sadly failed under the might of MS of the day and poor sales & marketing.

A "part" of my collection. Some of them run classic Mac OS better than contemporary macs.


And my 4 year old using the greatest computer ever invented. Picture also clearly shows the superiority of CRT over LCD

As for M1 macs - I'll wait. It looks awesome, but for now it would be just a media consumption device for me, the released one are the low - end macs, supposed to replace the cheapest Apple offerings. For this role I just bought the new Ipad air with the magic keyboard and it is awesome. Once the software offering will be expanded, why not. I don't mind walled garden as long as it works.

 

[c0ppo]

Any idea what is causing the eyestrain? Did you try turning off auto everything (true tone, brightness, etc.).

I believe it's ghosting. I 'see' it as well, and it gets really annoying as the day goes by.

 

[Queen6]

I'm very sorry for a highjack, but just had to do it.

View attachment 1689933
A "part" of my collection. Some of them run classic Mac OS better than contemporary macs.

View attachment 1689934
And my 4 year old using the greatest computer ever invented. Picture also clearly shows the superiority of CRT over LCD

As for M1 macs - I'll wait. It looks awesome, but for now it would be just a media consumption device for me, the released one are the low - end macs, supposed to replace the cheapest Apple offerings. For this role I just bought the new Ipad air with the magic keyboard and it is awesome. Once the software offering will be expanded, why not. I don't mind walled garden as long as it works.

Had a few Amiga's in the day, excellent computers pity that they didn't take off the same as the Mac or PC. As for the M1 you'll be very surprised at the capabilities think more like an Intel based 16". That said your correct in the thinking, as the current limiting factor for M1 is software.

My last Amiga I gifted to a friend who had a greater need with a very substantial SW library, he's my friend 😊 I can totally see the draw & attraction in older hardware.

I've one of the notorious and ill fated 2011 15" MBP's with the auto destruct Radeon dGPU, despite a couple years of heavy Pro use in my hands, being passed around the family, tortured by being used as a gaming platform by the kids, returning to me as non runner and ignored for well over a year. I spent some time to clean up the SW image and it now runs better than the day it left the factory. The 2011 MBP remains to be 100% stock nor has it ever been clean installed 😎I just recently opened it to blow out the dust, it picked up a dent in the RH palm rest on it's travels. The 2011 sits quietly on the far end of the desk, waiting patiently for use. The larger picture is that the 2011 has paid for itself literally hundreds over and then some...

Sadly my 2008 15" MBP needs too much work to make it viable once again as it needs new fans, battery (exploded some years back) top & bottom case. TBH would be better to pick up one that's dead and transplant my good 2008's Logic Board. I'd love to bring it back just for a showpiece if for nothing else.

Q-6

 

[maflynn]

Yes, I used to be one of those people who would enthusiastically upgrade to the new macOS/iOS on release day.

Before switching to the PC, I too slowed down my macOS upgrade, and I do the same with iOS. I found the bugs in the early macOS (and iOS) releases to be too much for me. I want/need something that is more stable then what Apple has been rolling out these past few years - at least with .0 of their versions

 

[sracer]

Maybe its just me, but this section of the forum seems to have gone a little quieter lately. I wondered if the advent of the M1 Macs and their incredible performance (plus how they are likely to perform in the future with the next chips) has made any defectors consider returning to the Mac?

I have a 2013 21" iMac that I've repurposed as my Plex server, a 2017 21" iMac that is my current workhorse, and a 2017 MBA that is my portable desktop. Barring some unforeseen circumstance, these are the last MacOS devices I'll own.

The advent of the M1 has confirmed to me my decision to exit Appleland. Along with the M1 comes an increase in the potential to lockdown the system. I find that borderline acceptable in a mobile platform but unacceptable for a desktop.

For desktop purposes, Linux will serve as an adequate replacement for MacOS, but because of the contributions of the Windows 10 user community, Win10 has become the leading destination for me.

Between debloating scripts and services/tweaks that take over total control of phone-home telemetry and OS updates, I've had tremendous success getting Win10 to be lean and mean... on even the most basic of hardware.

For the first time since the last version of Win 7, Windows has been pleasant to use... (though still far from ideal).

I'm constantly examining and assessing the desktop landscape so that is where I'm at today. 6 months from now? That might look different.

Over the years there has been a continually declining value proposition for MacOS for me. The introduction of the M1 really doesn't change the equation.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Apple OS has never had appeal for me however their hardware for a brief period 2010-2014 had a lead in footprint and build especially given the demise of Sony. The 2015 12" MB was a niche product, but other OEM's since offer a far greater variance and options to suit most.

I agree in raw power the M1 is interesting and while I was happy to put up with some quirks of a bootcamp MB I suspect the baggage and caveats with the new breed of Apple devices is likely to be too much to consider it as an alternative or return too platform

 

[maflynn]

Apple OS has never had appeal

There are elements of the OS, I really like and services that apple provides when you're all in with apple's ecosystem. There's UX/UI that I abhor in macOS, for instance how they implemented full screen as compared to windows.

I'm more curious about the 15" MBP then the current offerings. I'm not saying I'm tempted, but I am interested in seeing what apple does for their higher end machines.

 

[Queen6]

There are elements of the OS, I really like and services that apple provides when you're all in with apple's ecosystem. There's UX/UI that I abhor in macOS, for instance how they implemented full screen as compared to windows.

I'm more curious about the 15" MBP then the current offerings. I'm not saying I'm tempted, but I am interested in seeing what apple does for their higher end machines.

Same I'm more interested in what the next Gen 16" will be capable of, equally not $3K upwards interested. For me the base 13" M1 MBP is a safe bet as if it doesn't pan out the 13" MBP remains to be a decent enough ultra portable and it's battery life alone justifies it's use.

The "Garden Wall" is most certainly getting taller and more confining, yet no surprise's as this is how Apple roles and always done as and when technology allows. For me the M1 13" is simply a testbed to see what can be achieved on the platform and only time will tell...

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