Honest question: do you 'need' an M1 now?

[trailmonkey]

My MBA is still in the Processing stage after 10 days with and ETA of 15th Dec. Am starting to question if I really do need to splash £1450 on a device that will no doubt be amazeballs and serve me well for work, but do I really need it? No I don't TBH. I'll still need to use my SurfaceBook 2 for Win-only work.

So, once the honeymoon period is over, will I have buyer's remorse? Hmm, probably yes.

Should I fight the urge to continue with this purchase and see if an Mx, ideally in 14" form launches? Maybe.

This is just self-talk, I'm not asking for advice. But I'm wondering if others feel the same ...

 

[trailmonkey]

EDIT: duplicate post

 

[Spindel]

My MBA is still in the Processing stage after 10 days with and ETA of 15th Dec. Am starting to question if I really do need to splash £1450 on a device that will no doubt be amazeballs and serve me well for work, but do I really need it? No I don't TBH. I'll still need to use my SurfaceBook 2 for Win-only work.

So, once the honeymoon period is over, will I have buyer's remorse? Hmm, probably yes.

Should I fight the urge to continue with this purchase and see if an Mx, ideally in 14" form launches? Maybe.

This is just self-talk, I'm not asking for advice. But I'm wondering if others feel the same ...

The iMac my M1 Mini replaced was not supported by Bug Sur, so yes I "needed" a new computer.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I don’t need a M1 but, I may get one very soon.

 

[Booji]

Same here. I have a Surface Pro 6. A really wonderful device. It does most of what I need. Struggles a bit with Photoshop and Premiere Pro. I don't need an M1, but wow it is so sexy and it is what I have been waiting for to get back to Mac. The only reason I left Mac was when I needed to upgrade, the Apple price/performance equation was just not there. Now it is back and big time.

 

[trailmonkey]

Yes, I think a few of us are being seduced by the sassiness of the M1 as IMO it far surpasses all expectations and offers genuine VFM - the latter not exactly what Apple are renowned for.

Hmm ... the sensible side of me says hit Cancel and grow some ... the rebel part says buy it.

 

[acidfast7_redux]

Yes. I was waiting for the M1 to be released as my only Apple laptop died a few weeks before.

 

[krbrock1]

Of course you don't "need" it, but you want it =) I bought a 13" 2020 MBP 4 port this past July. Prior to that I was using a 17" MBP from 2010. I used that machine every day for 10 yrs - in a production environment - zero issues, ever.

Do I want an M1? - of course. Do I need an M1? - of course not. Just remember this - the M1 will be the slowest processor they make from this point forward - it's a Gen-1 =)

 

[revs]

My MBA is from 2012 and doesn't run Big Sur.
My Desktop 'Hackintosh' is based on a 2013 iMac (3.4ghz i5, 32GB RAM, RX560 GFX)and although it can run Big Sur, it'll be a bit of work.

Do I need a M1 machine? Sounds like it right - two machines that are 7-8yrs old? but honestly no I probably don't.

I use my (windows) work machine 99% of the day, and my personal machines aren't used much at all. However.... I dont use the MBA as its pretty slow/tiny SSD. And the desktop is in an office alone, away from family. So a fast laptop I can use without being stuck in a room is appealing.

Also... It's my hobby, and a new machine after 8yrs isn't exactly being too crazy!

 

[ajaan]

Yep, needed to offset the fans, heat, and noise from my 2020 Intel Air while on Teams, Zoom, Skype, as well as the subsequent battery drain.

 

[matrix07]

Yes, I think a few of us are being seduced by the sassiness of the M1 as IMO it far surpasses all expectations and offers genuine VFM - the latter not exactly what Apple are renowned for.

Hmm ... the sensible side of me says hit Cancel and grow some ... the rebel part says buy it.

If you don’t buy it now you will buy next year version which will be more expensive (but better). If your budget allow then goes ahead and wait.
I just got my M1 MBA today and from playing with it around 5 hours I can say with certainty that this chip is a state of the art. The MBA is light and feels premium but the chip is something else. It’s so good yet barely consume energy. Intel is in trouble in a big way.

 

[badsimian]

I am moving from a 16" MBP to a 13" Air because I don't really require all that computing power and the battery/heat improvements are solid changes I will appreciate every day. I like playing with Tech though and interested in the M1 for that, not investing too much into it as I will probably want to change again in a year or two.

 

[Jack Neill]

I want to need one, but honestly I don't really need one. My i7 hack, 2012 Pro 2012 Air 2020 Air meet my macOS usage requirements just fine. But damn do I want one, I am thinking hard on a base mini just to get a M1 and not break the Apple Card.

 

[rloechner]

I am playing this same game except I have a 2018 MBP that has a current trade in value of $1100.. making a new M1 significantly tempting. However, I use my comp as a web software developer.. virtual envs, python, mysql, etc. Soo I am trying to research, will an M1 chip affect my development setup? At the same time, I am transitioning to a SWIFT programmer given that apps will now run on both machines. Decisions, decisions...

 

[deeddawg]

This is just self-talk, I'm not asking for advice. But I'm wondering if others feel the same ...

I'm sure there are others feeling similarly but that's not me.

I have no need of Windows on mac - and the software I need to use appears to work fine on M1 - so I felt it's time to resell my Intel macs now before the values drop further.

 

[deeddawg]

I am playing this same game except I have a 2018 MBP that has a current trade in value of $1100.. making a new M1 significantly tempting. However, I use my comp as a web software developer.. virtual envs, python, mysql, etc. Soo I am trying to research, will an M1 chip affect my development setup? At the same time, I am transitioning to a SWIFT programmer given that apps will now run on both machines. Decisions, decisions...

FYI - other third party resellers may offer you more than the one Apple is using. MacMeAnOffer.com beat Apple's offer for my 2018 MBP15 by a substantial amount.

 

[Eithanius]

My 2010 MBP is dying with random GPU panics... Do I need an M1 now...?

 

[Phil A.]

I am playing this same game except I have a 2018 MBP that has a current trade in value of $1100.. making a new M1 significantly tempting. However, I use my comp as a web software developer.. virtual envs, python, mysql, etc. Soo I am trying to research, will an M1 chip affect my development setup? At the same time, I am transitioning to a SWIFT programmer given that apps will now run on both machines. Decisions, decisions...

I've been evaluating an M1 Mac Mini and have been pretty impressed with the compatibility of my development stack (Visual Studio for Mac and VS Code developing .net core and angular cli).

HomeBrew doesn't work natively under the M1 yet and complains if you try but you just have to put

arch -x86_64

before any brew commands and it then runs it under rosetta (which has been fine for me)

I've been seriously impressed with the M1 mini (which is a base 8GB with an external 1TB SSD) to be honest - it's taken everything I've thrown at it so far in its stride

 

[Zazoh]

Need? Ha ha, you're cute. I don't need half the things I own, maybe more. Computers and technology are my livelihood, but also my hobby. With cars, I've had remorse. With computers, never, I always put them to use.

 

[leman]

Yes, I do. Ownership of an M1 Mac is essential to my emotional well-being.

 

[markiv810]

My Mac mini 2011 died about a month back, and I would never use windows machine. So, I guess I do need a M1 Mac now.

 

[coorsleftfield]

I bought one but I'll probably return it and wait for docker to be supported. My mid-2014 15" MBP is still running perfectly. The used market has tanked thanks to the M1, so may just run it until the 14" comes out (hopefully with touchscreen)

 

[romanof]

Yes, I do. Ownership of an M1 Mac is essential to my emotional well-being.

Same here. I definitely do not need an M1 of anything. I have three 6 core Mac Minis, a 2017 iMac that is very good, and the last non-retina Air, which is the best computer I have ever owned. But, like you, I fear for my inner psyche if I don't get the latest and greatest.
So, to make sure that I don't become damaged goods (beyond what I already am), I ordered both the Air M1 and Mini M1, in full configurations.

(Actually, I need the M1 Mini somewhat. I am doing more and more videos for training locally, and my iMac with the Radeon Pro 570 doesn't cut it. Export times of 4X the actual runtime, and scrubbing is one click at a time. Watching a Mini M1 with FCP on the YouTube videos is impressive.)

 

[KShopper]

Yep, needed to offset the fans, heat, and noise from my 2020 Intel Air while on Teams, Zoom, Skype, as well as the subsequent battery drain.

THIS! I also had a 2020 MBA that I was growing to hate due to ridiculous fan noise and poor performance on Slack calls, screen-sharing.

It's easy to justify a purchase such as this, something you use for the majority of most days, it's worth using something that brings you joy, not frustration.

Love my M1 MBA, no regrets at all.

 

[leman]

So, to make sure that I don't become damaged goods (beyond what I already am), I ordered both the Air M1 and Mini M1, in full configurations.

In addition, M1 will be a lot of fun to continue develop my indie game on it. I can do so much cool stuff with unified memory and TBDR...