Om Malik Review - M1 MBP not the machine for him

[turbineseaplane]

With all the super excitement going around, this is a good refreshing reminder and quick early review from Om.

There are some details within that might be worth nothing for certain types of users/usages.

My Shortish M1-based MacBook Pro 13-inch review

After a long chat with Apple’s executive troika, I asked my media contact at the company if I could try the 13-inch MacBook Pro model version. The executives’ comments about the M1 had convin…

om.co

 

[ArPe]

Meh...not really an in depth review. Just concludes he’s waiting for native Adobe apps.

TBF non of the reviews have surprises or anything people didn’t know about already. People want native apps and beefier memory and graphics specs. Give it a year.

 

[Diode]

That's a strange take. Screen size aside, seems they are openly complaining about things that would either be alleviated by purchasing the pro with more ram or a larger HD or by awaiting photoshop to release a native M1 application.

I guess it's cool they have media contacts to get them a free PC, but maybe they should have gotten one to fit their needs.

Also the writer is a dude, what's with that intro photograph of obviously not the author.

 

[bill-p]

No, that sounds fair to me. He knew his use case needed more performance. He knew the apps he needs are not quite there yet and who knows how long it'll take.

He has a 16" MacBook Pro that works well for him. He doesn't seem to give a damn about battery life because he still has his iPad.

So if he wants something smaller and lighter, the iPad beats the MacBook Pro. If he needs more power, right now the 16" MacBook Pro will still work better with all Intel apps, even if it doesn't run as cool and quiet, nor does it have the battery life. But who cares? The CPU in the 16" MacBook should still be competitive against M1 and is faster with most Intel apps. The dedicated GPU is still far better than whatever is in the M1.

That's a more sober take than these "OMG it's better than 16" to me" takes.

I'm potentially downgrading from my 16" MacBook to the M1 Pro as well, but I'll have to live with it for a month. If M1 lives up to expectations, then cool, it stays. Otherwise, I think my take will pretty much be like Om.

 

[RogerWilco]

It's Adobe's hoary code base, Mr. Malik, not the machine.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Meh...not really an in depth review.

It's literally titled "shortish review" and I specifically said "quick early review'

C'mon man

 

[turbineseaplane]

That's a more sober take than these "OMG it's better than 16" to me" takes.

I'm potentially downgrading from my 16" MacBook to the M1 Pro as well, but I'll have to live with it for a month. If M1 lives up to expectations, then cool, it stays. Otherwise, I think my take will pretty much be like Om.

Totally agree.

These are exciting times in any case

 

[Sanpete]

That's a more sober take than these "OMG it's better than 16" to me" takes.

Not more sober, just different preferences.

 

[bill-p]

Not more sober, just different preferences.

Well, it's more sober because everyone is too drunk on the performance, benchmarks, numbers, etc... to see that there are still app compatibility issues, and in some cases, the issues are blockers for people who really need these apps to do real work. That doesn't really have to do with preference, it's workflow.

You may argue Apple has made no express promises, but they issued no warning either. And though reviews are mostly positive, the one sentiment they have issued is clear: we are beta testing Rosetta 2 compatibility for Apple until native apps are here.

So it's not a matter of whether I'd "prefer" to beta test or run native apps. It's a matter of whether my workflow will remain intact with M1. And I just have to use the computer to see. No one can tell me whether it works with X or Y apps properly.

P.S.: and it just came to light that people are having issues reinstalling their M1 Macs. That's not "preference".

 

[Sanpete]

Well, it's more sober because everyone is too drunk on the performance, benchmarks, numbers, etc... to see that there are still app compatibility issues, and in some cases, the issues are blockers for people who really need these apps to do real work. That doesn't really have to do with preference, it's workflow.

You may argue Apple has made no express promises, but they issued no warning either. And though reviews are mostly positive, the one sentiment they have issued is clear: we are beta testing Rosetta 2 compatibility for Apple until native apps are here.

So it's not a matter of whether I'd "prefer" to beta test or run native apps. It's a matter of whether my workflow will remain intact with M1. And I just have to use the computer to see. No one can tell me whether it works with X or Y apps properly.

P.S.: and it just came to light that people are having issues reinstalling their M1 Macs. That's not "preference".

Really? People having issues with a new line of computers? I'm shocked!

It remains that some will reasonably greatly prefer the new M1s over the rest, and some will reasonably greatly prefer something else. One position isn't more rational than the other.

 

[bill-p]

Really? People having issues with a new line of computers? I'm shocked!

It remains that some will reasonably greatly prefer the new M1s over the rest, and some will reasonably greatly prefer something else. One position isn't more rational than the other.

When it's fundamentally something like being able to reinstall the OS of said computers? Then yeah, that should be shocking.

And again, it doesn't have anything to do with preference when certain things don't work well (if at all) with M1. Aside from iPad and iPhone apps, there's absolutely nothing else that Intel Macs can't run. You're looking at M1 as if it's fundamentally a different kind of device, but it's not.

It's still a Mac computer. It should run Mac apps. We're not talking about an iPad vs MacBook. It's really a MacBook vs a MacBook.

 

[Sanpete]

Alarmists are easily shocked, I guess.

Help has already arrived:

Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator 2

In rare circumstances, Apple computers become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived or restored.

support.apple.com