Planning to move to from 2013 Intel to 2022 M2 - anything to think / worry about?

[Droid13]

My current setup is:

Portable - rMBP 15” Late 2013; 2.3GHz i7, 16Gb, 512Gb

Desktop - Mini 2020 (2018); 3.2GHz i7, 32Gb, 1TB, Dell 4K USB-C display

The MBP is the greatest Mac that I have ever had. My workflow has not changed much since I bought it. While I would appreciate things running a little faster and the machine running a little cooler, truth be told I’m quite happy with this laptop and will only be transitioning to Apple Silicon to avoid being more than two operating systems behind. I don’t think I’ll get the same longevity from my Mini as I got from my rMBP.

My plan is to “upgrade” the laptop to following configuration:

MBA 2022; M2 8/10, 24Gb, 1TB

I’m ok with the smaller screen and gather that the screen quality is equal to or better than what I am used to. I’m also ok with the ports being limited (I now rarely plug in a peripheral when on the go). I’m really looking forwards to the weight reduction and am hoping the 1TB storage will help avoid the bottleneck seen with the 512Gb model.

My main worries are:

1. Software - Sophos, MS Teams and VMWare Horizon. Are these working ok on the newer machines?

2. Hardware - are there any specific performance deficiencies in the MBA relative to the nearly decade-old rMBP? I would hope that the ten year gap means everything will be better on the new machine but wouldn’t want to feel that I am losing anything without realising it. This would include things like audio input / output quality, camera and the like as well as pure graphics and processing power.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wonderings]

My current setup is:

Portable - rMBP 15” Late 2013; 2.3GHz i7, 16Gb, 512Gb

Desktop - Mini 2020 (2018); 3.2GHz i7, 32Gb, 1TB, Dell 4K USB-C display

The MBP is the greatest Mac that I have ever had. My workflow has not changed much since I bought it. While I would appreciate things running a little faster and the machine running a little cooler, truth be told I’m quite happy with this laptop and will only be transitioning to Apple Silicon to avoid being more than two operating systems behind. I don’t think I’ll get the same longevity from my Mini as I got from my rMBP.

My plan is to “upgrade” the laptop to following configuration:

MBA 2022; M2 8/10, 24Gb, 1TB

I’m ok with the smaller screen and gather that the screen quality is equal to or better than what I am used to. I’m also ok with the ports being limited (I now rarely plug in a peripheral when on the go). I’m really looking forwards to the weight reduction and am hoping the 1TB storage will help avoid the bottleneck seen with the 512Gb model.

My main worries are:

1. Software - Sophos, MS Teams and VMWare Horizon. Are these working ok on the newer machines?

2. Hardware - are there any specific performance deficiencies in the MBA relative to the nearly decade-old rMBP? I would hope that the ten year gap means everything will be better on the new machine but wouldn’t want to feel that I am losing anything without realising it. This would include things like audio input / output quality, camera and the like as well as pure graphics and processing power.

Thanks in advance.

I use MS Teams on my M1 Max with no issue. Mainly just used for text based communications, but have done a few video calls with no trouble.

Can't say about VM Horizon, I would check the website and see about compatibility. You can run Windows 11 ARM as a VM, works great and most apps load. Think I have only come across one application that would not install.

 

[TriApple]

Teams is no issue on my M1 MBP or my wife's M1 Air. Both are on teams video calls 4-6 hours per day with zero issues at all.

 

[izzy0242mr]

VMWare Horizon

Parallels works. Just Google/look at VMWare Horizon's website to see if it's compatible with Apple Silicon.

But if you're trying to virtualize anything except Windows 10 or 11 on Arm, or Linux, your performance will not be good.

 

[ArkSingularity]

I came from a 2012 Macbook Pro, and the M1 was a night and day difference. Rosetta also works fantastically well, I have yet to come across a single application that doesn't work flawlessly on it (aside from x86 virtualization, which is explicitly not supported).

The lack of ports does take some getting used to, but it becomes easier if you're using primarily bluetooth devices or USB-C devices. The dongles are still a necessity and likely will remain so for the forseeable future, but you can find USB-C to HDMI (or DisplayPort) cables and even USB-C flash drives.

My biggest gripe with the ports isn't the lack of USB-A ports (small adapters are easy to find and keep around), but rather that there are only two USB-C ports on the laptop (one of which might be used for the charger). I wish we had gotten at least a third USB-C port like we have on the 14 and 16 inch Macbooks (even if it weren't a thunderbolt port), but I was able to find some cheap dongles that have extra USB-C ports on them (VAVA makes one for about $30 on Newegg), so it's basically a non-issue with a good dongle.

 

[Droid13]

Teams is no issue on my M1 MBP or my wife's M1 Air. Both are on teams video calls 4-6 hours per day with zero issues at all.

Helpful to know - some of my Teams video calls run up against the 4 hour mark; so much more aware of how long meetings are now that they're done remotely.

 

[Droid13]

I came from a 2012 Macbook Pro, and the M1 was a night and day difference. Rosetta also works fantastically well, I have yet to come across a single application that doesn't work flawlessly on it (aside from x86 virtualization, which is explicitly not supported).

The lack of ports does take some getting used to, but it becomes easier if you're using primarily bluetooth devices or USB-C devices. The dongles are still a necessity and likely will remain so for the forseeable future, but you can find USB-C to HDMI (or DisplayPort) cables and even USB-C flash drives.

My biggest gripe with the ports isn't the lack of USB-A ports (small adapters are easy to find and keep around), but rather that there are only two USB-C ports on the laptop (one of which might be used for the charger). I wish we had gotten at least a third USB-C port like we have on the 14 and 16 inch Macbooks (even if it weren't a thunderbolt port), but I was able to find some cheap dongles that have extra USB-C ports on them (VAVA makes one for about $30 on Newegg), so it's basically a non-issue with a good dongle.

Thank you for the tips.

 

[Droid13]

Parallels works. Just Google/look at VMWare Horizon's website to see if it's compatible with Apple Silicon.

But if you're trying to virtualize anything except Windows 10 or 11 on Arm, or Linux, your performance will not be good.

I have a horrible suspicion that the specific environment that I will be asked to work in might run into a problem here. I will run this past an IT colleague; they should hopefully have already thought about this problem.

 

[Droid13]

I use MS Teams on my M1 Max with no issue. Mainly just used for text based communications, but have done a few video calls with no trouble.

Can't say about VM Horizon, I would check the website and see about compatibility. You can run Windows 11 ARM as a VM, works great and most apps load. Think I have only come across one application that would not install.

Was there anything special about the app that didn't work? Legacy software?

 

[ArkSingularity]

I have a horrible suspicion that the specific environment that I will be asked to work in might run into a problem here. I will run this past an IT colleague; they should hopefully have already thought about this problem.

Might also be worth looking into UTM if Parallels doesn't do the trick. UTM is basically just a front end for QEMU, and QEMU works fine with most ARM images on the M1.

 

[wonderings]

Was there anything special about the app that didn't work? Legacy software?

I don't remember honestly, it would not get through the install phase saying not compatible, or something along those lines. On the other hand I have 15 + year old software running fine in Windows 11 ARM.

 

[CalMin]

I went from a 16" 2019 MBP Pro to the M1 and it was night and day. Put succinctly, Apple silicon is excellent.

I would check monitor compatibility. I had to return a Dell S3221QS 4k 32" because it was weirdly incompatible with M1 with visual glitches (check Google).

As for Windows, well, I am successfully running a Windows 11 ARM VM via Parallels for a few things. Interestingly (and surprisingly to me) many legacy x86 apps work well - I have an old copy of Adobe Acrobat 10 that I purchased years ago (~2010?) which runs. Microsoft Project and Visio work well too and it all syncs with OneDrive which is awesome.

I did run into an issue with a ~2004 copy of Lotus Notes which simply won't install. I haven't looked into why or tried to solve it because I still have an old Lenovo running Windows 10 for the twice a year (if that) when I want to look at that.

 

[ahurst]

The dongles are still a necessity and likely will remain so for the forseeable future, but you can find USB-C to HDMI (or DisplayPort) cables and even USB-C flash drives.

When I got my 14" MBP, I picked up a 128 GB Sandisk flash drive that has USB-C on one end and USB-A on the other for like 26$ CAD. Lexar's got a similar one for a similar price. Covers 95% of what I need to use the ports for completely dongle-free! Highly recommended if you have a USB-C only machine but need to regularly share files with USB-A computers.

 

[Droid13]

I went from a 16" 2019 MBP Pro to the M1 and it was night and day. Put succinctly, Apple silicon is excellent.

I would check monitor compatibility. I had to return a Dell S3221QS 4k 32" because it was weirdly incompatible with M1 with visual glitches (check Google).

As for Windows, well, I am successfully running a Windows 11 ARM VM via Parallels for a few things. Interestingly (and surprisingly to me) many legacy x86 apps work well - I have an old copy of Adobe Acrobat 10 that I purchased years ago (~2010?) which runs. Microsoft Project and Visio work well too and it all syncs with OneDrive which is awesome.

I did run into an issue with a ~2004 copy of Lotus Notes which simply won't install. I haven't looked into why or tried to solve it because I still have an old Lenovo running Windows 10 for the twice a year (if that) when I want to look at that.

Had not appreciated that there could be monitor issues. The only display I use that really matters is a Dell UP2720Q; will trawl the support forums.

 

[owidhh]

I run VMware Horizon with no issues on my M1 Pro MBP.

(seems people keep mentioning Parallel and UTM, but Horizon is not a virtualization product and more a remote desktop kind of app..)

 

[MajorFubar]

As far as I can see it your only issue will be if you have any devices which connect via USB A ports, which Apple phased-out of their laptops a decade too soon considering the sheer quantity of USB A devices people rightfully expect to be able to use without needing to have dongles drooping out of USB C ports.

 

[v0lume4]

Only one external monitor supported on the Air, if that’s worth anything to you. I see you also have a desktop computer so that might have you covered.