Showdown today: MBP 16 vs MBP M1 - which machine was best for my workflow?

[Henk van Ess]

Some people are flabbergasted by the battery life and performance of the new M1. Some of you are disappointed, especially when you try to run Microsoft stuff, as that Forbes-blogger did. Today was a big day for me. I used my Intel MBP 16 (32 Gb) AND my M1 MBP (16 Gb) in the same workflow to determine who would win. Here is what I found out.

I use the MBP 16 mainly to produce interactive workshops via Keynote and Bluejeans (online conference software). Both machines, M1 and MBP 16, were fully charged (100%) and on 40% brightness. I started my workshop at 10.30 today and finished it 7 hrs later with heavy interaction with 20 delegates, showing and sharing videos, software, and other stuff.

The MBP (Intel) was, on average, 82 degrees celsius, and the fan was active 5x times. The Macbook Pro M1 was around 27 degrees celsius, and I never heard a fan. When I was done, the Intel machine had 5% energy left. The Macbook Pro M1 had 65% energy left. After that, I said goodbye to the Intel machine and did 3 more hours of work (typing and surfing) on the MBP M1. As we speak, I have 50% left. Tomorrow I will test the only reason left why I would use my MBP 16: is the 3 array mic of the MBP 16 better than the mic of M1?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1331257421398990851

 

[bill-p]

Sounds like you're hammering yours. I just use mine for stupid cat videos on Youtube:

Still not at 50%.

 

[Henk van Ess]

So I did my final test for my normal workflow today: MBP 16 / 32 gb/ 2tTb vs MBP M1 16/ 2Tb. I wanted to know how the excellent 3-array mike from MBP 16 was rated by my students from Berlin (20) on a scale from 1 to 10. The average note was 8.7 Then I fired up the MBP M1 and did another audio test. The average note was 9.0. I will sell my MBP 16 now to somebody who doesn't read this post ;0

 

[Argon_]

What did you think of RAM management with the M1 Mac? Did 16 feel like 32 as some have said?

 

[Henk van Ess]

Although most of the time only a fraction of the 16 Gb is free, it feels like 32 yes.

What did you think of RAM management with the M1 Mac? Did 16 feel like 32 as some have said?

 

[michelg1970]

Sounds like you're hammering yours. I just use mine for stupid cat videos on Youtube:

Still not at 50%.

Health doesn’t look fine at 2% and you also need to service your battery after 5 cycles???

 

[bill-p]

Health doesn’t look fine at 2% and you also need to service your battery after 5 cycles???

iStat is broken.
Apple no longer reports battery health so that number is perpetually stuck at 2%.
Furthermore, none of iStat's other sensors read anything useful for Apple M1. I think they'll update it before long.

 

[Henk van Ess]

This week, Bjango released version 6.5.1 with added support for M1-based Macs. Price is also 66% down. Check https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ But I do have same problems with this version:

For now, I prefer Istastica, https://www.imagetasks.com/istatistica/

 

[Henk van Ess]

iStat is broken.
Apple no longer reports battery health so that number is perpetually stuck at 2%.
Furthermore, none of iStat's other sensors read anything useful for Apple M1. I think they'll update it before long.

other stuff, besides battery, is working fine here

 

[bill-p]

other stuff, besides battery, is working fine here

It should have way more than that, actually. Temperature sensor, frequency sensor, voltage sensor, current sensor, etc... to name a few.

What's shown in iStat now can be seen in Activity Monitor and elsewhere as well. Except for maybe the battery runtime estimate.

 

[Henk van Ess]

Try https://www.imagetasks.com/istatistica/

 

[Henk van Ess]