Anything under full 4K and the fonts look like ****. There’s no fix for that btw… this is going on for years now.
I have 27”, 34” and 38” and the way the fonts look is a joke.
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So ... 6 months on are you Happy with your M1 Mac ?
- Thread starter hungryghosty
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I have 27”, 34” and 38” and the way the fonts look is a joke.
I have the 8GB M1 Mac Mini setup with the external 2TB SSD dock which it sits on, and generally I am very pleased with it. Using it for CAD work, Final Cut Pro etc. it is generally at least comparable and probably in some tasks faster than my 2017 iMac Pro with 3.2GHz 10 Core Xenon and 32GB of RAM. A few caveats though...
- I have disconnected the external SSD dock unless I need it as the M1 constantly notifies me that I didn't disconnect an external HD everytime I turn it off or put the iMac to sleep - annoying. The docks at least also give you an easy access SD and Micro SD card port which I like
- I have it running on a cheap ASUS 4K monitor and it gets alias artefact occasionally - usually when pushing the graphics hard. Changed cables etc. - no improvement
- Using Apple Magic Mouse, I find it doesn't move smoothly, the movement stuttery. I thought this was supposed to be solved in an update but doesn't appear to have improved at all. Depending on what I'm doing sometime I'll grab a wired mouse and use that instead. This is a shame as I like the left/right scroll with the magic mouse, particularly with CAD work or large excel spreeedsheets.
I am perfectly happy with my base model M1 MBA. It's kinda weird since in the past I always went 16GB RAM 1TB SSD minimum, but this MBA is FASTER and SNAPPIER than even my 2019 MBP 16.
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Good comparison. One reason why apps don't launch instantly could be because macOS tries to verify the app each time it launches. I know this to be true at least for Microsoft O365 apps. That introduces a delay.
The main app offenders I find are the various office apps. But these take forever to launch on my iMac as well, so I chalk that up to poor optimisation by Microsoft.
I received my 8/512 Air on 5th January. Here are my top 10 personal observations
- Build quality, fit and finish - superb.
- There is never a fan to be heard.
- The keyboard I find good for an Apple keyboard and the screen I cannot fault.
- There is never a fan to be heard.
- General performance is impressive although apps are slow to open, Word and Excel sit bouncing in the dock for far too long.
- There is never a fan to be heard.
- Graphics games are outstanding, the ones I've tried; rubbish gameplay but that's not Apple's fault.
- There is never a fan to be heard.
- Battery life is outstanding and it mostly runs cool although it can toast the nuts at times.
- There is never a fan to be heard.
I've had my M1 mini (16/512 GB) since around 20 November and I've not had a single negative issue with it.
Runs silent and cool, and the most important thing it is fast and the user experience, that is hard to explain, is just outstanding. It is just so responsive when using it everything just feels crisp (or snappy). Zooming in pictures documents, switching virtual workspaces, switching between open apps everything is just "crisp". This is an aspect no benchmarks can ever show you.
I mainly use excel (word, mail, teams etc) and AutoCAD (through rosetta) on the computer. So not the heaviest user but everything just works so well.
Main complaint is not with the M1 but with some software, so it's not the M1s fault. OneDrive really is **** (and it was **** on intel macs to and it is **** on windows), Teams eats RAM but at least it doesn't make the computer try to light itself on fire (like on my work issued windows laptop), again Teams is a software issue not an M1 issue.
Writing this CPU temp currently sits at 26°C
Runs silent and cool, and the most important thing it is fast and the user experience, that is hard to explain, is just outstanding. It is just so responsive when using it everything just feels crisp (or snappy). Zooming in pictures documents, switching virtual workspaces, switching between open apps everything is just "crisp". This is an aspect no benchmarks can ever show you.
I mainly use excel (word, mail, teams etc) and AutoCAD (through rosetta) on the computer. So not the heaviest user but everything just works so well.
Main complaint is not with the M1 but with some software, so it's not the M1s fault. OneDrive really is **** (and it was **** on intel macs to and it is **** on windows), Teams eats RAM but at least it doesn't make the computer try to light itself on fire (like on my work issued windows laptop), again Teams is a software issue not an M1 issue.
Writing this CPU temp currently sits at 26°C
My only question then is can you hear a fan? Your post wasn’t clear on that.
My daughter got her MacBook Air in January or February and loves it.
I'm using a Late 2009 iMac 2009 for a desktop Mac and a 2014 MacBook Pro in the living room. I will say that I've enjoyed using the 2014 MacBook Pro up until last night because it's warmer at night now and the laptop gets a bit too warm for comfort. It's quite nice on my lap over a comforter when we have chilly nights which has been every day for the past seven months.
I'd love an M1X MacBook Pro. I haven't decided on the size yet - the decision may be based on graphics, ports and RAM. I'm actually fine with the CPU horsepower of the M1 for a mobile device. I could also get a big iMac and get a little more performance than my Late 2009.
I'm using a Late 2009 iMac 2009 for a desktop Mac and a 2014 MacBook Pro in the living room. I will say that I've enjoyed using the 2014 MacBook Pro up until last night because it's warmer at night now and the laptop gets a bit too warm for comfort. It's quite nice on my lap over a comforter when we have chilly nights which has been every day for the past seven months.
I'd love an M1X MacBook Pro. I haven't decided on the size yet - the decision may be based on graphics, ports and RAM. I'm actually fine with the CPU horsepower of the M1 for a mobile device. I could also get a big iMac and get a little more performance than my Late 2009.
Someone should write an app that emulates the fan noise based on CPU usage.
It could be called Intel fan sound.
Am generally happy with my Mac Mini (16/512), but am still unsure how long I'll keep it for. The reasons for uncertainty are predominantly due to my use case, rather than anything specific to the hardware or Big Sur.
I was using a late 2013 iMac until a few weeks ago, but changes to domestic circumstances (my housemate started working from home and between us we needed a second monitor for our Windows laptops we use for work) meant that having two screens on a small desk didn't really work. If Apple hadn't stopped Target Display Mode for Windows laptops, I'd probably have held out for a new iMac. Unfortunately, the Dell monitor I bought (connected via a USB-C to DisplayPort cable) only works on YPbPR (no change with 11.3).
Losing the all-in-one convenience has been the root of the issue really. Suddenly, I need ports for speakers, webcam (possibly) and memory card for my camera, as well as backup drives for Time Machine. Am trying to decide what hub to buy as nothing available seems to fit my needs and those that are close to what I need are expensive and/or have mixed reviews. If Apple brought out a new Apple Display (essentially the iMac without the computer) I'd snap it up immediately.
I'm not quite regretting my purchase but it's a shame that the compromises I've had to make and the additional cost of replacing lost functionality have tainted my purchase.
I was using a late 2013 iMac until a few weeks ago, but changes to domestic circumstances (my housemate started working from home and between us we needed a second monitor for our Windows laptops we use for work) meant that having two screens on a small desk didn't really work. If Apple hadn't stopped Target Display Mode for Windows laptops, I'd probably have held out for a new iMac. Unfortunately, the Dell monitor I bought (connected via a USB-C to DisplayPort cable) only works on YPbPR (no change with 11.3).
Losing the all-in-one convenience has been the root of the issue really. Suddenly, I need ports for speakers, webcam (possibly) and memory card for my camera, as well as backup drives for Time Machine. Am trying to decide what hub to buy as nothing available seems to fit my needs and those that are close to what I need are expensive and/or have mixed reviews. If Apple brought out a new Apple Display (essentially the iMac without the computer) I'd snap it up immediately.
I'm not quite regretting my purchase but it's a shame that the compromises I've had to make and the additional cost of replacing lost functionality have tainted my purchase.
Silent computing was the only benefit (Macbook Pro M1). The rest of the time I'm just using the activity monitor to close apps because at one point they all rely on swapping due to insufficient amount of RAM. Most of the time I just want to throw this M1 Facebook machine into the trash because of how many beachballs and severe slowdowns it greetes me with on a daily basis.
8GB of RAM in modern computers is a joke as most of it is already used by the bloated OS's, leaving you with very little room to execute tasks properly. I hope none of you will make the mistake of buying an 8GB, especially if multitasking or working with more than 50 browser tabs or using the Adobe suite. You will hate it
To put it in perspective, I have workflows where Finder alone uses 4GB of memory when having multiple folders opened up as tabs. A few layers on a psd and Photoshop is already at 4-8GB of memory used. Keep Chrome open in parallel and the computer melts. Most of the time it relies on swapping which is always much slower than the RAM.
8GB of RAM in modern computers is a joke as most of it is already used by the bloated OS's, leaving you with very little room to execute tasks properly. I hope none of you will make the mistake of buying an 8GB, especially if multitasking or working with more than 50 browser tabs or using the Adobe suite. You will hate it
To put it in perspective, I have workflows where Finder alone uses 4GB of memory when having multiple folders opened up as tabs. A few layers on a psd and Photoshop is already at 4-8GB of memory used. Keep Chrome open in parallel and the computer melts. Most of the time it relies on swapping which is always much slower than the RAM.
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Yes, very happy.
I've had my M1 MBA (16GB/512GB) since Feb and I'm extremely impressed with its behaviour.
Yes, some apps are a little slower to open than you'd expect but it's only a second or two.
Swap? None used at all, apart from 100 and odd MB when I was experimenting
RAM? Never been used up at all though I'm only using it for every day tasks. I don't use PS or xcode or anything like that though I did have Parallels running WoA for a couple of months.
There have been some horrendous figures quoted for disk writes but I can only put that down to people's use patterns/programmes as I have seen absolutley nothing of that kind.
I was concerned (coming from a 17" laptop to a 15" MBPr then to a 13" MBA) about screen real estate but I needn't have worried.
I was also concerned about the screen brightness as I like a bright screen but it's fine. I generally use it on about 3/4 brightness.
Full brightness is too much, even for me
I've had my M1 MBA (16GB/512GB) since Feb and I'm extremely impressed with its behaviour.
Yes, some apps are a little slower to open than you'd expect but it's only a second or two.
Swap? None used at all, apart from 100 and odd MB when I was experimenting
RAM? Never been used up at all though I'm only using it for every day tasks. I don't use PS or xcode or anything like that though I did have Parallels running WoA for a couple of months.
There have been some horrendous figures quoted for disk writes but I can only put that down to people's use patterns/programmes as I have seen absolutley nothing of that kind.
I was concerned (coming from a 17" laptop to a 15" MBPr then to a 13" MBA) about screen real estate but I needn't have worried.
I was also concerned about the screen brightness as I like a bright screen but it's fine. I generally use it on about 3/4 brightness.
Full brightness is too much, even for me
Very happy with this amazing MBA. Usage includes software development, audio and photo editing. No beachballs. 8GB: memory pressure very occasionally in the 'yellow zone' -- only because I was running Activity Monitor, I wouldn't have known otherwise.
For keeping 50 browser tabs open, multiple Finder tabs and running PS/Adobe Suite you definitely chose the wrong RAM option, I would respectfully say.
I replaced my 2015 15" rMPB with a 16Gb/1TB MBA and while it has more than enough power to edit 4k videos I shoot with my iPhone, it's still not super fast with Fusion360. Granted, Fusion is running in Rosetta, but it seems like native apps are not a night/day difference compared to Rosetta anyway. So I'm still using my desktop PC for some larger Fusion360 projects. M1 is a fantastic chip for what it is, but I'm curious what the M1X will bring to the table in terms of graphics performance. It's still impressive that I went from a 15" laptop with a dGPU running fans at full blast to a 13" Air that can handle the same tasks all while fanless.
I always know a device is good when I look forward to using it. I love my early Saturday mornings sitting at the table with my M1 MBA and my coffee and having a little me time. It's been a long time since a Mac has been that kind of device for me because I got so frustrated by the heat and bad battery life. The M1 singlehandedly wiped out my wish list for the Mac: less heat, more battery, more power for the notebooks, and light as a feather. I give zero effs about touching the screen and did not find holding the 12.9" iPad Pro in my hands to be super comfortable, so I just love my M1 for all the improvements to its Mac-ness.
would all of this make you leap to an 11” iPad Pro or just abandon iPad all together ? I’m curious
This sounds pretty much like my Saturday mornings... sitting on the patio with a cup of Joe, surfing the interwebs and watching the sun rise over the Sonoran Desert...
I remain completely pleased with my M1 MBP.
I've heard its fan once. When I was trying to make it spin audibly. Otherwise the system has been silent even with fairly low ambient background noise.
I've heard its fan once. When I was trying to make it spin audibly. Otherwise the system has been silent even with fairly low ambient background noise.
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