M1 Mac mini since December. Great machine. Silent but powerful.
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So ... 6 months on are you Happy with your M1 Mac ?
- Thread starter hungryghosty
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It's easily the best thing since sliced bread. No joke. I love my M1 Mac
My dog is at the point where when he sees me with my Mac in my hand, he automatically goes and lays on the floor near where he knows I’m probably about to sit.
I keep thinking about getting an iPad Air or mini for note taking and reading or watching shows. Then I always think about how there is currently an iPad mini right on my nightstand and I haven’t been using it at all because I’d much rather just grab my phone.
Quite a 180 from the days when I was iPad-only for the most part. But the M1 transition was that convincing to me.
I won’t abandon the iPad Pro but I’m definitely using it less since I got the M1 Air. My 2018 MacBook Pro wasn’t pleasant to use so I started using the iPad Pro more often. Now my use of the Air has nearly replaced using the iPad Pro with the keyboard. The iPad has again become a reading device with casual web browsing thrown in. The only thing I’m really missing on the MBA is built-in cellular networking. I do still bring my iPad Pro & Magic Keyboard when I want to get out of the house but stay connected.
I’m baffled with where Apple wants to take the iPad Pro. They need it to catch up with the Mac for productivity for people to spend the kind of money they are now asking. To match my 16 GB/1 TB M1 MacBook Air on the 12.9 iPad Pro would be $2148 ($2348 with 5G) vs $1649 for the MacBook Air. That $500 difference can’t be justified for a computer with the kinds of limitations that iPadOS imposes.
Apple seems very resistant to making the necessary changes to catch up to Mac productivity. It will be interesting to see what they introduce at WWDC But I’m not expecting much change on the productivity front.
After the hype of my first ever mac, my air didnt meet up to my expectations at all.
Things I love: Screen, battery life, performance, and synchronization with all my apple products.
Things I hate: It does not play well with my monitor and will make the screen randomly black out from time to time for a split second. I had to get new peripherals since it did not support my current ones. Controller support does not work at all so I can't stream my games from my desktop. I wish I could adjust the volume with the keyboard when plugged into a monitor like I could on windows and linux but nope I have to use a dated addon for that. Same for recording desktop audio. I was looking forward to unlock with apple watch but it works only around 60% of the time.
At first I was using it for on the go but now I find myself going back to using my ipad when out of the house.
I have been considering selling it to be honest and buying the new ipad pro or use the money to upgrade my desktop. I prefer windows overall and think iOS apple products are better for me instead of a mac.
Things I love: Screen, battery life, performance, and synchronization with all my apple products.
Things I hate: It does not play well with my monitor and will make the screen randomly black out from time to time for a split second. I had to get new peripherals since it did not support my current ones. Controller support does not work at all so I can't stream my games from my desktop. I wish I could adjust the volume with the keyboard when plugged into a monitor like I could on windows and linux but nope I have to use a dated addon for that. Same for recording desktop audio. I was looking forward to unlock with apple watch but it works only around 60% of the time.
At first I was using it for on the go but now I find myself going back to using my ipad when out of the house.
I have been considering selling it to be honest and buying the new ipad pro or use the money to upgrade my desktop. I prefer windows overall and think iOS apple products are better for me instead of a mac.
Wow, that sucks. Not my experience at all with my M1 MBA! I have an external keyboard that I use and it works great! I can use the volume controls on the keyboard and there are no issues. I don't game on my M1 MBA, so I can't attest to the gaming experience on the M1 MBA.
The Apple Watch Unlock issue isn't an M1-specific issue at all. Intel-based Macs also suffer from the same issue, so you can't fault the M1 Mac for this. I also have this issue with Intel-based Core i9 MBP and with my M1-based MBA.
Lastly, the monitor issue. I am also having the issue that when the M1 Mac goes to sleep or the external monitor turns off, the M1 doesn't send the wake command to the external monitor. This never happened with my Core i9 MBP, so this is an M1-specific issue that Apple still hasn't rectified.
So overall, in my experience, I have been over the moon with this M1 MBA! Just unreal battery life, very light, and it handles everything I threw at it without issues! Very stable and reliable machine IMHO. The only glaring issue is the wake-from-sleep issue with the external monitor. But I can forgive Apple for this one issue for now. This is, after all, a Gen 1 ARM CPU running a full-blown desktop OS! There will be some issues and bugs that haven't been fully vetted or looked into.
Apple needs to fix these display problems. It is getting kind of ridiculous. They seem to have fixed mine for the most part on a LG 24UD58-B 24” 4K.
You can adjust the volume of external speakers output through either hdmi or displayport?
This is what I wanted to believe but I guess I haven't been lucky. I think that if I was to buy another mac down the road, just to have access to the OS, I would get a mac mini. I probably should have gone this route from the beginning since my air spends most of its time plugged into a monitor. I bought it for on the go but in the end prefer my ipad for that task.
It really is. Its something so simple yet they dropped the ball on it.
Purchased end of Jan. to replace an old iMac 2011 High Sierra in order to handle video editing. Initial reviewers saying entry level Mini is adequate. Have added a 1 TB Samsung SSD ext drive and my OWC hub arrives tomorrow (long wait since Jan.) Also low budget M1 trial works well with a Dell Ultra Sharp 24 inch monitor DVI to usb C.
Disappointed that 11.3.1 uses so much space and will remain at 12.2.3 for now. If they anticipated such large GB updates then 512 GB should have been entry level size.
Using my 2018 iPad Pro as my laptop and added 2nd monitor when needed.No rush on the M1 update for iPad.
Add in my 12 iPhone mini I am fully onboard with SoC. Old iMac with 24 MB Ram runs Windows 10 just fine. Just waiting for the SW to catch up. Have patience Obi Wan all will be revealed in good time.
Disappointed that 11.3.1 uses so much space and will remain at 12.2.3 for now. If they anticipated such large GB updates then 512 GB should have been entry level size.
Using my 2018 iPad Pro as my laptop and added 2nd monitor when needed.No rush on the M1 update for iPad.
Add in my 12 iPhone mini I am fully onboard with SoC. Old iMac with 24 MB Ram runs Windows 10 just fine. Just waiting for the SW to catch up. Have patience Obi Wan all will be revealed in good time.
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Very happy with my M1 MBA. Super fast, silent, leightweight, capable, light gaming possible.
Only Complaint: Still some wifi issues with certain routers.
What would be nice?
- LTE or 5G
- may a 120 Hz display
Only Complaint: Still some wifi issues with certain routers.
What would be nice?
- LTE or 5G
- may a 120 Hz display
Got my MBP M1 256 GB, 8 GB RAM last week and I really love it. Last year I got the Intel MBP with 4 Thunderbolts and got sick of that battery. I didn't use the mbp much but every 2 days I had to charge it because it was below 40%. Currently I'm trying to sell my intel Mac but it was the right decision. In that one week I charged it 2 times and now I'm at 45%. My intel Mac slowed really down when using excel (very large excel file) (beachball) but haven't noticed the beachball yet.
I know there is a 14 inch around the corner but honestly 8 GB RAM is fine for me and I want the battery life. Maybe apple will cut some of the battery to make it thinner and less heavy. (and I don't need a SD slot etc.)
I know there is a 14 inch around the corner but honestly 8 GB RAM is fine for me and I want the battery life. Maybe apple will cut some of the battery to make it thinner and less heavy. (and I don't need a SD slot etc.)
How? I have tried many times and when searching online it says that macos does not support this by default.
No HDMI Volume Control - Apple Community
And other sources say I need to use an addon like soundflower or something
Happy overall. No software or compatibility problems. Huge upgrade in speed compared to my 15" 2015 Pro. Love the fanless and coolness.
Only problem is that I still can't get my BenQ 28" LCD monitor to display in 4k 60hz.
Only problem is that I still can't get my BenQ 28" LCD monitor to display in 4k 60hz.
My Intel Mac doesn't allow me to change the sound volume over an HDMI connection either. No clue why, even my Windows computer can.How? I have tried many times and when searching online it says that macos does not support this by default.
No HDMI Volume Control - Apple Community
discussions.apple.com
And other sources say I need to use an addon like soundflower or something
If in the return window, return for a refund and get another. If past the window, try restore with Configurator 2 app and then load one app at a time to see if you can find the culprit, or contact Apple.
Bought a mac mini 8 core 16/512 about a month after release, after the first positive reviews. I bought it for work to evaluate if an M1 mac would be good enough if we needed to buy a new one, or replace an existing one. The default purchase since then has been M1 macs, 'nuff said.
I must say, though, that the Microsoft Outlook search problem seems more prominent on this M1 mac than on previous Intel macs. Hard to quantify and it sucks on both systems, but with this M1 mac, it always borks within a week. It's so bad I'm thinking of using my Intel mac with Outlook for Windows in Parallels...
I must say, though, that the Microsoft Outlook search problem seems more prominent on this M1 mac than on previous Intel macs. Hard to quantify and it sucks on both systems, but with this M1 mac, it always borks within a week. It's so bad I'm thinking of using my Intel mac with Outlook for Windows in Parallels...
Very happy overall. Only quirks, as some others have mentioned, are with how it behaves with an external monitor (I have an M1 MBP). Often get a column of misaligned pixels and lower brightness on waking from sleep with my LG 5K, which didn't happen with my Intel Mac. The pros (speed, fan noise, battery life) outweigh these minor cons, however.
Am very interested in what happens when they redesign the laptops around Apple Silicon considering the drastic change from the Intel to M1 iMac.
Am very interested in what happens when they redesign the laptops around Apple Silicon considering the drastic change from the Intel to M1 iMac.
My linux pc from back in 09 could. Using windows and linux for so many years, switching to macos for the first time shocked me since there were many things that I thought were essential, yet were completely missing.
This is so interesting to me. In my experience, Linux and Windows are the operating systems with limited and/or inconsistent functionality. As to the original question, I love my m1 mba. Has only had a single kernel panic due to a strange hdd I disconnected. Of course I don’t game on it—I have a windows gaming pc for that.
Interesting question. I have an 11" iPad Pro and used to use it while watching TV. My 16" Intel MBP was too bulky. I replaced it with a M1 Air, and now use that as a second device while watching TV. The iPad Pro has become mostly a device for reading technical papers, and marking them up with the Pencil, and watching YouTube videos in bed.
Thats exactly why I got a mac. I just wanted something that just works and found myself having to do more setup than on both windows and linux.
That's so weird. Well, I did learn Mac, Unix, Linux, and Windows all in the same decade (late 90's and early 00s)? I mean, were you having to modify kexts or something? I mean Linux--I spent DAYS trying to get my hardware to work properly?
My first dip into linux was in 2010. I used it on and off over the years but outside of video playback, everything worked out of the box including drivers. Even today i still need drivers for things like my bluetooth and wifi cards but its there and working. Truly amazing.
The main reason I dont use it as my main was just the lack of software. Yes there are open source alternatives but I wanted my software.
I thought mac would be a balance between windows and linux and I guess it is for the most part. But I think windows offered me the best experience.
I just got volume control through keyboard to work over hdmi on my macbook air with a program that I had to download and boot my mac into safe mode to enable something and finally got it to work.... I just have to now pay $45 to continue using it.
Things like that have just surprised me.