I have the M1 MacBook.
I've developed on Apple machines since 2007 and program at the lowest level possible in Metal, in 2007 I was also an Apple employee... and here is my thoughts:
1) The hardware itself is a breakthrough for specific types of things. (Related to gpu features that don't even exist on mainstream desktop gpus. But you have to know what those are and how to do them, and the majority of the developer community does not know how to use even the simpler features. And it's not like you're suddenly going to be able to run bloated unity or unreal games.)
2) High Sierra was the last OS before they added a stuttering lag bug to all Metal views - which means the entire OS now. Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur all have this problem. The M1 is powerful enough to reduce it, but not remove it. So I frequently measure inconsistent frame rates, stutters, and occasional strange glitches. Big Sur itself is bloated and every single Apple framework after Steve got sick, has gotten worse every year. The developer relations does not care, and the third party developers and users do not complain in the correct way. We need developers and users to complain to Apple in the correct way to cause them to adopt higher standards of work ethic. The current developer and managerial culture inside of Apple has become polluted with the ideologies from the mainstream industry. Apple has also become much more disingenuous as it tries to maintain positivity and appear good, rather than do the right thing.
Extra: The stuttering problems of the Mac were copied to the iPad last winter, where suddenly my drawing system (which is more efficient than even procreate) stopped running at 120fps, and has frequent stutters.
Aside: There is extreme health damage, caused by ignorant hardware material choices and layout structures in multiple Apple devices. The information we knew 20-50 years ago was not retained by the current employees, and they do not perform sincere measurements. A more significant example is the Apple Pencil 2nd gen's touch pad (along with the inductive charger). Signal noise, and the interaction of electrical and wireless fields through certain materials and structures is well known, but not at Apple anymore. This not only is validated through readily available instruments that Apple does not use, but we also can trigger software errors based on this knowledge. For example, charging your iPad through a noisy wall adapter will cause the battery to hold on to that signal noise as it oscillates. When the signal noise makes it to the touch screen digitizer, the analog measurements are thrown off, and you may intermittently experience skips in the stylus stroke or a failure to respond to the stylus. You can then cycle the battery with a clean source twice over 3 days and mostly restore the signal integrity, and then you can perform the experiment again to pollute your battery and create the errors. This is just one of many examples, and it isn't directly about the M1, but it is to the point that Apple's standards are low right now, and we need people to speak up and complain in the correct way - They will not fix problems if only I complain. My bug reports remain open for years. We need the community of developers and users to complain in clear logical ways to provoke Apple to raise their standards in the absence of a strict CEO like Steve.
Most all of Apple's Core OS issues are trivial and with the proper management and engineers could be resolved in 6 months, but even 10 min problems are dragged out to years.
Inside and outside Apple our culture is broken. We can do something about the outside, and influence change by raising our own standards as developers and users. To confront harsh realities without emotional recoil, to overcome hedonism and the lure of convenience over what is most correct. Even if I have high standards, I can not influence them on my own, because the majority culture inside and outside Apple, believes in the opposite ideals. There are some things we can only do together, and fixing our cultural standards is one of them. Your complaints to Apple as a collective community do matter if they are clear and logical, and I want to encourage you to do that.
...As for what I will do when the next Arm chip comes out: I will buy it.
