Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Who's rocking an M1 still and how's it holding up for you?
- Thread starter FlyingTexan
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
MBP 16" M1 Pro - Daily driver, still performing flawlessly. No upgrade in sight.
13-inch M1 still going strong, I use it for testing out macOS beta's. So far the only issue that I've had with it is the touch bar flicker, but thats only happened twice to my recollection, and not since some point last year.
seems to me that the secondhand market is going to be flush with properly competent Macs soon as those who replace on a 3-5 year cycle (businesses) begin to offload.
literally the only reason I'd suggest to most general end users to consider anything more recent or powerful than a 16GB M1 machine is for the warranty. performance vs. anything non apple on the market at a similar price (particularly on the MacBooks) is still stellar.
If you do high end work or want to try and game on the thing you already know you want more powerful hardware, but for the typical end user with typical enduser needs, m1 is plenty and will be for years so long as you have adequate storage and RAM.
literally the only reason I'd suggest to most general end users to consider anything more recent or powerful than a 16GB M1 machine is for the warranty. performance vs. anything non apple on the market at a similar price (particularly on the MacBooks) is still stellar.
If you do high end work or want to try and game on the thing you already know you want more powerful hardware, but for the typical end user with typical enduser needs, m1 is plenty and will be for years so long as you have adequate storage and RAM.
My M1 MacBook air (1tb, 8gb) is still holding up well. I have noticed a drop in the battery life. Now requires charging every day. Plan to keep it using it as my main computer until software stops supporting it. Might even consider having the battery replaced if it stops making it thru the day on a charge.
My M1 Air is awesome - even the battery is still at 92%. That said the FOMO is real, and I might finally succumb to an M4, or something on the PC (Linux) side.
I have an M1 Air at home and my work desk has an M1 Mini. Both are doing really really well. The Air still sips battery and handles all kinds of multitasking really nicely.
I often run up to three user accounts on the Air (an edge case, I know): one main personal account, one account signed in to my work's Apple ID, and a third I use only for writing, and which has no email, Messages or any notifications at all. Even with all that, it stays very responsive. I catch myself ogling the M3 Airs and, frankly, I don't need one. Everything on the M1 Air happens easily fast enough.
Also, on my remote work desk at home I just a few weeks ago upgraded my M1 iMac to an M4 iMac. The M4 is definitely snappier. Things happen immediately where there was maybe a tiny pause with the M1. I know it's probably 2x as fast in benchmarks, but for me the real-world difference is fairly subtle. I mean, I'm sure my next Handbrake encode will be awesomely fast but if I'm being real I probably could've done with the M1 iMac for quite a while longer, judging by how well my work M1 Mini is still cranking away wonderfully.
I often run up to three user accounts on the Air (an edge case, I know): one main personal account, one account signed in to my work's Apple ID, and a third I use only for writing, and which has no email, Messages or any notifications at all. Even with all that, it stays very responsive. I catch myself ogling the M3 Airs and, frankly, I don't need one. Everything on the M1 Air happens easily fast enough.
Also, on my remote work desk at home I just a few weeks ago upgraded my M1 iMac to an M4 iMac. The M4 is definitely snappier. Things happen immediately where there was maybe a tiny pause with the M1. I know it's probably 2x as fast in benchmarks, but for me the real-world difference is fairly subtle. I mean, I'm sure my next Handbrake encode will be awesomely fast but if I'm being real I probably could've done with the M1 iMac for quite a while longer, judging by how well my work M1 Mini is still cranking away wonderfully.
Typing this on an M1 Pro, still plenty of lifetime left on this machine!
My MacBook Air M1 2020 is serving me well. 8 Gb and 256 GB base model. Battery Health is normal and Maximum Capacity is 95%. I use it plugged in about 80% of the time.
I use an M1 Mac mini and have FOMO about the M4 as well, but I’m waiting for the M5 in something I heard called “exposure therapy”.
I love my M1 Max MacBook Pro. It’s still my daily driver. It’s the computer I reach for most.
I did pick up an M4 Mac Mini Pro base model for my desk at home when I’m not traveling. But will still catch myself just grabbing my MacBook around the house instead of feeling a need to walk over to my desk to work.
I did pick up an M4 Mac Mini Pro base model for my desk at home when I’m not traveling. But will still catch myself just grabbing my MacBook around the house instead of feeling a need to walk over to my desk to work.
Just to point out something here -- the longevity of these Apple Silicon machines also I think reflects really well on macOS itself. When you think about it, every new Mac you've ever bought probably feels very fast out of the box. They only "slow down" because subsequent versions of the system (and other) software get more demanding to run over time and they struggle to keep up.
I wonder if Apple's now having a perfect vertical between hardware and software, without Intel in the way, is letting them put out more advanced versions of macOS that also run well on these M1 machines.
I wonder if Apple's now having a perfect vertical between hardware and software, without Intel in the way, is letting them put out more advanced versions of macOS that also run well on these M1 machines.
M1 pro MBP daily user here and no signs of slowing down. Can’t see myself needing another laptop for a while.
On the other hand, my household desktop is an Intel i9-9900K iMac, and it’s proving to be a great space heater during this arctic weather episode 😂
On the other hand, my household desktop is an Intel i9-9900K iMac, and it’s proving to be a great space heater during this arctic weather episode 😂
What's crazy to me is people looking at the M1 like it's old now, lol. Maybe time just feels faster as I get older but that thing still seems like it just came out and I'm sure it works just fine. I think everyone should transition from intel at this point but if I already had an M1 I definitely woundn't be in the marker for an upgrade yet.
For me the M1 is still fast, but I regret not getting more RAM. I spent the money on storage, but I should have let Apple scammed me more and gotten both more storage and RAM. The Mac is still fast unless I have too many windows and tabs opened.
Perhaps I can download some RAM and fix this.
Perhaps I can download some RAM and fix this.
Base M1 MBA over here, it's still awesome. I use it for medium-/heavy-office work and all sorts of personal stuff. (My wife has one she uses as well for our homeschooling.) An upgrade at this point is still a "want" over a "need". (An OLED MBA will probably finally get me to upgrade.)
I have 64 GB M1 Max MBP16 inch. Going strong, I wish Apple supported more RAM. My next upgrade will probably be M6, hopefully Apple can support 256 GB. Some of my workflows need around 150-170 GB Memory.
You might have something specific that's hogging resources. Worth investigating if it's causing your problems.
Under normal conditions MacOS is extremely good at keeping a boatload of windows and tabs open. I regularly had a ton of windows tabs open across 4 different browsers on my 16GB M1 Pro and still ran VMs without any issues.
Nice to hear all this ongoing happiness. I have an M1 Air and it's fast, long-lastng, and satisfies my every need. Handling Sequoia with ease.
M1 iPad, MacBook and Studio here. Use the iPad hooked into the Studio for photo editing, probably won't upgrade it at all; the MB and Studio will be upgraded when the OS security updates stop. Like you my MB battery needs a daily recharge, will probably replace the battery in another couple years (did that once with my original MBAir, I used that thing for 10 years before retiring it).