Anyone getting an M1 Mac?

iniall

Just ordered the M1 MacBook Air (not due to deliver until 21 Dec )

Anybody else getting an M1 Mac now that the reviews have more or less confirmed the hype?

padjocollins

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/macbook-pro-m1-benchmarks-are-in-and-they-destroy-intel

https://daringfireball.net/2020/11/the_m1_macs

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/11/hands-on-with-the-apple-m1-a-seriously-fast-x86-competitor/

padjocollins

I'll be getting the 14.1 mini led macbook pro when it comes out next year (maybe sometime in the 3rd quarter). tipping away grand on my macbook pro 2010

whiterebel

I'm still trying to get over the shock of shelling out 2K for an MBP with a terrible keyboard 2 years ago.......

Oafley Jones

iniall wrote: »

Just ordered the M1 MacBook Air (not due to deliver until 21 Dec )

Anybody else getting an M1 Mac now that the reviews have more or less confirmed the hype?

Yip. Extremely tempted by the base air with upgraded storage. Had the second gen Air and it’s still my favourite computer of all time. Loved the form factor. It’s odd, the 8gb of ram seems perfect by all accounts, although it feels wrong as my 2015 MBP has 16.

Curious to see what they do with MBPs. I’m guessing that 13 inch wont be around for too long.

padjocollins

this will explain a bit why these M1 chips are so fast and why 8gb ram is more than enough for the vast majority of us and wouldn't be on intel chips
https://blog.metaobject.com/2020/11/m1-memory-and-performance.html

padjocollins

https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/11/m1-macs-review/

HairySalmon

Getting the base MBA next week when I’m paid. I was going to go for 16GB but upon review it seems 8GB is strangely perfect for my needs!

padjocollins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuF9weSkS68&t=5s&ab_channel=ColdFusion

Hrududu

Very tempted by the MBA, but I'd be keen to know how certain applications get on. Remote Desktop would be the big one for me (in the times we're in). I'm getting conflicting reports. One I found said that it runs but is so slow its unusable. Another one said it was fine, but it was a random guy on reddit, so its hard to know at this stage.

Would kill me to get one and find that the one application I'd use the most (at least at the moment, due to working from home) wouldn't work too well.

beauf

I'm sorely tempted. Everything I do is in the Microsoft stack development wise. So my main Laptop or Desktop will always be a windows machine. But increasing most of my stuff is on the cloud.

If I got one it would be like a fancy chrome book to play with.

padjocollins

https://www.singhkays.com/blog/apple-silicon-m1-black-magic/

Colonel Panic

Lack of Docker and .Net 3.1/5 problems under Rosetta 2 mean I'll be waiting a while.

Tom1991

Colonel Panic wrote: »

Lack of Docker and .Net 3.1/5 problems under Rosetta 2 mean I'll be waiting a while.

Same boat for me that and the rigmarole around docking and two displays means it’s a miss this time for me.Be interesting to see what the 16 does in March.That and maybe re learning all the code/visual studio keyboard equivalents are my two blockers.Slick device shame there’s no windows laptop that really matches the MacBook Pro experience there’s some that does x better or y worse or has some fatal flaw that’s a deal breaker.The surface laptop has been close but shoots itself in the foot with some decisions it makes thunderbolt/fanless etc

holystungun9

Def tempted for a pro. I was watching for refurb 16inch but its a big chunk of money.

padjocollins

only the air and macbook pro 13 incher have the m1 chip at the moment. i wouldn't be getting a mac intel, new or refurbished due to the m1's big jump in performance/watt

padjocollins

https://twitter.com/ErrataRob/status/1331735383193903104 -- He goes into more details in this twitter thread

ZENER

Was about ready to pull the trigger on an M1 Mac Mini. Price compared to the equivalent i5 Mini is quite good. Only thing holding me back is the ability - or lack of - to run VirtualBox which I use a lot. How long before companies start to release native apps I wonder, or maybe wait for 6 months for the M2 which will inevitably arrive along with more native apps.

Ken

padjocollins

https://erik-engheim.medium.com/why-is-apples-m1-chip-so-fast-3262b158cba2 -- why the m1 chip is so fast

jakdublin

My 2012 iMac is giving me intermittent problems and I suspect the drive is on its last legs. Not much point in getting an intel replacement so I'm torn between going for a Mac mini or waiting for the rumoured 24 inch iMac, which I'm guessing I can't get until next summer. One of the reasons I'm hesitating on getting the Mini is by the time I ramp up the RAM and storage, get a new monitor, new mouse and some kind of hub for devices it probably won't be much cheaper than a new iMac. The only disappointment about these new M1 machines is the inability to add storage or RAM yourself later.

banquo

I too am waiting out for the mid-tier iMacs, which I presume are coming Summer / WWDC 2021.

I'm comfortable jumping in on this gen silicon as I figure their release cycle will be:

21: iMac M1
22: iMac M1, but with new design chassis (maybe an M1X)
23: iMac M2

But instead of grabbing the "big" iMac, I'll only get the rumoured 24-inch, then save for the M2 or M3 iMac down the road.

padjocollins

a bit of a downer but i haven't read anything that pulls it all together
https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-apple-part1 long long read , 3 parts but worth it , yes i will still buy an m1 .... eyes wide open though

beauf

padjocollins wrote: »

a bit of a downer but i haven't read anything that pulls it all together
https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-apple-part1 long long read , 3 parts but worth it , yes i will still buy an m1 .... eyes wide open though

I think we'll struggle to find any modern hardware or software that isn't spying on us in some ways. Apple does it slightly better and more under handed. maybe. But as you say eyes wide open. Its really up to Govts to stomp that out.

I disagree with some of that article. I don't think Jobs was altruistic in the slightest. He was always the ruthless business man. I mainly used macs before OSX. Apple back then did exactly the same things with propriety parts and apps. Being a one stop shop for everything always been the core of Apple model. Wintel was always the open box. Really you are buying into that ethos as much as anything. That has always been true.

If I buy a M1 it will not be my main machine. It will be used as Cloud/Chrome book. Seems perfect for that.

padjocollins

https://9to5mac.com/2020/12/15/benchmarks-show-how-far-behind-windows-arm-machines-are-compared-to-m1-macs/

beauf

I wonder when they remove the limitations of the M1. Storage, memory and GFX tightly bound to the CPU will that significantly hurt the performance.
Or will they avoid that by staying this segment of the market. Small laptops and SFF Desktops.

Gregor Samsa

beauf wrote: »

I wonder when they remove the limitations of the M1. Storage, memory and GFX tightly bound to the CPU will that significantly hurt the performance.
Or will they avoid that by staying this segment of the market. Small laptops and SFF Desktops.

I haven't read any analysis of the M1 architecture that says that it significantly hurts the performance. Quite the opposite. M1 is clearly just the beginning of what Apple is planning. Their stated aim is to implement this architecture across all segments of their lineup. They've said it will take 2 years to complete. If they were just going to concentrate on the small laptops and desktops, they'd be pretty done already.

beauf

It's that tight integration that really helping it's performance. It's why there are limitations with multiple screens and other things etc. This is Apples 5th ? architecture.

padjocollins

beauf wrote: »

I wonder when they remove the limitations of the M1. Storage, memory and GFX tightly bound to the CPU will that significantly hurt the performance.
Or will they avoid that by staying this segment of the market. Small laptops and SFF Desktops.

posted this earlier in the thread but posting it again, it explains the ins and out of the chip , why it's so fast, why microsoft/qualcomm is weakish in comparison but most of all why Intel seems to be snookered with very few options (that part is towards the end)
https://debugger.medium.com/why-is-apples-m1-chip-so-fast-3262b158cba2 . 25 min read but worth it, in my opinion

beauf

padjocollins wrote: »

posted this earlier in the thread but posting it again, it explains the ins and out of the chip , why it's so fast, why microsoft/qualcomm is weakish in comparison but most of all why Intel seems to be snookered with very few options (that part is towards the end)
https://debugger.medium.com/why-is-apples-m1-chip-so-fast-3262b158cba2 . 25 min read but worth it, in my opinion

My point remains. This type of approach only suits certain types of computers, and computing.

I was about to but is it true that Windows can’t be installed on them like the Intel ones? Can you still buy Intel ones? (Air).

beauf

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

I was about to but is it true that Windows can’t be installed on them like the Intel ones? Can you still buy Intel ones? (Air).

There are ways of getting Windows on it using VM parallels and the arm versions of Windows. But it's kinda all early beta. I'm sure it will come. Though I think I wouldn't buy one if I needed Windows.

iniall

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

I was about to but is it true that Windows can’t be installed on them like the Intel ones? Can you still buy Intel ones? (Air).

Apple have stopped selling the Intel Air, so the M1 is the only option there. The MacBook Pro and Mac mini are still available in various Intel flavours (for now). But I think it would be madness to get an Intel Mac now unless you really need one right now.

iniall

Touch ID keeps failing for both me and my OH on my new MBA. Anybody else having issues with it? Touch ID on my old iPad "forgets" my finger after a few days, so I thought it might just be something odd about my fingerprints, but the MBA is losing OH's prints as well, so it's not just me.

WezzyB

Ordered an M1 MBA last week, website says 19th February for delivery, how accurate is this? Have people gotten theirs on time or early?

HairySalmon

WezzyB wrote: »

Ordered an M1 MBA last week, website says 19th February for delivery, how accurate is this? Have people gotten theirs on time or early?

Ordered mine in late November and it took nearly 3 weeks to arrive and it was a very accurate estimate of delivery

rwald7

I ordered one a half an hour ago. Got a delivery window of 3rd-10th Feb.

WezzyB

rwald7 wrote: »

I ordered one a half an hour ago. Got a delivery window of 3rd-10th Feb.

Upgraded storage to 1TB so that might be cause of extra time. My last MBA lasted eight years.

Blazer

padjocollins wrote: »

a bit of a downer but i haven't read anything that pulls it all together
https://hardware.substack.com/p/falling-out-of-love-with-apple-part1 long long read , 3 parts but worth it , yes i will still buy an m1 .... eyes wide open though

a lot of those points are horse****.
I get his point about virtual assistants but even Siri is hobbled by Apple's privacy settings.
Its one of the reasons she's nowhere as good as Alexa or Google assistant.
Poor customization ?? There are a huge amount of Android users who are jumping over to apple. Android is basically a mess right now... crap optimization, crap battery life, crap support.
Its always nice to be able to customize your home screen but eventually you realize all that is doing is just draining your battery.
I've even removed the widgets from my ios14 screen now.

Oafley Jones

Ordered 22nd December, arrived 20th January. Bumped Ram and storage, but I don’t think that makes much difference.

Blazer

Blazer wrote: »

a lot of those points are horse****.
I get his point about virtual assistants but even Siri is hobbled by Apple's privacy settings.
Its one of the reasons she's nowhere as good as Alexa or Google assistant.
Poor customization ?? There are a huge amount of Android users who are jumping over to apple. Android is basically a mess right now... crap optimization, crap battery life, crap support.
Its always nice to be able to customize your home screen but eventually you realize all that is doing is just draining your battery.
I've even removed the widgets from my ios14 screen now.

The real answer is somewhere in the middle.

Rulmeq

WezzyB wrote: »

Ordered an M1 MBA last week, website says 19th February for delivery, how accurate is this? Have people gotten theirs on time or early?

I ordered one for my uncle on the 1st of January, it arrived on Friday (the estimate was 20th-29th Jan), so it came at the start of that range.
Bottom of the range here, 7 cores, 8GB.


I'm still quite envious of him, that keyboard is back to what they should have been selling all along (I bought a 15" in 2018, so no physical escape key, and sh1tty keys, and no T for the arrows).


I'm going to buy one of the bigger MBPs when they release them.

Passenger

HairySalmon wrote: »

Ordered mine in late November and it took nearly 3 weeks to arrive and it was a very accurate estimate of delivery

WezzyB wrote: »

Ordered an M1 MBA last week, website says 19th February for delivery, how accurate is this? Have people gotten theirs on time or early?

rwald7 wrote: »

I ordered one a half an hour ago. Got a delivery window of 3rd-10th Feb.

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Ordered 22nd December, arrived 20th January. Bumped Ram and storage, but I don’t think that makes much difference.

Is everybody ordering directly from Apple ? I'd assume click-and-collect from Curry's and the like would be much quicker. It says on their website "order online and collect in store in minutes."

Doodah7

Passenger wrote: »

Is everybody ordering directly from Apple ? I'd assume click-and-collect from Curry's and the like would be much quicker. It says on their website "order online and collect in store in minutes."

As long as the product is physically in the store then you should be fine. Otherwise it is a horror show:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058150047&page=15

Passenger

Doodah7 wrote: »

As long as the product is physically in the store then you should be fine. Otherwise it is a horror show:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058150047&page=15

Yeah, just seeing now that none of the M1 models are in stock anywhere in the country. I'll go with the Apple store.

WezzyB

I upgraded the storage of mine to 1TB which isn't available on most of the retailers.

I ordered mine on 20th January and it looks like it is getting ready to ship now. Maybe if you get a base model it might ship quicker.

Hi all, well I've finally pulled the trigger and ordered my first Macbook. I'm pretty excited.

It's probably the last major piece of the Apple puzzle for me, I've an iPhone, Watch, 4K TV and finally time to get off Wintel.

I'm kind of avoiding Mac guides and unboxing videos for now, I want to experience it all myself first-hand!

punch bob

Passenger wrote: »

Yeah, just seeing now that none of the M1 models are in stock anywhere in the country. I'll go with the Apple store.

I suggest you always check Compub online - like hourly! They usually restock weekly. Once it’s posted, the units available are gone in an hour. I’ve seen that a few times.

Leftwaffe

So I’ve decided to buy a MacBook Pro but I’m not sure whether to wait for the 14” one coming in Q3 of this year or buy an M1 now. Am I stupid waiting for a laptop that isn’t even released yet?

Also, 16gb or 8gb for an M1? I will be using it for work. Teams, keynote, YouTube, numbers, etc.

padjocollins

some more infor on how apple are using a custom coprossor with their own instruction set to speed up machine learning and other type of intensive tasks
https://outline.com/VVmvDt

beauf

padjocollins wrote: »

some more infor on how apple are using a custom coprossor with their own instruction set to speed up machine learning and other type of intensive tasks
https://outline.com/VVmvDt

Cheers, reminds of the good old days of the AV macs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Quadra_840AV

beauf

Leftwaffe wrote: »

So I’ve decided to buy a MacBook Pro but I’m not sure whether to wait for the 14” one coming in Q3 of this year or buy an M1 now. Am I stupid waiting for a laptop that isn’t even released yet?

Also, 16gb or 8gb for an M1? I will be using it for work. Teams, keynote, YouTube, numbers, etc.

You don't need 16gb for those tasks. But if it were me I'd get more RAM. You could add torage through USB or networks etc. But there is no way to add extra RAM.

If it were me 16GB/512GB would be the lowest config I would buy.

Its personal choice. but for me a 13" screen is too small.
I'm much happier with a 14" screen.
Depends though maybe you'll be using it plugged into a large screen.
Then maybe a Mini would be better (more ports for example)

But also sometimes people just like a smaller footprint on their desk. We've a 13" laptop that I really dislike using. But someone else in the family loves. Each to their own.