It has been more than a month since the launch of the first computers with Apple Silicon as the main engine. At the fore we have the MacBook Pro M1, MacBook Air M1 and the reborn Mac mini with M1. We believe that after having put them to the test for a longer time is a good time to analyze the reasons why they would be worth buying or the opposite.
Why buy a Mac with M1 now?
We are not going to analyze in an extensive way each section of the equipment with M1, since we did a more complete review of all of them. However, we would like to remember certain points to keep in mind and why perhaps starting 2021 with one of these Mac is a very good idea.
The first point to consider is the incredible battery management that the M1 chip brings to notebooks. It is true that the battery does not care about the Mac mini as it is a desktop computer, but it is surprising to see how the MacBook Air and Pro manage to extend the hours of use even with very demanding processes such as video editing or the consumption of multimedia content for a long time.
Native apps don’t work well, they work great. The only thing missing is that the company’s own applications weren’t going to work well, but the truth is that they haven’t had it easy either. From simple programs such as Safari, Finder, Photos or Pages to the most demanding ones like Final Cut or Logic Pro. This can be extended to the entire interface and even when the screen is turned on as soon as you open the laptop lid or press the keyboard to unlock the Mac mini. The general performance of the entire Mac means that you can even live perfectly with 8 or 16 GB of RAM, since the management is much more efficient and there is a certain parallel with the iPhone and iPad, which can also afford to have less RAM than its competition and yet perform the same and even better in many cases.
Temperature control is, finally, one of Apple’s strengths in any of these three variants. However, it is especially remarkable in the ‘Air’ model, which does not even have fans. With a single heat sink and an operating system at the height of the M1 chip, the Californian company makes its entry-level laptop tremendously efficient in this section, making the computer stay at a stable temperature even with heavier actions and in no case is it dangerous for the equipment itself or for the user.
Without forgetting that they are not cheap computers, the price is one of their greatest allies if we take into account that they are high-end. Apple offers these devices with groundbreaking prices compared to what we had with Intel, so today it is cheaper to buy a computer with an M1 chip than a few months ago with any tenth generation Intel.
Third-party applications are adapting in record time . It is true that there are still many missing and that the transition period is estimated at 2 years, but developers are burning stages really quickly making very popular programs such as the Microsoft Office suite or the Adobe suite can be used natively with M1s without the computer requiring the Rosetta 2 code translator.
That there will be many years of updates is a fact already in Apple devices and also was (and is) in Macs with Intel. However, now we could even predict a much longer software life span. It wouldn’t be a surprise to find these Macs coming to 2030 with macOS updates. And if not, they will have stayed very close.
Although few, there are reasons not to buy now
Honestly, we have a hard time removing defects after this time, however there are some points that you should keep in mind. The first of them is that, despite what we said above, there are still many apps that are not optimized yet and that perhaps could be of vital importance in your case. While Rosetta 2 is an instant code translator and works wonders, in many cases it is not capable of making it work optimally depending on which application. This is extendable to video games.
If you need to have Windows on your Mac , you won’t be able either, since at the moment it is not possible to use the Boot Camp Assistant to create a partition with the Microsoft operating system. Apple already made it clear that in the end this was a matter for the developers and how long they wanted to delay in making their software compatible with Apple’s ARM chips. Even virtualizing it, you could find bugs, since many of the programs to carry out these processes are not optimized for M1s either.
Another possibility that we would recommend waiting for is if you are looking for a larger MacBook or even an iMac . It is expected that in 2021 the Cupertino company will present its first 16-inch laptops with Apple Silicon and there is even talk of an aesthetic and internal renovation of the desktop ones. Obviously these are rumors, but as the saying goes, when the river sounds, it is water. If you are not in too much hurry to renew your computer, with these it is likely that you will already find an M2 chip and many more applications working natively.