Apple experts or anyone using the new MacBook Air M1

[Bill2020]

I have a MacBook Air (early 2015). Recently the battery has been giving me trouble (random shutdowns at battery level 25%, 57%, 72%)to the point of keeping it attached to power at all time. I'm planning to keep this as a backup and replace the battery.

If you bought a new MacBook Air with M1 chip, does it run hot? Does performance drop when temperature increases?

For Mac experts:

Would you buy an M1 now or wait? If wait, how long?

Regarding my current 2015 MBA, how long do you thing apple will support this? At some point they will optimize the OS for M1 to the point that Intel chip will no longer be supported.

Would third party software (Quicken, Turbotax) run on new OS versions or require significant investment from their providers?

Thanks,
Bill

[JD2775]

I have a MacBook Air (early 2015). Recently the battery has been giving me trouble (random shutdowns at battery level 25%, 57%, 72%)to the point of keeping it attached to power at all time. I'm planning to keep this as a backup and replace the battery.

If you bought a new MacBook Air with M1 chip, does it run hot? Does performance drop when temperature increases?

For Mac experts:

Would you buy an M1 now or wait? If wait, how long?

Regarding my current 2015 MBA, how long do you thing apple will support this? At some point they will optimize the OS for M1 to the point that Intel chip will no longer be supported.

Would third party software (Quicken, Turbotax) run on new OS versions or require significant investment from their providers?

Thanks,
Bill

Curious on this as well, as I am wanting to buy the same laptop

[LadyGeek]

This thread is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (MacBook).

[15202guy]

If you need a new computer now and want a Mac, I'd suggest going for the new M1. However, if you don't need one now and can hold off, I'd wait -- at least until some of the early issues are resolved, and ideally until the next revision of the hardware, expected in 2021. There are some issues (as is to be expected with such a big change) that Apple and its software/hardware partners need to work out. The best summary I've found (presents info without being overly technical) is at https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoo ... t-to-pass/

From forum reports, Bluetooth seems to be especially problematic -- even common peripherals like Logitech keyboards and mice.

I should also mention that if you're a basic user and stay entirely in the Apple "ecosystem" -- hardware and software -- then I would not hesitate to buy now. But even really popular software like MS Office has some issues.

[15202guy]

If you bought a new MacBook Air with M1 chip, does it run hot? Does performance drop when temperature increases?

I have colleagues that have the machines and have read a fair amount on forums -- it does not seem to run hot, and thermal throttling is minimal.

Regarding my current 2015 MBA, how long do you thing apple will support this? At some point they will optimize the OS for M1 to the point that Intel chip will no longer be supported.

Probably not much longer -- but I would strongly guess long enough so that you could wait for a 2nd generation M1 machine.

Would third party software (Quicken, Turbotax) run on new OS versions or require significant investment from their providers?

In theory, it will run fine through the translation layer. In practice, there are likely to be bugs, ranging from minor annoyances to serious issues, until the provider has updated the software so it runs natively on the new architecture.

[fogalog]

I have a MacBook Air (early 2015). Recently the battery has been giving me trouble (random shutdowns at battery level 25%, 57%, 72%)to the point of keeping it attached to power at all time. I'm planning to keep this as a backup and replace the battery.

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

I also recommend downloading Coconut Battery to better understand if the problem really is the battery.

Depending on your use case, a 2015 Macbook Air may not really be that old - I regularly use a Macbook Pro that is much older than this. For simple email / browsing, etc., it works just fine (I have other Macs for real work). Personally I would wait before purchasing any M1-based system. It's a major architectural change for Apple and history tells us that there almost certainly will be problems that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

[Bill2020]

I have a MacBook Air (early 2015). Recently the battery has been giving me trouble (random shutdowns at battery level 25%, 57%, 72%)to the point of keeping it attached to power at all time. I'm planning to keep this as a backup and replace the battery.

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

I also recommend downloading Coconut Battery to better understand if the problem really is the battery.

Depending on your use case, a 2015 Macbook Air may not really be that old - I regularly use a Macbook Pro that is much older than this. For simple email / browsing, etc., it works just fine (I have other Macs for real work). Personally I would wait before purchasing any M1-based system. It's a major architectural change for Apple and history tells us that there almost certainly will be problems that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

I'll try the SMC reset.

This issue with the battery started within the last 1 or 2 months. But it's at the point where I don't trust battery power.

[hunoraut]

If you bought a new MacBook Air with M1 chip, does it run hot? Does performance drop when temperature increases?

It hasn't ever gotten even warm in my non-contrived usage. Presumably performance drops, if you were rendering 4k videos, but it hasn't become thermally throttled in my usage.

Would you buy an M1 now or wait? If wait, how long?

If you need a new laptop, just buy one. It is very clearly superior to the machine it replaces, but without a first-model premium. They're the same price. If you wait for something better, there will always be something better, and you will always wait.

The only thing to wait for is if you don't like port selection of the current M1 laptops (only dual USBC/TB), if you would like a thinner display bezel (rumored to have 14" miniLED in same size chassis), or waiting for full app support.

Regarding my current 2015 MBA, how long do you thing apple will support this? At some point they will optimize the OS for M1 to the point that Intel chip will no longer be supported.

They still sell Intel computers right now, so it will be at minimum 1 years.
Apple is pushing developers to develop Universal apps - which are compatible for both platforms - rather than just ARM-specific apps

Would third party software (Quicken, Turbotax) run on new OS versions or require significant investment from their providers?

Theoretically it is a very easy transition to compile for new platform. And if not, they can still run via emulation with very high performance.

I haven't had issues with apps except:
* a brokerage app thats quite slow
* firefox browser doesnt work with all extensions
* apple version of msoffice looks childish

[gronkman]

I have a MacBook Air (early 2015). Recently the battery has been giving me trouble (random shutdowns at battery level 25%, 57%, 72%)to the point of keeping it attached to power at all time. I'm planning to keep this as a backup and replace the battery.

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

I also recommend downloading Coconut Battery to better understand if the problem really is the battery.

Depending on your use case, a 2015 Macbook Air may not really be that old - I regularly use a Macbook Pro that is much older than this. For simple email / browsing, etc., it works just fine (I have other Macs for real work). Personally I would wait before purchasing any M1-based system. It's a major architectural change for Apple and history tells us that there almost certainly will be problems that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

I'll try the SMC reset.

This issue with the battery started within the last 1 or 2 months. But it's at the point where I don't trust battery power.

The battery is 5 years old, so it’s about the time where it could start failing. You can bring it to Apple to replace the battery for you for $129, so that’s an option.

[02nz]

If you need one, buy it now. There are some who say "it's a first-gen product, wait until v2." But it's not really, as Apple has been designing its own silicon (the A series chips that go into iPhones and iPads) for some time now. The main downside - current software not being optimized for M1 - will be overcome quite quickly, and it's not that a big downside even now.

[BH13]

Would third party software (Quicken, Turbotax) run on new OS versions or require significant investment from their providers?

Thanks,
Bill

I have the new M1 MacBook Air and both Quicken 6.0 and Turbotax work fine on it. Quicken has already been updated for the M1 ARM chip. Turbotax 2019 runs perfectly under Rosetta 2 (You don't even notice it).

[yo-eleven]

I have the M1 MacBook Pro and I'm running Quicken without issue. Version 6.0 release notes show that it's now a Universal app "which means it will take full advantage of the power and speed of new Apple Silicon Macs."

[TravelGeek]

Regarding my current 2015 MBA, how long do you thing apple will support this? At some point they will optimize the OS for M1 to the point that Intel chip will no longer be supported.

Probably not much longer -- but I would strongly guess long enough so that you could wait for a 2nd generation M1 machine.

Given that

(a) Apple is still allowing me to upgrade my late 2013 13” MBP to Big Sur and

(b) Apple is still actively marketing and selling Intel-based MacBook Pros and MacBooks today

I would bet a 2015 Mac will still be supported with software updates for another three or four years, maybe longer.

The battery is 5 years old, so it’s about the time where it could start failing. You can bring it to Apple to replace the battery for you for $129, so that’s an option.

It’s probably what I would do (and did in the past with a 2008 15” MBP when the battery was failing), either to recover some resale value or make it a usable backup machine.

Personally, I am waiting for Apple to come out with a 13” MBP with Apple Silicon and more than 16gb RAM. Hopefully next year. I am not replacing my 7 year old machine with a new one with the same memory capacity in violation of Moore’s law

[jvmallday]

A large contingent of software developers use macs and will need x86 for some time

[MrTom]

I have the new M1 Air and it's fantastic. Forget running hot, I've only managed to get this thing very mildly warm once when really trying to tax the system. Under normal usage the case is cold to the touch, much like picking up your current Mac when its been off for some time, or using an iPad.

Battery life is excellent. Performance is stunning. Screen is excellent. Running intel apps is seamless. Running iPad/iPhone apps I would say is mediocre at best... I found one or two which are nice to have now, but most are just not a great experience with a non-touchscreen. I imagine that will begin to change over time though. But more of a novelty for now.

Quicken has already been updated to fully support the M1, here is a snippet from the latest release notes: "Quicken is now a Universal app which means it will take full advantage of the power and speed of new Apple Silicon Macs."

No hesitation in recommending the M1 Air if you are ready for an upgrade.

[Eagle33]

Lots of video reviews if you google. Here is one M1 MacBook Pro and Air review: Apple delivers

[15202guy]

I'm not trying to be the "Debbie Downer" here, but I do encourage everyone to look at the less glowing reviews, such as the Forbes article I posted, before deciding if/when to move to the M1. Apple has done an admirable job addressing a hard problem, but the glowing reviews are not telling the entire story.

[hunoraut]

Forbes.com is disposable, blogger-contributor click-bait trash and no more useful than millenial-influencer "media".

The chassis and most of hardware (keyboard, trackpad, screen, speaker, peripheral support, etc) are the same as before and known quantities. Any futures changes made for compatibility due to ARM instruction set will apply equally to the current M1 models.

[15202guy]

Forbes.com is disposable, blogger-contributor click-bait trash and no more useful than millenial-influencer "media".

Perhaps, but this particular author is pretty well respected, and his review is consistent with real-world reports on various forums.

[fogalog]

I have a MacBook Air (early 2015). Recently the battery has been giving me trouble (random shutdowns at battery level 25%, 57%, 72%)to the point of keeping it attached to power at all time. I'm planning to keep this as a backup and replace the battery.

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

I also recommend downloading Coconut Battery to better understand if the problem really is the battery.

Depending on your use case, a 2015 Macbook Air may not really be that old - I regularly use a Macbook Pro that is much older than this. For simple email / browsing, etc., it works just fine (I have other Macs for real work). Personally I would wait before purchasing any M1-based system. It's a major architectural change for Apple and history tells us that there almost certainly will be problems that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

I'll try the SMC reset.

This issue with the battery started within the last 1 or 2 months. But it's at the point where I don't trust battery power.

The battery is 5 years old, so it’s about the time where it could start failing. You can bring it to Apple to replace the battery for you for $129, so that’s an option.

...which is exactly what Coconut Battery will tell you (ie whether you need a new battery or not).

E.g. Coconut Battery tells me that the battery in the 2012 Macbook Pro on which I am typing this was manufactured in 2014 and has had 720 load cycles. It is still at 94%. So after over 6 years it has plenty of life. Conversely, the previous battery - that this one replaced - was a dud that lasted less than 2 years (and was replaced under warranty).

In my experience, when a Mac shows random power-related issues, an SMC reset is a good thing to try first.

Good luck!

[hunoraut]

Perhaps, but this particular author is pretty well respected, and his review is consistent with real-world reports on various forums.

None of what he claims is "real world". He tries to prove a point not realizable in real world, by skirting the edge of usage envelope, running Windows-centric application for which there are native packaged Mac apps.

Between Safari, Brave, Firefox, etc, not in a million years will an app user run Microsoft Edge on a Mac. Or WinZip when MacOS already decompresses files. Or Adobe PDF when those files open with Preview. And the list of incompatible software - OBS Studio, Nectar plugin, Neutron plugin, Screenflow - what even are these?

Highlighting the fact that Apple computers doesn't play "AAA" games and doesn't have "5G/LTE" built-in is like highlighting the fact that cats don't bark.

It's inane, and doubtful any of that finds relevance with the OP

[Bill2020]

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

I also recommend downloading Coconut Battery to better understand if the problem really is the battery.

Depending on your use case, a 2015 Macbook Air may not really be that old - I regularly use a Macbook Pro that is much older than this. For simple email / browsing, etc., it works just fine (I have other Macs for real work). Personally I would wait before purchasing any M1-based system. It's a major architectural change for Apple and history tells us that there almost certainly will be problems that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

I don't see Coconut Battery on the App Store. Is it that much better than those on the App Store? I prefer downloading from the App Store.

I also reset the SMC. But too soon to tell if it improved anything.

[fogalog]

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

I also recommend downloading Coconut Battery to better understand if the problem really is the battery.

Depending on your use case, a 2015 Macbook Air may not really be that old - I regularly use a Macbook Pro that is much older than this. For simple email / browsing, etc., it works just fine (I have other Macs for real work). Personally I would wait before purchasing any M1-based system. It's a major architectural change for Apple and history tells us that there almost certainly will be problems that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

I don't see Coconut Battery on the App Store. Is it that much better than those on the App Store? I prefer downloading from the App Store.

I also reset the SMC. But too soon to tell if it improved anything.

Yes I see it is not on the App Store. I have been using it since long before the App Store existed and I like it. I don't know the apps on the app store so I cant advise, unfortunately.

In general you want to look for the "load cycles" - Apple has suggested numbers at which they expect degradation - and then effective capacity (%). You can get the load cycle information from settings (see the link below) - I use CoconutBattery because it maintains the history over time. For your 2015 Macbook Air, Apple expects it to retain 80% of its capacity after 1,000 load cycles. See more detail here.

On the SMC reset: sometimes it is hard to tell if it worked, but no harm in doing a few times in a row.

Good luck!

[15202guy]

Perhaps, but this particular author is pretty well respected, and his review is consistent with real-world reports on various forums.

None of what he claims is "real world". He tries to prove a point not realizable in real world, by skirting the edge of usage envelope, running Windows-centric application for which there are native packaged Mac apps.

Between Safari, Brave, Firefox, etc, not in a million years will an app user run Microsoft Edge on a Mac. Or WinZip when MacOS already decompresses files. Or Adobe PDF when those files open with Preview. And the list of incompatible software - OBS Studio, Nectar plugin, Neutron plugin, Screenflow - what even are these?

Highlighting the fact that Apple computers doesn't play "AAA" games and doesn't have "5G/LTE" built-in is like highlighting the fact that cats don't bark.

It's inane, and doubtful any of that finds relevance with the OP

I agree about the games and LTE, but respectfully disagree with your other points. People do use those apps for various reasons -- needing to use Acrobat editing features only in the official Adobe product, decompressing archives in the proprietary WinZip format, accessing corporate applications that work only in Edge, etc. I note that you conveniently omitted Outlook -- which is quite commonly used on Macs, especially in the corporate world. I agree some of the applications are esoteric -- but I think his point, which is all I was trying to point out, is that if you're expecting a 100% seamless experience, you may not meet that expectation if you stray a bit off the beaten path. You failed to mention mainstream (in some circles) apps like Matlab, Parallels, and VirtualBox. You also failed to mention popular Adobe content creation apps like Photoshop and Illustrator. And certainly the compatibility issues with mainstream Logitech Bluetooth peripherals are something even a basic user could run into.

Anyways, I wish the OP luck with their decision and hope all goes smoothly, regardless of how they choose to proceed.

[HawkeyePierce]

Adobe will soon start releasing new versions of Creative Suite that are native to the M1. Lightroom should be coming this month, Photoshop in January and the rest TBD after that.

[teamDE]

The reviews on the M1 hardware so far are stellar. Truly incredible performance and power efficiency. Rosetta 2 apparently works much better than expected and running old x86 app on M1.

Arstechnica is a great resource and has several M1 reviews out now. They were skeptics at first, but are pretty much blown away.

[palanzo]

Perhaps, but this particular author is pretty well respected, and his review is consistent with real-world reports on various forums.

None of what he claims is "real world". He tries to prove a point not realizable in real world, by skirting the edge of usage envelope, running Windows-centric application for which there are native packaged Mac apps.

Between Safari, Brave, Firefox, etc, not in a million years will an app user run Microsoft Edge on a Mac. Or WinZip when MacOS already decompresses files. Or Adobe PDF when those files open with Preview. And the list of incompatible software - OBS Studio, Nectar plugin, Neutron plugin, Screenflow - what even are these?

Highlighting the fact that Apple computers doesn't play "AAA" games and doesn't have "5G/LTE" built-in is like highlighting the fact that cats don't bark.

It's inane, and doubtful any of that finds relevance with the OP

Just because you are not familiar with certain software applications does not mean they are not extensively used and extremely useful.

Screenflow is very widely used and Telestream is a highly respected company in the industry.

https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm

[chuckb84]

There are PC-centric reviews doing a lot of huffing and puffing that "This isn't a big deal", or "Doesn't matter for Windows users".

Nonsense. This is a revolution, and that will be clear to all a year from now.

Let's skip the technical detail and just highlight: Twice the speed and twice the battery life AT THE SAME TIME. Okay, it isn't quite a factor of two, but the simultaneous and substantial improvement in two categories where the conventional wisdom was "Pick one" is really impressive.

The thing that has kept Intel dominant for so long is economies of scale and enough money to fund a lot of R&D. Well, Apple now sells annually the same number of devices that use Intel chips, at least roughly speaking. So Apple has the same leverage of scale that Intel does, and wowsers, they also have a lot money. Those two things are really what led to the M1.

Also, the M1 isn't some radical new "will it work" design. The computer science roots for RISC go back to the founding of ARM (at least), and the M1 chip is the 15th(?), 18th(?) iteration of Apple producing their own chips, starting with phones and working their way up to the M1. There is also no reason to this scaling is going to stop.

I'm selling a 4 month-old Macbook Pro 13" laptop to get an M1 Macbook Air. I like the Intel MBP, but the writing is on the wall and it's time move on from Intel.

[Dregob]

Just hope you don't need help from a moron at the Apple Genius bar.
Bad bad experience with an iPhone today and the genius who helped me.
Apathetic and clueless......

[beyou]

My 2013 MBA upgraded to Big Sur just fine.
I will upgrade hw when I have to, not before !

[hunoraut]

Just because you are not familiar with certain software applications does not mean they are not extensively used and extremely useful.

Screenflow is very widely used and Telestream is a highly respected company in the industry.

How extensively used is a software with 17 reviews and a 3.5 score on the official App Store?

[Jags4186]

Just because you are not familiar with certain software applications does not mean they are not extensively used and extremely useful.

Screenflow is very widely used and Telestream is a highly respected company in the industry.

How extensively used is a software with 17 reviews and a 3.5 score on the official App Store?

The Mac App Store isn’t the same as the iPhone or iPad App Store. Most people don’t use the Mac App Store and still get their apps directly from the publisher. It’s almost always cheaper to buy directly from the publisher vs from Apple, and publishers are known to not update the App Store nearly as quickly as they do the apps you get direct from them.

That said, I’ve never heard of Telestream or Screenflow.

[Point]

Here is a good article on the subject: https://daringfireball.net/2020/12/m1_m ... truthiness

[onourway]

Perhaps, but this particular author is pretty well respected, and his review is consistent with real-world reports on various forums.

None of what he claims is "real world". He tries to prove a point not realizable in real world, by skirting the edge of usage envelope, running Windows-centric application for which there are native packaged Mac apps.

Between Safari, Brave, Firefox, etc, not in a million years will an app user run Microsoft Edge on a Mac. Or WinZip when MacOS already decompresses files. Or Adobe PDF when those files open with Preview. And the list of incompatible software - OBS Studio, Nectar plugin, Neutron plugin, Screenflow - what even are these?

Highlighting the fact that Apple computers doesn't play "AAA" games and doesn't have "5G/LTE" built-in is like highlighting the fact that cats don't bark.

It's inane, and doubtful any of that finds relevance with the OP

I agree about the games and LTE, but respectfully disagree with your other points. People do use those apps for various reasons -- needing to use Acrobat editing features only in the official Adobe product, decompressing archives in the proprietary WinZip format, accessing corporate applications that work only in Edge, etc. I note that you conveniently omitted Outlook -- which is quite commonly used on Macs, especially in the corporate world. I agree some of the applications are esoteric -- but I think his point, which is all I was trying to point out, is that if you're expecting a 100% seamless experience, you may not meet that expectation if you stray a bit off the beaten path. You failed to mention mainstream (in some circles) apps like Matlab, Parallels, and VirtualBox. You also failed to mention popular Adobe content creation apps like Photoshop and Illustrator. And certainly the compatibility issues with mainstream Logitech Bluetooth peripherals are something even a basic user could run into.

Anyways, I wish the OP luck with their decision and hope all goes smoothly, regardless of how they choose to proceed.

Many of these incompatibilities are with MacOS Big Sur, not with the M1 chip/Rosetta. Big difference and not acknowledged even in the slightest by Moorhead.

I don’t think anyone who has anything resembling speciality software would expect to move to M1 with zero issues. But they shouldn’t be upgrading to Big Sur on Intel either.

Moorhead has been consistently wrong about Apple’s advances for going on a decade now. It’s click-bait for a specific audience that can’t stand to believe the world is changing.

[Bogle7]

Most people don’t use the Mac App Store and still get their apps directly from the publisher.

Do you have any data to support this assertion?

[nullisland]

The tl;dr is that most people in the market for a new Mac should get the M1 MacBook Air.

The exception is for software developers, or others who depend on specific software tools that aren't yet supported. Docker, for example, doesn't work on the M1 yet, so if you both need a new computer and need Docker you need to get an Intel-based Mac.

The vast majority of people who don't rely on specific software that isn't yet supported will be much better off with the M1.

[Jags4186]

Most people don’t use the Mac App Store and still get their apps directly from the publisher.

Do you have any data to support this assertion?

I don't have data, because I'm fairly sure Apple doesn't release this type of data, however, it's pretty easy to see. If you have an app in the app store it must be sandboxed. Additionally, Apple takes a cut of app sales so many software developers do not put their apps in the App store. Some of the biggest name applications are therefore not available in the app store.

Examples:

Chrome
Dropbox
Steam
Quicken, Quickbooks, Turbotax
Adobe Photoshop
Autodesk AutoCAD
Coconut Battery
Macs Fan Control
Little Snitch

So if you use any of those apps (and I would say those applications range from extremely widely used to professional specific to geeky power user) you are not using the Mac App Store. But yea, for some random free game or something, you probably are grabbing it from the App Store.

Hope this helps.

[palanzo]

Just because you are not familiar with certain software applications does not mean they are not extensively used and extremely useful.

Screenflow is very widely used and Telestream is a highly respected company in the industry.

How extensively used is a software with 17 reviews and a 3.5 score on the official App Store?

They won the Apple Design Award 2008. Take a look at the website. They sell directly to customers like many developers do in the Mac world. A simple search will tell you who and how the software is used.

Jags4186 replied before I did. I concur.

[palanzo]

The tl;dr is that most people in the market for a new Mac should get the M1 MacBook Air.

The exception is for software developers, or others who depend on specific software tools that aren't yet supported. Docker, for example, doesn't work on the M1 yet, so if you both need a new computer and need Docker you need to get an Intel-based Mac.

The vast majority of people who don't rely on specific software that isn't yet supported will be much better off with the M1.

+ 1K

[palanzo]

Most people don’t use the Mac App Store and still get their apps directly from the publisher.

Do you have any data to support this assertion?

I don't have data, because I'm fairly sure Apple doesn't release this type of data, however, it's pretty easy to see. If you have an app in the app store it must be sandboxed. Additionally, Apple takes a cut of app sales so many software developers do not put their apps in the App store. Some of the biggest name applications are therefore not available in the app store.

Examples:

Chrome
Dropbox
Steam
Quicken, Quickbooks, Turbotax
Adobe Photoshop
Autodesk AutoCAD
Coconut Battery
Macs Fan Control
Little Snitch

So if you use any of those apps (and I would say those applications range from extremely widely used to professional specific to geeky power user) you are not using the Mac App Store. But yea, for some random free game or something, you probably are grabbing it from the App Store.

Hope this helps.

In addition, many developers have a sandboxed App Store version and a non-sandboxed version. From personal experience their sales are many times higher when going direct. Soulver is one example.

[teamDE]

Here is a good article on the subject: https://daringfireball.net/2020/12/m1_m ... truthiness

Excellent. This is truly a revolutionary change in personal computing.

[Bill2020]

Thanks to all that replied. I'm going to try the suggestions from @fogalog. If necessary I will replaced the battery on my MBA-2015. But I look forward to getting a the M1, probably version 2.

[hunoraut]

They won the Apple Design Award 2008. Take a look at the website. They sell directly to customers like many developers do in the Mac world. A simple search will tell you who and how the software is used.

Jags4186 replied before I did. I concur.

How the software is used is not germane.
How often and how prevalent is what matters.

I use Techsmith Camtasia on my Dell quite often. Same class of app, same price, equally reputable and polished. But not especially common. If it stopped working tomorrow, it would be asinine for me to caution people against buying a Dell because of this fact. Or - analogous to the rest is his examples - because iTunes runs slower on Windows than it does on Mac.

A *real* critique would be that the Office suite is more gimped on Mac than it is on Windows. But that’s been true going back generations of the software, same on Intel-Mac as it is today.

The author clearly has an axe to grind, using some very contrived scenarios to express his displeasure.

[palanzo]

They won the Apple Design Award 2008. Take a look at the website. They sell directly to customers like many developers do in the Mac world. A simple search will tell you who and how the software is used.

Jags4186 replied before I did. I concur.

How the software is used is not germane.
How often and how prevalent is what matters.

I use Techsmith Camtasia on my Dell quite often. Same class of app, same price, equally reputable and polished. But not especially common. If it stopped working tomorrow, it would be asinine for me to caution people against buying a Dell because of this fact. Or - analogous to the rest is his examples - because iTunes runs slower on Windows than it does on Mac.

A *real* critique would be that the Office suite is more gimped on Mac than it is on Windows. But that’s been true going back generations of the software, same on Intel-Mac as it is today.

The author clearly has an axe to grind, using some very contrived scenarios to express his displeasure.

If your workday depended on Camtasia or Screenflow it is important. So if only 10,000 people use Screenflow around the world one can dismiss the issue? Who is going to track how often and how prevalent? Nobody does this.

[hunoraut]

If your workday depended on Camtasia or Screenflow it is important. So if only 10,000 people use Screenflow around the world one can dismiss the issue? Who is going to track how often and how prevalent? Nobody does this.

1. I guarantee you those companies track and know how many people use their products and how often they use it.

2. Even if the public didn’t have access to the sales volume, download stats, update checks, and license pings, it is still exceedingly easy to ascertain comparative popularity of software.

3. Frankly, yes, it can be dismissed. If an issue affects 0.0125% users (sales volume * 4 year replacement rate), it’s irrelevant to most users. Certainly not the lead flag you’d waive to caution people. “Hey, don’t buy this thing. You might be 1:8000 folks!!!!)

I wrote that current version of Firefox (83) has issues with popular extensions. The beta (84) is written to be native for Apple Silicon. Until then, you would have to run it “naked” without things like Adblock Origin. That’s a more useful note, relevant to more people.

His enumeration of a bunch of esoteric cases is meant to sensationalize. But it’s apparent he has an audience, so can’t blame him I guess.

[palanzo]

If your workday depended on Camtasia or Screenflow it is important. So if only 10,000 people use Screenflow around the world one can dismiss the issue? Who is going to track how often and how prevalent? Nobody does this.

1. I guarantee you those companies track and know how many people use their products and how often they use it.

2. Even if the public didn’t have access to the sales volume, download stats, update checks, and license pings, it is still exceedingly easy to ascertain comparative popularity of software.

3. Frankly, yes, it can be dismissed. If an issue affects 0.0125% users (sales volume * 4 year replacement rate), it’s irrelevant to most users. Certainly not the lead flag you’d waive to caution people. “Hey, don’t buy this thing. You might be 1:8000 folks!!!!)

I wrote that current version of Firefox (83) has issues with popular extensions. The beta (84) is written to be native for Apple Silicon. Until then, you would have to run it “naked” without things like Adblock Origin. That’s a more useful note, relevant to more people.

His enumeration of a bunch of esoteric cases is meant to sensationalize. But it’s apparent he has an audience, so can’t blame him I guess.

If it is exceedingly easy to ascertain comparative popularity of software could you please give me the numbers for Camtasia or Screenflow?

If those customers decide to move to a different platform because the software they need does not work then it is not irrelevant.

[hunoraut]

If it is exceedingly easy to ascertain comparative popularity of software could you please give me the numbers for Camtasia or Screenflow?

If those customers decide to move to a different platform because the software they need does not work then it is not irrelevant.

Comparatively, Camtasia and Screenflow is stupendously less common than Zoom, VLC, Slack, Office, Spotify, etc. If you want to be the piper for the ultraminority, so be it. That song will just not be enticing to the overwhelming majority of the buyers of the 20M Macs sold every year.

[KarenC]

Perhaps, but this particular author is pretty well respected, and his review is consistent with real-world reports on various forums.

None of what he claims is "real world". He tries to prove a point not realizable in real world, by skirting the edge of usage envelope, running Windows-centric application for which there are native packaged Mac apps.

Between Safari, Brave, Firefox, etc, not in a million years will an app user run Microsoft Edge on a Mac. […]

I'm typing this into Microsoft Edge running on a Mac.

[boglebob321]

I purchased a MBA with M1 chip (basic $999 model) 2-3 weeks ago after my MBP died after 5.5 years. I utilize frequently, but only do simple things like surf internet, quicken, photos, email, etc.

The new MBA has been flawless. It appears to be fast, but I never thought my MBP was slow. It is not warm while sitting on my lap anymore. Battery life is incredible. I forgot to plug it in last night, but still have 73% battery life from yesterday.

[teamDE]

If your workday depended on Camtasia or Screenflow it is important. So if only 10,000 people use Screenflow around the world one can dismiss the issue? Who is going to track how often and how prevalent? Nobody does this.

1. I guarantee you those companies track and know how many people use their products and how often they use it.

2. Even if the public didn’t have access to the sales volume, download stats, update checks, and license pings, it is still exceedingly easy to ascertain comparative popularity of software.

3. Frankly, yes, it can be dismissed. If an issue affects 0.0125% users (sales volume * 4 year replacement rate), it’s irrelevant to most users. Certainly not the lead flag you’d waive to caution people. “Hey, don’t buy this thing. You might be 1:8000 folks!!!!)

I wrote that current version of Firefox (83) has issues with popular extensions. The beta (84) is written to be native for Apple Silicon. Until then, you would have to run it “naked” without things like Adblock Origin. That’s a more useful note, relevant to more people.

His enumeration of a bunch of esoteric cases is meant to sensationalize. But it’s apparent he has an audience, so can’t blame him I guess.

If it is exceedingly easy to ascertain comparative popularity of software could you please give me the numbers for Camtasia or Screenflow?

If those customers decide to move to a different platform because the software they need does not work then it is not irrelevant.

You're really missing the forest for the trees here. If a customer has a niche use case it would of course be prudent to find hardware suitable to the task. The point here is that for most people who run common apps, there are extremely few compatibility issues with the M1 hardware and that number is dropping by the hour. That's the target audience of this post and the M1 reviews in general.

Heck, i have an old Thinkpad running WinXP just to support some old Porsche software i need. Does that i mean i should recommend against any computer built in the last ten years?