The Apple M1 Chip Macs
Nobody who went into Apple’s November announcement with any idea of what they could reasonably expect came away from it disappointed (unless you were expecting AirTags, which wasn’t an unreasonable expectation, but didn’t come to fruition).
Apple’s first custom designed laptop/desktop processor is called the M1, and while nobody’s gotten their hands on one yet and Apple’s claims were a little light on specifics, it seems like it’s going to be kicking ass and taking names. They’ve put in into the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini, and thhe’re claiming it’s going to yield significantly better performance (up to 3x faster CPU) and allow for nearly double the battery life when compared to the intel processor based models that preceded them. Usually better battery life comes at the expense of performance and increased performance comes at the expense of speed, but Apple has managed to make remarkable jumps in both. And these aren’t even going to be Apple’s most impressive chips; all the machines they announced that are shipping with the M1 are casual consumer level machines. Just wait until they unveil their processors for machines built for professional use.
If you’re in the market for a new MacBook and aren’t afraid of buying a first generation product, now is the time to buy. Usually choosing which Mac is best for you can be an arduous process, but since the new MacBook Air and the new MacBook Pro both use the M1 chip, the differences are almost negligible.
The new MacBook Air comes in two preconfigured models (with the option to custom config). Both have 13” retina displays, and they have the same physical design and weight (2.8 lbs). They both have Touch ID sensors, neither have a Touch Bar.
The baseline config costs $1000, it has 256GB of storage, and its M1 chip has an 8-core CPU and a 7-core GPU.
The upgraded config costs $1250, it has 512GB of storage, and its M1 chip has an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU.
The differences between the preconfigured models are three: the amount of storage, the number of GPU cores on the M1 chip, and the price.
If you’re looking for more RAM (up to 16GB) or storage (up to 2TB), you can custom configure the new MacBook Air. While you can’t upgrade just the M1 chip to get that extra GPU core, you can toy around with the custom config options and deduce that the extra GPU core costs $50. The baseline model can be custom configured with 512GB of storage (to match Apple’s upgraded pre-configuration) for a $200 up charge, which would put it at $1200. At that point the only difference between the two machines is that extra GPU core, showing that it effectively costs $50. Not a terrible price for slightly better graphics performance, but you can’t get that upgraded GPU on the baseline model, so the only way to get it is to spring for the upgraded config which means you also have to pay for the extra storage. My recommendation would be to ignore the GPU difference and order the configuration with the amount of storage you need. If you know you don’t need 512GB of storage, there’s no point in paying a $250 up charge to get the better GPU. If you do want the 512GB of storage, don’t custom config the baseline, go ahead and get the upgraded preconfiguration and enjoy the benefits of that extra core for only $50. That said, I generally don’t think 256GB is enough storage for most people on a laptop these days. Once you sync your photos, download a movie or two, and backup your iPhone, its going going to fill up: my advice to anyone who wants a machine to last more than six months before you have to start deleting files to make room for new stuff is to go for the 512GB model.
The new M1 MacBook Pro also comes in two configurations, with even fewer differences. They both have 13” retina displays, and the same physical design and weight (3.0 lbs). Both have the Touch Bar. Both have the same M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU.
The baseline config costs $1300, and has 256GB of storage.
The upgraded config costs $1500 and has 512GB of storage.
The only difference between these machines is the storage and the price. As I said before, I don’t think 256GB is going to stretch very far for most people these days, so would recommend the 512GB model.
So taking all that into account, these four models look very similar. Across the four of them, three have the exact same M1 chip, and there are only two storage options. There are other differences worth noting, but not ones that should make a huge difference in which machine you should go for. These differences are direct results of the physical design of the machines. While the MacBook Air is slightly lighter and has less physical volume than the MacBook Pro, the reduced amount of internal space results in reduced thermal capacity and less space for batteries.
More space for batteries obviously allows for the MacBook Pro to have slightly longer batter life—roughly 10%, based on Apple’s claims. That’s not insignificant, but both of these machines already have battery life that is so much better than the ones that came before them that either would feel like a huge upgrade over any MacBook you may currently have.
Thermal capacity matters because even though both machines have the same chip, the MacBook Pro can use that chip at high speeds for longer amounts of time because it is better equipped to deal with the heat produced by the chip (the design of the MacBook Pro allows for better dispersal of heat than the MacBook Air’s design does, plus the MacBook Pro has a fan inside while the MacBook Air does not). Both of these computers are going to be extremely fast and very capable of everyday tasks, but the MacBook Pro will be a little better for amateur creatives or gamers: people who want to game or edit photos and videos for an extended period of time would benefit from the MacBook Pro’s increased thermal capacity. However, despite the “Pro” designation, neither of these machines are intended for truly professional use; as I mentioned before, Apple’s truly “Pro” machines are yet to come. That doesn’t mean that these machines aren’t going to be blazing fast; one of these new models will be perfect for 80% of Apple’s customers. This isn’t something you need to worry about.
The MacBook Pro has the Touch Bar — the touchscreen panel that replaces the keyboard’s top row of function keys — and the MacBook Air does not. A few people love the Touch Bar. A lot of power users hate it. Most casual users think it’s neat and flashy, but are more or less indifferent to it. While it does add functionality, I find that the existence of an additional display on a separate physical plane from the primary display causes a little mental lag when you go to use it; because it changes dynamically to show controls for whatever app you’re using, the buttons are always in a different place making you look down and find what you’re looking for every time, whereas with a row of static, physical function keys, you can memorize which ones perform which functions so that you don’t have to look down at it each time. Whether you want a Touch Bar or not comes down to personal taste.
If you take my advice about going for the upgraded storage, there’s really only crucial decision to make, and that is whether or not you want a Touch Bar. If you do, go for the MacBook Pro for $1500. If you don’t, you should pick the MacBook Air for $1250.