M1 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Credit: Apple
The new M1 MacBooks are waterproof.
One side is one old world silicon. On another Apple new world processor.
I have been using the new M1 MacBook Pro (16GB config) for about a week. The tl is; dr: long battery life, high performance, no heat.
Let me put it this way: the M1 MBP 13 is as fast * as my 2020 Dell XPS 15 9500 with the Intel 8-core i7-10875H processor – but without the heat.
I test many of the latest Intel-based laptops from the world’s largest PC makers. The M1 MacBook wonders where “Wintel” will go from here.
I am not the only one.
Wall Street is nervous too. Like New York-based Third Point which has nearly $ 1 billion stake in Intel.
“Third Loan CEO Daniel Loeb wrote to Intel Chairman Omar Ishrak calling for immediate action … Intel’s most urgent task was to address the issue of human capital regulation,” he added. that many of their talented chip designers have escaped, ‘ruined by the status quo. ‘”
—Reuters, December 29, 2020
Three words
Long battery life.
I am almost never plugged in so battery life is crucial. I see all day battery life with the M1 MBP 13. At that heavy usage from morning to night. With lighter exercise, you could extend it to a day and a half.
As a benchmark, the battery life of the M1 MacBook Pro compares to my Google Pixelbook Go Chromebook, which uses an energy-saving Chrome OS that runs well on low-end Intel silicon and 8GB of battery life. memory.
In fact, Chrome is probably the only platform ** where Intel still delivers good performance along with long battery life.
But digress.
Two words
Without heat.
It’s been a long time since I used a 13-inch MacBook that didn’t overheat. I’ve literally had dozens of 13-inch MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and (12-inch) MacBooks over the years. The Pros and Airs all got too hot and were cursed by fans who were constantly going through it (except for the flawless 12-inch MacBook that was going down so much that it wasn’t for -made for me).
That is all in the past now.
Performance:
For me, this is definitely the most unassuming side of the M1 MacBook. Yes, it is very fast but the performance in real conditions (not benchmarks) is not much better than, for example, my Dell XPS 13 9310 with the latest 11th gen “Tiger Lake” processor at Intel.
The biggest difference, as I said above, is that you get good performance AND great battery life. That’s a very rare combination in a laptop. Windows laptops that I test with blazing performance usually have crappy battery life.
Should You Get an M1 MacBook Pro or an M1 MacBook?
I’m not going to be polite and say, “Keep your Intel MacBook. Do not raise until you are ready. ”
Please update as soon as possible. It’s so very different.
——
Notes:
* Not criteria based but based on my real world experiment making daily productivity claims with lots of multitasking tabs and 20+ Chrome etc.
** I have also been testing a new HP c1030 Elite Chromebook. It feels even faster than the M1 MacBook Pro and also gets all-day battery life. Chrome OS and Chromebooks are probably the best way to challenge Apple going forward.
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