My Experience With M1 MacBook Air

Let me start off by saying I’m already somewhat Apple indoctrinated, I own an iPhone, I’m currently writing this on an iPad, and now somewhat proudly I might finish this on my brand new to me M1 MacBook Air.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a Windows person. My first computer was a beat up old system running Windows 3.1, it wasn’t that useful, but for me, as a child, it was life changing. I learned how to play solitaire, I dragged things around on a desktop, I threw stuff in the trash can, but it was all digital, and it was wonderful.

Apart from the horrid experiences of a broken disk two in Oregon Trail, I knew nothing of the world of Macintosh.

When the time came to purchase my first smartphone, I chose Android. I had no interest in Apple and thought I never would. Then as fate would have it, an ill timed broken phone and a wife with an available upgrade I inherited my first iPhone. I would say the rest is history, but I bounced back and forth between the two until I fully bought in to the mobile side of Apple. The iPhone 12 was the deciding factor, it’s beautiful, it works, and its integration with all other Apple products is fantastic. The phone seamlessly connects with my watch, I can pass tabs to my iPad, and my calendar is available across devices. I know, I know, Android can do this is well, but with Apple products, it just feels better.

Working in IT, I’ve always been driven to use Windows PCs. Linux lurks there in the background as well, but I’ve never worked in an Apple shop. Through luck and timing I’ve moved to more of a work from home environment, where I am provided my work PC, so now I can freely enjoy any personal computer I want, thus my transition to Mac.

Some of the things I love:

Integration

This is a given, all my devices work together like bees in a hive. If I am at my desk and open a browser tab on my phone, I can pass that to my computer seamlessly. I want to continue listening to music or a podcast on my Mac after coming home, done. Photos that I take on any of my devices are magically available on my computer without the use of a cable. iCloud just makes the sharing of files easy. Oh yeah, and my calendar, it’s here to, in all its glory.

Speed

The M1 chip is fast. I had read reviews, watched videos, dug in and researched as much as possible just to make sure my slight obsession wasn’t going to lead to disappointment, and so far, I couldn’t be happier. When I unboxed, opened and turned the Mac on, aside from setup, I felt like I was flying at the speed of sound. I do some data analysis (more on this later) and while I have no hard numbers, my locally ran Jupyter notebooks seem to run just as fast as they or faster did on my PC. Apple apps or any of those optimized for the M1 chip launch faster than anything I tried to open on my PC. The ability to open a program and get to work within seconds is fantastic.

TouchID button

This is just a small blurb, but the TouchID button in the top right of the keyboard makes life so much easier. Whether it be logging in with saved passwords in Chrome or Safari, waking the computer from sleep, or making an App Store purchase, a simple finger tap on the button and done. This is another part of the speed equation that I love, plus the added security makes this a win/win.

Emoji button

Another small point is the ability to tap a button and have emojis available. 😎

It’s on the level of using Emojis on a smartphone. They are just there if you need them, all with the push of a button.

Battery Life

I am a horrible human sometimes. I like to leave my devices plugged in. Not only that, but I get battery scared at 80%. This is not the case with the M1 MacBook. The way I use my computer, 80% is a day's worth of life. I can wander aimlessly around the house with a MacBook in hand and never worry that it’s going to die. I even sometimes forget to plug it in at night and don’t have to worry about it in the morning. 🤯 (Shameless Emoji button plug)

While life with my new Mac has been mostly great, I have had a few stumbling blocks:

Python

I use Python both for school and work, I also just like to program for fun sometimes, but to get my normal set of tools was a little of a headache. I knew this coming in, so I made all attempts to mitigate my frustration. I used Dario Radečić’s article that can be found on Medium as well. [[How to Easily Set Up M1 MacBooks for Data Science and Machine Learning] ]

[(https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-easily-set-up-m1-macbooks-for-data-science-and-machine-learning-cd4f8a6b706d)] This article made installation and set up a breeze, so rather than an issue, it just took some time.

I know that others have had issues, but hopefully most of the pain points are getting worked out and if I come across any I will update accordingly.

Gaming

While I only dabble in games anymore and mostly just to play a match of Fortnite with my son, the Apple/Epic feud has made me reach for cloud gaming to make it work. Nvidia GeForce Now was my solution, and while waiting in a queue isn’t ideal, it works, and for now, it’s free unless you want to pony up the $10 a month for reduced queue times (and a few other perks).

Ports

It’s only got 2. They are USB-C. They work. You have to have a dongle. I like to have at least 2 screens. I don’t care that one of them is the actual MacBook display, but without an integrated display out, you have to have a dongle. Want to hook up that mechanical keyboard and mouse, you have to have a dongle. There are only 2 ports. Come on, Apple, ports make the world turn.

In Summary

While subjectivity is the name of the game with this one, I do love what Apple has done. I feel like this processor compared to other ARM chips can compete and only get better. The speed, features, and simplicity are all great selling points. As long as the workflow or features you need are available, I say go for it.