Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

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mike@jb
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Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by mike@jb »

Any first impressions from new MacBook Air or Pro owners?
I am particularly interested in Office app compatibility and performance.
Is the Apple spreadsheet good? Is Excel even needed?
Thanks,
Mike
nepats
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by nepats »

I got the base Air model and I like it so far. Microsoft Apps like Word work pretty well as MS has native apps for the M1. The fanless experience is awesome! It’s plenty fast even with 8GB of RAM for everyday tasks though I have not really run any memory intensive tasks on it so far. Only issue for me have been work related software that only runs on MS windows 10 and IE.
DoTheMath
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by DoTheMath »

I have the M1 Macbook pro. I was slightly nervous that some of the software I use for work wouldn't run on the M1 processor, but everything has worked seamlessly once I did some updates. When I got the new computer I did an update of the MS software suite and everything worked fine.

Unless someone has very particular or esoteric software needs, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the M1 Macs.
“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains...” -- John Muir
Goldwater85
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Goldwater85 »

To answer your other question, I use ‘Numbers’ (Apple’s spreadsheet) fairly extensively for personal use and it has allowed me to avoid paying for an Excel license. Straightforward, intuitive UI that syncs seamlessly across Apple devices.

That said, it is fine, even better for normal consumer usage—it is not an enterprise caliber solution. And I miss XIRR.
hunoraut
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by hunoraut »

Laptop itself is great. Does what it promises - for the same price as you were paying before, you get +20-50% improvement in performance and efficiency.

Office has 100% compatibility.

The functionality is 75%. Has not to do with M1, but simple fact that Mac Office has always been neglected cousin of PC Office for a long time. Skype for Business is particularly terrible.

Apple Numbers I suppose could be decent but I'm accustomised to doing what I need to with Office, or, Google Spreadsheets
ribonucleic
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by ribonucleic »

Any MacOS laptop users for whom portability is the main thing, the M1 MacBook Air is an absolute no-brainer purchase decision. Just get it.

However, the Pro version is a question mark. It's got the same guts (though the added fan will let you run them a bit harder), still foists on you the Touch Bar no one wants, and still not enough ports.

The word is that 2021 will see a redesigned M1 MacBook Pro that finally gives up on the Touch Bar and will presumably have pro-level RAM and ports. Sounds like it's worth waiting for.
Topic Author
mike@jb
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by mike@jb »

Thanks for the responses.
My mid-2012 MacBook Pro is still kicking, but I’m thinking of getting the M1 Air.
Not clear to me the M1 Pro’s touch bar, fan and speakers are worth the $300 cost difference.
Looks like a multi port adapter ($69) and possible Office 2019 one-time ($145) license gets me the functionality I have now.
Good to hear that Numbers works fine, in case I pass on Office.
Glasgow
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Glasgow »

I've gotten M1 Air and my impression so far:
1. Keyboard: Better than butterfly (last version of their keyboard on Macbook pro - I hate the tick-tat sound and feel), but not as nice touch as your mid-2012 Macbook Pro keyboard.
2. No touchbar like I had on my Macbook pro 13 - yay. I like real keys.
3. Fanless: I have latest ThinkPad Yoga and the fan runs like it's in tropical climate (almost on all the time), but the keyboard is better. Using M1 Air for web, basic tasks, etc. are nice - light, nice keyboard feel, and quiet.
4. Battery lasts a looooonnnngggg time compared to the old Macbook pro early 2012 and ThinkPad Yoga. Charging is also faster.
5. Fingerprint sign-on works more reliably than the one on ThinkPad; 90% of the time the ThinkPad fingerprint reader cannot read mine. I still don't understand why Lenovo hasn't gotten it right.

All in all, it exceeds my expectation; I thought it would be wimpy as it's not Intel/AMD based, Air is low performance, etc. For $1k, it's a good value home computer for a full decade of use (if SSD doesn't prematurely depleted). It's a keeper.
onourway
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by onourway »

hunoraut wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:11 am Laptop itself is great. Does what it promises - for the same price as you were paying before, you get +20-50% improvement in performance and efficiency.

Office has 100% compatibility.

The functionality is 75%. Has not to do with M1, but simple fact that Mac Office has always been neglected cousin of PC Office for a long time. Skype for Business is particularly terrible.

Apple Numbers I suppose could be decent but I'm accustomised to doing what I need to with Office, or, Google Spreadsheets
Skype for Business was deprecated nearly 18 months ago. You have less than 6 more months of support. So no surprise that Microsoft isn’t putting any effort into it. The replacement, Teams, works flawlessly on a Mac. As far as I’ve been able to tell, full feature parity with the Windows version.

Otherwise, I’d say I’m probably a 95th+ percentile Office power user, and it’s pretty rare I find something the recent Mac versions can’t do. I understand some people have issues, but I kind of think most who will know enough to beware of moving from Windows. Often I prefer the interface on the Mac, although Microsoft has been doing a great job at making the UI fairly consistent across platforms over the past couple of years.

We bought two of the base model M1 Air’s late last year and they’ve been flawless, although the use case is pretty limited they are every bit as fast and the battery life every bit as good as the reviews claim. And silence!
Chaconne
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Chaconne »

Has anyone migrated their data to an M1 from a Mac that's running an older version of MacOS than Big Sur? If I buy one of the M1 models, I'd like to migrate from my current MacBook Air running High Sierra. But I saw this Apple Support page on migrating data:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-hel ... h27921/mac

It says, "Before you begin, upgrade to the latest version of macOS on both Mac computers" (emphasis mine). But I don't know whether they mean you have to upgrade your old computer to Big Sur before migrating or just make sure you have the latest version of whatever MacOS you're running. Any clues? THANKS.
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typical.investor
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by typical.investor »

Chaconne wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:00 pm Has anyone migrated their data to an M1 from a Mac that's running an older version of MacOS than Big Sur? If I buy one of the M1 models, I'd like to migrate from my current MacBook Air running High Sierra. But I saw this Apple Support page on migrating data:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-hel ... h27921/mac

It says, "Before you begin, upgrade to the latest version of macOS on both Mac computers" (emphasis mine). But I don't know whether they mean you have to upgrade your old computer to Big Sur before migrating or just make sure you have the latest version of whatever MacOS you're running. Any clues? THANKS.
I'd guess it simply means that both machines should be updated to their latest version (and not necessarily Big Sur). Otherwise, anyone with an older mac that doesn't support Big Sur would have their data stranded. I can't believe they'd do that.

Anyway, I used the Migration Assistant to move data from Catalina to Big Sur from a Time Machine Backup without any trouble.
hyperon
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by hyperon »

I moved from a 2015 Macbook Pro to the new base model M1 Air. The new Air feels faster. Running Zoom, Chrome with 30 tabs, and Spotify, it doesn't heat up at all which is great. This was not the case with the previous Intel model Air. I don't see why most users would need a Pro at all. If you don't KNOW you need it for some use case, you probably don't.

I'm not a fan of Numbers. I prefer Google Sheets over Numbers, and I think most Excel users would agree. You could also download LibreOffice if you want an Office 2003 kind of experience.
Chaconne
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Chaconne »

typical.investor wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:49 pm I'd guess it simply means that both machines should be updated to their latest version (and not necessarily Big Sur). Otherwise, anyone with an older mac that doesn't support Big Sur would have their data stranded. I can't believe they'd do that.

Anyway, I used the Migration Assistant to move data from Catalina to Big Sur from a Time Machine Backup without any trouble.
Thanks very much, Typical. I can't believe Apple would do that, either. Then Again, as much as I love them, they have seemed to do a few things I couldn't believe over the years!
TravelGeek
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by TravelGeek »

ribonucleic wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:43 am
The word is that 2021 will see a redesigned M1 MacBook Pro that finally gives up on the Touch Bar and will presumably have pro-level RAM and ports. Sounds like it's worth waiting for.
Yes, the most recent rumors (analyst predictions) from a few days ago make me hold off. I really want more ports and 32Gb of RAM. And a 14” display in a 13” form factor (smaller bezel) would be great, too.

https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/14/kuo-deta ... r-removed/
Glasgow wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 2:10 pm I've gotten M1 Air and my impression so far:
1. Keyboard: Better than butterfly (last version of their keyboard on Macbook pro - I hate the tick-tat sound and feel), but not as nice touch as your mid-2012 Macbook Pro keyboard.
I think the 2020 MacBook Pro keyboard is the same as the M1 keyboard. Butterfly was discontinued at that point.

https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/ ... cbook-pros
Dottie57
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Dottie57 »

Chaconne wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:04 pm
typical.investor wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:49 pm I'd guess it simply means that both machines should be updated to their latest version (and not necessarily Big Sur). Otherwise, anyone with an older mac that doesn't support Big Sur would have their data stranded. I can't believe they'd do that.

Anyway, I used the Migration Assistant to move data from Catalina to Big Sur from a Time Machine Backup without any trouble.
Thanks very much, Typical. I can't believe Apple would do that, either. Then Again, as much as I love them, they have seemed to do a few things I couldn't believe over the years!
I wonder if Time machine backup could install files on the new computer.
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typical.investor
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by typical.investor »

Dottie57 wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:21 am
Chaconne wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:04 pm
typical.investor wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:49 pm I'd guess it simply means that both machines should be updated to their latest version (and not necessarily Big Sur). Otherwise, anyone with an older mac that doesn't support Big Sur would have their data stranded. I can't believe they'd do that.

Anyway, I used the Migration Assistant to move data from Catalina to Big Sur from a Time Machine Backup without any trouble.
Thanks very much, Typical. I can't believe Apple would do that, either. Then Again, as much as I love them, they have seemed to do a few things I couldn't believe over the years!
I wonder if Time machine back could install files on the new computer.
What do you mean? Install Catalina onto an M1 machine? I doubt it. No (just checked). And you would never need to. If Big Sur got borked before you could make a proper backup, you’d just reinstall from recovery (already on the M1 machine or available via the Internet if that fails)

The M1 can copy over data and applications from an time machine backup made on Catalina. That’s all you need.
02nz
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by 02nz »

mike@jb wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:11 pm Thanks for the responses.
My mid-2012 MacBook Pro is still kicking, but I’m thinking of getting the M1 Air.
Not clear to me the M1 Pro’s touch bar, fan and speakers are worth the $300 cost difference.
Looks like a multi port adapter ($69) and possible Office 2019 one-time ($145) license gets me the functionality I have now.
Good to hear that Numbers works fine, in case I pass on Office.
The latest rumors (from reliable sources) suggest Apple may drop the Touch Bar altogether with upcoming MB Pros. It has always been (except for some very niche uses) an answer to a question nobody asked, a bit like 3D Touch on the iPhone, and if Apple drops it altogether, software support - which is key to this functionality - will become even more limited. So it's not worth paying extra for. As for the fan, for 99% of users it will mean very little additional performance, if any. Go for the Air.

(As an aside, it's interesting to me that Apple has now gone back to the previous keyboard design and is rumored to be bringing back MagSafe for charging and dropping the touch bar. In other words, pretty much every "innovation" of the past decade outside the silicon is being jettisoned.)
Fogbank
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Fogbank »

02nz wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:53 am
(As an aside, it's interesting to me that Apple has now gone back to the previous keyboard design and is rumored to be bringing back MagSafe for charging and dropping the touch bar. In other words, pretty much every "innovation" of the past decade outside the silicon is being jettisoned.)
This is welcome news... I'm still running my 2015 Pro because of the deletion of MagSafe and the stupid touch bar.

One these get corrected and VMWare releases a version of Fusion for Silcon, then I'll upgrade.
ramink
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by ramink »

Love the new MacBook M1. Couldn't resist those Microcenter deals! The performance and battery life even on the base 8GB MacBook Air really puts the rest of the industry to shame. Although it is the cheapest Apple laptop, everything about it screams premium.
As far as spreadsheets go, Excel is the king. You don't need to buy it these days unless you are doing heavy duty work. The online versions that you can access from One Drive or Dropbox with free accounts are good enough for most individuals. You can also check out the open source Libre Office - not optimized for M1 at the moment but runs fine on Rosetta 2 emulation
d18lover
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by d18lover »

I would have probably bought one, but they don't support multiple monitors, or ultrawide monitors.

My 2020 Intel MBP works superbly still, and supports both of those things (which I use). I guess time will tell what the support will look like. I have learned some painful lessons about being an early adopter of tech, though I'm still drawn to it.
Derpalator
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Derpalator »

Goldwater85 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:07 am To answer your other question, I use ‘Numbers’ (Apple’s spreadsheet) fairly extensively for personal use and it has allowed me to avoid paying for an Excel license. Straightforward, intuitive UI that syncs seamlessly across Apple devices.

That said, it is fine, even better for normal consumer usage—it is not an enterprise caliber solution. And I miss XIRR.
Methinks I have a solution for you (look on page further down):

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ap ... n.2231587/
Starting From Scratch
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Starting From Scratch »

Derpalator wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:03 am
Goldwater85 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:07 am To answer your other question, I use ‘Numbers’ (Apple’s spreadsheet) fairly extensively for personal use and it has allowed me to avoid paying for an Excel license. Straightforward, intuitive UI that syncs seamlessly across Apple devices.

That said, it is fine, even better for normal consumer usage—it is not an enterprise caliber solution. And I miss XIRR.
Methinks I have a solution for you (look on page further down):

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ap ... n.2231587/
Wow, thank you for the link! I had no idea this was now in Numbers and was preventing me from moving over from Excel.
My investing "factors" formula: (1) Save More (2) Work Longer (3) Spend Less (4) Reduce Investment Cost
Goldwater85
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Goldwater85 »

Derpalator wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:03 am
Goldwater85 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:07 am To answer your other question, I use ‘Numbers’ (Apple’s spreadsheet) fairly extensively for personal use and it has allowed me to avoid paying for an Excel license. Straightforward, intuitive UI that syncs seamlessly across Apple devices.

That said, it is fine, even better for normal consumer usage—it is not an enterprise caliber solution. And I miss XIRR.
Methinks I have a solution for you (look on page further down):

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ap ... n.2231587/
That is spectacular. Thank you. I literally never would have looked again.
EnjoyIt
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by EnjoyIt »

ribonucleic wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:43 am Any MacOS laptop users for whom portability is the main thing, the M1 MacBook Air is an absolute no-brainer purchase decision. Just get it.

However, the Pro version is a question mark. It's got the same guts (though the added fan will let you run them a bit harder), still foists on you the Touch Bar no one wants, and still not enough ports.

The word is that 2021 will see a redesigned M1 MacBook Pro that finally gives up on the Touch Bar and will presumably have pro-level RAM and ports. Sounds like it's worth waiting for.
My 2015 MacBook Pro developed a decent. Other dent from a drop making the lid not open and close perfectly. I was looking to get the M1 reluctantly since I don’t like being an early adopter. Luckily with a little help from some tools the lid open and closes just fine now. I can hopefully hold off for another year. Waiting on the redesign.

My wife house the touch bar and I hate it. I hope they return back to the dedicated volume up and down buttons.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
Dottie57
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Dottie57 »

typical.investor wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:29 am
Dottie57 wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:21 am
Chaconne wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:04 pm
typical.investor wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:49 pm I'd guess it simply means that both machines should be updated to their latest version (and not necessarily Big Sur). Otherwise, anyone with an older mac that doesn't support Big Sur would have their data stranded. I can't believe they'd do that.

Anyway, I used the Migration Assistant to move data from Catalina to Big Sur from a Time Machine Backup without any trouble.
Thanks very much, Typical. I can't believe Apple would do that, either. Then Again, as much as I love them, they have seemed to do a few things I couldn't believe over the years!
I wonder if Time machine back could install files on the new computer.
What do you mean? Install Catalina onto an M1 machine? I doubt it. No (just checked). And you would never need to. If Big Sur got borked before you could make a proper backup, you’d just reinstall from recovery (already on the M1 machine or available via the Internet if that fails)

The M1 can copy over data and applications from an time machine backup made on Catalina. That’s all you need.
You can time machine to restore a single file or directory. I was thinking of the documents directory under my login.
Goldwater85
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Goldwater85 »

ribonucleic wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:43 am Any MacOS laptop users for whom portability is the main thing, the M1 MacBook Air is an absolute no-brainer purchase decision. Just get it.
Apple kept the legacy MacBook Air chassis when it deployed the M1. Historically though, Apple seems to think laptop users want 7-8 hours of battery life, not 14+. Expect new machines to seriously slim down in the next 12 months by significantly reducing battery capacity.
oxothuk
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by oxothuk »

hyperon wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:00 pm I'm not a fan of Numbers. I prefer Google Sheets over Numbers, and I think most Excel users would agree. You could also download LibreOffice if you want an Office 2003 kind of experience.
+1
Numbers having no support for Pivot Tables is a deal-breaker for me.

I use LibreOffice on my Macs.
chuckb84
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by chuckb84 »

EnjoyIt wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:54 pm
ribonucleic wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:43 am
My wife house the touch bar and I hate it. I hope they return back to the dedicated volume up and down buttons.
This is for Big Sur, but it may be the same for Catalina. To make the Touch Bar work like dedicated buttons:

Go to System Preferences, then Keyboard, see the label "Touch bar shows" button? Click it and select "Expanded Control Strip".

Now the Touch bar won't change and it shows the dedicated controls you want. Pretty obscure process, eh?

The issue, to me, about the Touch Bar is that no one wants something like a menu that is CONSTANTLY CHANGING. This violates so many human interface ideas that I'm simply amazed that Apple got it wrong.

If you want a little more functionality out of the Touch Bar, try Pock. It lets you have the dedicated controls or a copy of the Dock on the Touch bar. You can then hide the on screen dock and have more screen space. I use it a little, but not much.

The touch bard, like the butterfly keyboard is a failure and Apple will soon get rid of it.
Inframan4712
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Re: Anyone have the new Apple M1 MacBook?

Post by Inframan4712 »

oxothuk wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:16 pm
hyperon wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:00 pm I'm not a fan of Numbers. I prefer Google Sheets over Numbers, and I think most Excel users would agree. You could also download LibreOffice if you want an Office 2003 kind of experience.
+1
Numbers having no support for Pivot Tables is a deal-breaker for me.

I use LibreOffice on my Macs.
Why not just buy a license for Office from Ebay? They are about $80. And I'm not talking 365. I mean the latest version for Macs, that is installed on your Mac, and stores your documents on your Mac. Easy peasy.
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