Are you tempted by M2 / M3? I'm still happily plugging away on a base m1 mini (8/256) and don't feel like I've noticed any degradation here 3 years later.
The only times I heard the fan turn on were when the GPU was heavily burdened, like AAA games, especially when they're emulated in Rosetta or Wine. But for everything else, the fans never came on. These days, I suspect they'd come on for AI training (but I never tried).
Just anecdotal data for anyone contemplating an upgrade to one of the fanned versions. They tend to be more powerful than the non-fanned versions, but in regular everyday use you would likely never hear them. I didn't even know they had fans until I tried to play graphics-intensive games on them.
I have a mid-2012 quad-core Mac Mini that worked as a network file server until I replaced it very recently. It still works fine though. I'm almost a little sad at the thought of selling it.
My main work laptop is a 2019 16" MBP with an 8 core i9 and it seems like an old piece of shit in comparison. It has serious issues managing heat and power consumption. It actively loses battery when plugged in if I use an external display while being in a video call.
Zero issues other than disk space (500gb gone, no downloads, only work stuff) due to Android and iOS SDKs. I have and love a Dell dock to use the bigger monitor and their webcams.
Also I wish I could use it on my lap for more than 10 minutes, but I always feel the heat "there", even though its not really that hot, its enough to bother.
I'd probably test the bigger version next time, if reasonable, to see if coding in other environments becomes even better. I use that Nextstand plastic thing and it weights nothing, super useful for longer coding on the go.
Compared to my MBP 16 with the i9 from Intel, I cant wait to upgrade to the new M MBP. My MBP 16" with the i9 by comparison runs the fan quite a lot for using maybe 20% of capacity and just now I checked and its warm to the touch sitting here at 96% idle. Its not particularly fast and it seems to get loaded down running chrome alone. The M1s never seem to slow down or balk no matter what I do to them.
Battery life on the M1 Air is superb compared to what Im used to also.
M1,2,whatever all the things I say.
My personal machine is a 2014 13” MBP. I’m eager to replace it with an Apple Silicon machine, but that requires justifying the expense to my wife, and frankly that Laptop continues to do just fine.
The biggest thing i noticed is the write speeds went from 350 to about 1500. Read speeds are about the same.
10 hour battery life. Not glued in and quick to replace.
A1466 MBA (2013-2017) is one of the best laptops ever made IMO.
I have a linux desktop PC that sounds like an airplane is taking off. I can play games like Dota 2 on the M1 mini and it is silent.
> Are you tempted by M2 / M3?
Until my needs for more memory and processing power grow, I'll stay on the M1 mini. I'll use it for 30 years if keeps eating what I feed it.
Runs Baldur's Gate 3 on high settings without any lag, though a lot of heat. Also builds Android Studio quicker than most other laptops. Those are my benchmarks, and I'm satisfied.
1) How does the M1 Pro compare to the M3 base? Chip performance only.
2) M1 Pro's seem scarce. People holding on to them?
it reminds me of the 2014 MBP which was a solid workhorse for at least 4 years.
Wouldn't spend my personal money on it though.
I bought an M1 Air 8GB for someone else and they complained it was slow. I asked them to remove their plastic protective cover and the lower temp has appeared to fix their complaint.
Best device I've ever owned.
