I have the 16GB M1 MacBook Pro and have been using it as my primary machine (alongside the LG Ultrafine 4K) for the past couple of weeks since it arrived, replacing a 2017 i7 iMac.
Prior to purchasing I watched pretty much every Youtube video of various performance tests out there and the majority of the tests featured exactly the same things:
- Geekbench
- Cinebench
- Fortnite
- Some other game at absolute maximum settings and mulling over how the Intel MBP only achieved 3fps and while the M1 achieved 9fps so it’s clearly 300% more powerful and the M2 or M1X or whatever the next one is will divide by zero and cause a quantum fluctuation in our fabric of being which breaks the universe and owns Intel.
After all this I still had absolutely no idea how it would perform and whether it would be suitable for my needs (light gaming mostly just WoW, WFH for the foreseeable future, light productivity apps, media apps, etc).
Performance
It’s a ~15 watt SoC. Apple’s marketing is absolutely on point for this device because it absolutely is the fastest CPU core in low power silicon and has the best CPU performance per watt, both of which mean nothing in the real world.
Productivity on this machine is fine; those videos of people loading up every single macOS application instantly are pretty accurate when it comes to ARM-native apps. The only Intel apps I use frequently already ran like rubbish on macOS (Discord, Spotify, and Steam) and they still run about the same, which I guess is a win?
Performance in WoW is good (for what the machine actually is). Heavy particle effects kill fps, as it would on any machine where memory bandwidth is limited (keeping in mind the “unified memory” thing Apple talk-up as a benefit is just a pool of LPDDR4X). I run at setting 5 at 1080p (external monitor) and can hit 50-60fps pretty regularly in the open world and 5-man content. I don’t raid, but intentionally standing on top of world bosses so that all the spell effects are on my screen causes FPS to take a hit. Everyones favourite slog Ardenweald is probably the worst and hovers in the mid-30s at its worst.
If you intend to play on the laptop screen at 1400x900 or 1680x1050, you can probably toy with settings and find a 60fps sweet spot, but I have not played around with this.
It’s worth noting that CMAA does not appear to work on these systems (yet?), so you are stuck with the performance-killing MSAA, the headache-inducing FXAA, or no AA.
Peripherals
I have tried my best to reproduce the bluetooth audio skipping people have talked about on Youtube and have only been able to do so once while using a pair of Powerbeats 3 earphones. I was given a JBL portable bluetooth speaker for Christmas which I’ve been using as a soundbar (of sorts) and have not experienced any audio skipping. Typically I have the speaker and and the Apple bluetooth keyboard connected, but also have a PS4 controller which I use for playing Apple Arcade games.
I am in an environment with relatively few other bluetooth devices, so perhaps the issue would be more prevalent when there are multiple devices fighting for frequency, or many devices paired with the machine. Realistically, how many bluetooth devices is a person going to use?
I don’t use it as such, but I do have a Razer Pro Click mouse which has a bluetooth option, and also had no issues using it with the other devices connected at the same time.
I plug all USB devices in via the USB-C ports on the back of the monitor, which is connected to the laptop via Thunderbolt. I also have a small USB hub stuck to the side of the monitor which the mouse receiver is plugged into.
I’ve read about people having connectivity issues and blaming it on mice with high polling rates, but I have mine set to 1000hz and have not had issues.
I can’t comment on keyboards; I like keyboards with low key travel very much and have used progressively-newer models of the Apple Smart Keyboard (or whatever) for about as long as it’s existed.
People have said USB transfer speeds are slower, but I never benchmarked on my Intel Mac so I have nothing to compare to. I have a Samsung T5 and a Kingston NVME in an external housing plugged into the monitor and both perform fine (anecdotally).
What should you get
In terms of what peripherals you should get; make sure the mouse has onboard memory so you are not forced to use special software which will either not work (because the manufacturer relied on kernel extensions and has not updated it to support Big Sur) or will run terribly (because it’s Intel-only). Razer, for example, don’t have macOS software, so I just configured the mouse on a Windows machine and the settings (dpi, polling rate, etc) are saved in the onboard memory.
As I said above, I can’t really recommend a keyboard as I’ve used nothing but the Apple bluetooth keyboard. Get this one then?
I have had no issues with various bluetooth audio devices, so I assume whatever you have will work fine.
Overall, these machines are incredible, but people need to temper their expectations as they are not as incredible as the Apple-induced hype has caused people to think. I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy your new machine!
