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Reactions to Apple Silicon event: BEST "ONE MORE THING" IN APPLE HISTORY (well, arguably)
But seriously. Apple went in the direction I was hoping: the Apple models that could make the best IMMEDIATE benefit from Apple Silicon are the Air and the Pro: MUCH longer battery life, MUCH more performance compared to Intel versions, MUCH quieter and cooler. Huge wins there.
Also, while I suspect that keeping the industrial design identical to their predecessors was an engineering/timeline decision, it helps to sell the most important point. The Groucho Marx defense: "Outside of the improvements, you'll never know the difference."
(If Apple had gone with new Project Red and Knope Yellow and Mossy Twerp colors and new designs, people would think "Oh, this isn't the next Mac; this is a whole different thing")
I don't think Apple has boasted about gaming performance this hard before, actually talking about things like increased framerates. I make a note to follow up to see if they're doing better outreach to game studios.
VERY pleased that this is a "taking orders today" scenario and not a "Umm...let's get back to you on this one." Again, Apple needs to place every foot correctly straight off the starting line. MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini -- a more ambitious launch line than I'd have bet on
Negatives: concerned about the minimalist approach to ports, particularly on the MacBook Pro. Two USB-C (but with Thunderbolt and USB4). That ain't enough; despite eye-popping battery life, one is a de facto power jack.
I also need to ask if it's the same M1 chip on each of these three machines. Putting the same CPU in a MacBook Air as in a MacBook Pro is either...odd...or a bold statement that power is no longer considered a straight function of cores, cache, and clock. $999 air has 7 gpu cores
Another smart choice: they're not going with a "burn the ships" strategy. All 13" MacBook Pros are M1, BUT you can get an Intel-based 16". And there's still an Intel i5-based Mac Mini available. For people/orgs that need new Macs, but can't buy something until it's been certified
Overall, I'm very excited. I'm overdue for a new Mac Mini and in the abstract, I was thinking of building a PC in 2020 and buying second-gen Apple Silicon Mini next year. But the price-to-performance of the M1 might change my math.
