Picked up my base model 16" M1 pro today, for what I use it for, it's overkill for me.
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I get very similar and consistent results between runs for the M1 Pro 10 CPU / 16 GPU with 16GB RAM.
Single-core score: 1764
Multicore score: 12408
OpenCL score: 36557
Metal score: 41709
Even Intel architecture CPU benchmark through Rosetta 2 is incredibly fast:
Single-core score (Intel architecture): 1347
Multicore score (Intel architecture): 9606
That's 75% to 80% of it's native performance through Rosetta 2!
The Macbook has no problems playing games. Factorio (Intel binary through Rosetta) at full-screen native resolution on high quality does not even tax the system enough as the game runs at a steady (capped) 60 fps.
But the best part is that, even during a stress test of 100% CPU load for several minutes or playing Factorio, the Macbook only gets slightly warm to the touch (think cat on lap instead of a burning toaster) and fan noise is barely audible. I'm seeing temperatures of around 55˚C (~130˚F) on-die core temperature with Stats. Unfortunately no support for fan RPM yet.
The battery still needs to calibrate, so there is nothing yet to say about battery life with certainty. But under 100% CPU load, the system draws ~3150mA from the battery (8694mAh full charge capacity) for an estimate of 7+ hours of battery life; with ~700mA for light browsing for an estimate of 15+ hours battery life; and idling at ~490mA for an estimate of 21+ hours of battery life.
The Notch in unobtrusive in dark mode. It does hide menu bar items if there are too many (e.g. from Stats). But fortunately you can move all standard system menu bar items into Control Centre. I do use Ctrl+Scroll to zoom in on portions of the screen often, that's when the Notch become visible, especially in high contrast situations with white background. But I think, like the Notch on the iPhone taking a small bite out of the display, I could get used to it (I personally would prefer a webcam-less Macbook and use an iPhone or iPad for video calls).
And last comment for now, finally no longer accidentally triggering items on the Touch Bar. I've never found a good use case for the Touch Bar in my workflows so I had it set to always show function keys anyway, but would still accidentally open Apple Music every once in a while.
Coming from a Macbook Pro 16" 2019 with 6-core Intel i7, this performance to noise/temperature and battery life is huge difference and a worthy upgrade by itself. No longer loud fan noise obscuring sound from games, or having an uncomfortably hot system on the lap.
Edit: one more thing, I like the new keyboard. The keys have decent travel depth and put up slightly more resistance (required heavier punches) than the 2019 generation, but do make a more clickity sound for the keys near the center (like the 2016-2018 generation, but a softer sound).