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As the first Macs containing Apple Silicon processors
began arriving to customers today, reviewers have shared their first impressions of the new
MacBook Air,
MacBook Pro, and
Mac mini. In particular, reviewers praised the
M1 chip's ability to deliver excellent performance, thermals, and battery life.
MacBook Air
The Verge's Dieter Bohn remarked that "The MacBook Air with the M1 chip is the most impressive laptop I've used in years."
Forbes's David Phelan described the experience as similar to "every time you switch to a new iPhone with the latest processor - everything seems preposterously fast and responsive."
Bohn noted how well the M1 performs, even when using demanding "pro" apps or using multiple apps at a time:
Phelan also noticed a considerable improvement in speed when starting-up the MacBook Air:
Bohn found that the MacBook Air appeared to have very good thermals, despite having a passive cooling system with no fan.
Bohn said that while the M1 in the MacBook Air did deliver much better battery life, it was not as good as Apple claimed, and did not perform as well as the new MacBook Pro.
The area most criticized by reviewers was the MacBook Air's camera, which Bohn said was barely improved:
MacBook Pro
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino said that "the M1 MacBook Pro runs smoothly, launching apps so quickly that they're often open before your cursor leaves your dock... Every click is more responsive. Every interaction is immediate." Much like Phelan, he described it as feeling "like an iOS device in all the best ways."
The Verge's Nilay Patel discussed the better thermal design of the MacBook Pro, since it uses an active cooling system with a fan. However, Patel did not notice much of an improvement over the MacBook Air:
Patel said that he "easily" got "10 hours on a charge and had to really push things to drain the battery in eight hours". Moreover, much like the MacBook Air, Patel chastised the camera:
Mac mini
The Verge's Chris Welch indicated that M1 chip in the Mac mini was able to perform better due to its improved thermal design:
PCMag's John Burek had a similar experience, commenting:
Burek found that the Mac mini performed better than the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, but not by a wide margin:
Yet Welch was disappointed that, in spite of the fact that it is more power-efficient, the M1 chip does not yield a reduction in power usage:
He was also downcast about the Mac mini's loss of two Thunderbolt 3 ports:
Burek downplayed the loss of the two additional Thunderbolt 3 ports on the Mac mini, however:
Welch rebuked the Mac mini's internal speaker, saying that "it's the kind of speaker you'll never, ever want to use."
More Reviews
MacBook Air
MacBook Pro
Mac mini
For early unboxings and first impressions, check out our
summary, which compiles over a dozen of the latest videos reviews.
The MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini with Apple Silicon are
now available for order and in-store pickup.
Article Link:
Apple Silicon Mac Reviews: M1 Chip Delivers Exceptional Performance, Thermals, and Battery Life
