Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Air M1 16GB 1TB First Impressions

tkwolf said:
One thing I am curious about is the heat.
How often does it get warm now that there is no fan?

Tasks like MS word, 3-4 youtube tabs on safari, spotify, twitter app, spark mail and a few videos playing as well should be fine I suppose but how often will these cause it to heat up?
Click to expand...
No need to worry about heat. Highest temp I’ve logged is 37.9 C on the bottom cover and 36.8 C around the “7“ key. My measuring device is accurate to +/- 1 C. My i7 Air under the same long duration (20+ min all core) stress scenario logged 44.3 C and 42.1 C respectively. The M1 air never feels hot and the keyboard is noticeably cooler. Amazing machine.
 
  • Love
Reactions: calstanford
fcracer said:
Hello all, being in Asia, I was able to get my MacBook Air M1 with 16GB ram and 1TB earlier today. It was scheduled for delivery on November 21-27, but was delivered today, November 17th.

I used a thunderbolt cable to transfer my data from my 2020 MacBook Air i7. The transfer went super fast. You may remember me as the guy that wrote up the performance modification how-to on my website.

In a nutshell, this laptop is astonishing. It's everything I've ever wanted in a laptop and more. It feels surreal how fast it is without any noise at all. Things open instantly and nothing lags. It's so fluid and slick.

Best of all, and totally unexpected is that my old intel only apps such as Capture One Pro 20 run even faster under Rosetta 2 than they do on my native Air i7. Geekbench confirms this with 1289 SC and 5913 under Rosetta 2. Running native, geekbench produces 1735 SC and 7614 MC. This is all while the computer may still be indexing and updating things.

The only downside I've found so far is that the keyboard feels noticeably different from my Air i7. It feels a bit more butterfly than scissor. It's by no means anything like the 2016-2019 keyboards, but it certainly isn't as tactile as the Air i7 sitting next to the M1. Maybe the feel will change with more use, but that would be the first time that a keyboard changes with my use.

I'm going to do a proper review from a travel & photography perspective in the next few days with proper comparison tests of real life situations, however I don't think it's premature to say that this is a big step change in performance that's going to open up new creative possibilities.

I haven't been this excited about technology since the original iPhone was launched. Congratulations to all the new owners of these amazing machines! You're going to love them!
Click to expand...
Any numbers on the read/write speeds of SSD?
 
fcracer said:
No need to worry about heat. Highest temp I’ve logged is 37.9 C on the bottom cover and 36.8 C around the “7“ key. My measuring device is accurate to +/- 1 C. My i7 Air under the same long duration (20+ min all core) stress scenario logged 44.3 C and 42.1 C respectively. The M1 air never feels hot and the keyboard is noticeably cooler. Amazing machine.
Click to expand...
When watching youtube videos for say 20 minutes and say videos were 4K does it heat up? Try watching some Youtube videos on a Thinkpad X1 Carbon and you will see what I mean. All fans start spinning and it gets hot and noisy.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2020-11-19 at 12.21.03 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2020-11-19 at 12.21.03 AM.png
    1.5 MB · Views: 133
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Captain Trips, calstanford and stylinexpat
fcracer said:
8 core. Since I do a lot of photo editing and would like to get into 4K video editing of my travels (and new puppy), I went with the 8. Math would dictate that you’d see a 12.5% difference in performance but I don’t know if it scales linearly like that.
Click to expand...

Only if you have enough threads to keep all 8 cores busy. Otherwise, one or more will remain idle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stylinexpat
stylinexpat said:
When watching youtube videos for say 20 minutes and say videos were 4K does it heat up? Try watching some Youtube videos on a Thinkpad X1 Carbon and you will see what I mean. All fans start spinning and it gets hot and noisy.
Click to expand...

Like fcracer says, no need to worry about heat. Just played a YouTube 4k video on an 8 core 16GB/1TB M1 Air and a 1080P video on a 2019 i7 13" MacBook Pro and the Air stays cool to the touch after 15 minutes while the MBP was warm after 1 minute.

In my own completely subjective perception, the new Air feels like as big a jump in performance as when I first switched from a HD to an SSD based machine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Trips, Rob9874, kazmac and 3 others
icwhatudidthere said:
Like fcracer says, no need to worry about heat. Just played a YouTube 4k video on an 8 core 16GB/1TB M1 Air and a 1080P video on a 2019 i7 13" MacBook Pro and the Air stays cool to the touch after 15 minutes while the MBP was warm after 1 minute.

In my own completely subjective perception, the new Air feels like as big a jump in performance as when I first switched from a HD to an SSD based machine.
Click to expand...
Was always curious as to why an iPhone and iPad with little space inside can play YouTube videos with no fan without heating up while big laptop computers with better ventilation, fans, and more space have to heat up just to play a YouTube video. 🤔
 
stylinexpat said:
Was always curious as to why an iPhone and iPad with little space inside can play YouTube videos with no fan without heating up while big laptop computers with better ventilation, fans, and more space have to heat up just to play a YouTube video. 🤔
Click to expand...
Often because Google videos on Chrome don't always use hardware decode, and software decode burns up CPU like crazy... I hear Big Sur addresses this to a degree but as I'm not on BS nor do I watch much video on computer, I don't know.
 
My impressions (M1 MBA with 16GB RAM) have been similar to yours. Way faster than its Intel-based predecessors, particularly with native apps, while also having a battery that goes on forever (12+ hours even under heavier workloads), and it stays cool even under heavier loads. I like the keyboard too. My only criticism would be that the webcam still sucks with its low resolution.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Trips, JohnnyGo and fcracer
calstanford said:
That's insane. Here is my fully equipped 16" MBP 8-core i9. It's exactly half as fast:

===============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
-----------------------------------------------
Total: 940.4ms +/- 21.2%
-----------------------------------------------

ai: 136.2ms +/- 7.9%
astar: 136.2ms +/- 7.9%

audio: 249.3ms +/- 20.4%
beat-detection: 59.3ms +/- 14.1%
dft: 73.5ms +/- 36.2%
fft: 42.4ms +/- 10.9%
oscillator: 74.1ms +/- 32.3%

imaging: 207.9ms +/- 22.1%
gaussian-blur: 82.2ms +/- 25.2%
darkroom: 64.6ms +/- 13.1%
desaturate: 61.1ms +/- 41.6%

json: 70.0ms +/- 31.4%
parse-financial: 41.6ms +/- 50.2%
stringify-tinderbox: 28.4ms +/- 33.8%

stanford: 277.0ms +/- 43.4%
crypto-aes: 49.2ms +/- 11.7%
crypto-ccm: 66.9ms +/- 35.5%
crypto-pbkdf2: 131.1ms +/- 89.7%
crypto-sha256-iterative: 29.8ms +/- 17.5%
Click to expand...
something not right here..



===============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
-----------------------------------------------
Total: 701.5ms +/- 2.2%
-----------------------------------------------

ai: 116.6ms +/- 0.6%
astar: 116.6ms +/- 0.6%

audio: 188.2ms +/- 5.5%
beat-detection: 58.0ms +/- 7.6%
dft: 51.9ms +/- 19.2%
fft: 39.4ms +/- 16.5%
oscillator: 38.9ms +/- 17.2%

imaging: 164.5ms +/- 2.5%
gaussian-blur: 58.0ms +/- 4.0%
darkroom: 65.1ms +/- 3.2%
desaturate: 41.4ms +/- 10.7%

json: 47.6ms +/- 10.9%
parse-financial: 29.1ms +/- 14.6%
stringify-tinderbox: 18.5ms +/- 6.1%

stanford: 184.6ms +/- 4.4%
crypto-aes: 53.5ms +/- 12.4%
crypto-ccm: 44.0ms +/- 12.6%
crypto-pbkdf2: 59.8ms +/- 14.3%
crypto-sha256-iterative: 27.3ms +/- 22.2%

ipad mini 2019
 
As an C1 user I would be interested in benchmark values: can anybody - who owns a M1 driven device post - the C1 benchmark score (here is explained how: https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360009396217-GPU-benchmarks-values-only). I think for C1 users the GPU part of the M1 chip is the most important aspect. On the go i use a HP notebook 830 G5, with an integrated Intel 620 solution (like the pre M1 Mac Mini). I think the new M1 Macbooks will kill it in terms of performance. Please also add your device specifications (device, RAM, SSD size, GPU cores).

For comparison
Macbook Pro 15 (2018)
Benchmark score: 0.059755 (quiet mode)
Benchmark score: 0.058423 (power mode)
GPU model: eGPU Asus Strix Vega 56
GPU driver version: 1.2
CPU model: Intel i7 8750H (6-core)
OS version: Mojave (10.14)
C1 version: C11

HP 830 G5
Benchmark score: 0.624791
GPU model: Intel 620
CPU model: Intel i5 8350U
OS version: Windows 10
C1 version: C20
 
Last edited:
Whitesnake-C1 said:
As an C1 user I would be interested in benchmark values: can anybody - who owns a M1 driven device post - the C1 benchmark score (here is explained how: https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360009396217-GPU-benchmarks-values-only). I think for C1 users the GPU part of the M1 chip is the most important aspect. On the go i use a HP notebook 830 G5, with an integrated Intel 620 solution (like the pre M1 Mac Mini). I think the new M1 Macbooks will kill it in terms of performance. Please also add your device specifications (device, RAM, SSD size, GPU cores).

For comparison
Macbook Pro 15 (2018)
Benchmark score: 0.059755 (quiet mode)
Benchmark score: 0.058423 (power mode)
GPU model: eGPU Asus Strix Vega 56
GPU driver version: 1.2
CPU model: Intel i7 8750H (6-core)
OS version: Mojave (10.14)
C1 version: C11

HP 830 G5
Benchmark score: 0.624791
GPU model: Intel 620
CPU model: Intel i5 8350U
OS version: Windows 10
C1 version: C20
Click to expand...
I've looked everywhere on my computer and cannot find this folder. Maybe it has moved under Big Sur? If you know where it is, I'm happy to provide it. Thus far in use, the M1 is leagues ahead of the intel i7 that it replaced. When Capture One optimizes for Apple silicon, it should be even better, although I know that will take a long time...
 
tkwolf said:
One thing I am curious about is the heat.
How often does it get warm now that there is no fan?

Tasks like MS word, 3-4 youtube tabs on safari, spotify, twitter app, spark mail and a few videos playing as well should be fine I suppose but how often will these cause it to heat up?
Click to expand...

From Gruber’s review (daring fireball), it’s almost impossible to get these M1 MBPs to heat up or hear their fans
 
sultanq said:
My impressions (M1 MBA with 16GB RAM) have been similar to yours. Way faster than its Intel-based predecessors, particularly with native apps, while also having a battery that goes on forever (12+ hours even under heavier workloads), and it stays cool even under heavier loads. I like the keyboard too. My only criticism would be that the webcam still sucks with its low resolution.
Click to expand...

Indeed the webcam seems to be the Achilles heel of the M1 laptops. Reviewers made that point pretty clear
 
These machines really are incredible. Now that chrome has been update for apple silicon,it literally sips power. I unplugged it from charging at 1pm yesterday. I watched 4 or so hours of youtube videos while I was working. Then I used it for another 5 or so hours while in bed. This morning its saying I have 10:51 remainining. IF this lasts another day of use like that I will be amazed. a normal day used to involve me charging my macbook pro (2017) 2 times..and I just replaced the battery on that thing! Also, used to hate the touchbar, but now that I have completely customized with it better touch tool, its awesome. Global gestures for 1 finger swipe for volume, 2 fingers for brightness. All the other things I want to see..none of the crap I dont.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2753.JPG
    IMG_2753.JPG
    365.8 KB · Views: 211
  • Like
Reactions: BlazePhyre, Captain Trips, kazmac and 1 other person
hefeglass said:
These machines really are incredible. Now that chrome has been update for apple silicon,it literally sips power. I unplugged it from charging at 1pm yesterday. I watched 4 or so hours of youtube videos while I was working. Then I used it for another 5 or so hours while in bed. This morning its saying I have 10:51 remainining. IF this lasts another day of use like that I will be amazed. a normal day used to involve me charging my macbook pro (2017) 2 times..and I just replaced the battery on that thing! Also, used to hate the touchbar, but now that I have completely customized with it better touch tool, its awesome. Global gestures for 1 finger swipe for volume, 2 fingers for brightness. All the other things I want to see..none of the crap I dont.
Click to expand...
so you got the 13" pro? it really is quiet and doesnt get hot? and faster?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back