My own personal experiences with my M1 Mac Mini

[Luposian]

Configuration: 16/512
Attached Hardware: USB (wired) HP keyboard Apple A1314 Bluetooth keyboard, Logitech Trackman Wheel MX Anywhere 3 for Mac mouse (Bluetooth), Acer H236HL monitor via 6' Dish HDMI cable (connect to the HDMI port)
Initial Issues: None. No graphic anomalies, no crashes, no Kernel Panics, etc.

I've been learning the new Big Sur 11.0.1 environment (is there website that has an owner's manual for this OS?), ran Cinebench R23 (who hasn't, "just to make sure"), and made my first AirDrop from my iPhone 6S to my M1 MM (Mac Mini), to include two pictures here. It's a learning experience for sure (I clicked on Launchpad... whoops! No thank you! I'm using a Mac, not iOS!) but a seriously enjoyable one, nevertheless.

As far any "issues", I've noticed a couple minor ones:

1) When my monitor is asleep (set to 15 min.), if I use the Trackman Marble, it takes about 8-10 seconds for the screen to wake up. If I tap the keyboard spacebar, it wakes up in about 3 seconds. Keyboard has higher priority, perhaps?

2) When I logged into MacRumors in Safari, I got a spinning beachball/pinwheel while the site determined if the password was correct. It happened after every attempt. I don't expect perfection... so minor "annoyances", like that, are par for the course.

The pictures of my Cinebench scores:

 

[cupcakes2000]

Screenshot options-
Shift,cmd,3
Shift,cmd,4
Shift,cmd,4,space

Glad you’re loving your mac!

Seems weird the wake up time, perhaps a monitor issue. Even my 2018 intel Mac mini is nearly instant with either keyboard or mouse, both wireless.

 

[Luposian]

Screenshot options-
Shift,cmd,3
Shift,cmd,4
Shift,cmd,4,space

Glad you’re loving your mac!

Seems weird the wake up time, perhaps a monitor issue. Even my 2018 intel Mac mini is nearly instant with either keyboard or mouse, both wireless.

I hate having to use keyboard shortcuts for things. I like using the mouse/trackball. Is there still a “Screen Snip” program in macOS, like there was in MacOS X? That would work better for me. I just didn’t want to take the time to look for it.

As for the screen wake up speed, I’m in no “microwave hurry“ (i.e. everything has to be instantaneous). A few seconds is fine by me. But 10+ seconds is not, so I just remember to tap the keyboard space bar instead. If it were the monitor itself, I doubt either the keyboard or the trackball would make a difference, wake-wise.

 

[Luposian]

After having absolutely NO luck getting my G4 QuickSilver and Windows 10 laptop to "talk" for filesharing, over Ethernet, I had literally NO trouble setting up my new M1 Mac Mini and G4 QuickSilver to do likewise. My M1 Mac Mini saw my G4 QuickSilver in short order and I was transferring my music files to it, like a hot knife through butter!

These instructions couldn't be simpler!

Use Ethernet to connect two Mac computers

On your Mac, use an Ethernet cable to connect two computers and share files or play network games.

support.apple.com

 

[colday]

I hate having to use keyboard shortcuts for things. I like using the mouse/trackball. Is there still a “Screen Snip” program in macOS, like there was in MacOS X? That would work better for me. I just didn’t want to take the time to look for it.

Screenshot, which is most likely in your Applications/Utilities folder.

 

[cupcakes2000]

I hate having to use keyboard shortcuts for things. I like using the mouse/trackball. Is there still a “Screen Snip” program in macOS, like there was in MacOS X? That would work better for me. I just didn’t want to take the time to look for it.

As for the screen wake up speed, I’m in no “microwave hurry“ (i.e. everything has to be instantaneous). A few seconds is fine by me. But 10+ seconds is not, so I just remember to tap the keyboard space bar instead. If it were the monitor itself, I doubt either the keyboard or the trackball would make a difference, wake-wise.

Fair enough. There is a built in app, the poster above mentioned it.

Embrace keyboard shortcuts though! Easy and massively useful once you know the importan ones. Screenshot, cut and past, save, close windows, quit apps. All infinity easier with a keyboard combo!!

If you have two hands (humble apologies if you don’t..) - use them!!

 

[Luposian]

I just tried the trial version of Fission (Audio Editor), because it was M1-native. I've been using OcenAudio (in Windows 10) and vastly prefer it over Audacity. Since "getting back with Mac", I decided to see if they had a Mac version of OcenAudio. I was positively gleeful when I discovered they did! However, the latest version is Intel Mac (macOS 10.14 or greater) only and I was trying to not invoke Rosetta 2 at all, if I didn't have to. What can I say? I'm a purist about things...😁

Well, after struggling with Fission for over an hour to do the exact same thing that takes me about 5 minutes to do in OcenAudio, I finally broke down and decided to see how OcenAudio would run on my M1 Mac Mini in Rosetta 2.

Needless to say, I would NOT be posting this comment, if it had been anything but pure joy. In fact, I was shocked to discover, the Mac version of OcenAudio is even a little EASIER to use than the Windows 10 version I've been using for months! I'd say I was able to edit an .AIFF of one of my MIDIs (I convert my MIDIs to that format, to preserve how they sound on my G4 QuickSilver, running MacOS X 10.3.9 (the last version that runs iPiano (by Cider Software)) a little faster than I can in the Windows 10 version!

So far, I am nothing but beyond pleased and enjoying my M1 Mac Mini in ways I only wish I'd been able to enjoy Macs these past 15 years since Apple went Intel (🤮). From PowerPC->ARM... yeah, it WAS worth the wait, even though it was completely unexpected. I never thought Apple would leave Intel... but am I ever glad they did! 🥳

 

[Luposian]

My wife has gifted me her older Apple Bluetooth (A1314; 2 AA battery model) keyboard, so I was able to unplug my USB wired HP keyboard. Frees up one USB-A 3.1 port. Now for the Logitech Trackman Marble... does Logitech even make a bluetooth Trackball? Hmm... 🤔