Nah. Only things that might slow them down are those pesky workarounds for silicon security holes. Otherwise it's either blocked up fans/vents (MBA M1/M2 won't have that problem!) or a change in workload requirements aka bigger websites, more advanced software, etc.
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Some say the M2 MacBook Air is only good for light tasks…scoffs
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Do you mean that the workarounds for Intel security holes won't work on Apple Silicon and we need to wait for AS optimized workarounds? Darn!
I was mostly thinking of what historically dragged down the Intel macbooks some
But unfortunately now when the security industry is looking for Spectre-type security holes it pretty much means any architecture is vulnerable in some way. M1 was announced to have an unfixable hole (PacMan) this summer that in theory will require some software-upkeep to make sure it doesn't become some sort of minor attack vector.
in which case, my porn sites are dull as can be (ie tech sites, instagram, business sites, and the porn king of them all... macrumors)...
Literally the only reason (other than MagSafe and the keyboard) I got a 14" M1 Pro MBP last year over an M1 Air is that I have some specific scientific workflows that use multiple cores at 100% (sometimes for hours at a time) and benefit notably from the higher memory bandwidth and larger cache (Bayesian statistical modelling, neuroimaging analysis).
If it weren't for those occasional tasks where >4 performance cores makes a real difference, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't notice much difference in any of the other stuff I do.
If it weren't for those occasional tasks where >4 performance cores makes a real difference, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't notice much difference in any of the other stuff I do.
"More advanced software" is exactly what I'm talking about, and that includes the OS. They get more demanding over time, and I highly doubt the M-series are going to be somehow immune to the pattern because it's been that way since the dawn of computing history.
Sure, but launching and trying to do the same tasks I did with my 2012 MBA in 2022 doesn't impose any great kind of performance penalty. It'd just that my demands have moved.
In the 90s and 00s you gave a top of the line PC three years and it would struggle to launch the new version of Microsoft Word. We're not really living in those times anymore.
Actually that vulnerability just makes another security feature (pointer authentication) less effective. So unless you you have a vulnerability that pointer authentication prevents, that security vulnerability isn’t going to be useful. BTW, no Intel CPU has the same security feature at all.