Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Watch the M1 Apple Silicon MacBook Air Blaze Through Opening Every Default App
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You cannot get an i9 Mac Pro, they have Xeon W processors equipped with 8-28 cores. For single-core performance, yes, the M1 is faster.
The "low-end" 8-core model for $6000 is typically the fastest in single-core performance due to its higher clock speed. Single-core performance gets "worse" the more cores are added (and the more expensive it is) but the difference is marginal.
Here are some benchmarks:
Switching to multi-core is something else entirely, the 28-core Mac Pro scores almost three times higher than the M1 Mac mini. (Which of course is still quite embarrassing for Intel.)
It is also noteworthy that the three M1 Macs outperform every single current Intel Mac laptop in multi-core as well, and every desktop Mac except the most recent Mac Pro, iMac Pro and a few recent i7 and i9 iMacs.
Last edited:
At this point, we've seen enough reviews and benchmarks to know that the Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini offer incredible performance compared to prior-generation Intel models, but there are still new tests coming out that demonstrate just how impressive Apple's chip really is.
MacRumors forum member iChan did a test on the base model M1 MacBook Air, opening up every default app in the dock on a new user profile and then opening up Activity Monitor at the end to see the RAM utilization.
The MacBook Air is able to seamlessly open every app with no lag time even as the number of open apps grows. Safari, Maps, Mail, Messages, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, the App Store, Notes, Reminders, and more are all running by the end and the 8GB unified memory in the machine handles it all without an issue. By the end, with every app up and running, App Memory comes in at 3.38GB.
Apple's M1 MacBook Air achieves this with 8GB RAM and no internal fan for cooling purposes, which is an impressive feat. The MacBook Air and Apple's other M1 Macs have been excelling in all manner of benchmarks and speed tests, beating out much higher-end Intel-based machines across the board.
Article Link: Watch the M1 Apple Silicon MacBook Air Blaze Through Opening Every Default App
Nothing impressive here. I performed this same test on my Early 2016 MacBook (1.2GHz m5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD, macOS Big Sur). It took me approximately 22 seconds to open on the MacBook with a lot of delay merely moving across the dock with the trackpad and clicking. If I had used a mouse I could have probably shaved a few seconds off that time. Application memory consumption afterwards was 3.7GB, closely inline with these results.
The M1 Macs appear to be a nice speed bump with a nice reduction in power consumption. However this test is, well, meaningless.
Very true. To do the next thing the right way, you’ve got to break with the past. It leaves orphaned and unsupported devices in your wake, but you get to leave the result of prior bad choices behind. It means that your users feel left out, BUT also forces you to target NEW users almost constantly.
You seem surprised these low-end M1 notebooks will satisfy most RAM requirements for that userbase. I’m not sure why; the Intel versions they replaced have never offered more than 16GB either.
A 16GB max was apparently sufficient for 100% of previous buyers of those models. If the low-end notebooks were never an option for you when they were Intel, they still may very well be insufficient.
But really, there’s no need to be offended if you need more memory than these M1 notebooks can provide. The point is, for most users of M1 notebooks, 8GB will be just fine, though of course some would benefit from spending the extra $200 for 16GB.
Those who need more than 16GB will have to wait for the next round of Apple Silicon. It’s really not all that complicated, and no reason to be offended. Apple just started with the machines that represent the most Mac sales 🤷♂️ (The Air alone may well account for half of all Macs sold.)
It’s a two year transition to Apple silicon overall, and the mini specifically is going to take a year to transition. (The Air and the low-end 13” MBP do not need a one year transition period, they were both a direct cutover.)
If you need a Mac mini with 64GB of RAM now, buy it; they’re still available. The existence of a low-end mini doesn’t affect you in the slightest, and if you can’t wait a year, you can’t wait a year 🤷♂️
The low power DDR4 memory they use maxes out at 16GB. They use different (and far more power hungry) RAM in the larger notebooks. And of course on the desktops the power consumption isn't an issue - other than potentially wasting energy/generating unwanted heat in the summer.
16GB is perfectly fine for a MacBook Air - I can't wait to upgrade my 2015 MBA!
Don't get me wrong, I'm keen to see how these "pro" models pan out, especially because of the reduced heat. My biggest problem with my 16" is the fans consistently running at 5k rpm. It's embarrassing and annoying.