Apple’s M1-based Mac has many advantages, but it also has its drawbacks. This is something to consider before buying.
Apple’s M1 chip is shaking up the computer industry thanks to significant improvements in performance and battery life. With the recent introduction of the M1-based iMac, there is even more reason to be cautiously optimistic about switching to the M1 Mac in the near future.
However, the decision to switch to an M1-based Mac is still not as easy as it seems. We’ll highlight the biggest advantages and disadvantages of using the M1 Mac to determine if now is the right time to switch.
1. Much better battery life and power efficiency
If you’re looking at an M1-based MacBook, you can definitely expect the device to have a better battery life than an Intel-based MacBook. At the same time, desktop computers like the Mac Mini and iMac are now more energy efficient, meaning they consume less power and are less likely to face problems associated with overheating.
These are aspects of the M1 Mac that are generally appreciated. For many people, these factors alone are enough to make them upgrade.
- M1 Mac faster
You can almost always get better performance using an M1 MacBook compared to an Intel-based Mac. It is unlikely that your computer will start to lag or crash, which is the main reason for switching.
For most people, this simply means the freedom to open more browser tabs without worrying about performance. You’ll also find that the M1 Mac starts up faster, wakes up from sleep mode faster, and applications load faster on these new machines.
But for professional use cases such as audio and video editing, the answer is not so clear at all.
While these new Macs are faster, not all professional applications are optimized to take advantage of this performance. We’ll talk more about this later, but for general purposes, it’s enough that the new M1 Mac is a good choice for most people.
- A leaner portfolio eliminates confusion
In the world of Windows computers, it’s easy to spend countless hours debating whether Ryzen 5 5600X is better suited for your purposes than Ryzen 7 3700X. If you’ve ever considered building a Windows PC or buying a laptop, you probably have similar concerns.
Some people like this freedom of choice, but others find it unnecessarily complicated and tiring. Even with Intel-based Macs, you may find that there are too many processor options and confusing nomenclature.
Apple has fixed this problem for the M1 Mac. You no longer need to worry about the processor or graphics on your Mac. From high-performance desktops to ultra-portable laptops, every machine has the same M1 processor.
Since the processor has an integrated GPU, you no longer need to worry about this choice. Of course, some variants may offer additional GPU cores, but overall, the product portfolio is streamlined. This is good news for most people.
- Upgrade? What are those?
While we couldn’t say enough about the M1 Mac’s performance, the lack of upgrade options after purchase was a big disappointment. Most people will be happy with 8GB of RAM, but if you want to add more RAM every year, the M1 Mac simply can’t do it. This forces many people to consider upgrading when buying, but even then, there are some problems.
Upgrades are very expensive for beginners. A Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage costs $699. If you want 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, the same machine will cost you a whopping $1,699. You see similar price increases in the M1 Mac line, and these upgrades are even more expensive in many parts of the world.
Even if money isn’t an issue, 16GB of RAM seems pretty limited for all the top-of-the-line variants of Macs released to date. Video editors in particular will eventually feel the need for more memory, and these upgrade limits may force them to look elsewhere.
- Fewer ports and limited support for specialized accessories
New Macs don’t have SD card slots and often have fewer ports than ever before. Apple has made a habit of removing useful ports from its machines, but removing basic features like SD card slots and Ethernet ports from the $1,299 iMac is hard to prove.
Similarly, professional environments rely on support for multiple external displays and external GPUs. The M1 Macs have neither, which may be a deal breaker for some people until it’s fixed.
- Is your favorite application M1 compatible?
Be sure to double-check that any applications you use are compatible with M1 Mac before you try. Compatibility is much better than it was in 2020, but some very popular applications (like Adobe Premiere Pro) still don’t have stable, optimized versions available for the M1 Mac.
You can check out sites like Is Apple Silicon Ready to see which popular applications are optimized for the M1 Mac. This is faster than visiting your favorite application’s website alone.
Likewise, game apps like Steam don’t work well on the M1 Mac. If you’re trying to play iOS games on your Mac, you’re likely to encounter some unexpected problems and strange behavior. Even with the CPU and GPU power of the M1, you should avoid using the M1 Mac for gaming purposes.
- Boot Camp does not work on M1 Macs
Boot Camp is an Apple tool that lets you install both Windows and MacOS on an Intel-based Mac. Unfortunately, the M1 Mac does not support Boot Camp, so your dual-boot option is limited to Mac virtual machine applications, such as Parallels Desktop.
Running Windows through virtualization will not achieve the same performance as running natively installed Windows through Boot Camp. So if this is something you do regularly, stay away from the M1 Mac.
Are you ready for M1?
Although we’ve listed several of the M1 Mac’s drawbacks, these probably won’t bother most people who are considering using one of these machines. If you’re looking for a worry-free machine with excellent performance and long battery life, the M1 Mac won’t disappoint.
For those who value raw performance above all else, it might make more sense to wait for the release of the next generation of Apple’s M series processors to see what performance improvements you can expect. We’re not that far away from these machines, but then again, most people should be very happy with the good products Apple has released.