I just got my M1 Air. This thing is unbelievably fluid and responsive. It doesn't matter what I do in the background. I can simultaneously run VMs, multiple emulators, compile code, and the UI is always a fluid 60 fps. Apps always open instantly. Webpages always render in a literal blink of an eye. This thing feels like magic. Nothing I do can make this computer skip a beat. Dropped frames are a thing of the past. The user interface of every Intel Mac I've used (yes, even the Mac Pro) feels slow and clunky in comparison.
Oh, and the chassis of this fanless system literally remains cool to the touch while doing all this.
The improvements in raw compute power alone do not account for the incredible fluidity of this thing. macOS on the M1 now feels every bit as snappy and responsive as iPadOS on the iPad. I've never used a PC (or Mac) that has ever felt anywhere near this responsive. I can only chalk that up to software and hardware integration.
Unless Apple's competitors can integrate the software and hardware to the same degree, I don't know how they'll get the same fluidity we see out of the M1. Microsoft really oughta take a look at developing their own PC CPUs, because they're probably the only player in the Windows space suited to integrate software and hardware to such a degree. Indeed, Microsoft is rumoured to be developing their own ARM-based CPUs for the Surface, so it just might happen [0]
Oh, and the chassis of this fanless system literally remains cool to the touch while doing all this.
The improvements in raw compute power alone do not account for the incredible fluidity of this thing. macOS on the M1 now feels every bit as snappy and responsive as iPadOS on the iPad. I've never used a PC (or Mac) that has ever felt anywhere near this responsive. I can only chalk that up to software and hardware integration.
Unless Apple's competitors can integrate the software and hardware to the same degree, I don't know how they'll get the same fluidity we see out of the M1. Microsoft really oughta take a look at developing their own PC CPUs, because they're probably the only player in the Windows space suited to integrate software and hardware to such a degree. Indeed, Microsoft is rumoured to be developing their own ARM-based CPUs for the Surface, so it just might happen [0]
[0] https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/18/22189450/microsoft-arm-p...