What are the Pros and Cons of the M1 Chipset in Apple

The all-new M1. This was Apple’s answer to this world’s quest for unparalleled performance. Unveiled at their Apple event a few months ago, it wasn’t just, as they quite simply put it, “one more thing…” . Rather, it was the “one and only thing” that took the world by storm. But then every good thing always comes with a few kinks in it that ends up throwing the wrench in. This blog weighs in on what makes the Apple new M1 both good and where it falls short.

The New M1 comes with a 5nm+ spacing mechanism that packs 16 billion transistors. All onto that one tiny chip. This tiny bit of tech packs a whole 8 Core CPU, 8 Core GPU, UMA system, and a 16 Core Neural Engine. Was this a good idea? Well, as Apple sees it, the M1 is the future that Apple has for itself in computing technology. Benchmark tests even proved it, with the M1 chip actually performing much better than the SQ1 processor from Intel.

The Performance is no secret. The way the M1 Chip has been designed allows for efficiency at its highest level. The Unified Memory Architecture of the M1 Chip allows all the technologies of the SoC to access the same data without the need to copy it from multiple pools of data. This allows every aspect of performance to be amplified that makes the whole system much faster and snappier.

The CPU has a system that incorporates 8 cores in total. These are categorized into 4 Efficiency and 4 Performance-based cores. The synchronized way in which they both come together is where the M1 really displays its management capabilities. The efficiency cores take up the everyday smaller tasks that require less computing power, leaving the Performance cores wide open to take the full brunt of the heavier applications.

The GPU also has 8 cores that allow almost 2 times more graphic processing abilities than the latest Intel chips, and it does this while using just one-third of the power. The 16 core neural engine is capable of performing nearly 11 trillion operations per second. The machine learning accelerators double the speed allowing applications with ML-powered features to benefit greatly from it.

The M1, though, does have its drawbacks. The new M1 chip loaded macs cannot be upgraded or are very difficult to upgrade with RAM or Storage, so it’s advised to get the variant with the maximum specs for the device’s lifetime if you have ideas on swapping out parts for higher performance parts. Apple also does not have any build to order options either for the new variants.

The new M1 Macs do not support an external GPU nor multiple external displays either. In the case of non-compatibility of an external GPU, Apple is confident that it will not be necessary as their new 8 core GPU is far better in performance in comparison to intel’s integrated graphics.

The issue of limitations in the multiple display segment is still unknown though. It could most probably be a restriction in the hardware side of it. Hopefully, Apple will bring about a fix to this as restrictions to multiple displays are not exactly something consumers would be happy with. Let’s face it, paying through the nose for a high-performance machine with extreme capabilities but no multiple display option equates to buying a fully loaded hypercar with no power windows. It’s a small detail but an essential one. Bit of a letdown there.

The change of platform also translates into the need for all the apps to be optimized for the new hardware. Rosetta 2, at the moment, does this on the go as it allows you to use non-optimized apps by translating the app code, but it is guaranteed to not be a seamless experience.

Then of course this is Apple’s first step towards their leap into a whole different future. New technologies will always have their fair share of chinks in the armor.

Hopefully, Apple will look into rectifying these titbits and improve the overall experience. Until then, we will mostly have to wait and see. While you wait, you could probably look at the rest of the Apple products on the Poorvika Website. Get the products you need with Poorvika’s 2 hours delivery Promise as you opt for our 2 Hour Fast Delivery service as you check out.