Apple Silicon had undeniably a great start right away. Personally, I didn't expected this. It's fast, it's silent (that's actually a big point, no noisy fans if you have a mike in the same room), it seems to work fairly well, considering it's a whole new platform.

However, there are indeed some drawbacks. The limited RAM is one. While I'm sure later Macs will come with more RAM options than 16 GB, you generally can't buy a basic version and see where it goes from there, because there is no way of upgrading the RAM later. And RAM is VERY expensive right away. Very bad for the entry to a new platform.

The biggest weakness - for people who need it - is the GPU. While Apple is right, it's faster than other integrated GPUs, it's still very slow compared to even midlevel dedicated graphics cards. That's holding Apple Silicon back. It's the bottleneck of the system. Arm could be much faster if it wasn't for the GPU.

Another huge weakness FOR ME is that none of the M1's is able to connect to an ultra widescreen monitor at 5.120x1.440. That's a joke in 2021. If you worked with such a monitor you will never go back. Makes all new M1 Macs an Instant no go FOR ME.

And lastly, it's way too early to work with them professionally. It will probably take at least a year until most software and plugins may have an ARM version. And many older plugins may never get one at all.

The biggest drawback from the software side is Big Sur. Taking away the security of Little Snitch is indeed an epic fail, as this was always one of the biggest selling points for macOS. We'll have to see if there will be solutions for this in the future.

So my recommendation: stay away for now, lean back and watch what will happen. But in a year or two, they may very well revolutionize the industry. I'm pretty sure Microsoft will make a fresh start with Windows for Arm as well, which would be great because it would speed up development for Arm even further.

 

I'm literally praying for that. And AMD fighting back with their 5nm CPU/GPUs. And Intel... well, nobody cares
And watch out nVidia, they're buying ARM... I'm also praying that nVidia launches a desktop CPU/APU
Would be nice if Linux can get first class drivers.

I've talked about hardware backwards-compatibility, but another good thing in the long run would be software and programming languages starting almost from scratch.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Windows apps through Crossover AND Rosetta 2 on Apple M1 would run faster than on Windows ARM

 

Look at history...

Rosetta 2 seems to be at least as good as Rosetta once was.

Apple's in the same situation as they were before when the switch from IBM's PPC processors to Intel X86 was made. IBM couldn't deliver the G6 in time, with the performance promised. Exactly the same as Intel today. IBM refocused as a service company, Intel seems to have lost it's focus.

What's important to Apple is power consumption. The M1 processor obsoletes everything Intel has. And when I look at the brain drain Intel has been undergoing, I expect they simply can't solve that problem. This is a big opportunity for AMD...

The software in use for audio doesn't need an old-fashioned high-end GPU. 99.9% of users have no use for it. There's NO advantage to a VST plugin. How many VST's do you know that can offload processing to the GPU?

It might be different for video editing. Don't know. I'm still waiting to see what AfterBurner is all about...

I've been very critical about Apple's behaviour in the last decade. Still, it finally makes sense. Apple is going to be a bank. Your bank, because you've been fooled long enough by all the other banks. That's why Apple cares about security. Not your security, but Apple's security, as a bank. Frankly, that's at least interesting, as most bank's online security isn't very good. Nor is their service. So it shouldn't be too hard for Apple to do better, would it?

 

so M1 for DAW use remains a clear NO by now...

and no one more time

 

Last edited: Nov 24, 2020

What most people don't seem to know about ARM & Apple.

 

Awelehegginsome !

Yesterday I installed Big Sur on a space SSD (hackintosh) and Logic X

Either it is because it is a new install or it is Big Sur and Logic 10.6 . Logic opens nearby instantly with the latest opened project.
Incredible fast loading time.

 

Fabfilter plugins running through Rosetta2

EDIT - and Fabfilter released native M1 compatible versions by now anyway

 

Last edited: Dec 14, 2020

another fairly well on point video regarding M1 Macs for us audio folks....

 

Sounds familiar. I was a Logic user once :D

RME's drivers are ready. RME's software is ready. So is Reaper. Just sayin'...

If you use PT or UA, don't upgrade. It might never happen. It could take years. My conclusion would be to never buy the expensive stuff.

 

At least the first generation under a totally new architecture.

 

This was not needed.... It's good to explain things, but you don't need to say that, even if someone is wrong, ..or we all have some head issues...

 

Last edited: Dec 15, 2020

So in one hand early on he said he waited MONTHS to go to Catalina until everything was approved from all the vendors yet thought that going to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHIPSET entirely would magically work a week or so after release date with his UA hardware and makes some whiney video that it didnt work?

LMAO what a tit.

 

So true. There's a couple like this that you would think they're just clickbait and you'd be right. Downvoted

 

brief news: Windows 10 ARM version runs in latest preview of Parallels just fine on M1 Mac!

 

The M1 performance looks incredible. But I probably will stick to Intel chip one last time when soon replacing my MBP, in order to stay with Catalina (I just upgraded from Mojave and it's flawless) for another 2/3 years. Do you guys agree with that?

 

That's my plan I bought a 2019 MBP as I needed one to work abroad. That will do perfectly for a few years whilst the M1 transition sorts itself out then I'll move.

I'll probably replace my other 2013 trashcan Mac Pro with the M1 alternative once they come out in a couple of years.

 

I bought a new Mac mini 16 GB Silicon. I had an iMac Intel i7 before.
My main DAW is Logic Pro. Meanwhile, many 3rd party plug-ins are gradually being adapted.
Never back to Intel

 

Might be a great challenge to use as much Logic stock Plugins as possible.

 

Ah, brings back memories of Logic Audio 5.

Haven't really used Logic after they went Mac only, though I've got an installation handy for old shit I've still got lying around. I think I could still whip up a decent patch using ES2, not to mention ES1 which was my gateway into native synths.