Even Apple Silicon has compromises....

 

This is the week when the M1 gets unleashed onto the world, I'll wait until Thursday/Friday to comment on raw performance but what I want to talk about are the quirks, downsides, and blunders Apple didn't mention and have come to light. Apple likes to paint the M1 as invincible and I must admit it's a different chip that can power different machines for different people. So, before Apple releases the hounds and we get exact, not leaked, benchmarks and comparisons. Let’s see what the M1 compromises to get to its next-gen design. 

 

Image Credit: Apple

I think the biggest roadblock on the M1 is the two USB-C Port limit, now just to be clear, the limit is USB-4 with Thunderbolt not normal USB-3. It's unclear whether it's the M1's unified memory architecture or just to power of the chip that causes this limitation. The earlier intel-powered MacBook Air also had 2 USB-C ports, also thunderbolt 3, maybe it's just the chassis that is used? I found 2 culprits that make sense, 1st is the overall design, and 2nd is the unified memory architecture. The design of the MacBook air has been the same since the 2018 redesign, all MacBook airs since have had but 2 USB-C ports, Apple has done a Chip-Swap with the M1 and just used the same frame meaning that it only has 2 USB-C ports because the frame only supports 2 ports.  

 

Image Credit: Apple

Image Credit: Apple

Image Credit: Apple

Image Credit: Apple

 

Then there's the unified memory architecture, just as a refresher one of the strengths of the M1 is its unified memory architecture, the unified memory architectures have the CPU, GPU, RAM, and SSD on the same board. This allows for huge gains in speed because the RAM and SSD is closer to the CPU/GPU. Former intel Macs couldn't use this because Apple had different manufactures making the SSD and RAM. The memory architecture is most likely the culprit because the Mac Mini and MacBook Pro 13-inch also are limited to 2 USB-C ports, both devices have versions with 4 ports instead of 2. I assume this is just a quirk of the first generation of M1 but it's still part of the growing pains, Apple has never had to do more than 1 port with the A-series but M1 is not an A-series chip. I've said this before, M1 is not an iPad chipset, M1 is not an iPhone chipset, M1 is a Mac chipset made for the mac and nothing but the Mac.  

 

 

First-gen hardware is inherently the worst of its generation, so I'll pardon Apple for not allowing 2 ports on the M1. Another problem is the lack of support for dual-4k displays, the M1 in theory can drive 2 4K displays but Apple has shown that you need and HDMI adapter to drive the displays through the USB-C ports. This is a clear oversight and a consequence of leaving intel, thunderbolt 3 is an intel technology that got bundled with USB-4, with Apple leaving intel thunderbolt compatibility might have taken a hit. The earlier core i5 MacBook Air could drive 2 4K displays and one 6K display (BTW the M1 can also drive a 6K display such as the Pro Display). This is a direct limitation of the M1, and it applies to every Mac in this lineup save for the Mac Mini because of its HDMI port, Apple will most likely fix this with M2 but it's still a direct downgrade from the intel Macs. People depend on displays now more than ever due to the spread of home offices, this won't affect me, but it will affect the people that need it.  

 

 

Editor's note: It's not clear whether the M1 can drive 2 1440p/1080p displays but I'm willing to guess it will, look to more details soon. 

 

 

The last limit is RAM, now for a while now RAM has been non-negotiable with Apple products, Apple soldered the RAM to the board on all MacBook's and some iMacs and the Mac Mini so you either got enough RAM or cried later. The situation is no different with the M1, the M1 is limited to 16GB of RAM and that is the bottleneck. 16GB is fine for the MacBook Air, 16GB is not fine for the MacBook Pro and Mac Mini. Unified memory Architecture strikes again, the MacBook pro needs more Pro and nothing is more Pro than 32GB of RAM or 64GB of RAM. Mac Mini might get a pass due to the positioning of the device; YouTube legend Rene Ritchie has marked a difference with the Mac Mini noting that the silver Mac Mini is for consumers not pros, the pros are the Space grey version. I kind of agree with him but the Mac Mini was made to be Apple's wild card made for anything you want from web browsing to server farms and with that being the status of the Mac Mini 16GB of RAM just won't cut it. 

Image Credit: Apple

With all that being said I still want to outline that this is 1st-gen Apple silicon and I think Apple will fix this with the next gen.  Until then these are the limitations and risks the early-adopters are going to have to face, Apple silicon isn't perfect and we need to recognize that. I anxiously await the coming results of this week and will come back to tell you more soon.

Best, BenTechCoder

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