MAY 2021 • TECH ADVISOR 31the palpable feel when
you’re using a computer.
Now, when you’ve
been reviewing Macs
for as long as we have,
getting a feel for speed
improvements is difficult.
Usually, we’re dealing
with a 10 to 15 overall per
centspeedimprovement
yearoveryear, and
that’s difficultto gauge
outsideof benchmarks.
But this wasn’t the
case with the MacBook
Pro (M1). Everything on the computer
has a crisp snap to it, including app
launching, and windows opening and
closing. In Safari, the speed is even
more noticeable, with faster loading web
pages and smoother scrolling. When
Apple’s Craig Federighi demonstrated
instant wake during the ‘One more thing’
event, it showed me how I’ve accepted
the fact that Intel-based Macs don’t
instantly wake from sleep. While it’s only
a lag of a few seconds, it’s a lag that’s
now gone on the MacBook Pro (M1).
The key to all these performance
increases is using software optimized
for the SoC. So, before you buy an M1
laptop, check to see if the software you
use most often is available as Universal
binaries, meaning they include both
Apple silicon and Intel versions. (Some
developers may distribute software
specifically for Apple silicon.) If your
primary apps are Apple apps, you’re in
luck, as Apple has updated its apps to
take advantage of the M1.
I did a few application-based tests
to determine improvements when using
native software on the MacBook Pro
(M1) compared to the 2GHz Core i5
MacBook Pro. In iMovie, I exported a
30-minute video using the default 720p
settings to a file. The MacBook Pro (M1)
finished the job in 132 seconds, much
faster than the 218 seconds posted
by the 2GHz MacBook Pro. I also did
a GarageBand export of a 42-minute
Macworld Podcast as an MP3 file,
and the MacBook Pro (M1) finished inThe Touch Bar is on all models of the MacBook Pro.