https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/with-macos-sonoma-intel-macs-are-still-getting-fewer-updates-than-they-used-to/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned
Nearly 20 years of data show how Intel Macs are faring as Apple switches chips.
Sold my 16 inch a month before the M1 came because I knew what was coming and I could spend that time away from a laptop. I got the full specced air (cause that’s what was release first) and that air was way snappier and equal or faster for my tasks (programming, photo editing) than the almost maxed out 16 inch. Best decision and you should switch asap.
I’d rather wait for the M3 release or whatever if it’s gonna be the same price for more performance.
This is the reason I'm still using my 2012 MBP (with OpenCore Legacy Patcher).
2015: "Ew, butterfly keyboard? I'm going to wait until they release non-butterfly keyboard models"
2020: "They finally stop using butterfly keyboard, but M1 will be released soon. Might as well wait another year"
2021: "Not all apps has been ported to ARM yet. I'm going to wait a bit to see how it goes"
2022: "What's that? M2 is going to be released soon? I can wait just a bit more"
2023: "Wife just got an M2 macbook air and it's really nice, but what's this talk about M3 getting released soon?"
Or you can get an M11 in an iPhone 8! (That's actually a motion coprocessor, but I think Apple has moved away from that nomenclature in newer phones to avoid confusion?)
They killed off the motion coprocessors, I believe. Now it’s just a part of the A-series, gone the way of the 80387.
I said I would rather wait for M3, not that I would buy it on release. Hopefully by the time MV or M5 comes out whatever.
The m2 was more expensive though (m1 air vs m2 air)
And 3nm process is also more costly than 5nm?
You cant be sure that prices wont increase
I’d rather wait for the M3 release
I wouldn't.
When the M3 comes out... the M1 will still be cheaper and effectively the same speed as the M3.
Performance has diminishing returns - at a certain point it's just "instant". The M1 got there for everyday tasks, and the M3 won't be noticeably faster for any of those.
The difference between the M2 and M1 was small for real-world applications, compared to the difference between Intel and M1, which was stunning.
Go to the MacRumors buyer's guide (https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/) and avoid buying a model when it's very late in its release cycle, but otherwise it's silly to keep waiting for a new model.