But I see two reasons why the M1 is a big deal, even given the bloat tax.
One is simple power efficiency. These chips run cool and fast, and Intel laptop chips don't. No amount of hyperefficient code is going to get you a real 18 hours of battery life on last year's MacBook Air.
The other one is Apple's proven track record of integrating custom hardware and software, into something which is greater than the sum of its parts. Ever since I got an iPad Pro, I've been quietly frustrated with the user interface of MacBooks. It's just not physics-smooth, and the iPad just is.
I just got one of the 16" MacBook Pros for work, and it's pretty loaded, and it's a good computer— by the standards previous to the M1. Battery life could be better; overheats sometimes with serious fan noise, for no good reason, although each update to Catalina appears to substantially reduce this.
I figured I could get five years on this rig. No way. I might make it to 2022, but I know terminal gearlust when I see it. Whatever Apple sticks in the next release of the 16", I'm craving it already.