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Comment by tluyben2 | Hacker News Reader

I did the same but to an Air 16gb. Much cheaper, mostly faster and doesn't have the quirks I had with the 16". I had it replaced 3x and it's was still shit; overheated and 3x just completely died... It was the most expensive computer I bought in since the 90s (Sun or SGI were more expensive) and it was a total horror show. Apple did give me new ones no problems but they never worked well for me; fans always on and burning so hot that it was uncomfortable to work on. This new air is really fabulous; always snappy and it does not heat up at all. It's actually a bit too cold.

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The m1 air is the star of the show for me, because it is a machine that overdelivers to such a degree. I got one to replace my laptop, and to my surprise discovered that it outperforms my i5 9600K desktop, by a noticeable margin, without even getting warm. Also, it’s really nice to finally have actual all day battery life. For the brief window that our offices reopened I would leave my charger at home and still have 20% to 30% left by the end of the day.

The 9600k is an entry level CPU from 3 years ago. Personally I don't think it is surprising that it gets matched by a premium modern CPU. I do think there's something wrong with your desktop however, because in raw benchmarks the difference between an M1 and 9600k is minor - and it should not be a noticeable speed improvement unless something else in your configuration is causing problems.

Similarly, Intel's 1185g7 laptop CPU also goes toe to toe with the 9600k, with comparable performance to the M1 (albeit with worse efficiency). But the efficiency isn't a bother personally as the 1185g7 laptop still lasts all day for my usage. I do have an M1 MBP and have used them side by side, and I'm not really sold yet. Admittedly part of the problem is the locked down hardware and lack of support for Linux - but in the mean time I'm always reaching for the Intel laptop and do not miss the MBP.

Very much doubt the desktop has a configuration problem as it is set up the same as the laptop.

I think the difference is down to the single core performance edge that the m1 has. In theory multi core benchmarks should dictate the performance you get, but in practice it seems a lot of things, even development tools, depend a lot on single core performance.

> The 9600k is an entry level CPU from 3 years ago.

It's not entry-level. It's the fastest 6-core part from a product line that included 2, 4, 6 and 8-core desktop parts. Every model in that product line that was better than the 9600k could only be described as high-end.

I don't think entry-level means what you think it means.

Absolutely! I have the 16gb Air m1 and a fully loaded 16” M1 max - the max is collecting dust most of the time. For most of my workloads the Air is nearly as fast, completely silent and super duper lightweight.

A colleague is working on the same project with an Air 16GB and doesn't complain. It's crazy that it doesn't even have active cooling and can be used for serious CPU intensive work. The 16" model was a big Apple failure. I had to use it in clamshell mode with an external monitor because having the macbook open with an external monitor would make the macbook run a lot hotter and the fans would spin much louder all the time. That was a pretty well known problem with the GPU and they never fixed it (probably some HW issue).

Apple messed up the PCB/config that the GPU will automatically run at 18W (full tilt) when an external monitor + internal monitor is used. The fix in the later OSes was just to lower the power limit at 15W. That 16" was a really nice laptop in form factor and physical experience (monitor, keyboard, trackpad, and especially the speakers), but the that GPU issue + Intel heat and energy profile makes it an annoying computer to use.

I've transitioned to a 16GB M1 MBA too and it's a dream. CPU temps < 60C on dev loads on a hot day (I work outside). 16GB RAM means low swap usage (I used 8GB M1 MBA before this and it was still snappy except on the very limits). Still can drive a 4k monitor or mirrored Sidecar (with BetterDummy) without a peep. Building my work project takes the same time as the i7 16" MBP without the fan noise.

Exact same issues, I just changed my MB Pro Intel core i9 16" for a M1 Max 16", it's the biggest technological jump I have ever seen and the M1 Max is even cheaper.

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