I think the reaction to it was qualitatively different from the iPhone or even iPod/iPad. The M1 is a great chip, and everybody acknowledged it as a great chip. Nobody claimed it would create a whole new category of products, or a whole new ecosystem. Nobody quit their job to become an M1 developer. Nobody started forking out hundreds of dollar per hour for people who did.

In Clayton Christenson terms, it was a sustaining innovation rather than a disruptive one.

Apple started making their own silicon under Steve Jobs, nothing new there either.

what about Coke's move from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup? isn't that revolutionary and didn't that get the public excited?

No one outside of select circles cares.