Actually, the main thing that rings in my head after the Apple event is faster Xcode builds time. Just think about it ~3X faster Xcode builds, sounds too good to be true. We just need to wait and see when real macs are out, but hopes are really high.
To be precise here are some actual comparison provided by Apple, it should be faster than i7 😮 I really wait till Macbook Pro 16" will come out with even more powerful chip.
M1 — Apple promise
Macbook Pro 13" (M1), Xcode 2.8X faster project build (2)
2. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M1 chip, as well as production 1.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems, all configured with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD. Open source project built with prerelease Xcode 12.2 with Apple Clang 12.0.0, Ninja 1.10.0.git, and CMake 3.16.5. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of MacBook Pro.
Macbook Air (M1), Xcode 3.6X faster project build (4)
4. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction MacBook Air systems with Apple M1 chip and 8-core GPU, as well as production 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based MacBook Air systems, all configured with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD. Open source project built with prerelease Xcode 12.2 with Apple Clang 12.0.0, Ninja 1.10.0.git, and CMake 3.16.5. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of MacBook Air.
M1 — reality
M1 is out on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13" and Mac mini, so how it performs in real life versus Apple promise? Depends on what Mac you have, but it is faster to build Xcode project than any other Mac out there except Mac Pro 2019.
Yes 🎉🎉🎉
How much? It depends, but look for yourself.
So if you have the latest MacBook Pro 13" 2020 or 3 years old Macbook Pro 15" 2017, M1 Mac is more than 2x faster 😲 So if you have an older MacBook and looking to buy Mac right now, M1 is a good choice. But if you can wait then is worth waiting till 2021 when even better Apple silicon chips will be announced.
But most interestingly, MacBook Air 13" 2020 with M1, could be your development machine if you are on a budget and it will beet current MacBook Pro 16" 2019
Significant edits
2020 December 13, added “M1 — reality” section
