Hooray! It’s the release day for the M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. There are a bunch of reviews by folks who spent a week with the new Macs. My two favorites were from Jason Snell and Dieter Bohn. I’ve only been using mine a few hours, but I already have some notes to share:

• Small, with a Punch

  Having used a MacBook Pro and a 12” MacBook a lot over the last year, this new MacBook Air is like their love child. Light, small, and wicked fast.

• No Heat
  I’ve been primarily just setting things up but I have rendered a few videos and otherwise tried to push the M1 around a bit. So far, no noticeable heat or throttling. I already feel like my choice of the MacBook Air was the right one.

• Still a Mac
  Thus far I’ve worked in OmniFocus, Microsoft Word, Keyboard Maestro, Fantastical, 1Password, and Obsidian. Everything seems to be working as if it was Intel inside, but faster.

• Battery Life
  It’s too early to tell, but in the three hours that I’ve been installing downloading, setting up, and working on this Mac, I’ve used 20% of the available battery life. That’s nuts.

Even though it’s only been a few hours, I’m already using this Mac to do work and the word that just keeps jumping to my mind is “snappy”. I’ve never had a Mac that jumped to my command like this. The way apps load and leap onto the screen are reminiscent, not surprisingly, of iPad OS more than traditional macOS. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts as I use it more, but so far I’m impressed.