Introduction to M1 MacBook Pro Updates

Microsoft vs. Apple, A battle that seems to have become ancient. My name is Jake, I am 22 years old, and I use my computer every day. I am a Business Development Manager for AllReitz Group, Inc. and have started this blog series to keep you all up to date on my transition from a Microsoft laptop to an Apple laptop. This first blog will serve as the starting point of my journey.

I currently run a Microsoft Book Pro 2, with an Intel(R) Core ™ 2 core i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz 2.50 Processor, 8GB of RAM, and a custom factory-included GeForce GPU.

I was attracted to my current computer for four reasons:

I have always been an Apple kind of person and I wanted to try a windows machine. The Surface Book was my chance to do that.
It was advertised as a powerful computer with a custom GPU chip to help run powerful applications. As I was headed into college, unaware of what I wanted to do, I figured a powerful laptop would carry me through any programs I would need to use and would last long enough to make it to graduation before I needed a new one.
The laptop could be converted into a tablet, operating with a touch screen.
Microsoft was running a great deal in which they tossed in an Xbox One for $100 more.

I was sold at once, what a deal! I walked out of the store with a great new laptop and a brand-new Xbox One. That was 7 years ago, right as I was going into senior year of high school. I got the laptop so I could start to learn it before college and use it for my classes. Over the course of 7 years, I have loved this laptop. Being my first and only, beating this laptop will be difficult. The only real complaint I have is its compatibility with my phone. I have an Apple iPhone, and with my laptop being Windows, it is not very compatible. A Mac would have been much more compatible with my phone. This is something I am looking forward to in my new Mac!

Recently, I have come across increasing issues with my Windows laptop that have only made me more excited about my new laptop. With my new position, I am using more powerful applications. Examples include: Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Illustrator. My computer was okay at handling these applications, but it has started to crash while using the more powerful applications. Lately, it even struggles to run more than one simple application at a time, like a browser window and music application. I attribute this to it being 7 years old and starting to lose its ‘edge’. I have never had troubles, but it seems to be getting to that age where it can no longer handle as much as it used to. Just the other day I was using After Effects, which is an immensely powerful program no matter the brand or age, but it crashed my computer twice while I was building a simple clip. My position has made using my computer and these applications essential. I cannot have my computer crashing on me and losing all of my designs and plans. My laptop has been great, but I need a new one!

I am set to receive the new laptop this week and I am extremely excited about getting it! I am excited to have an Apple laptop and phone so they are more compatible and can “communicate” easier with each other. I am also excited to see how the Apple M1 chip runs. As we go along, and I begin to use the laptop increasingly, I will experiment with it and describe my findings in this blog series. With my increased responsibilities at AllReitz Group, I will have a great inside view of the device and how it performs. It will be interesting to see how power-hungry applications like Adobe Creative Cloud perform. The look and feel of the device, coming from a Microsoft machine, will be intriguing, and the new chip will be fascinating to explore!