The Apple M1 Chip is the first Apple-designed system on a chip (SoC), marking Apple’s transition away from the Intel chips that it has been using in its Mac lineup since 2006. The Apple M1 signifies Apple’s switch from outsourcing components from third parties to using first-party components. This strategic move gives Apple full control of manufacturing and better price margins. Additionally, when Apple manufactures everything from top to bottom, the software developers can highly optimize the software for the hardware to enable major performance boosts. 

The M1 was interestingly based around the A14 SoC, Apple’s proprietary chip used in mobile devices. Since the A14 is so advanced, Apple adapted the mobile chip for use in laptops. Apple created the M1 with speed in mind, achieving boosts by integrating many different chips such as the CPU (central processing unit), I/O (input/output chip), and security chip into one PCB (printed circuit board). In case I lost you, simply speaking, Apple was able to combine different chips and optimize their ability to work together. 

Apple claims that the M1 Macs are roughly three times as fast as the previous generation of Macs, but can the M1 hold up to that claim? And after all the integration and optimization, how much faster is the M1? First-party apps from Apple received the largest speed increases. For example, Final Cut Pro, Apple’s own professional video editing software, received highly noticeable speed upgrades. And although not as significant, the rest of the UI (User Interface) and many other apps gained significant speed.
In November 2020, Apple released the 2020 ‌MacBook Air‌, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and ‌Mac mini‌ which all feature the M1 chips, replacing the Intel processor-based machines in those lineups. The M1 ‌MacBook Air‌ is now the only ‌MacBook Air‌ that Apple sells, but Apple still sells Intel ‌Mac mini‌ and MacBook Pro models.

So should you buy an M1 Macbook? 100%. The speed improvements are highly noticeable between the M1 and Intel-based laptops. Computers are an investment, and you get what you pay for.