A short review of Apple’s new M1 MacBooks
How do they do?
Apple presented the refreshed M1 MacBooks about three weeks ago. Because of the custom chips used, you should be prepared to learn (at least when using them for Machine Learning tasks). I covered this in an earlier article.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to play with the new MacBooks shortly. Difficult to last year’s model, they come with 14" and 16" screens. In my eyes, the small version, 14", is only marginally bigger than the older 13" model. This is primarily due to the increased screen-to-body ratio.
We have already seen this in many Windows and Linux devices; the current smartphones also have a high screen-to-body ratio, regardless of the manufacturer. This concept is now coming to the MacBook Pro models. In the 13" model, the space between the display’s top edge and the housing is large enough to “hold” my little finger. In the 14" model, this space is much more narrow.
How is that? The camera is now integrated into the actual display. This part is called “notch” and was introduced with the iPhone X a couple of years ago. Because I’ve often wondered why the screens have such useless edges, I welcome this development, as it incorporates bigger displays in smaller bodies.
