Apple Says 'Mac Has Never Been Better' on Fifth Anniversary of M1 Chip Launching

Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak today celebrated the fifth anniversary of Apple silicon. The first Macs with Apple's M1 chip were announced on November 10, 2020, and they launched on November 17, 2020, which is five years ago as of today.

m1 chip macbook air pro
"Hard to believe it's been five years since Apple silicon transformed the Mac," said Joswiak, in a social media post. "The performance, battery life, new designs, amazing features, and user creativity it unlocked have been remarkable. The impact has been profound, and the Mac has never been better!"

After years of rumors, Apple unveiled its plan to transition the entire Mac lineup from Intel processors to its own custom-designed chips at WWDC in June 2020. Later that year saw the release of the first three Mac models powered by Apple silicon, including a 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini.

Apple had plenty of experience after a decade of making custom iPhone and iPad chips.

The company promised, and delivered, industry-leading performance per watt for Macs. This feat allowed it to remove the fan inside the MacBook Air, given the improved power efficiency resulted in less heat being generated in the thin laptop.

Apple said macOS Tahoe is the final macOS release that will support Intel-based Macs.

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Top Rated Comments

lupinglade Avatar
4 weeks ago
If we don’t count how broken macOS is, then yes.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProbablyDylan Avatar
4 weeks ago
The hardware is generally exceptional. GPU leaves a little to be desired at the highest end but that's neither here nor there.

Shame we can't say the same for the software side.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nozuka Avatar
4 weeks ago

Still love my MacBook Air M1, ordered as soon as it was possible 5 YO.
Don't buy a first-gen product - they said.

I never regretted it, it still runs great.

And i actually prefer the old design over the new air..
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mitthrawnuruodo Avatar
4 weeks ago
Still love my MacBook Air M1, ordered as soon as it was possible 5 YO.

The camera stopped working recently, but other than that is my favourite Mac ever (on the verge of edging out the 2010 MacBook Air 11" I had for 9+ years).
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
masterleep Avatar
4 weeks ago
Hardware-wise, yes. As far as the UI goes, it's been going downhill for a while. I had to use High Sierra to help a relative and it was mind boggling how much better the menus, windows, and toolbars looked.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
abatabia Avatar
4 weeks ago
My M1 air and M1 mini are officially my longest servicing macs and are as sold as the day I got them.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)