My review after using Macbook Pro M1 for two weeks as an Android/Flutter Developer…. it sucks!

Hi, finally I gathered enough money (from freelancing) that I am able to afford a MacBook Pro M1 with 8GB RAM & 512 GB SSD. And today, after two weeks of purchasing and using it continuously for developing mobile apps using Android and Flutter, I am sharing my review. In one phrase.. IT SUCKS!

DISCLAIMER: No, I am not saying that because Android Studio is not optimized for M1, or Android Emulator is not working at all. I saw those coming, my concern is bigger than that.

I dunno why this hype is going on about the M1, everyone praising it as it is a super-computer. Here are the things that annoy me:

Animation

The animation you see when you:

• Switch between desktops by swiping three fingers on the trackpad.
• Put the Youtube video on full-screen in Chrome (which is optimized for M1 btw) and vice versa.
• Switch to maximum screen size any window.

Previously I had MacBook Pro 2015 13" with 16 Gigs RAM, apart from its overheating problem and fan running continuously at maximum speed, it was kinda okay when it comes to the animation of switching between desktop, it was smooth. But now on M1, I am running VS-Code (M1 Optimised) and iOS Simulator on one desktop and the rest of the apps like chrome and finder, etc on a separate desktop. Now whenever I swipe three fingers across the trackpad, it takes somewhere between 500ms to 1000ms to react. And GOD, that is embarrassing.

Putting a video on fill-screen animation also goes in steps and the whole process takes like 2–3 seconds.

Switch to maximum screen size animation also goes in steps. Not even close to the word “Smooth”

PS: Screen-recording can be made on request

Connecting Android Phone

Now, I haven’t tried connecting an iPhone to my MacBook directly coz I don’t have any type-c to lightning cable, but what I do have is a Type-C to Type-C cable. I connect my Android phone for testing apps (as I can’t do this on Virtual Devices)

BIG SURPRISE

MacBook starts charging from my tiny Android Phone, which seems cruel. I have never measured if it actually charges the battery or just displays it but what I do notice, it drains the Android Phone battery quickly. This leaves me no option but stoping my work, unplug my Android Phone, charge it and then put it back on. And this is a third-class experience that I expect from a 500$ laptop. Not from this tech giant and the product which is praised like God on the internet.

Switching between Apps

When you switch between apps via command+tab, it also sucks. It takes some time to pop up the new app. Remember, this is switching between apps. The apps are already loaded into memory. Not launching a new app.

To summarize, the animations are the worst, the overall performance is slightly better than the worst.

The only thing good about M1 is its battery life, but trust me that does not justifies the price.

Thank you for reading.

PS: I didn’t mention the only two USB Type-C ports you get which embrace the dongles environment. Because I know some “Apple Fan Bois” will be like, you had an option, why did you purchased this one when you already know it got only 2 ports.

But anyway, that sucks too!

Update JULY 21

• M1 getting charged from Android phone is not fixable by plugging in the cable to Android first and then to mac. In this way, the Android phone will start charging but that’s normal
• I recorded my M1 screen while doing some minimal tasks. Check out it’s performance