Counting cycles and instructions on the Apple M1 processor

On the low end assuming 200TBW that means you have used about 3.3% of the life of your SSD and on the high side you have used 6.75%. Lets say you got your M1 on release in November, that would mean you are using about 1.68%/month on the high end and .84%/month on the low end.

Assume it lasts 200TBW, which I don't think they will, you would be on track for a 8 year lifespan of the SSD. Otherwise 4 years on the low end, assuming the write amount stays the same (which won't likely happen), which would imply you are using the same or less swap.

Every year, I find that I use about 1-2gb more on average, so for me/my usage patterns I almost find the 16gb of memory in the MBPs to be a slap in the face. I have a 13'' and a 16'' MBP with 32/64gb respectively and I don't think I would find anything less acceptable. Right now, my typical memory usage is around 30-40gb when I run docker, vscode, chrome, slack, zoom, etc. I am not even running any VMs(other than the docker vm), I typically will spin those up elsewhere.

For reference, this is my 16'' daily MBP after nearly a year (4.84TB write) and I typically pull down lots of logs/data.

    Available Spare:                    100%
    Available Spare Threshold:          99%
    Percentage Used:                    0%
    Data Units Read:                    4,406,559 [2.25 TB]
    Data Units Written:                 9,454,881 [4.84 TB]
    Host Read Commands:                 183,307,692
    Host Write Commands:                406,821,556

A series of {release hash, launch timestamp} events could be used to build a much more precise profile of your computing habits than just {app ID, launch timestamp} events would.

Also, you're ignoring the power-law: while yes, the majority of software exists in a long-tail of ISVs, most of the apps that people use are made by big corps that make a lot of apps each. 80% of the apps on any computer (Windows or macOS) are Microsoft or Apple or Adobe apps. When you're using any of those, all Apple gets is {Apple, timestamp} or {Google, timestamp} or {Adobe, timestamp}. That's... not very useful for profiling. Especially the first two. Safari and iTunes are both just "Apple" through this system. Are you working? Relaxing? Who knows?

Facebook operates a free service that they use to collect data about you to sell for advertising purposes. Apple sells expensive personal electronics directly to consumers, and has made it a part of their core brand to be privacy-conscious. They’re certainly not perfect, and they’ve clearly made missteps along the way, but they’ve done more than virtually any other public company to further their customers’ privacy and demonstrably collect as little data as possible. When they have made mistakes, they’ve carefully explained what circumstances led to it and have generally gone above and beyond in ensuring that kind of mistake can’t happen again.

Your perspective is little different than the indefensible “both sides” mentality many people have toward politics. Apple is not Facebook, and there is a massive difference to anyone actually paying attention.