They kept mentioning performance relative to intel Macs which makes me think there is a large cohort of people sticking to their x86 rigs due to compatibility. Being able to run an x86 linux or windows VM is still a requirement for me.
Windows for ARM runs well on Apple Silicon, and has its own translation layer for x86 software. It should be fine unless you need specific x86-only drivers.
I would’ve loved one, but some of the tools I needed did not work without real Intel hardware yet and there were no workarounds.
Today there are. But because of that I had to get a new Intel machine. And that’s going to be my machine until it reaches the standard replacement cycle. So I’ll still have it for a few more years probably.
By the same token a family member bought a new (to them, refurb) iMac maybe six months before the M1 iMac came out. Again I think that would’ve been a better computer, but it didn’t exist. And the old computer was on its last legs and needed replacing.
That computer does not get heavy use and will last a long time. It will probably get used until Apple stops updating Intel OSes and it starts becoming a real problem for the user.
I would probably have upgraded my i9 as soon as the M1 Pros were announced if it hadn't been my employer's property.
I had constant thermal throttling from the instant I booted the damn thing. Worst laptop I ever had.
I had an M1 at work for a while, it was amazing and I loved it.
Lots of people are probably sticking to Intel Macs simply because the averege user doesn't care about performance and will keep using a computer until it dies.