One thing which I don't think has been commented on is the marketing effort behind the M1.
It's getting a lot of prominence and its use across lots of computers means that there can be a consistent message that "M1 is great - get a new Mac and get an M1".
It also provides an opportunity to distinguish between M1 and the next generation M2 (presumably).
I've always thought Intel's marketing was a bit confused - i7 stays the same over 10+ years with only the obscure (to the general public) suffix changing from generation to generation.
It's getting a lot of prominence and its use across lots of computers means that there can be a consistent message that "M1 is great - get a new Mac and get an M1".
It also provides an opportunity to distinguish between M1 and the next generation M2 (presumably).
I've always thought Intel's marketing was a bit confused - i7 stays the same over 10+ years with only the obscure (to the general public) suffix changing from generation to generation.