Essentially, a faster processor (or CPU) means two things; your computer can handle more tasks being thrown at it, and it can 'process' those things a lot quicker. You may see only small differences; perhaps an audio file will render one minute quicker using the faster of two processors, but over time this clearly adds up.
In the CPU world, there are two major players. Intel is the big name, with a huge share of the market. Intel’s range goes from i3 – the least powerful – all the way up to i9. Most common in mid-to-upper tier laptops, however, are the i5 and i7 variants, and within that sphere you have different speed ratings, measured in gigahertz, as well as the option to turbo-boost when you’re placing the computer under major stress. The other name to look out for is AMD, which produces the Ryzen processors. These follow a similar nomenclature to the Intel versions, so R3, R5 and so on, and are popular amongst the gaming crowd.
There is another path to consider though. Apple has a great heritage in producing machines designed for creative pursuits, and just as the rest catch up with them, it flips the script again. You may have seen newer Apple machines with something called an M1 chip inside them. This essentially combines many of the laptops internal components onto a single chip, resulting in incredible power and overall system efficiency. This has since been further succeeded on Apple’s newest machines with the M1 Pro, M1 Max and now M2 chips.
The good news is that these gains absolutely benefit producers, offering best-in-class performance and processing grunt, while also delivering longer battery life and other optimisations. Put simply, Logic Pro X users on an M1-based machine are at the head of the DAW pack right now. The bad news, however, is that many third-party software brands haven’t yet made the switch required to make the most of it. More are catching on, with big names like Ableton and Akai offering full native support.
The best advice we can give is to do your research - all of the major developers are aware of the new chips, and are likely working on native support, so it depends on your current setup and desire to rock the boat. If you can, and don’t anticipate major problems, then we’d absolutely advise looking at these new breeds of MacBook.  Read on for more detail on Apple's latest processors...