But when m2/m3 comes, with higher core counts and increased IPC (on 3 nm or below) I’m moving on, unless intel pulls a rabbit out of a hat. PCIe5 and DDR5 seem very interesting on z690 or AMD Am5, but will it even be enough? Apple has been increasing IPC by 20 percent or more for 7+ years straight. Can intel or AMD match or exceed that level of yearly innovation on x86? Is x86 the constraint??
In all likelihood, at the end of 2022 Apple will move to 3nm, where I believe we'll see significant improvements. Also, ARM's new Armv9 ISA should be announced soon. Exponential growth though is, by its very nature, unsustainable. Eventually performance improvements will start tapering off. It might happen in 1 or in 5 years, but eventually it will happen.
As to x86, there are power efficient x86 CPUs (the Intel Atom line has improved significantly over the years) and I think that Intel can and will do much better. Especially now that AMD is back into the game and there's finally competition. Also don't forget that in terms of manufacturing, they are currently ~2 generations behind (14nm vs 5nm). I expect Intel's Alder Lake CPUs on their 10 nm SuperFin process to reach or surpass Apple's current single-thread performance and close the gap in terms of power efficiency, but these are a year or so away, if all goes to plan.
The thing is, that if you're not fussy about your computer and you can focus on your work, regardless of what OS it runs, then I envy you. You can freely choose whatever best suits your needs at any given time. On the other hand, if you've become attached to -or need- macOS, then even if Intel/AMD do pull a rabbit out of their hats, you'll have no choice but to buy into Apple's proprietary ecosystem, with whatever good or bad that entails.