PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED

Some additional experimentation, switching connections around, carefully reading the tech specs has identified the following:
  1. The TB4 ports on the M1 SoC do daisy chain 👌
  2. The daisy chain persists through TB3, TB2, and Firewire devices 👌
  3. The M1 SoC simultaneously supports up to two displays: One display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz connected via Thunderbolt and one display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz connected via HDMI 2.0 👋
  4. I have two Thunderbolt displays 👎
  5. I really like having two displays 👍
  6. I really need the additional USB 2.0 type A ports and the FW800 port on the Apple Thunderbolt display. 🙏
  7. SoftRAID is in beta for intel processors, but will neither load nor install on M1 SoC. 🤬


POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
  1. a new hdmi monitor ($130 to $190) I really didn't want to spend 😢
  2. a TB 3 firewire dock to provide additional USB 3.0 type A ports and FW800 connectivity (I have one in my collection) 👍
  3. an OWC Thunderbolt 4 hub to provide additional Thunderbolt 2, 3, & 4 connections for my growing collection of drives with TB3 and USB 3.1 gen 2 Type C connectors ($150 I had already planned on spending, but not yet available.) 🤨
  4. at least two certified TB4 0.5 to 0.8 Meter cables (estimated $60 each when available) 😳


CONCLUSION:
  • Moving to Apple silicon is more costly than I had initially anticipated.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein