If you're serious about using Linux as a backup, you can't be very tied in with the Apple software ecosystem. So if Apple concerns you that much, why even buy an M1 MacBook?
Personally, I find an Arm with 16gb and better than desktop performance very compelling for compiling everything for all my devices. I hope the excitement somehow spurs more full Arm motherboards by other manufacturers.
The performance is not better than desktop. Single threaded performance is on par with the Intel and less than 5950 (not significantly though) : https://www.anandtech.com/show/16252/mac-mini-apple-m1-teste.... And because desktop can have many more cores multi-threaded performance is just simply way below. Of course when/if Apple increases core count in newer chips they may catch up in this department. Also desktop can have way better cooling. For example on my current desktop 16 AMD with 128GB RAM it goes sustained 4.2GHz without any throttle with the temperature at 60C.
there is no guarantee other ARM manufacturers will even approach what Apple has done and this is evident in how other ARM implementations work versus the A series chips.
Apple has the ultimate advantage of writing the OS and the chip and that level of integration is obviously not being met by anyone else in the industry.
I am not dismissing the possibility of an ARM desktop that is better performing than a similarly priced CISC system but I do doubt the level of difference Apple was able to achieve
