There is some input display on Macbook Pros, but that'd account for easily <100ms of the difference we're seeing (I'm holding `control` and measuring from depression of the arrow key).
I tried changing screen resolution, quitting apps like Rectangle, etc. No dice.
In digging more deeply than I had before, I did find some things which were rumored to speed it up. Disabling multi-color preview, and disabling "displays have separate spaces". (I am using only one display). This shaves off some time (taking about 950ms)! (!!!)
There is also a four-finger gesture which, if done fast enough, appears to speed things up. But it's difficult to reproduce and often "overshoots" to other spaces.
I have a few questions, if you'd oblige:
- Are you also using ProMotion (120hz)? (The biggest thing I can find to speed this up is switching to 60hz, but this does not quite get to 250ms).
- Are you also switching using ctrl+arrowkey(left/right)? (Ctrl+number is notably faster, but not what I'm looking for.)
- Were you using MacOS before this M1 Pro? (This is my first MacOS machine, I'm wondering if there might be some hidden configuration carried over from a previous install with faster transitions).
When reduce motion is turned on in the control panel though, the ctrl-arrow and ctrl-# animations take the same time on my machine (216.6 ms)
I'm doing the same thing you are, holding control and measuring from when I tap the next key.
No ProMotion and only using the internal display. I was running other Macs before this, so there is a chance some configuration crossed over.