i was in the same situation with the switch to silicon. I have some obscure industry software that i use on a rare basis that only runs on x86 - i just bought a cheap thinkpad (x220 i think) and have XP on there.
silicon (m2) is worth its weight in gold to me for the battery life and functionality.
For me the insane battery life/computing power ratio massively outweighs any possible advantages for staying with Intel