Fact is, people say terrific battery. And I was looking forward to terrific battery. But I get the same as what my Lenovo would give me.
Maybe I was just already spoilt and lucky and expect8nh too much. 6 to 8 is still much better than 5 years ago.
The discussion about the MacBook Air and you are comparing to a MacBook Pro 14". I have both laptops and the battery life of the Air under heavier use is definitely better than a Pro. This is not surprising, the M1 Pro/Max have double the number of performance cores, the efficiency cores run at a higher clock, plus the Pro has active cooling and a brighter display. At the same time, the battery of the 14" is larger, but not twice as large (49.9 vs. 70 Wh).
I think for regular users, getting two day battery life on an Air is pretty normal. For instance my wife regularly used her Air for two work days before charging.