I see, thank you for the explanation.

Thank you very much.
While I did not find the appropriate switch in the config.ini, I was able to start Factorio with the --force-metal flag and it only took a few seconds to load the sprites. Then I was able to change the setting in-game and remove the flag again.

Strange that one of the versions ...

When trying to start Factorio Space Age, loading the sprites on my M1 Pro Mac takes a very long time, up to a few hours (I let it run once to see if it actually finishes. Afterwards I quit Factorio and started it again and the loading times did not improve).
The loading bar starts fast and comes to ...