I’ve never owned a device that is not a Mac. Currently I have a Macbook Air that is getting slower. I was considering buying something else to run Ubuntu or a Surface, mainly to do some Clojure/JS development.
Now, I like macOS but this generation of hardware is shit. I had a 2016 model and the keyboard failed twice. Replaced it and got tired of constant problems with the keyboard.
Got a Dell XPS 13", decided I was gonna ditch macOS due to hardware issues and switch to Linux. After fiddling forever with the trackpad and the fact that sometimes closing the lid did not sleep the machine. It became clear that I was too old for that stuff. Tried Windows with WSL as I need a Unix environment. It works but the IO is too slow. It's just a toy at this point to show people linux binaries working on windows.
Went ahead and bought a 2018 MBP. The 2018 keyboard were supposed to be fixed.
Guess what, my up arrow key just started failing. I'm thinking about moving to a farm.
In my experience, almost all of your Linux woes could be fixed by using older, less “ultrabook”-like hardware. Once you move away from Electron applications and IDEs (if you have the option to, of course), brand-new hardware doesn’t feel that different from a much older laptop with a fresh SSD.
My rule of thumb for laptops when you have an OS in mind: choose what the developers use. I run OpenBSD, so since I know that the OpenBSD developers use old ThinkPads, I get the best experience on an oldish ThinkPad. Suspend/resume and the trackpad (even gestures) work out of the box, without configuration, every time.
++ same experience here, got a nice X1 Carbon with Ubuntu, just too old for simple things like hanging touchpad and 5k external screen not working
Got 2018 fully loaded MBP, keyboard is ok ( probably because I mostly use external one) but speakers stopped working after 0.5year :/ another trip to apple store.
You basically need 2x MBP - one is constantly being repaired...
Not cheap, but the Thinkpad X1 Carbons are machines of the same quality as Macbooks. They are comparable to the Air in weight (but a little larger, I think) and are designed with reasonable trade-offs.
They (of course) (only) come in stylish matte black, and have the little red trackpoint, which I personally consider the best input device by far (not counting the keyboard obviously)...
If you decide for a professional Thinkpad (which the X1 is), strongly consider upgrading the warranty.
On-site support with coverage for accidental damages is so nice when you need it....
My 4th gen (the current is 6th gen) machine (which is technically a yoga gen1 and not a 4th gen Carbon, but the same base machine) has been running Linux since it's second power-on :)
I would suggest an older ThinkPad instead of a brand new one. Almost every operating system I know of targets them as a platform, you won’t run into issues with Wi-Fi cards and suspend/resume, and they are quite upgradable.
Some have hot-swappable batteries (no need to shut down just to switch to a fresh battery), they all have great keyboards, even ancient machines feel fast with a new SSD, and the cooling is miles better than an “ultrabook” design.
Whatever you do, I would caution against buying a machine for the specs. You’ll probably get something heavy, with poor battery life, and if you need more power, you should be doing those tasks on a remote system or a beefy “cloud” VPS instance anyway.
^ Yep! I switched from MPB to Thinkpad last year, and couldn't be happier. Vast improvement in ergonomics and serviceability / upgradeability.
As you point out, the older machines are great for dev work with some basic upgrades [maxed RAM + SSD] -- my go-to machines are the T61 and T520 -- they're tanks that love Linux and are wicked stable.
[currently running Fedora 29, but have 'distro-hopped' a lot over the past year, and never had a hiccup with the hardware compatibility]
I would second this. By “older” it could be a generation or two from their outlet for $500 or an old T42 from eBay for $100, depending on your performance needs. Either way it’s really, really hard to go wrong with a Thinkpad... that’s why they’re such a standard in big enterprise environments.
I used to own Macs as well and then I got a Thinkpad, which has long been hailed as the ultimate hacker's laptop. If you are looking for something that is of the quality of a Macbook this is what you want. Personally I've also wanted a nice minimalist looking black laptop for a long time so that's a bonus.
I have a T480s, fully maxed out specs except no dedicated GPU (this will give you dual heat pipes instead for better thermal performance on an i7 core). 24GB RAM. Keyboard is incredible compared to Macbook. I recommend non-backlit version for better textures on the keys. Case itself is military spec compliant and probably stronger than Macbook unibody. Hard drive is a terabyte NVME ssd, and I added a Toshiba RC100 480gb NVME ssd into the WWAN slot (runs at 1x performance though, but still good). I upgraded the wifi card to the latest intel 9260 so I can achieve gigabit Wifi speeds at work, an easy swap. I run linux distros and windows in dual boot depending on work requirements.
Thinkpad laptops can also open ALL the way flat which has actually come in handy a few times. You won't know though until you experience it yourself.
I have an XPS 15 9560, running Ubuntu. Honestly I really dislike it. Linux just can't properly handle a 4k display, or a laptop with a graphics card.
I have to reboot to turn on Integrated graphics instead of a graphics card every time I want to use my laptop away from a charger, or else the graphics card stays on permanently and drains the battery so fast.
It is also incapable of going into hibernate, meaning I have to shut it down every time I want to stop using it for an extended period of time. Closing the lid causes it to heat up constantly, which is an issue if you ever absentmindedly close the lid or put it in your bag without shutting it down. It has gotten to extremely high temperatures from doing this.
Just makes me want a macOS device, for a laptop at least.
I have an XPS 15 9550 as well and primarily use ubuntu. I feel your pain on the failure to hibernate/heating up in a bag. Dell seems to have had plenty of issues with buggy BIOS and motherboards on this laptop. Last week mine became afflicted with the notorious XPS issue of powering itself on automatically immediately after shutdown (from windows or ubuntu) and will only respond to the power button being pushed if the charger is plugged in. I've replaced the battery and the CMOS battery in an unsuccessful attempt to solve the problem. Dell support said I could pay $70 to send in my laptop to get it diagnosed and then quote me an exorbitant price to replace the MOBO; all while being without a laptop for god knows how long... no thanks!
I resurrected a MacBook Air from 2013 and have been running Ubuntu for a week now. It's very refreshing to be on stable hardware even if it's not a powerhouse.
macOS devices just take away any worries you can have on compatibility and as a plus they’re the only machines you can use to compile and develop iOS apps..
Probably the price premium of a Mac is paid off by the frustrations and hours not spent trying to solve these problems
Have the same model. There is a flaw, at least to me: if you apply pressure on the area of the on button (not the button itself) it will start the laptop.
I am much happier with Ubuntu 18.10. Everything is working except fingerprint.
As an office notebook, Lenovo T480s is nice (1500 bucks, but it's worth). If this is not enough, you could think about Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon - it has a better display with HDR Support, which is very impressive. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOsERJzMhLc&t=315s
Things you should care about are:
- Good Linux support (Lenovo is well known to have that)
- Good display
- NVMe SSD (not msata or m2 sata)
- As much RAM as possible
- Quad Core CPU if possible
If you would like to play games, you could think about an external graphics card, then Thunderbolt is required and should be the highest version possible.
I’m not really into gaming and would use cloud services for big computing tasks.
Solid advice on the specs! I don’t want to waste time figuring out hardware compatibility to be honest, so I’d pick something not too high end that is widely used.
I have an HP Envy 13 that I bought mainly for the specs/price. But I was pleantly surprised with the build quality, very quiet fans but good thermals, and keyboard. Runs Ubuntu 16.04 without issue.
For $850 (on sale) the specs cannot be beat, 4k touchscreen, 4 core i7-8th gen, 16gb ram, 512GB nvme ssd, and dedicated NVidia GPU.
My only complaint is that it charges via barrel pin instead of USB-C.
I have a 2018 MacBook Pro, i7-6core, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD. I can run Ubuntu in Parallels without issue (or VirtualBox without much issue). Parallels does run the laptop a little warm, but that’s all.
I came from an ASUS ROG g751jy which was a behemoth in size. I ran Ubuntu on it for most of the three years I developed with it. My biggest concerns with it were battery life and form factor. Both concerns were addressed by moving to the MacBook Pro. I’m happy I did.
So if your budget allows, I suggest going with another Mac, but if you wish to go somewhat cheaper, take a look at the Thinkpad X1 Carbon laptops or the Dell XPS 13 Developer edition laptops.
My biggest beef with most laptops is the 16GB max RAM. I run VMs and a few Java apps, so I need the RAM. Once Apple finally put it into their MBP line, I was sold.
XPS 15 9570; very happy. Linux is imperfect but largely good; I use i3-gaps on manjaro. MacOS also works, if you're interested in hackintoshing, with 2 caveats: one, patching acpi tables is really hard (though I hear you can get help over at olarila). Two, you need a new wifi card (preferably an intel). If you gripe to dell about the old one, they'll usually send a replacement. Which is probably good anyway, since the killer is not good at all.
i7-8750H, 1tb ssd, 4k screen, 32gb ram (really good for dev stuff). The screen is also excellent: you don't appreciate it until you've got it, but it's actually usable in bright sunlight. And the battery is huge; near the tsa limit for how much lithium you can bring on a plane.
I installed Linux Mint 19 on my Dell XPS13 when it arrived (it came with Windows 10) and it's not missed a beat: 100% hardware compatibility. I did update the BIOS before installing Linux though. It's the best laptop I've owned.
I don't use the trackpad often, I like my mouse, but when I do it always surprises me how good it is.
I have the companion dock on my desk, which also worked out of the box with Mint 19 despite some forum comment that it wasn't fully compatible. I can unplug the laptop from the dock (which has a large monitor, USB audio, ethernet) and keep working; plug it back in and everything reconnects seamlessly.
It's a great machine. I'm not putting faith in the keyboard lasting longer than the 4 year service period Apple has, it's been replaced once already. The screen is amazing, battery life is great, no real complaints other than it only has 2 ports.
2014 MacBook Air
Also a great machine. Battery still lasts almost 10 hours, which is about 2 hours longer than the 2016 MacBook Pro I have. It's very usable, but it's not very fast. The other MacBook is 50% faster in both single and multicore tasks. I keep it around as a backup machine as well as having a slower device to use for testing. However, if I spilled a coffee on it I would not miss it. I'm partial to the Air as I had a 2010 and loved it.
Lenovo T480S
This is a great machine. I work in a Windows world so I can't use a Mac. Works great docked, gives 8 hours of battery on the road, really winds up with 4 cores of power, 16GB RAM, an 512GB SSD, and was a little cheaper than the Mac. Screen and keyboard are great. Single-core stuff it's only about 10% faster than the Mac but for the multicore stuff it's over 50% faster. Strangely not 2X as fast like my 15" MBP was.
Dell XPS 13 9350. Wish it had more than 8GB on the model with the 1080 panel, but it's been great for the past few years running Fedora.
Upgraded the WiFi card to an Intel 8650 and storage to a Samsung NVME 512GB.
Keyboard is pretty good. No real strange key placement.
Screen is great since matte was an option.
Battery life is great.
Form factor is perfect. 13" in the size of a traditional 11".
Dell XPS 15 9570, best notebook I've ever had. Only major issue is that the default fancurve was probably chosen randomly because they just couldn't be bothered.
A souped up work 15" MBP 2018, although I would prefer a Thinkpad. The keyboard on MBP still feels very fragile and does not inspire much confidence.
It is for these reasons, I find it hard to discard some of the trusted old kit. So, I either try to reappropriate it or find a utility; otherwise, it a goes to a new home.
For example, I have managed to turn a Thinkpad T420s into a Hackintosh, recovered 17" FHD panel from a Sony Vaio and connected it to a Raspberry Pi via LVDS interface, a 1st gen Lenovo X1 which dual boots Ubuntu & W10, runs VM's and does so much more despite it's meagre specs. It is my Tamagotchi and a device I will miss when it dies, probably due to battery degradation or some kind of fan error.
LG Gram 14 with i5 8th Gen with 8gb RAM and 256gb SSD. It has one extra slot each for RAM and SSD that I plan to fill later. Linux Mint 19.1 with dual boot to Windows that it came with - everything worked right out of the box. Things I love are 990grams weight, 14 hours battery (4.18 series kernel and mostly I use terminal, vim, Firefox; when I compile java applications regulalry, still get 9hours of battery); backlit keyboard and a very lovely FHD display (though the glare from lights is a bit more).
It doesn't have dedicated graphics card and it doesn't feel sturdy like an all metal laptop - though it has survived several flights in a regular backpack in overhead compartment.
I switched from MacBook Air to this. Mainly because the sharp edge in the front was getting tiresome while typing. Plus I didn't think any of the new Mac's are worth the outlandish premium for my mostly terminal driven work.
Running an HP x360 for the past year, it's been stable and is small enough yet usable. The pressure-sensitive pen is great, but only works on some apps on Windows it seems.
Before that I had a Dell XPS 15 where the battery overheated and bloomed up to the point of destroying the chassis and touchpad. Needless to say, that wasn't great.
I heard about this problem in the older models, but have had no such issue with the 9560 and 9570. 9550 was the one with the big problems, if I understand correctly (with a little in the 9560 too).
My hardware needs are within the current scope of silicon Apple has in their lineup, and using both Thunderbolt 2 and 3 I can connect everything I need (usually only using 1 or 2 cables for everything).
I do not need or want to use Windows on my own hardware, and I do like how macOS presents a reasonably polished Unix/POSIX type of experience. I run Linux on stationary hardware as a side-workhorse, everything else is either in a datacenter or in a public cloud.
While this Apple stuff isn't perfect, it works in the areas that I need, and other mobile hardware + software combinations simply don't come even close, which isn't as much an Apple-does-it-right thing, but more of a the-others-need-to-get-their-crap-together thing. It's 2019, you'd expect things like responding to input (trackpad, closing the screen, connecting devices) to be solved.
I need to run Windows, macOS, and Linux for testing purposes. I've had the luxury of having a different machine for each OS through work, but I'm moving to freelance work soon and won't have that luxury anymore.
I'd like to use a mac as my primary machine. Right now I have an 8GB 13" macbook pro, and when I tried running Windows and Ubuntu in Virtualbox, it was pretty laggy. I wasn't sure if that was because of issues with Virtualbox, or whether my system didn't have enough resources to run virtual machines efficiently. I haven't tried either yet, but I'd be happy to go with Parallels or VMWare Fusion if they run better than Virtualbox.
I'd really like to stay with a 13" macbook if possible. Does anyone know if a maxed-out 13" macbook pro will handle multiple OSes well, or do I need to get a 15" to handle this load?
Virtualbox is much slower than VMware on Mac. Get VMware and it will be much better. The only possible issue is the relatively small amount of RAM you have for two OSes.
2013 MBP, now I just use a PC that I already had for some gaming reformatted with linux. Takes some getting used to with all the keyboard shortcuts and stuff changing, but it was a massive 'free' upgrade for my work and now I just use my laptop where it is suitable.
I've had pretty good luck with buying a new ASUS laptop every year or so and then giving the old ones to my family. They definitely don't last as long as a Mac, but the specs are often comparable and I prefer to run Windows/Linux in a VM than OSX.
Not sure if this is a good mindset to have, but I feel less worried about lugging a ~$1000 laptop around town compared to a $3000 Macbook. It feels a little less like a priceless object and more like a "disposable" tool (as disposable as a $1000 object could ever be).
Also the keyboard is perfect and isn't the Mac's, which I can't really deal with.
Currently I'm rolling with a Zenbook UX430U, primarily because it was the one with 16 gigs of ram.
[+] [-] eknkc|7 years ago|reply
Now, I like macOS but this generation of hardware is shit. I had a 2016 model and the keyboard failed twice. Replaced it and got tired of constant problems with the keyboard.
Got a Dell XPS 13", decided I was gonna ditch macOS due to hardware issues and switch to Linux. After fiddling forever with the trackpad and the fact that sometimes closing the lid did not sleep the machine. It became clear that I was too old for that stuff. Tried Windows with WSL as I need a Unix environment. It works but the IO is too slow. It's just a toy at this point to show people linux binaries working on windows.
Went ahead and bought a 2018 MBP. The 2018 keyboard were supposed to be fixed.
Guess what, my up arrow key just started failing. I'm thinking about moving to a farm.
[+] [-] rexf|7 years ago|reply
There's so many possible issues that I have to baby the machine & live in constant fear:
* keyboard keys getting stuck - [0]
* USB-C ports wearing out [1]
* stage light issue [2]
[0] - https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-for-m...
[1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/9l5gno/usbc_por...
[2] - https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/22/macbook-pro-stage-light/
For a supposed Pro machine that costs $$$$, this machine was not designed well.
[+] [-] snazz|7 years ago|reply
My rule of thumb for laptops when you have an OS in mind: choose what the developers use. I run OpenBSD, so since I know that the OpenBSD developers use old ThinkPads, I get the best experience on an oldish ThinkPad. Suspend/resume and the trackpad (even gestures) work out of the box, without configuration, every time.
[+] [-] rkwasny|7 years ago|reply
Got 2018 fully loaded MBP, keyboard is ok ( probably because I mostly use external one) but speakers stopped working after 0.5year :/ another trip to apple store.
You basically need 2x MBP - one is constantly being repaired...
[+] [-] svennek|7 years ago|reply
They (of course) (only) come in stylish matte black, and have the little red trackpoint, which I personally consider the best input device by far (not counting the keyboard obviously)...
If you decide for a professional Thinkpad (which the X1 is), strongly consider upgrading the warranty.
On-site support with coverage for accidental damages is so nice when you need it....
My 4th gen (the current is 6th gen) machine (which is technically a yoga gen1 and not a 4th gen Carbon, but the same base machine) has been running Linux since it's second power-on :)
[+] [-] dfgdghdf|7 years ago|reply
* Hibernate did not work out-of-the-box
* Lack of fractional scaling makes everything too small or ludicrously big (100% or 200%)
* X server crashes often on suspend
* Audio is too quiet on maximum volume
* Occasionally CPU performance tanks, and I have to reboot
* Track-pad is unresponsive compared to a MacBook (if you have not used a MacBook often before you may not notice this, and it won't be an issue)
* Battery life is a pretty middling 5 hours.
[+] [-] geoka9|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 0xferruccio|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ctnb|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spotman|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] snazz|7 years ago|reply
Some have hot-swappable batteries (no need to shut down just to switch to a fresh battery), they all have great keyboards, even ancient machines feel fast with a new SSD, and the cooling is miles better than an “ultrabook” design.
Whatever you do, I would caution against buying a machine for the specs. You’ll probably get something heavy, with poor battery life, and if you need more power, you should be doing those tasks on a remote system or a beefy “cloud” VPS instance anyway.
[+] [-] MisterOctober|7 years ago|reply
As you point out, the older machines are great for dev work with some basic upgrades [maxed RAM + SSD] -- my go-to machines are the T61 and T520 -- they're tanks that love Linux and are wicked stable.
[currently running Fedora 29, but have 'distro-hopped' a lot over the past year, and never had a hiccup with the hardware compatibility]
[+] [-] chrismeller|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] supermw|7 years ago|reply
I have a T480s, fully maxed out specs except no dedicated GPU (this will give you dual heat pipes instead for better thermal performance on an i7 core). 24GB RAM. Keyboard is incredible compared to Macbook. I recommend non-backlit version for better textures on the keys. Case itself is military spec compliant and probably stronger than Macbook unibody. Hard drive is a terabyte NVME ssd, and I added a Toshiba RC100 480gb NVME ssd into the WWAN slot (runs at 1x performance though, but still good). I upgraded the wifi card to the latest intel 9260 so I can achieve gigabit Wifi speeds at work, an easy swap. I run linux distros and windows in dual boot depending on work requirements.
Thinkpad laptops can also open ALL the way flat which has actually come in handy a few times. You won't know though until you experience it yourself.
[+] [-] bad_good_guy|7 years ago|reply
It is also incapable of going into hibernate, meaning I have to shut it down every time I want to stop using it for an extended period of time. Closing the lid causes it to heat up constantly, which is an issue if you ever absentmindedly close the lid or put it in your bag without shutting it down. It has gotten to extremely high temperatures from doing this.
Just makes me want a macOS device, for a laptop at least.
[+] [-] kernelPan1c|7 years ago|reply
I resurrected a MacBook Air from 2013 and have been running Ubuntu for a week now. It's very refreshing to be on stable hardware even if it's not a powerhouse.
[+] [-] 0xferruccio|7 years ago|reply
Probably the price premium of a Mac is paid off by the frustrations and hours not spent trying to solve these problems
[+] [-] Can_K|7 years ago|reply
I am much happier with Ubuntu 18.10. Everything is working except fingerprint.
Consider using this: https://github.com/stockmind/dell-xps-9560-ubuntu-respin/blo...
[+] [-] jryan49|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mises|7 years ago|reply
Oh, and you need a new wifi card.
[+] [-] mises|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sandreas|7 years ago|reply
Things you should care about are:
- Good Linux support (Lenovo is well known to have that)
- Good display
- NVMe SSD (not msata or m2 sata)
- As much RAM as possible
- Quad Core CPU if possible
If you would like to play games, you could think about an external graphics card, then Thunderbolt is required and should be the highest version possible.
[+] [-] 0xferruccio|7 years ago|reply
Solid advice on the specs! I don’t want to waste time figuring out hardware compatibility to be honest, so I’d pick something not too high end that is widely used.
Thinkpads and Lenovos seem like a good compromise
[+] [-] CoolGuySteve|7 years ago|reply
For $850 (on sale) the specs cannot be beat, 4k touchscreen, 4 core i7-8th gen, 16gb ram, 512GB nvme ssd, and dedicated NVidia GPU.
My only complaint is that it charges via barrel pin instead of USB-C.
Here’s where I bought it, but I got it from their ebay storefront with a coupon or something: https://www.adorama.com/ihp1kt13uar.html
[+] [-] ulkesh|7 years ago|reply
I came from an ASUS ROG g751jy which was a behemoth in size. I ran Ubuntu on it for most of the three years I developed with it. My biggest concerns with it were battery life and form factor. Both concerns were addressed by moving to the MacBook Pro. I’m happy I did.
So if your budget allows, I suggest going with another Mac, but if you wish to go somewhat cheaper, take a look at the Thinkpad X1 Carbon laptops or the Dell XPS 13 Developer edition laptops.
My biggest beef with most laptops is the 16GB max RAM. I run VMs and a few Java apps, so I need the RAM. Once Apple finally put it into their MBP line, I was sold.
[+] [-] mises|7 years ago|reply
i7-8750H, 1tb ssd, 4k screen, 32gb ram (really good for dev stuff). The screen is also excellent: you don't appreciate it until you've got it, but it's actually usable in bright sunlight. And the battery is huge; near the tsa limit for how much lithium you can bring on a plane.
[+] [-] pengo|7 years ago|reply
I don't use the trackpad often, I like my mouse, but when I do it always surprises me how good it is.
I have the companion dock on my desk, which also worked out of the box with Mint 19 despite some forum comment that it wasn't fully compatible. I can unplug the laptop from the dock (which has a large monitor, USB audio, ethernet) and keep working; plug it back in and everything reconnects seamlessly.
[+] [-] bluedino|7 years ago|reply
2016 MacBook Pro 13" non-Touchbar
It's a great machine. I'm not putting faith in the keyboard lasting longer than the 4 year service period Apple has, it's been replaced once already. The screen is amazing, battery life is great, no real complaints other than it only has 2 ports.
2014 MacBook Air
Also a great machine. Battery still lasts almost 10 hours, which is about 2 hours longer than the 2016 MacBook Pro I have. It's very usable, but it's not very fast. The other MacBook is 50% faster in both single and multicore tasks. I keep it around as a backup machine as well as having a slower device to use for testing. However, if I spilled a coffee on it I would not miss it. I'm partial to the Air as I had a 2010 and loved it.
Lenovo T480S
This is a great machine. I work in a Windows world so I can't use a Mac. Works great docked, gives 8 hours of battery on the road, really winds up with 4 cores of power, 16GB RAM, an 512GB SSD, and was a little cheaper than the Mac. Screen and keyboard are great. Single-core stuff it's only about 10% faster than the Mac but for the multicore stuff it's over 50% faster. Strangely not 2X as fast like my 15" MBP was.
[+] [-] h4waii|7 years ago|reply
Upgraded the WiFi card to an Intel 8650 and storage to a Samsung NVME 512GB.
Keyboard is pretty good. No real strange key placement. Screen is great since matte was an option. Battery life is great. Form factor is perfect. 13" in the size of a traditional 11".
[+] [-] sagitariusrex|7 years ago|reply
It can be fixed thou with https://github.com/TomFreudenberg/dell-bios-fan-control
[+] [-] dijit|7 years ago|reply
Amazing laptop, great linux support. Shame the TB16 dock is hot garbage.
[+] [-] johnnycab|7 years ago|reply
It is for these reasons, I find it hard to discard some of the trusted old kit. So, I either try to reappropriate it or find a utility; otherwise, it a goes to a new home.
For example, I have managed to turn a Thinkpad T420s into a Hackintosh, recovered 17" FHD panel from a Sony Vaio and connected it to a Raspberry Pi via LVDS interface, a 1st gen Lenovo X1 which dual boots Ubuntu & W10, runs VM's and does so much more despite it's meagre specs. It is my Tamagotchi and a device I will miss when it dies, probably due to battery degradation or some kind of fan error.
https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/285678-lenovo-thinkp...
[+] [-] vsbabu|7 years ago|reply
It doesn't have dedicated graphics card and it doesn't feel sturdy like an all metal laptop - though it has survived several flights in a regular backpack in overhead compartment.
I switched from MacBook Air to this. Mainly because the sharp edge in the front was getting tiresome while typing. Plus I didn't think any of the new Mac's are worth the outlandish premium for my mostly terminal driven work.
[+] [-] semi-extrinsic|7 years ago|reply
Before that I had a Dell XPS 15 where the battery overheated and bloomed up to the point of destroying the chassis and touchpad. Needless to say, that wasn't great.
[+] [-] mises|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oneplane|7 years ago|reply
My hardware needs are within the current scope of silicon Apple has in their lineup, and using both Thunderbolt 2 and 3 I can connect everything I need (usually only using 1 or 2 cables for everything).
I do not need or want to use Windows on my own hardware, and I do like how macOS presents a reasonably polished Unix/POSIX type of experience. I run Linux on stationary hardware as a side-workhorse, everything else is either in a datacenter or in a public cloud.
While this Apple stuff isn't perfect, it works in the areas that I need, and other mobile hardware + software combinations simply don't come even close, which isn't as much an Apple-does-it-right thing, but more of a the-others-need-to-get-their-crap-together thing. It's 2019, you'd expect things like responding to input (trackpad, closing the screen, connecting devices) to be solved.
[+] [-] japhyr|7 years ago|reply
I'd like to use a mac as my primary machine. Right now I have an 8GB 13" macbook pro, and when I tried running Windows and Ubuntu in Virtualbox, it was pretty laggy. I wasn't sure if that was because of issues with Virtualbox, or whether my system didn't have enough resources to run virtual machines efficiently. I haven't tried either yet, but I'd be happy to go with Parallels or VMWare Fusion if they run better than Virtualbox.
I'd really like to stay with a 13" macbook if possible. Does anyone know if a maxed-out 13" macbook pro will handle multiple OSes well, or do I need to get a 15" to handle this load?
[+] [-] ageitgey|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 0xferruccio|7 years ago|reply
Maybe for Ubuntu, unless you develop apps with GUIs you can just use a VPS?
[+] [-] xfitm3|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] benologist|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidscolgan|7 years ago|reply
Not sure if this is a good mindset to have, but I feel less worried about lugging a ~$1000 laptop around town compared to a $3000 Macbook. It feels a little less like a priceless object and more like a "disposable" tool (as disposable as a $1000 object could ever be).
Also the keyboard is perfect and isn't the Mac's, which I can't really deal with.
Currently I'm rolling with a Zenbook UX430U, primarily because it was the one with 16 gigs of ram.