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Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

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Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#71

Post by johnklos »

bostonsre wrote: post #46
cultofmetatron wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its certainly superior to previous windows but its ultimately a hosted vm in windows. OSX is a native unix. Yes there are limitations such as needing a vm to run docker but the core system is posix and the filesystems are all laid out in in teh unix way. on of this damn C/D drive nonsense.

It feels a lot more like a dual os system than just running a vm inside of windows. The integration between the two is pretty seamless and powerful. e.g. this is in my wsl .bashrc file, it writes to my windows clipboard by running the powershell.exe windows executeable: function cb () { powershell.exe -command "\$input | set-clipboard" } Mac is unix sure, but they have diverged from the popular main stream linux dist…

I think you have that backwards: it's Linux that has diverged from the Unix way of doing things. All the various gotchas and different ways are Linux-isms. After all, which came first, and which came later, then changed?

macOS is more consistent with the BSDs than Linux is with older Linux or one distro is with another.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#72

Post by kmeisthax »

uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

Because every other computer manufacturer realized they can save on the BOM cost by shoving the whole computer under plastic gingerbread. That weight distribution? It'd cost way too much to redesign the product correctly. Flickering redraws? We don't make the OS, we just sell Microsoft's.

Occasionally you do see PC OEMs that try for taste in the Windows ecosystem. Sony did that with their VAIO laptops, with the somewhat-inflated price tag to match. In fact, it impressed Jobs so much he literally just offered them an OSX license (which they didn't bite on).

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#73

Post by nimbius »

not to sound like a curmudgeon but I for one will be in the cold cold ground before I ever declare macbook as the only viable option.

hackers are working hard on really cool daily driver laptops that respect your freedom and work to deliver an excellent computing experience.

system76 offers a good balance of performance and value: https://system76.com/laptops

pinebook offers a competitive and cheap arm daily driver: https://pine64.com/

and purism frankly rivals Apple levels of build quality and performance: https://puri.sm/

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#74

Post by kiwijamo »

28304283409234 wrote: post #42

I'm on my 3rd(!) company supplied macbook in almost 2 years. Macbook Pro, 16'', 32GB. First Macbook: screen broke in the middle. Second Macbook: screen broke and MacOS is complaining that there's something wrong with the SSD. Third macbook I just received and can't tell what will break. But break it will. I only move them around the house, never on the road. When I move them, I place them in a Thule Gauntlet. I reall…

Maybe I'm unlucky too. I have a work MacBook and a Lenovo ThinkPad manufactured the same year. The ThinkPad has aged extremely well and I'm really happy with it. The MacBook on the other hand struggles badly with tasks the ThinkPad does without a sweat. The battery life is also far worse on the MacBook. The MacBook has needed repairs whereas the ThinkPad has not. I'm sure both would have been fine brand new but it's interesting to see how they've aged over the years. It used to be that Apple hardware aged well, but I don't think that's the case anymore especially with their Intel hardware. YMMV as parent has pointed out.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#75

Post by kayodelycaon »

postalrat wrote: post #53

I dream of a device that's basically a laptop without a screen, keyboard, trackpad, etc. Just plug it into a usb-c hub it restores everything from where I left off last time. Then once I'm done put it in my pocket and go. Then if I do want a laptop I could buy a chassis with a battery, keyboard, trackpad, screen, etc, etc to dock my device above in to. Edit: Seriously considering taking the motherboard out of a steam…

This does seem to exist. https://www.magicstickone.com/

Specs aren’t great though.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#76

Post by [deleted] »

uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#77

Post by ProAm »

uniqueuid wrote: post #52
kemiller2002 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Laguiole flatware is beautiful. It is a true mark of craftsmanship, and it is priced as such. As much as I appreciate their elegance, I don't need a $100 spoon to eat my cornflakes in the morning. We tolerate less poor design, because spending time on money on something which in the end is not truly worth the time or money is focusing on something unimportant to most people....especially at a job they most likely…

That's the thing. We spend a huge amount of time using computers. Considering not just the share of time but also the share of concentrated attention, they are an even more important object in our lives. Why would you not desire the tool you use to be the absolute best you can have? And if eating cornflakes is important to you, the Laguioles may be worth it. After all, they will probably last ten years or twenty. Com…

TBF Apple sold very expensive laptops with shoddy faulty keyboards for YEARS. People idolize and idealize Apple but tend to ignore the faults and failures. I truly believe Apple does not respect their customers. They have some good product and some bad ones too.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#78

Post by postalrat »

ccouzens wrote: post #68
postalrat wrote: post #53

I dream of a device that's basically a laptop without a screen, keyboard, trackpad, etc. Just plug it into a usb-c hub it restores everything from where I left off last time. Then once I'm done put it in my pocket and go. Then if I do want a laptop I could buy a chassis with a battery, keyboard, trackpad, screen, etc, etc to dock my device above in to. Edit: Seriously considering taking the motherboard out of a steam…

Sounds like Samsung dex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_DeX > Then if I do want a laptop I could buy a chassis with a battery, keyboard, trackpad, screen, etc, etc to dock my device above in to. https://nexdock.com/samsung-dex-laptop/ I've never used either (but I'd like to)

Kinda like that but I want a machine I'm free to install windows/linux/whatever on to.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#79

Post by throwaway675309 »

TheChaplain wrote: post #40

I'd say just unlucky. My Thinkpad Carbon X1 is rock solid, no issues the last 1.5 years even though my large cat frequently sleeps on it.

I want to like the carbon but the lack of AMD options and a hard cap of 16 GB of RAM keep me away.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#80

Post by kiwijamo »

TheChaplain wrote: post #40

I'd say just unlucky. My Thinkpad Carbon X1 is rock solid, no issues the last 1.5 years even though my large cat frequently sleeps on it.

Really happy with my X1 as well. I prefer my X1 over my work supplied MacBook. The difference is like night and day for me. YMMV of course.
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