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From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

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Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#381

Post by makeitdouble »

baq wrote: post #264
pjerem wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d say it’s barely 3 things : - The trackpad (but other manufacturers now have tolerable alternatives and anyway you can work without it) - The screen : at an equivalent price point (and even more), nothing comes close to Apple screens. The cheapest MacBook have a better screen than most high end PCs. - The audio : Apple truly did some sorcery to get such an awesome sound from machines that are flat as sheet. It’s s…

Also add a very important feature of ‘lid is closed - the computer is asleep and it wakes up when lid opens’. Both windows and Linux are simply broken in that regard. What I need is Apple MacBook hardware with a 100% supported Linux OS. This combination simply doesn’t exist and there’s no amount of money to make it happen (yes I know about asahi.)

> the computer is asleep

Technically the macbook never sleeps, it enters a low power mode, except when it's blocked by specific processes or does additional background tasks (updates etc.)

How well it's done on windows or linux depends on the maker of the machine (you, if you built it). The Surface lineup will also enter low power mode as flawlessly, if that's what you care about the most.

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#382

Post by brabel »

baq wrote: post #264
pjerem wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d say it’s barely 3 things : - The trackpad (but other manufacturers now have tolerable alternatives and anyway you can work without it) - The screen : at an equivalent price point (and even more), nothing comes close to Apple screens. The cheapest MacBook have a better screen than most high end PCs. - The audio : Apple truly did some sorcery to get such an awesome sound from machines that are flat as sheet. It’s s…

Also add a very important feature of ‘lid is closed - the computer is asleep and it wakes up when lid opens’. Both windows and Linux are simply broken in that regard. What I need is Apple MacBook hardware with a 100% supported Linux OS. This combination simply doesn’t exist and there’s no amount of money to make it happen (yes I know about asahi.)

My god I had to put my Linux (Dell xps13 with Ubuntu from factory, though I installed KDE later) laptop in the drawer as I just couldn’t make it sleep with the lid down. It would simply wake up in the middle of the night and drive me crazy with the fan!! I loved that laptop but it gave me trouble after trouble (stuff like sound breaking after upgrades, Bluetooth failures and many more). My Mac just worked so I use only that now. Though it is old now, around 6 years, and I have to buy a new one soon. Luckily they are having good discount on the M4 right now as I suppose M5 is coming next month?!

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#383

Post by jckahn »

throwmeaway222 wrote: post #56

I don't know if anyone else agrees, but for some reason no one can replicate the smoothness of the Apple trackpad. And now with that PLUS the heatless apple silicon - I don't think I could go to another OS and the x86 hardware world. I would just feel like I'm in clunky-land. Now don't get me wrong, I like a lot about Linux desktops, but Mac gets a lot of things right. I don't want to take anything away from people m…

You get used to the clunkiness after a while. It's a worthwhile tradeoff for actually owning your machine, IMO.

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#384

Post by makeitdouble »

zackify wrote: post #372
pjerem wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d say it’s barely 3 things : - The trackpad (but other manufacturers now have tolerable alternatives and anyway you can work without it) - The screen : at an equivalent price point (and even more), nothing comes close to Apple screens. The cheapest MacBook have a better screen than most high end PCs. - The audio : Apple truly did some sorcery to get such an awesome sound from machines that are flat as sheet. It’s s…

The trackpad still cannot be beaten. Please someone show me one that can compare haha

If we're going into those details, are touchscreens beaten ?

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#385

Post by tobinfekkes »

throwmeaway222 wrote: post #56

I don't know if anyone else agrees, but for some reason no one can replicate the smoothness of the Apple trackpad. And now with that PLUS the heatless apple silicon - I don't think I could go to another OS and the x86 hardware world. I would just feel like I'm in clunky-land. Now don't get me wrong, I like a lot about Linux desktops, but Mac gets a lot of things right. I don't want to take anything away from people m…

> no one can replicate the smoothness of the Apple trackpad

I thought this too for many years, but have found the trackpad on the LG Gram to be equal or better.

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#386

Post by commandersaki »

mythz wrote: post #272

I've owned several laptops over the years and have come to regret each of my non Apple laptop purchases which never got more than 3-4 years life without some hardware failures, Surface was the worst which died after 10 months of low sporadic usage. Whilst my gen 1 MB Air has been too slow for anything, my 2013 MB Intel still looks and runs great which the kids still make good use of. My latest M2 MB is by far the bes…

Whilst Apple's non-Desktop hardware is always best-of-class, I've become increasingly dissatisfied with the direction of macOS and Windows which IMO have both become power-user-hostile and have switched to a Linux desktop full-time. Everyone's been predicting the year of the Linux Desktop for 20+ years, but I believe we're at a turning point for Linux adoption with Windows 11 becoming an intolerable ad/spyware infested marketing platform and Apple's continued ignorance of developers and ambitions of turning its neglected macOS into a locked down appliance.

My take is we'll see a surge of adoption with Macbooks if they release their rumoured budget laptop that maintains the reliability, light usage performance, and calibre of their Macbook lineup since the inception of M-series -- before or around the EOL of Windows 10: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/a18-pro-macbook/

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#387

Post by megatron2009 »

baq wrote: post #264
pjerem wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d say it’s barely 3 things : - The trackpad (but other manufacturers now have tolerable alternatives and anyway you can work without it) - The screen : at an equivalent price point (and even more), nothing comes close to Apple screens. The cheapest MacBook have a better screen than most high end PCs. - The audio : Apple truly did some sorcery to get such an awesome sound from machines that are flat as sheet. It’s s…

Also add a very important feature of ‘lid is closed - the computer is asleep and it wakes up when lid opens’. Both windows and Linux are simply broken in that regard. What I need is Apple MacBook hardware with a 100% supported Linux OS. This combination simply doesn’t exist and there’s no amount of money to make it happen (yes I know about asahi.)

Blame microsoft for it with their crazy si0x experiment breaking everyone.

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#388

Post by XzAeRosho »

stainablesteel wrote: post #374
reacharavindh wrote: post #135

> fan noise. > battery level not the same. > touchpad. The reasons for not using Linux on the laptop remains the same after decades :-(

i've been using linux for over a decade and had none of these problems on 5 machines that i'd installed it on

It really depends on the driver lottery. Do you have good driver support? Good, you'll have a mostly flawless experience. Generic drivers? You either get weird cpu usage patterns, or perfectly normal behavior. Maybe an update will break everything. Welcome to the Linux Driver Lottery.

It's really good nowadays, but the issues remain the same sadly, and it's not Linux devs fault either, it's just the manufacturer lack of support.

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#389

Post by unethical_ban »

cycomanic wrote: post #76

> But the quality of MacBooks is just another level. I had 3 or 4 so far since 2010, and each of them held at least 5 years. Crazy good. When I read things like this it really sounds like there is some reality distortion field in the mac world. How is that anywhere special? I'm running a thinkpad X1 as my 2 main laptops (it was my only work machine until 2 years ago) and I never felt the need to replace it. It gave m…

Yes they are that good, and "lasting five years" might not mean physically functioning vs not. It could be "meets my computing needs". Yes it could also mean "before the nonservicable battery dies".

I have a 2008 Acer, a 2018 Thinkpad, a 2019 HP, a 2024 framework, and a 2024 MacBook.

I can't stand 1080p for personal use anymore, and never in my life on Windows or Linux have I gotten more than 4 hours out of a battery.

Framework competes on repairability, price and OS choice. Pound for pound, MacBook is a much better piece of hardware.

Re: From M1 MacBook to Arch Linux: A month-long experiment that became permanenent

#390

Post by jimkleiber »

didibus wrote: post #310
mythz wrote: post #272

I've owned several laptops over the years and have come to regret each of my non Apple laptop purchases which never got more than 3-4 years life without some hardware failures, Surface was the worst which died after 10 months of low sporadic usage. Whilst my gen 1 MB Air has been too slow for anything, my 2013 MB Intel still looks and runs great which the kids still make good use of. My latest M2 MB is by far the bes…

Ya, the hardware is just too good, and I guess a combination of software and hardware that delivers the instant sleep/wakeup and killer battery life. But the UX of MacOS is just okay I'd say. I need to heavily customize it, adding proper alt+tab, speeding up the animations, and so on.

I'm curious, how do you customize it?
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