this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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Having had multiples of windows and linux laptops in the past, I’ve gotta say that one can’t put a price on convenience and UX. I never liked using a laptop, carrying one around, especially working with one, until I ate my pride and tried a MacBook.
This is entirely subjective though. Previously I always compared the specs like that too, but I’ve come to realize there’s plenty more to these products beyond what can be listed in the spec sheet and easily compared like that.
But this is neither here or there, just that your message rang an old bell, and I thought I’d just chime in. I hope you have a great time with the new computers, we humans have different tastes and needs 😌
Can you elaborate further on the benefits? I have a Mac mini M1, a MacBook Pro M2, a more powerful Lenovo laptop, a more powerful Dell XPS, and a more powerful windows desktop (on paper).
I don't use them a lot, but thus far, I struggle to find any benefit to MacOS. I use them because I have to and, generally, no longer than that. I mean, I might as well use Linux at that point and make my life easier and productivity faster. Mac keyboard shortcuts are an absolute nightmare to me (but maybe I'm just not used to them?)
I must be missing something, because some people swear by them.
Agree with you fully on the shortcut front, and it's very confusing that ctrl is separate from the command key. The whole keyboard layout is also a nightmare, but this is probably because I'm in Sweden, where the Swedish mac keyboard layout is radically different from the normal Swedish keyboard layout that all other computers use. When I help out someone with programming on a mac, I always end up telling them "please press pipe" or tilde, braces, backslash, or even at-sign, as these are not printed on the keys. They are accessible through the option key, but you'll have to test all combinations to find which one is where and memorize this.
Battery life is crazy good. Nothing windows based can even get close right now.
The trackpad is a step above anything else on the market.
I rarely use keyboard shortcuts. There’s never been a need for them imo. I don’t like using shortcuts on my windows machines either, preferring the mouse. The few shortcuts I do use are from the trackpad, which are a few fairly intuitive gestures.
The fact that mainstream software runs on them is a massive draw as well. Final Cut, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc all won’t run on any Linux distro.
If you don’t use any laptop often, it’s probably not going to be worth it. But if you need a high performance laptop they’re pretty much the best option outside of price
Not everyone prioritizes productivity and fastness. It’s entirely subjective, and you probably just aren’t one of those that see and feel the benefits of it, and that’s entirely valid too 😌
Personally I am a software engineer with a creative streak, enhanced by adhd, so I guess the combination of those and all of the rest of me just results in me performing better, more focused and more at home with a mac. I doubt there’s a way to quantify that in any objective sense, not for me anyway. Maybe a psychologist could explain.
What I can say, is a lot of my work I do moving around, so having a device I actually can bother to carry with me without disdain is a big plus, so the weight and form factor helps a lot there I think. And the battery, for sure. And the speed at which I can quit and resume work. All of these also mesh well with my adhd, which tends me towards moving a lot and taking a lot of pauses in between work sessions.
And I tend to drop my devices a lot, and so far the Apple products have been the only ones to sustain that 😅
Fair enough, I’m glad you found something that works for you 😌
"yeah, could you please get me that unusable os, with the impossible shortcuts, I like to do things differently." What are you talking about. Even if I'm casually using my pc, why wouldn't I use shortcuts to make better use of it? Especially after paying a huuuuge premium for the device?
The conclusion that I get from you is: I know it's not as usable, but I like it so much, I'll say productivity is not the main goal. I really don't get it. Especially as you are a programmer.
Also, I don't know how one could get a "at home" vibe with unusable shortcuts and an ecosystem that fucks its users on the regular ...
Might come off as harsh or mean, but that's not my intention, I really just don't get it ^^
Well, the shortcuts are customizable, and as a prior emacs enthusiast, I’ve never encountered unusable or impossible shortcuts.
But then again, this is subjective, so we can’t really argue about that my dude.
To me, all of it is convenient. Shortcuts included. The conclusion you drew is just a projection from your point of view, and as such, it’s understandable, but none of that is anything akin to what I am saying…
Yeah, I guess you're right.
Apple pc are just way more efficient and have way longer battery live because they use arm. Of course, you don’t need a mac to use arm, but macOS is supported by many apps while linux and windows for arm are not that far in software support. Additionally, the hardware of apple PCs is always good and having same quality shell/hardware on non apple devices is nearly as expensive as an Apple pc. I prefer linux and FOSS but many people think they need proprietary software and FOSS is just not convenient enough (where they are wrong, most FOSS is very convenient)