I dont understand why people are so obsessed with apple and the likes. Like literarily you can get a high spec upgradable laptop from any other company, slap linux on it and enjoy your privacy and freedom. I do use certain apple products but for me it’s just a vendor. When the vendor fails me i stop spending money on their products. No need to beg for a “right to repair” _my own product_.
They set an example of what can be done to people.
For example - they created an app store that worked well, and had a plausible idea behind it - "apple will ensure you get good software"
well, except you cannot install your own software on the phone.
And software vendors can only sell their products to you through apple. apple doesn't allow software people really like, you can't install little snitch on your phone, or anti-virus, or adblockers, or sexy software, or software that is like their software, just better.
and you can't know what software apple has prevented from coming to market because the software developers can't talk about it or criticize apple.
> well, except you cannot install your own software on the phone.
You can write, build and install your own software on the phone. Apple provides all the tools needed to do so. You can install third party software if you build it from source.
You can’t install third party software distributed as binaries except through the App Store.
Thats an excellent use case for linux. A friend asked me what laptop to get for their parents to make video calls. Told them to find an affordable laptop, slap linux on it and call it a day - no crazy amounts of updates, viruses, etc. They are still happy with it few years later. Can also read the news and watch youtube, checkout facebook, web whatsapp, etc.
... and terrible battery life, OOM hard restarts, firmware bugs, janky software, useless touchpad, etc.
Like it or not, Apple makes amazing laptops with top notch hardware and software that generally does just work (even if it requires a menagerie of third party apps to restore basic functionality).
I use a Linux laptop at work and these are some of the fun issues I've had:
* Can't use full resolution of some external screens with HDMI, only Displayport. Someone else with the same laptop and OS has no problems.
* It didn't come with swap set up so when I run out of memory it hard reboots. Yes really.
* WiFi stopped working for one particular network. This required some hardcore debugging that only a programmer could do. Turned out it was because I deleted a VPN and that WiFi network was set to automatically connect to it. Even the error message in syslog was of no help.
* Battery life is pretty bad (3 hours maybe?) but this doesn't bother me too much because I only use it at desks.
* For some reason all dialogs (e.g. Save As) open underneath their parent window and you get a notification saying the window is "ready". Dunno wtf led to this.
* Sometimes Firefox just refuses to output to any audio device other than the laptop speakers. Only solution I've found is to restart.
* Webcam doesn't work in Chrome. I just use Firefox for video calls.
* Screen capture doesn't work in Wayland. I reverted to X11.
Can you really not understand why ordinary people would not want to have to deal with that?
Telling everyone to "just use Linux" is like telling everyone to drive a kit car.
I guess a vendor failing someone is a subjective thing. What i meant is more among the lines of: if your criteria is hardware upgradeability, freedom of choice and privacy then apple, microsoft and other failed you as vendors.
But equally if your laptop vendor doesnt meet your criteria of battery life, compatibility with linux, then it equally failed you.
Linux is not a specific vendor though, it’s more like a society that built something. But if it doesnt meet your criteria then it also failed you.
On my selection of hardware it works, and have none of the issues described. But my criteria are different. I want to be able to upgrade my hardware, i want to able to install whatever os i want, and i dont want a company that i paid money to want even more of my data, and i want a stable os. Criteria met.
Guess the point is not being religious about products, including linux. Your employer should reconsider hardware manufacturers if they want linux - there are more than plenty out there. Perhaps even apple laptops if that makes you more productive.
I'm "obsessed" with them, despite not owning any of their products, because the anti-consumer lucrative garbage they pioneer shoveling to their victims trickles down into every part of the computing industry.
Have you tried using one of the ARM MacBooks? I used to be strongly of the same opinion as you are, but after getting an M1 MacBook pro from work, it's not so clear-cut anymore.
The laptops are very, very good. I'm not a huge fan of macOS but it mostly works. The hardware is best I've used in a laptop.
I am an advanced Linux user and have contributed to the kernel fixes for my own laptops. And this just speak of the experience in general, there's always at least some issue with suspend, touchpad, extra keyboard keys, ... always something.
i’m a linux hacker/coder. have been for ages. macOS and macs are my thing bc they have great hardware, unix os, and amazing app ecosystem.
i grew up on slack, did lfs a few times, and played with most distros under the sun. in the end of the day, i love linux but macOS just works amazingly well AND has all the tools i need
Currently installing Ventura 13.6 on my 2011 Macbook using Open Core Patcher (then will upgrade to 4TB HDD). Selling my 2019 16" on ebay. Keep the used hardware going folks!
I agree that the lock-in is not good, but their trap is a nice one: I use Apple’s Pro Display XDR with 10 bit color depth and 6K resolution. It is just so good that it shuts down any other display tech I have used.
The pain point is that this expensive monitor really only works well with my MacBook Pro or my iPad Pro. I have several Linux laptops I enjoy, but no using the Pro Display XDR with them.
The other Apple trap that I am unable to ever give up is my Apple Watch. It is so great to be able to leave my phone at home and still get calls, and messages from my family.
BTW, if you like this article, also read Cory Doctorow’s new book The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation. As someone who feels caught in Apple’s silk traps, I feel this book at least gives me strategies to deal with all the tech giants. It is not just Apple that is the problem!
some people dont care about lock-in. i like that my iPhone and mac work together, i can text from my computer, share all my apps/data across oses, and that macOS gets out of the way to let me do my work.
95% of what i do is in the terminal, and the typeface rendering and emulators are great. apple silicon performance is mindblowingly good
Right. But high quality interop does not require lock-in. You can have the same integrated experience without the intentional hampering of interfaces if you mix.
TLDR: "Parts-pairing is bullshit", and Apple is fully invested in it. Repair means less sales, and they are willing to lobby at the highest levels to ensure their sales.
