Backstory - bought an Air and have 14 days to return it.
Question:
Is it worth spending $200 more dollars to get a MacBook Pro, if alls I need to do is ssh into servers and run Kali Linux as a VM? Or is it worth saving the $200 bucks and putting to towards all the adapters I need now?
It’s unquestionable that mac’s deliver, mostly on desktop through (Hackintosh) Productivity etc. /personal opinion
If you have a desktop system, you could make it into a hackintosh the (Preffered Way) From a mac laptop. So there is that
Perhaps getting one used, instead of brand-new (Cause pricing) Could be a cheaper way into entering, the mac side of things
Dell Laptops are excellent for Linux. The only thing you have to do is replace the Broadcom Wi-Fi card for an Intel one and you are set. Everything should work out the box.
If you are looking for quality hardware for cheap. Xiaomi has a macbook pro clone that has a quad-core CPU, 16GBs of RAM and a 256GB SSD for $1100. But like the Dell you will have to change the Wi-Fi card.
I summarized the topic so it’s not so much stuff. Thanks for your responses!
imho, Macbook Pros have 2 real world advantages (hardware-wise):
Trackpad – obviously, I haven’t used every PC laptop trackpad, but in my experience, the Apple trackpads have consistently been in a tier of their own when it comes to accuracy/ergonomics/etc.
Display – 500nit, 16x10, wide gamut, hidpi… to my knowledge, no PC laptop has all of these things.
If those things don’t make it worth the price premium, then I’d get a Lenovo or a Dell.
What do you need from a mac? Do you need the hardware, software… bsd? I’m finding I like BSD mostly so I’m trying to learn how to set up freebsd for myself and make it as mac-like as possible.
As for the hardware? If you need the newest processor it won’t matter too much as I’m pretty sure even the low end mbp still has a dual core and 2 or 3 mb of cache so it won’t matter too much. I’d get an older macbook, 2013/14, and run 10.12 and arch, or set up kvm if that’s a thing. I’d hate to bother with port bullshit.
I want a laptop with BSD, without the hassle of configuration. Basically, I want BSD outta the box. Mac seems like it’ll accomplish that.
I already bought a new air Air, but I’m starting to have doubts it’ll struggle virtualizing a Kali instance with the processor it has.
A pro is only $200 more dollars. I’m wondering if it’s worth the extra cash for the better processor.
Graphics aren’t my concern. I just need a terminal and the ability to virtualize a GUI Linux.
You think an air can handle that?
I mean the low end MBP has the same processor as the highest air, even the mids sometimes. I’d get a thinkpad and install ghostbsd for that sorta thing myself, but thats really just me.
So I dunno. If thats what you need out of it and theres an ok-ish i5 on the low end MBP do it. The airs have god awful cooling anyways they’re basically chromebooks now. Personally I hate most modern laptops and prefer older hardware that I can hack and make better. I’ll keep with my “Buy a MBP '13 or '14” suggestion.
I have a 2017 13" Pro w/ Touchbar. The screen is awesome. The touchpad is awesome. I don’t use it for anything actually productive other than photography related stuff. Basically I got a good deal on one and use it as my BS daily for web browsing nonsense and watching web content. It’s difficult to speak to the level of power it provides without knowing exactly what you need. I got the i5 3.3 ghz SKU (the i5-7287U model) and to me it feels on par with the most powerful dual-core ultrabooks out there. Dual core being the key word there.
You know, the Razer Blade Stealth is now available as a quad-core machine. It’s gonna be in the same price bracket if not cheaper, awesome screen (my sister has a dual-core one), and it has the best keyboard/touchpad combo of any Windows laptop I’ve ever used. According to forum posts and wiki entries the Blade Stealth works fine with Linux. Wifi drivers for the Killer wireless card they use are available in the latest kernel and everything else works fine. It seems to me that a linux install would be quick and painless on one of these, and then you’d have that sweet sweet quad-core ultrabook power that would be really nice to have. If I were in your shoes (or my own 5 months ago) I’d dump my Mac and pick up one of these.
The touch bar is a total no go for me. Trying to use vi without an esc key would be horrific.
I guess I’ll unbox this Mac Air and see what happens. It a probably better I use the air anyways becuas the “butterfly” keyboard on the pro I was demoing was really annoying.
As someone who uses a new MBP daily at work, I’d recommend sticking with the Air. Of course, it depends on your use case, but i fucking LOATHE the amount of adapters that I need to carry around for work nowadays. The Air doesn’t have a whole lot more ports, but it is much more well-rounded.
You can get a new 13" MBP without the gimmicky touch bar, but I’ll point out a few important points I’ve observed as someone who works in tech support for a company that uses almost entirely Apple products.
Reasons to get a new MBP
The new screens look prettier.
The touchpad is bigger, but that’s subjective whether or not you like it. Personally, I didn’t see a problem with the old one anyways, but some people like the bigger pad more.
They also have force touch, which is also subjective. Most of the people I work with (including myself) have it turned off because it’s more a of a pain unless you have very delicate fingers. I have it turned off on my iPhone as well, because it’s just annoying in my opinion.
USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 means faster transfer speeds than the USB 3 on the MBA.
The new keyboards feels really nice once you get used to them, but there’s so little travel that the keys are prone to jamming up if they get more than two specs of dust under them.
When you close the lid, there is so little room between the screen and the body that if you leave anything under it when you close the lid, there’s a good chance you will damage the screen. Our repair numbers since we distributed them about 6 months ago have already exceeded the amount of repairs on the 2012 MBP’s we distributed 4 years ago.
You lose magsafe charging, which in my opinion was one of the best things that separated a Mac from other laptops.
You lose the Thunderbolt 2 port that the MBA has, which could come in handy in the case that you run out of I/O.
Going along with the last point. With the new MBP’s, you only get two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm jack. So when you buy an adapter you have to make sure it also has a USB-C port on it, otherwise you’ll run out of ports real quick, and those ports include what you need in order to charge your laptop. Also, that makes the cost of adapters more expensive. With the MBA, you get two USB 3 ports, Thunderbolt 2, 3.5mm, an SDXC card slot, AND MAGSAFE, so you have more options PLUS a dedicated charging port.
The battery life is reasonable, but nothing special. Apple says up to 10 hours of “wireless web”, but I get maybe 6. And when I’m doing actual work I get about 4 hours before I need to start charging it so I don’t run out at my next site.
A few of the new HP EliteBooks have a 700 nit screen
Wow, that’s really bright.
I know some laptops have some of “500nit, 16x10, wide gamut, hidpi” but I don’t know of any that have all 4… especially 16x10 is hard to find these days.