Are the new Macs actually that much better?

Neil McCauley

Neil McCauley

Mister Stupid
kiwifarms.net
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May 19, 2019
I have been seeing people who have never touched Apple stuff in their life try the new ARM macs, and they claim they're amazing and supposedly, programmers are enjoying them far better than Windows or Linux environments. I was tempted to try one out, but the lack of normal USB ports and any upgradability blew me off.
What does everyone here think about them?
 
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I've used my Apple IIe since 1986 and it still does me just fine, damn it. It will be a cold day in Hell before I'm taken in by the fancy CD-ROM drives, computer mice, Justin Long advertisements, and wireless Internets of those newfangled Macs.

Sent from my Apple IIe
 
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It really depends on what you're going to use them for. I find a lot of the interface cumbersome, and with Windows having WSL now, natively supporting Linux for development, I feel like a lot of the copes Mac nerds had are evaporating.

I do like the enhanced battery life for their laptops, and if the hardware dies they do support it, that's nice. But I prefer to build a purpose-built workstation that can do real work. The Macs are so expensive for what they do; if you just need a laptop that can go long periods without a recharge, they're not bad. I still don't care for the interface.

But I'd never buy an actual Mac, not if you can build a computer. Those are such a fucking ripoff. You can always do a hobbled Windows N build with WLS thrown on it for maximum compatibility for most uses, or use your favorite Linux distro, and pay a fraction in hardware costs. Go look at what a Mac Pro costs and how much you can actually put into the machine at the high end, it's ridiculous. I can put 192GB of RAM into my latest workstation for a fraction of the cost (and yes, for some of the use cases of Macs, some people might NEED that with AI, video production, etc.)

I would say get yourself a used M1 MacBook off ebay and see how you feel about it. They're cheap as fuck now, and you can experience it for yourself. Even the M2s are pretty cheap used, and the M2s just got the AI enhancements rolled out today in the US and Europe.
 
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They're addressed alot of the issues I have with apple products (and naturally brought in some new, albeit smaller ones) and also brought some unique value adds to the table. For example, older macs had terrible cooling. With the new chips having much less power draw there is alot less heat to dissipate. This has also led to incredible battery life that isn't available elsewhere. Apple products also have a reputation for being expensive, and they've made some really competitive entry level options. Look at the pricing for the base models for the new Mac Mini and compare it to a traditional business OEM like Dell - you get better specs at a lower price, it's actually very competetive.
 
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Apple silicon macs are indisputably better than the late Intel macs they replaced. If you already have an M1 mac and aren't a power user, there's no big reason to upgrade. Also, I think Apple's hardware decisions as of late (regarding macs) have been more sane than the butterfly keyboard and other such failures from back then.

As for upgradeability, yeah. It's either you do it when you buy it or not at all. Sucks but on the other hand, if you have 16gb of ram and a thunderbolt external drive, that's basically all you need. Upgrading isn't as much of a necessity as it used to be.
 
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I got the basic M3 not too long ago. It's got good battery life, and the chip inside runs well. That being said, unless you want to pay through the nose, things like storage and ram can become an issue with 256 GB and 8 GB, respectively.
 
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I have a five year old MBP with some extra RAM (32 GB total) and it runs as well as the first day I bought it.
 
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The Hardest R said:
I have a five year old MBP with some extra RAM (32 GB total) and it runs as well as the first day I bought it.
Click to expand...
I've been getting by with a 256gb 8gb 2020 intel MBP. I'm waiting for the m2 used prices to drop before I get one, but even this, by all standards, underspecced and outdated MBP, is still great for what I use it for. I have other computers that do the heavy lifting.
 
'ate PC
'ate ARM
'ate soldered in RAM and SSD's
'ate new apple shite
'ate tim cook (he's a fag and I dont like 'im)

luv me powermac G5
luv me power inefficiency
luv me oversized heatsinks
luv me firewire
luv me 4:3 display
luv me see-through mouse
luv me winchesters
luv me $2000 a month electric bills
luv me cheesegrater
luv me DVD drive
luv steve jobs (not a fag but i just like 'im)
simple as
 
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