The MacOS Thread - For unix users with disposable income.

[Maxwell Carter]

Got a MacBook Pro from mid-2012. I'm currently liking it although the left shift key doesn't work and the headphone jack is... inaudible noises. Other than that though, it's pretty nice.

 

[Pee Cola]

Got a MacBook Pro from mid-2012. I'm currently liking it although the left shift key doesn't work and the headphone jack is... inaudible noises. Other than that though, it's pretty nice.

The unibody MBPs from that era are quite comfy (if a little toasty when under load). I've been using a late 2011 MBP as my daily driver for the past few years. I have a mid-2012 Retina as well, but I use that mainly for creative work on account of it being a Metal Mac, and therefore it plays a bit more nicely with stuff like iMovie and GarageBand.

 

[Organized Derailment]

The unibody MBPs from that era are quite comfy (if a little toasty when under load). I've been using a late 2011 MBP as my daily driver for the past few years. I have a mid-2012 retina as well, but I use that mainly for creative work on account of it being a Metal Mac, and therefore it plays a bit more nicely with stuff like iMovie and GarageBand.

Crazy to me how a mid 2012 MBP is still viable in 2025. Speaks to their build quality IMO.

 

[Pee Cola]

Crazy to me how a mid 2012 MBP is still viable in 2025. Speaks to their build quality IMO.

It also speaks to the enshittification rabbit hole every single PC maker has jumped down over the last decade or so. The build quality of modern Lenovos for those of us who fondly remember the classic T-Series and X-Series ThinkPads is enough to make a grown man cry.

 

[Organized Derailment]

It also speaks to the enshittification rabbit hole every single PC maker has jumped down over the last decade or so. The build quality of modern Lenovos for those of us who fondly remember the classic T-Series and X-Series ThinkPads is enough to make a grown man cry.

Yep, anything to save a fucking buck.

 

[Fcret]

I switched to Mac a few years back after shopping around for laptops and realizing that Lenovo had driven the thinkpad line to absolute dogshit and the System76 Pangolin I bought had terrible USB-C support due to the jank-ass Chinese ODM design it was based off of (props to System76 - their CS was prompt and friendly and let me do multiple returns to try to resolve the issue before offering me a refund so I still recommend them if you're willing to put up with a little bit of jank).

I was a resolute anti-Apple guy growing up but the Mac is quite nice and it's nice to use a normie-friendly OS that I can also comfortably program on. My only real complaint is the absolutely pitiful amount of storage Apple gives you as getting to 1 TB is usually an extra $400 on top of whatever you're already paying.

Is it worth it being a filthy casual and buying a M4 Air or should I do blood donations to afford a MBP because Linux on laptops is fucking suffering, Opencore is way more work than it looks to be on the surface and I miss being able to fullscreen things and three finger swipe, seriously the workflow of macOS is unbeatable for that alone and every imitation of it is either slowass or tied to the fucking foot distribution.

M4 Air is a lot of computer and if you're coming from an Intel mac it'll be blazingly fast. I still think the 14 inch MBP is my favorite form factor just for thermals, build quality, and screen quality but you can't go wrong with an M4 Air.

I went looking and apparently if you spec a 14 inch MBP with the base M4, 1TB of storage and 24GB of RAM it comes out to the same price as a 15 inch Air with 32GB. I’d consider 8GB less RAM a fair tradeoff for the better DPI (3024x1964 on the pro vs 2880x1864 on the other) and cooling fans; I’m just tired of not having the high speed workflow I had under macOS on my 15in MBP and want my retardedly small DPI scale patching back.

24 GB is fine for a base M4 system especially if you're getting more storage and such. I currently have an M2 Max with 32 GB of RAM and the base M4 is very comparable to that benchmark-wise and it's still way more computer than I can use most of the time (and I'm rarely ever close to using all 32 GB of RAM unless I'm doing a lot of docker).

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Crazy to me how a mid 2012 MBP is still viable in 2025. Speaks to their build quality IMO.

A large part of that is the thermal properties and the incredible advantage that the body serving as a massive heat-sink gives.

I have an HP EliteBook 2283 of that vintage, and it basically slow-roasted itself over the years to where it no longer boots, and it doesn't matter what I have as the hard drive/SSD in the system.

 

[Organized Derailment]

M4 Air is a lot of computer and if you're coming from an Intel mac it'll be blazingly fast.

95% of people would be more than sufficient with an M4 MBA. I main an M3 MBA with 16gb of RAM and 512GB storage and it's MORE than sufficient for raw 4k video editing with multiple layers/effects, iOS/MacOS development in XCode + multiple VMs for offensive security. It's crazy how a MBA can handle all of that with ease due to Apple Silicon, and there's no fucking fans.

 

[Fcret]

95% of people would be more than sufficient with an M4 MBA. I main an M3 MBA with 16gb of RAM and 512GB storage and it's MORE than sufficient for raw 4k video editing with multiple layers/effects, iOS/MacOS development in XCode + multiple VMs for offensive security. It's crazy how a MBA can handle all of that with ease due to Apple Silicon, and there's no fucking fans.

Yeah I think the air should be the spec most people go for. I only suggest the Pro to people who are gonna need it. Personally - I don't like the air's form factor so it's a no-go for me but for most people it's more than sufficient.

 

[Organized Derailment]

Yeah I think the air should be the spec most people go for. I only suggest the Pro to people who are gonna need it. Personally - I don't like the air's form factor so it's a no-go for me but for most people it's more than sufficient.

Interesting. Not many people take issue with the Air's form factor. I personally chose it over the pro because of the form factor. Mind if I ask what it is you don't like about it?

 

[Fcret]

Interesting. Not many people take issue with the Air's form factor. I personally chose it over the pro because of the form factor. Mind if I ask what it is you don't like about it?

It's just too small. I have big ape-man hands and arms and it just doesn't feel good to use as insubstantial as it is. That combined with the lack of features (only 60hz, no active cooling, no HDMI port, fewer TB ports, worse speakers, worse support for external monitors) means it's overall just the worse product for me.

The MBP 14 strikes the right balance of being small enough to be convenient but also substantial enough to not feel like a toy when I use it. Before I switched to Macbooks, I was a user of business laptops like the Thinkpad T-series (especially the T420) and the older Dell Latitudes that were chonkers and even though the MBP isn't anywhere close that, it's still the closest thing you can easily get nowadays with modern chips and decent build quality as all the old business lines have been turned into faggy plastic ultrabooks.

 

[Organized Derailment]

It's just too small. I have big ape-man hands and arms and it just doesn't feel good to use as insubstantial as it is. That combined with the lack of features (only 60hz, no active cooling, no HDMI port, fewer TB ports, worse speakers, worse support for external monitors) means it's overall just the worse product for me.

The MBP 14 strikes the right balance of being small enough to be convenient but also substantial enough to not feel like a toy when I use it. Before I switched to Macbooks, I was a user of business laptops like the Thinkpad T-series (especially the T420) and the older Dell Latitudes that were chonkers and even though the MBP isn't anywhere close that, it's still the closest thing you can easily get nowadays with modern chips and decent build quality as all the old business lines have been turned into faggy plastic ultrabooks.

That's fair.

I had the MBP 14 M1 and I found it's weight and form factor to be slightly inconvenient but I'm also weak.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

That's fair.

I had the MBP 14 M1 and I found it's weight and form factor to be slightly inconvenient but I'm also weak.

If they made a 16-inch Air, I would seriously be looking at trading in my Pro.

 

[Croco]

The M1 2020 MBA, 1tb/16gb with the classic wedge design, as much as I like and appreciate the x200 series Thinkpads hacked together with modern specs, the chonkyness makes it less portable. I usually autistically sit on the floor with the laptop resting on a few yoga blocks. It's the best laptop I've ever owned. Full screening each application, emacs-plus, iterm2, and a browser. That checks all the boxes, without ever having to look at finder or a desktop.

 

[Organized Derailment]

The M1 2020 MBA, 1tb/16gb with the classic wedge design, as much as I like and appreciate the x200 series Thinkpads hacked together with modern specs, the chonkyness makes it less portable. I usually autistically sit on the floor with the laptop resting on a few yoga blocks. It's the best laptop I've ever owned. Full screening each application, emacs-plus, iterm2, and a browser. That checks all the boxes, without ever having to look at finder or a desktop.

Why on the floor? Doing network related tasks in a server room?

 

[Croco]

Why on the floor? Doing network related tasks in a server room?

TMI but teaching pilates/yoga, being on the floor allows for stretching, balancing, planks, full resting squat, etc. This way I don't feel like I'm completely wasting my time janitoring a laptop. Sitting at a desk is for hunched over bug people. Hammocks are worth mentioning for resting, much more interesting than a couch.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Had a funny moment the other morning.

I was trying to reduce the weight of my backpack, since I have a bad back, and took all my portable drives and my travel charger out of my backpack.

That made almost no noticeable difference.

The backpack is a Da Kine Mission backpack, and weighs almost nothing, so the bag itself wasn't the issue.

I then took my 17-inch Grid-It, which is covered in cables and adapters from my time as a field tech (You never know what you'll need onsite, and when that site is three hours' drive away, you don't want to be missing something you need!). Since I work a desk job now, I don't need to carry all that, and any field call is usually scheduled so I can prep specifically.

Turns out the Grid-It with the cables, dongles, docks and adapters on it, weighed more than my 16-inch MBP!

Now my backpack no longer kills me to carry to the car in the morning!

 

[Organized Derailment]

Had a funny moment the other morning.

I was trying to reduce the weight of my backpack, since I have a bad back, and took all my portable drives and my travel charger out of my backpack.

That made almost no noticeable difference.

The backpack is a Da Kine Mission backpack, and weighs almost nothing, so the bag itself wasn't the issue.

I then took my 17-inch Grid-It, which is covered in cables and adapters from my time as a field tech (You never know what you'll need onsite, and when that site is three hours' drive away, you don't want to be missing something you need!). Since I work a desk job now, I don't need to carry all that, and any field call is usually scheduled so I can prep specifically.

Turns out the Grid-It with the cables, dongles, docks and adapters on it, weighed more than my 16-inch MBP!

Now my backpack no longer kills me to carry to the car in the morning!

I could have really used that when I was doing tech work in private enterprise IT. Seems like a cool kit (and super useful).
I could never rock a 16 " MBP though, as much as I love the screen I could not live with the size of that thing.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I could have really used that when I was doing tech work in private enterprise IT. Seems like a cool kit (and super useful).
I could never rock a 16 " MBP though, as much as I love the screen I could not live with the size of that thing.

I went for the 16" because I am 90% desk time in this role. I got the 13" as my first M-chip MBP when I was mobile, and that was awesome.

I HIGHLY recommend the Grid-It for anyone with a laptop, it helps keep things tidy and efficient in your case or bag, and they make them in every size from tablet to huge mofo laptop. If you don't carry half a warehouse with you, they are not even a big increase in weight. I just need to whittle down to the essentials again.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I installed the MacOS 26 Developer Beta today. Insane performance uplift on my M2Pro MBP.