MacBook Pro with the M1 processor

DT said:
I guess my question is - outside of just tinkering for fun - what is more compelling about Linux __if__ you still have a requirement for apps that are only present on MacOS?

Personally, I love MacOS, it gives me the *NIX underpinnings, a beautiful hardware package, that has an actual support channel (including local support, er, kind of at the moment ... :D) AND it combines all that with a pretty respectable commercial software market (which is kind of your situation above).
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Here's my screwed up, no one-size-fits-all situation.

I have 5 programs that I use regularly, Blender, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Designer. Three of them, Blender and the Substance suite, are available in Linux, and run a little better there.

I could use all 5 in Windows, but I'm rather tired of Windows. I can navigate, organize, and tailor things better in Linux than I can there.

I could use all 5 on a Mac, but since Apple doesn't use Nvidia cards, and the Blender Foundation doesn't have any plans to support Metal beyond the bare basics, Getting a higher end Mac will mean I'm spending a lot of money for a machine that won't give me the most bang for my buck.

So switching to Linux and settling Inkscape and Krita instead of Affinity Designer and Photo is the better overall option for me at the moment. Since I usually like having a laptop handy, getting a more entry level Mac for Designer and Photo, which don't require the fastest hardware in the world to run, and pairing it with a Linux desktop might be my better option.

....so there. :P
 
That makes a ton of sense, especially if you're getting good (i.e., much better) GPU performance in Blender (by way of NVIDIA support in your setup).

"Tired of Windows", yeah, I'm ready to jettison Winders™ as a local development VM and move to a M1<something> machine when they're ready with a 16-24 core machine, probably another Mini. I'm hoping to go to native VS for development, with server services, running in the cloud (I already do that for Oracle development).
 
DT said:
That makes a ton of sense, especially if you're getting good (i.e., much better) GPU performance in Blender (by way of NVIDIA support in your setup).
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I wish I could go all Mac, especially now that these new M1 chips are showing their strengths, but there's always something that ends up holding me back.

Splitting the difference is the best way to go, I think. Kinda wish I did it a few years back, actually. But no, I had to get that Surface Pro 4...
 
DT said:
Woo! Appointments available ...

View attachment 2901

... but I'll wait. I'd rather toss this machine in the river than deal with the Town Center on the weekend. Especially with the nice weather, and it's open air, I imagine it will be a Charlie Foxtrot.
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Appointment tomorrow! Fingers crossed for a new machine, but if at the very least, I get this machine fixed up, I'm good with that too :)

DT
 
Er, I guess I'll take off the carbon skin[?] I love it, but I figured instead of anything that could lead to a "This caused thermal issues ..." situation, it's better safe than sorry (and this machine might not even return anyway ...).

I got a call from them, kind of doing a pre-appointment walk-through, they said it's more or less just a drop off, probably a couple of days to check it out. I mean, when they see it, it'll be pretty obvious 🤪
 
DT said:
Er, I guess I'll take off the carbon skin[?] I love it, but I figured instead of anything that could lead to a "This caused thermal issues ..." situation, it's better safe than sorry (and this machine might not even return anyway ...).

I got a call from them, kind of doing a pre-appointment walk-through, they said it's more or less just a drop off, probably a couple of days to check it out. I mean, when they see it, it'll be pretty obvious 🤪
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What?! Your M1 broke already?!
 
P_X said:
What?! Your M1 broke already?!
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Oh, yikes, no, this was (the original story is a few pages back), a 2015 MBP 15", purchased new in early '16, that was under the battery extended repair policy (AC ran out in '19). It had pretty severe battery swelling that I wasn't even aware of - basically it was being used in a stand, did seem to have some thermal issues (non-stop fans) so I wanted to get the new M1 for the wife, had planned on trading or selling the MBP, had no idea it was swollen (I only noticed it because a potential buyer asked for pics, and I was like W_T_F.

So I __finally__ got a mid-week Apple appointment (they've been non-existent, or only available on the weekends), and it was been dropped off, yay!

Unfortunately, they didn't hint at all about a full machine replacement (to a new spec machine), just seemed to be all in on repair. With the current situation, it was a dropoff, and I told them no rush, so who knows, when they a full evaluation on it, maybe it'll be a "no repair / replace" sort of thing :) Will be several days, probably won't hear back till late next week.
 
BTW, if the security handling entry into the Apple Store had been at the Capitol building, nobody would've gotten in, JFC, dial it back, I'm dropping off a computer ...
 
DT said:
BTW, if the security handling entry into the Apple Store had been at the Capitol building, nobody would've gotten in, JFC, dial it back, I'm dropping off a computer ...
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Tim Apple must have gotten threats:D
 
Oh, the Apple Store had actually moved to a new location in the mall, it's like twice as big, but in "Covid mode" it had a huge, white, corrugated divider, so it was like 6 shielded windows (like bank tellers ...) and a small area behind them.
 
DT said:
Apple computers are part of the gay agenda.
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Obviously, just look at that rainbow logo Apple had for almost two decades! But nowadays they’re just mainstreaming with those racist single-colored logos. #NotMyApple

Still would like to get my hands on some Apple Silicon stuff. Mostly monitoring people’s experiences with M1 for now, patiently awaiting future releases.
 
Pumbaa said:
Obviously, just look at that rainbow logo Apple had for almost two decades! But nowadays they’re just mainstreaming with those racist single-colored logos. #NotMyApple

Still would like to get my hands on some Apple Silicon stuff. Mostly monitoring people’s experiences with M1 for now, patiently awaiting future releases.
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I got the one (M1) machine since I knew the very specific use case for my wife - mostly "bundled" apps, no dev work, no VMs. I figured it was a good way to get some experience with it, while having very little potential for negative impact, er, I mean, as long as it starts, runs a browser, email, messages, it's 99.9% usable.

I've got a lingering need for Winders, but I'm slowly starting to test some alternatives vs. running a local VM. For server-services, assuming I don't want those all running on remote/cloud services, that's as simple as setting up a couple of dev boxes with IIS/SQL, I used to do that, heck, this was probably the only house is a large radius with a rack/rackmounted servers in a closet :D
 
DT said:
I got the one (M1) machine since I knew the very specific use case for my wife - mostly "bundled" apps, no dev work, no VMs. I figured it was a good way to get some experience with it, while having very little potential for negative impact, er, I mean, as long as it starts, runs a browser, email, messages, it's 99.9% usable.

I've got a lingering need for Winders, but I'm slowly starting to test some alternatives vs. running a local VM. For server-services, assuming I don't want those all running on remote/cloud services, that's as simple as setting up a couple of dev boxes with IIS/SQL, I used to do that, heck, this was probably the only house is a large radius with a rack/rackmounted servers in a closet :D
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My main perceived issues with the M1 offerings so far is the lack of ports and the limited maximum RAM size. The machines seem great for what they are: awesome entry-level machines. I would probably be happy with a mini, but...

Software maturity and availability is another concern. I remain optimistic, people are working towards stable releases for Apple Silicon in most cases. With some luck, there will be even better Apple hardware to buy when the stable releases are here.
 
One thing I really appreciate about my M1 MBP is that second port, which I do not have on my 12" MacBook, which until the day I got the M1 was my "secondary" machine as well as my travel machine. It's still my travel machine. So today I was keeping the 15" MBP busy with transferring/copying data between two external drives and there was something I really needed to check on another external drive. The last time this happened I simply had to wait until the 15" MBP was finished and I could check. Today, to my distinct pleasure, I didn't have to wait, I could simply grab the drive and plug it into the second port on my M1 and see what I needed to see, do what I needed to do. :)
 
DT said:
BTW, if the security handling entry into the Apple Store had been at the Capitol building, nobody would've gotten in, JFC, dial it back, I'm dropping off a computer ...
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We went to drop off an old MBA for recycling at the 5th Avenue store. Long, snaking line. Two additional security checks, and more employees than customers once we finally got inside. Went to the 14th Street location when the hubby's new M1 MBA flaked out in the transferring process. Just as bad with at least three checkpoints. Also silly as walkup purchasing customers got in faster than those with issues to be resolved. :unsure:
 
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