If other laptops would easily, without a hack run MacOS, I would switch on a heartbeat, but that's not the case. I'm not married to the hardware, but I'm married to the software. I use Windows 10 and MacOS at work, and unfortunately I'm much happier with MacOS, and find myself using Windows only for tools that are not available on MacOS.
Well, I have successfully replaced macOS with ChromeOS on my MacBook plus Debian in terminal via crouton. And I am quite happy about it. I can have flatpack apps and even have Virtualbox preinstalled so I could have run macOS or Windows if I had to.
Apple software is total crap in my humble opinion while hardware is still superior.
The terminal and all tools that are built for it. After enabling WSL, my computer performance went down a whole lot. File permissions issues between the two systems were constant, and I typically spent more time troubleshooting things than actually doing work. I think I wouldn't mind having a Windows as a personal PC, but not as my work computer. When I'm at work I just want to get work done and not troubleshoot the operating system.
To be honest - if you don't require Adobe or Xcode, I've had great luck moving almost full-time to Fedora. I still have a Mac...but it's pretty much only for Logic Pro X.
Many of these are not as much alternatives to the old Macbooks Pro as they are "ultrabooks" focused on imitating the Macbook and Macbook Air.
They make the same mistakes of reducing keyboard travel, eliminating RJ45 ports that don't fit in the chassis, reducing port counts to make the device more wedge-shaped, and reducing battery volume.
I would like to see the Dell Precision, HP Elitebook, and Lenovo P-series included in the lineup. I feel that these mobile workstations are more akin to the old Macbook Pros and better for professional use than an Ultrabook.
Sadly, they seem to be making the same mistakesand regressions that Apple has made in chasing the center of the market. However, if you extend your search space to devices made in the last 4-5 years instead of the bleeding edge, you may drop a few generations off the processor but that just doesn't matter anymore.
What you are saying is exactly the kind of info I'm searching for. Do you have any links/reviews for the laptops you are talking about? I'll look into them when I have time.
Most enterprise ThinkPads (X, P, T, W) and their HP counterparts (elite book IIRC) are solidly built and very much user serviceable. Do your research or course but those are solid contenders and easy to find as enterprise customers are leasing new ones.
Ports: 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (Type-A), 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A), 1 x USB-C Thunderbolt 3, HDMI 2.0, mini-DisplayPort 1.4, RJ-45 Ethernet, SD card reader, headphone-out jack
Weight: 4.49 pounds (2.04kg)
Size: 14 x 9.8 x 0.74 inches (356.4 x 250 x 18.9mm; W x D x H)
Yup. I think the reason people overlook it is because build quality is likely subpar. Or at least that's the perception of the brand. And when you're dropping >$1500 you'd like something that you can depend on so while the spec sheet seems to be on point, the more ephemeral parts feel/flex/hardness that are much harder to pin down are keeping this from being seen as a worthwhile contender.
Also I think I ultimately went with something else based on the 5 star amazon reviews that complained about performance issues. Also no biometricts at that price is kinda unforgivable.
I'd like to add that Linux runs flawlessly on it. It has an extra hard drive slot that's really easy to access so I immediately slotted an extra SSD into it for Arch.
I’m still surprised how much a difference in cost 8GB vs. 16B RAM makes: it almost doubles the cost, which suggests that everything else - the hard drive, the network card, the video adapter... even the CPU! Are almost “free”.
If you buy Office or Adobe on Mac, does the license not transfer to Windows? I don't recall having to get different licenses for Office when I bought a Mac, I just typed in the same key and it worked.
Wow, didn't know about System76, up to 32gb of ram and the best choice of hard drive I have seen. But they don't offer windows? I'll search for a review and add it to the list.