[kubik369]

Must have been a problem with the particular laptop/country you are in. Traditionally, laptops have much more robust cellular than phones.

You say the press of a button, but having cellular in the laptop is zero interactions, which is great for casual users.

[thot_experiment]

This. Zero friction, though I wouldn't say I'm a casual user, there's no way I'm setting up a tether on a 8 minute Uber. With my laptop I just pull it out of my bag and go.

[arcticbull]

Tethering on macOS is super easy, your phone is just in the list of WiFi access points at the top. Not any harder than picking a WiFi AP. Kinda prefer being in the loop here since cellular data is usually metered - and as another post said, it's also nice to have a single plan instead of dealing with separate billing.

[PlunderBunny]

I tether my iPhone to my macBook several times a day (going to and from work on the bus). I don't know if anyone else has this experience, but my laptop will instantaneously find 30+ WiFi access points I don't care about and never use, but can take up-to a minute to find my iPhone, sometimes even with repeated 'prodding'.

[noname120]

For this exact reason I have in my backpack an always-on portable Huawei 4G Wi-Fi hotspot[1] plugged to a Power Bank. I can't wait to get rid of it.

[1] https://consumer.huawei.com/ie/routers/e5577/

[wolrah]

> there's no way I'm setting up a tether on a 8 minute Uber.

I swipe down my quick settings bar and tap the button labeled "Hotspot". I don't even have to unlock my phone. If I have time to get my laptop out I have time to do a single swipe and tap on my phone too.