[Vendan]

I'm a software engineer at a company that does all macbooks. I hate my M1 macbook because it's way less reliable then my desktop, both software and hardware. I have to hold the power button to force it off roughly twice a month, it absolutely refuses to play nice with my KVM (that my desktop has no issues with), and the "keyboard secure input" feature regularly goes on the fritz and breaks anything that taps into the keyboard, including stuff that I've specifically installed.

[supriyo-biswas]

Much of these complaints are usually better directed at Crowdstrike and other EDRs. The performance difference between my employer-provided Macbook and my personal one are like night and day.

[alabastervlog]

Hell, half (but only half...) the reason I try to get MacBooks anywhere I work is because they're usually not quite as shitted up with broken surveillance software eating half the company's potential productivity, as the Windows ones.

[rollcat]

> I have to hold the power button to force it off roughly twice a month [...]

Hmm...

    $ last | grep reboot       
    reboot time                                Sun Feb 16 14:10
    reboot time                                Fri Feb 14 19:40
    reboot time                                Thu Jan 30 09:52
    reboot time                                Fri Dec 13 16:20
    reboot time                                Tue Oct 29 15:32
    reboot time                                Tue Sep 17 12:19
    [...]

I guess most of these are from macOS updates. I don't think I've used the power button at all in the past year or so? FWIW I'm using a Mac mini (also M1) rather than a Macbook, but "it works for me" was the entire point of my original comment.

> it absolutely refuses to play nice with my KVM (that my desktop has no issues with)

Honestly I'm with you here, but I'm pretty sure KVMs are just pure lottery. I plug the mini via USB-C/DP to a screen that has a simple built-in USB hub (which in turn handles mouse/KB/audio interface); this also works perfectly fine with my Thinkpad T495. However an expensive TB3 dock with a dozen ports doesn't work with either, but it's just fine with a 2017 MBP. TBH I wouldn't blame any of the involved parties; USB-C/TB always came off as a finicky mess to me.

> I'm a software engineer at a company that does all macbooks.

I can't say anything but extend my sympathy. In an ideal world, companies prioritise employee satisfaction and productivity. There's an argument that this is a trade-off vs increased IT support cost/workload, but I guess SWEs don't need much support to begin with?

You could at least appeal on the basis that the HW you've been provided with is clearly unreliable. Come up with some numbers about lost productivity. Bosses love numbers.

[RussianCow]

> There's an argument that this is a trade-off vs increased IT support cost/workload, but I guess SWEs don't need much support to begin with?

IME, it's also about being able to ensure that everyone has access to the same software. I worked at a company that used macOS-specific software for development (I think it was Sketch?) so I had to have a MacBook around, even though I primarily used a Linux desktop for work. Anecdotally, I don't think this is uncommon.

[rollcat]

Yeah I'm using enough Mac-specific (Logic, Compressor, Sketch, ...) or otherwise proprietary software that it makes perfect sense. I'm lucky that this is already my platform of choice. And honestly it's been getting better (OrbStack!), and I don't even have to touch XCode too often :,)