Was looking at getting a macbook air with an m1 chip in it and running Asahi Linux on it. My question is how viable is it for daily life? E.g. browsing, torrenting, uni notes ect. Would it be equivalent to a regular x86 laptop running Linux? Or would I be missing useful features?

Edit: Another question is how it holds up against newer AMD laptops, as it is 3-4 years old at this point.

  • dingdongitsabear
    123·
    4 months ago

    the whole apple-bad thing aside, you’re getting a non-expandable 8 GB laptop, of which a significant portion goes to graphics. that’s pretty low today, and it’s gonna be worse down the road. speaking of graphics, although Asahi has basic functionality, the driver isn’t 100% yet.

    I hope you don’t plan on torrenting a buncha stuff, as the SSD is small and non-replaceable and after years of use has an insane TBW number.

    the battery longevity is a solid argument but you are buying a 4 year old battery that will show signs of aging.

    I am all for repurpose/reuse/recycle, but unless you get it for free, or close to it, this thing s a bad idea. get a similarly aged business-class laptop (thinkpad, yoga, latitude, elitebook, etc.) that you can cram full of RAM and storage and replace practically every component if it fails.

    • Amongussussyballs100@sh.itjust.worksOP
      7·
      4 months ago

      I would not even consider it if it was 8GB, but this one is 16GB with 512gb of storage. It is a decent deal for what it is, and I’ve been looking for a decently powerful arm machine for awhile.

      • dingdongitsabear
        31·
        4 months ago

        that’s radically different. although the serviceability is still nonexistent, that’s a very useable machine. just be prepared to toss the thing if anything breaks.

        for me, that would be a deal breaker but I understand the itch to try it out. just make sure it’s not icloud locked.

        • ProtonBadger@lemmy.ca
          21·
          4 months ago

          Well, when it comes to laptops these days lots of brands can practically only be serviced/repaired by bringing them back to the Apple Store/manufacturer’s repair shop. Especially when it comes to lightweight models.

          I miss my old Sager/Clevo gaming laptop where I could replace practically everything, I even upgraded the gfx card.

    • llothar
      2·
      4 months ago

      Yeah, i am retiring my XPS 13 only due to it having 8GB of RAM. It is quite an old model with i7-8550U - the speed is still perfectly fine as my daily driver, but I filled the memory to the brim way too often.