So my 2017 MacBook seems to be on its last legs, the battery is just randomly dying between 15-30% so I’d like a new laptop. I do enjoy macOS as I have an iPhone but I’m fascinated by Linux and love the community surrounding it. Hence, I’ll probably buy a Framework 13 since I love the values of the company and their commitment to repairability and being honest when there’s problems.
I’ll be at uni for the next two years so realistically I just need it to last that long. I study cyber security so my workload is effectively some networking software (Wireshark, packet tracer etc.) and some smaller coding/web development tasks so I don’t need the absolute most powerful option. Ideally I’d like the one that got a longer battery life, which I think is the Ryzen 7. Given that I’ve never used an AMD CPU in my life, does AMD work well in Linux (distro will probably be Fedora or Mint) or would opting for the Intel COU be a safer bet?
Sorry if the formatting isn’t the greatest, I’m on mobile and it’s also midnight as I write this.
To be repairs advocate.
If your MacBook is from 2017, then it is an Intel machine. Intel machines can run Linux, you can just install it instead of MacOS or even dual boot it.
And if it is a MacBook, you can simply replace the battery. It is super straightforward to do so. You buy the new battery, you don’t need to get it from Apple, and you need the oentalobe driver and the torx driver. Open up the back and replace it. Apple stores will even take the old battery off your hands.
You might not be able to upgrade storage or ram, but with a new battery and your linux, you could absolutely get more life out of your machine.
Having just looked at an iFixit guide to replace the battery, it does seem rather involved. I do like the idea though so I’ll definitely consider it, I hadn’t thought of it before since I’m so used to Apple making things very difficult/impossible to change!