I’m a Linux user since 1998 (my main desktop PC runs Debian), however I do have a couple of Macs around because I love their hardware (not so much the software though). In fact, I have three old MacBook Airs (mid-2011, 2012, 2015), all running Linux. The moment I got them, I erased MacOS and installed Linux pronto!

But my main laptop is a MacBook Air M1 with MacOS because it’s much faster than these older Intel-based MacBook Airs. Modern web browsing and video editing requires a lot of processing power.

So, I want to move to have my main laptop running Linux too. I DON’T want to install Asahi Linux on my M1, because I don’t consider it a proper solution for my needs (I want to run Resolve, you see, and most foss apps that I use would need recompiling). Also, I don’t like that Asahi is dependent on MacOS to exist, because you can’t boot with a usb to install it.

My issue is that I can’t find ANYTHING on the PC market that is as slick or full featured as a MacBook Air (minus its limited ports). What I need is this:

  1. Screen no larger than 13.3" inches, Full HD at least, preferably good color gamut (but not a must). I still need the laptop to be portable though. Basically, I’m not even asking for HDR, as the MacBook Air features.

  2. Keyboard to have backlight, without the numpad (I hate these laptops where the touchpad is off center).

  3. The touchpad needs to be glass or of equivalent feel. The Apple touchpads slide/glide with ease. I find every PC touchpad I’ve used so far to be “sticky”. My finger on some Chromebooks and Dell/Lenovo laptops is doing a “grrrkkk, grrrkkkk” when I slide my finger! There’s something special about Apple’s touchpads, I dunno.

  4. Intel 13th+ gen CPU, with passmark points over 17,000 on multi-threading. My M1 scores about 12,000 points, and it’s 5 years old. So obviously I’d need something faster than what I have now.

  5. Intel GPU (no AMD or Nvidia please, I need Intel’s superior video decoding abilities). On a Mac that isn’t a problem, because Apple does support these 10bit 4:2:2 codecs I need, with hardware acceleration. But on the PC side, only Intel provides good support for these without headaches (only the newest nvidias support that, but I don’t want to use Nvidia for too many reasons – AMD is a disaster on that video front btw). I don’t play 3D games.

  6. I need speakers that sound good. Every single PC laptop I’ve tried, had the worst sound ever. I need it to be hear-able on YouTube and not sound as if you’re listening via a can. I bought a Thinkpad x280 a few months ago and I can’t use it because its speakers are so bad! DELL (from 5 years ago that I tried) aren’t better either.

  7. I need a (supported) fingerprint reader!

  8. 32 GB of RAM.

  9. 1 TB of storage.

  10. Below a $1800 price tag. That’s the price I can get with a MacBook Air for all that.

Now, you might think that “well, it seems that you just want a new MacBook”, but that’s not true. I want a PC laptop so I can run Debian Linux instead of MacOS. But I need it to be a laptop that is “proper” by my own standards. The quality of the interaction between my palms, fingers, eyes and PC laptops IS NOT the same as with any Apple laptop I’ve ever used. The reason people buy Apple hardware is NOT because “MacOSX is lickable” (as it was suggested many years ago by Jobs). I’ve actually researched the “why”. It’s because the INTERACTION of your senses and the laptop’s design/quality FITS. It’s like a glove for one another. It’s difficult to explain but I know it now to be true. It was never MacOSX itself (although MacOSX’s gui smoothness helps the overall experience).

So the question is: am I missing that special, Linux-compatible, PC laptop somewhere? If you know that such a laptop exists, please reply with a link. I’ll buy it in a heartbeat.

This is a serious post btw. I spent the whole weekend trying to find that mythical PC laptop, and I can’t. I’m frustrated.

EDIT: I might end up with the Framework 13. Not 100% what I’m after, but probably the best solution right now.

  • Eugenia@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago

    Thank you, I think this puts it well. I’m not sure yet if I want to compromise or not, to be honest. I was hoping there’s a well-designed PC laptop out there.

    In fact, 2 years ago I bought a levovo (16,000 passmark points, touchscreen, unfortunately large). I thought “ok, I’ll compromise”. But the moment my fingers touched the touchpad, I just couldn’t use it. It was just terrible. Sticky, and NOWHERE to disable the terrible tap-n-drag (I had left it with Windows11 back then).

    That laptop now belongs to my niece. I just gave it away (and it was our fastest machine at our house at the time!).

    • Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      20 hours ago

      There’s three threads recommending framework 13. I commented in one. I actually own a new 13 with all the latest stuff. It comes close, but it’s not a Mac.

      The trackpad works really good except it has a lot of play in it - it’s annoying.

      I’ve seen better screens. Yes I have the newest one, no it’s not terrible - but there’s better out there.

      The speakers are just ok. Not bad, just ok.

      The 13 craftsmanship wise is amazing. My father in law just bought the 16. That one has fit issues with the trackpad and the spacers on either side of it.

      Fingerprint readers on both and they work great. No touchscreen.

      Battery life is good. Macs are better. My 13 goes about 6-7 hours of continual “normal use”. If I’m using teams for a video call, it’s significantly less - maybe 3 hours. Games - depends on the game but that can drain it in a couple of hours. You cannot under any circumstances go an entire day+ of continuous use without charging.

      They are both fantastic linux machines (frameworks) and I highly recommend them. But the hardware is not Mac perfect despite what others say. Just trying to be real here - sounds like you have high expectations and I’d hate for you to buy an expensive laptop and be dissatisfied.

    • Jumuta@sh.itjust.works
      21·
      23 hours ago

      Sorry if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing the problem you have is:

      • you’re used to Apple trackpads that are really good
      • although other trackpads aren’t exactly unusable or worse in performance, you don’t want to use them because they feel worse

      consider using a trackpoint instead of a touchpad, that way you don’t have a point of comparison for it to “feel worse” (trackpoint is superior anyway)

      i have the same kinda thing with not wanting to give up my thinkpad keyboard, and ofc i don’t want a modern shitty laptop keyboard but I’ll probably have to swallow it some day