If I was looking for a laptop in the MacBook Neo’s price range, the Framework 12 would be what I was comparing it against. From a pricing standpoint, the Neo comes out on top, but the Framework has the potential for a much longer lifespan.

The MacBook Neo may be Apple’s most repairable laptop in 14 years, but eventually Apple will drop support for it in macOS and you’ll no longer have the option to run a modern operating system. By contrast, the Framework is designed with repair and upgradability in mind. They even have QR codes on the parts themselves that link to repair guides on their website.

And because of the Framework’s x86 CPU and the company’s work to ensure solid driver support, you have the option to install Linux on the machine, which will keep it relevant for far longer.

➝ Source: youtube.com

The first Mac I ever owned was a 2006 MacBook. It was a great machine. I still own it, in fact. It doesn’t get too much attention these days, but occasionally I’ll get it out for nostalgic reasons — usually just to make some funny faces in Photo Booth with the kids.

Apple made some great hardware at the time. And that legacy continues to this day. But that wasn’t enough to convince me to make the switch from Windows to the Mac.

I was a big PC guy in my teen years. Mostly because of my interest in video games and computer hardware. I had built a handful of PCs and obsessed about the latest offerings from AMD and Nvidia. I would frequently tweak Windows settings and occasionally make hardware upgrades to optimize for performance.

I didn’t want to switch to the Mac because I didn’t want to lose out on my familiarity with Windows or the joy of hardware tinkering.

But Apple switched to Intel in the mid-2000s, which meant I could always just install Windows if I found that Mac OS X wouldn’t do the trick for me. And the 2006 MacBook actually offered some decent upgradability. After removing the battery from the bottom, you were just a few screws away from the hard drive and RAM.

That was enough for me.

I bought a base 2006 MacBook from Apple and upgraded the hard drive and memory myself. I loved it.

But that experience is almost entirely gone now. Unless you’re willing to buy older Macs or spend way too much on a Mac Pro, the internals you get when first buying the machine is what they will be for the remainder of its existence. And although the Linux community has made great strides at getting Linux on Apple Silicon Macs, it’s nothing compared to what we used to have.

Today, if you want to run an operating system other than macOS on a Mac, you’re much better off running it in a virtual machine. But that’s pretty limiting. When Apple stops offering support for the machine, the host operating system will no longer receive software updates. And you’ll never be able to get the same kind of performance in a virtual machine as you would booting it natively.

All of these changes took place slowly over the past fifteen years or so. Apple continually reduced the number of components that could realistically be upgraded by the end user. For example, I was able to upgrade both the hard drive and memory in the 2011 Mac Mini that I used as my home server for about a decade.

The 2018 Mac Mini that I’m using now is only able to have its memory upgraded. And latest Apple Silicon Mac Minis? They don’t offer any upgradeable components.

The versatility of booting into alternative operating systems is basically non-existent, too. Naturally, with the move to Apple Silicon, Boot Camp is no longer available. And while you can install Linux on these machines, hardware support just isn’t what it used to be. I wouldn’t expect that to meaningfully change in the future either.

All of this, along with Apple’s continual march toward locking down macOS, has me starting to look elsewhere. I still enjoy using a lot of the software on my Macs. But it’s hard for me to get excited about another machine that can never be upgraded and will eventually be left a paperweight when Apple drops support and third-party developers cease development for the older operating system.

For now, I have my eyes on a Framework 13. A machine that represents the polar opposite of Apple’s hardware philosophy, but one that’s much closer to my ideal.

David Heinemeier Hansson:

As you can tell, I really like this new screen. It takes the last reservation I had about the Framework 13 and turns it into a key strength. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is the best looking laptop screen I’ve ever used for programming. The combination of 256 PPI, matte covering, 3:2 aspect ratio, and 120hz is amazing for working with text.

Now I’m sure a video editor would still prefer Apple’s 16:10 aspect ratio, glossy display, and color-corrected profile of a MacBook Pro. But for programmers? The Framework is better.

And it’s such a good deal in its AMD version. You can get a 7640U with the new screen, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage for just around $1,200. Even slightly cheaper if you just get the RAM and storage from Amazon. That’s a ton of amazing computer for the money (and almost half of what a MacBook Pro with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage costs!). It’s what I use as my daily-driver laptop.

I’m still pretty happy with my 11-inch MacBook Air, but the Framework is appealing. I love the idea of having a machine that’s purpose-built for long-term use. Having something you can upgrade and replace parts in over time sounds like the exact type of machine I’d want to tinker with.

➝ Source: world.hey.com

In late 2006 I purchased a base model MacBook with a 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 512MB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive.

Apple made a big deal about how upgradable these machines were — the memory slots and hard drive were accessible behind a metal plate inside the battery compartment. I upgraded the hard drive and memory myself, ending up with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive.

I still have the machine today, albeit with a replacement battery, new keyboard, and top case. I actually had the machine out a few days ago after finding it in my office closet — I’ve been reorganize and cleaning up the home office while on parental leave.

The MacBook still boots, but I have no idea if the battery will hold a charge at all. I only booted it up for a minute or two to see if it would still run. It hasn’t seen any regular use in over a decade. I think the last time it would have been used was as a backup machine for my wife when her MacBook Air needed repairs.

As for my use of the machine, it was my primary computer until I bought an iMac in 2008. I continued using the MacBook as my portable machine until it was replaced by an 11-inch MacBook Air in 2011.

I’ve been on a kick of configuring old machines with new uses — most recently setting up a 2014 Mac Mini as family computer in the basement. I might end up installing Linux on the MacBook or a fresh copy of Lion, which is the most recent version of macOS that it supports. I have no idea what I’d use it for, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

The machine is significantly thicker and heavier than any of the laptops I’ve used since then. The plastic casing is prone to cracking and the trackpad has a dedicated button below it for clicking — this was prior to the integrated button built into the trackpad in later MacBooks.

But despite all of that, I still have a great deal of nostalgia for this era of Macs. I feel like the design language of Apple’s software was at its peak and the hardware had a much healthier balance of elegance and upgradability.

The latter of those two seems like we’re continuing to move further away from. The transition to Apple Silicon has all but solidified a future full of Macs that offer zero upgradability. Sure you can still buy a Mac Pro, but you can’t add a graphics card, you can’t upgrade your system’s memory, and you can’t install a new CPU. It’s a lame duck product and everyone knows it.

I still hold out hope for a brighter future in that regard, though. Even if you can’t replace the integrated components it would be rad if you could add new components to augment the system. For example, imagine being able to twist off the bottom of a new Mac Mini to reveal a single M.2 slot. You could use it for additional storage, as a new or alternative boot drive, or as a quick and dirty Time Machine drive.

There’s definitely enough room in the Mac Mini’s chassis for this and I’m willing to bet other machines could offer similar upgradability without having to sacrifice the lineup’s existing form factors.

But that’s all a pipe dream. If you want real upgradability, you’ll have to get used to running Windows or Linux.

I was a Bartender user long before Apple started shipping laptops with a notch in their display. Because of this, I haven’t really run into the issue of Menu Bar icons disappearing behind the notch. I’ve also started using Top Notch to make my menu bar black, effectively making the notch invisible.

Between these two apps, I often forget the notch even exists. The only time it rears its ugly head is when I use Thunderbird, which has enough menus along the left side of the Menu Bar that the notch causes a gap among the menu titles.

➝ Source: mjtsai.com

Josh Ginter, while discussing his first impressions of the 16-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro:

I hadn’t realized how often I move my MacBook between workstations until I threw a 16-inch MacBook Pro into the mix. I take the notebook home every evening with me. I move it between my office and the conference room about once a day. I’ve taken it on a family holiday. This MacBook gets moved around a lot more than I originally thought, and I pay the price each time I pickup this 16-inch beast.

Not only is the 16-inch larger both on a footprint basis and on a weight basis, but it’s also thicker than the 14-inch Pro. Why, I’m unsure. But this notebook is bigger in every dimension and you can sure feel it.

This is what has always steered me away from larger MacBooks — I’ve almost always opted for the smallest Apple notebook available. It doesn’t sound like it would matter that much, but I move around a lot throughout the workday.

I work from my desk, the dining room table, the back deck, the living room couch. And, often, I’ll end up at all of these locations at some point during a given day. I like moving around to help break things up and the different environments help keep me energized. When you’re doing this a few times each day, though, having the lightest and thinnest notebook available makes a big difference.

➝ Source: thenewsprint.co

I’ve tried, on many occasions, to use an external display, but I always end up just going back to using my MacBook’s built-in display. For me, it’s all about focus. I find it very difficult to stay on the task at hand with a 27-inch display in front of me. A 13-inch display feels like the perfect balance.

➝ Source: bt.ht

Riccardo Mori:

From a design standpoint, removing the notch and the webcam would be a win both in the looks and functionality departments. MacBook Pros’ displays would have cleaner lines again; bezels could be made even thinner (you bezels-obsessed folks are already gasping in excitement, I know) and displays a bit larger without making the laptop physically bigger. I bet most MacBook Pro users would accept this kind of trade-off. Overall, I consider the idea of removing the webcam from MacBook Pros less crazy than slapping a notch in the top centre of the display.

It probably wouldn’t be a wise idea to remove webcams from MacBooks, but the notch can’t survive long term. It’s ugly. It really is.

I’m sure everyone gets used to the notch eventually, but if you had the option remove it and keep the small bezels and your webcam, wouldn’t you?

➝ Source: morrick.me