I used a MAC for 30 days, and I’m glad it’s over

just over a year ago I dipped my toes into the world of Mac OS giving you my brief First Impressions but as made clear by the comments I needed to dig deeper so here it is for the past 30 days I've been running an experiment a Mac OS experiment I've been using the M1 Pro MacBook Pro as my daily driver some of my recent videos were produced on this very machine so get ready as we explore the things I liked the things I didn't and the things I really really didn't like comparing it directly to my trusted companion this 16-inch laptop running Fedora 38 and let me be completely transparent this journey was not all sunshine and rainbows and I am really really glad to be back on Linux just like I'm really really glad to tell you about today's sponsor this video is sponsored by protonmail the private and secure email service based in Switzerland that protects your privacy by using end to end and zero access encryption a lot of email services like Gmail make their money by collecting all the 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whenever you want to get more storage so if you're tired of being tracked even in your inbox or if you just want to move to a secure and private email service click the link in the description below and give protonmail a shot so let's start with Mac OS right out the gate no drag and drop window tiling quickly became the biggest problem I had I I resorted to a third-party app called rectangle which sort of works but its limitations became clear very quickly for example resizing Windows when they're side by side that's not happening and the native Mac OS styling features are subpar requiring you to click the small green button and forcing you to have Windows side by side at all times plus they are full screen which isn't great either the dog disappointingly also cannot minimize apps on click I found a workaround by double clicking on the window border but then maximizing became a problem and the green button it tosses everything into full screen mode it might work on smaller screens but on the desktop or even a 16-inch laptop like the one I have it's more of a hindrance especially since it had the global menu bar even though on this laptop it could be displayed because the whole area where it's supposed to be is just blacked out for some reason still the Silver Lining is the global menu it is very well executed something I wish Linux supported better KD offers it but not every app plays nicely and if you mix and match between gnome and KDE apps some will have a menu some won't some packaging formats don't work with it and Firefox and LibreOffice also generally not doable unless you get a specific patched version now file management that's another story no cut and paste for files and folders in the file manager and this left me very confused why isn't this a thing does Apple think that I'm too dumb to cut and paste the file I am dumb but not that dumb also dragging files to other folders or even to an open app that's painfully slow why do I have to wait for this to actually do anything also click to focus is the worst I have to double click in my notes app to be able to paste or type anything in it when I have two windows side by side installing apps was a learning curve the App Store seemed to not have any of my essentials resolve Firefox OBS steam among others initially the process of downloading disk images and persuading the OS to accept new apps was irritating but with time I adapted and it's okay now of course a fully stocked and functional app store is always a better experience than hunting online and downloading dmgs like a caveman now virtual desktops on Mac OS work decently gestures are handy but gonna say does it better accessing and creating new virtual desktops felt clumsy and took more steps than necessary why do I have to open the multitasking view then put my cursor in the top part of the screen to reveal workspaces and then click the plus button on the right to create a new virtual desktop in Gnome I just swiped three fingers to the left and I automatically have a new desktop where I can open apps and make everything work managing windows and desktops generally felt like the system is designed for mono tasking instead of multitasking and it was a pain to be productive on Mac OS now a small gripe but a significant one I can't double tap and hold to drag a window or resize it I must physically click and this was a pain to adjust to however I have to command Mac OS for its font rendering it is superb especially when compared to Linux where it is not possible as far as I know to get the same smooth result Spotlight search is on par with full system search gnome and KDE the menu bar search in The Help menu is a Hidden Gem as well perfect for learning new apps and commands like look at this I just type what I want and it tells me where it is if only we had something similar oh wait Unity had that a while back before they ditched that desktop the absence of a three finger tap or click for opening or closing tabs was a letdown considering middle click works with a mouse just not with the touchpad and you also don't have the middle click to paste feature that Linux has which is insanely useful and that I missed dearly here now into privacy and Telemetry I disabled it all but given the closed Source nature of Mac OS there is no real guarantee that it's fully turned off for a deeper dive into this check out my video dedicated to privacy on desktop operating systems and if you're a customization Enthusiast Mac OS is a hard pass it's basically use it as is but that's just the software I didn't hate it as much as when I gave it a first impressions and a first lock but it definitely felt so powerful productivity like not having the ability to put two windows side by side easily or to have just one window tile to the side and another one floating or just having to maximize all windows that then go full screen hide the menu bar and if you need to drag something from the file manager into this app it's all a pain not being able to quickly create virtual desktops for my apps it was just so far and frustrating now keyboard shortcuts can help with that but honestly if your operating system needs shortcuts to be usable then it is not usable now let's talk about the Apple ecosystem now I should clarify I am not exactly the typical Apple ecosystem user while I do own an iPhone I don't use iCloud services at all my tech life revolves around my self-hosted nexcloud server it takes care of everything clouds storage contacts calendars notes photos even RSS feeds my email is self-hosted too on my own domain so I have no use for any of Apple's services so the much touted integration between the iPhone and the Mac is virtually non-existent for me sure Apple's continuity features are great they let you resume work on your Mac that you started on an iPhone but for me just didn't fit into my workflow if I'm in range of my computer I'll work on my computer and I'm not picking up my phone to finish that work afterwards and taking calls on the Mac I can see how some might appreciate it but for a guy who prefers text over unplanned calls it's pretty redundant now if you're heavily invested into Apple's ecosystem and iCloud then sure I can see the benefits but also bear in mind the Privacy implications of using iCloud services for those on the Linux side there's also a perfect equivalent KD connect and JS connect offer any similar features especially for Android users in fact they often go beyond what apple offers minus the continuity aspect of course although you can share your clipboard between your phone and computer for example so yeah I am not the target for this feature and of course that's just my opinion I'm just not the typical Apple user I'm not an Apple user usually at all about from my iPhone but if you do make use of these features then great now let's move on to the hardware because this is where this MacBook Pro sort of worked for me frankly there's very little that I can fault this MacBook Pro 4 in terms of Hardware its display is brilliant high-res color accurate and sporting a high refresh rate the downside that screen comes with super reflective glass forget using it comfortably in direct sunlight without cranking up the brightness and the infamous Notch well it was just a temporary distraction at worst I got used to it in 5 minutes and never noticed it ever again does it need to be there no is it a problem no the keyboard is a joy to type on once you get accustomed to it the lack of a numpad on such a large laptop is a disappointment I'm French I need to press the shift key and the number key to get an actual number so a numpad is just way too useful now I actually kind of enjoyed the Mac layout for a keyboard because I'm not a developer but for developers figuring out how to type a pipe or bracket can be a bit of a problem now the webcam mic and speakers are top tier this put my Linux devices to shame I can actually record something on this device without feeling like it's my first YouTube video ever despite this I still found myself gravitating back towards my slim book executive 16 running Linux time and again yes the MacBook Pro has Superior build quality but it's also very heavy it weighs 2.1 kilos it's like hearing your laptop and a steam deck at the same time and let's talk about ports the Mac mostly has USBC and Thunderbolt ports cool it's futuristic it's also not very usable for me most of what I want to plug in is USB a I need a dongle for that it sucks sure Thunderbolt charging and connectivity are cool but my usual laptop sports are a lot more practical and then there's the macbook's trackpad it's huge it's precise it is gesture friendly it is great but the lack of a satisfying physical click falls short of the tactile feedback I get from my slimbox trackpad the fake click just feels like it's vibrating which is exactly what it's doing but it doesn't feel like a click it's weird so while Apple's Hardware is impressive in the build quality speakers mic touchpad is generally an all-rounder really good at everything I still find myself preferring my slim book executive 16 because it's lighter the screen isn't as reflective I prefer the touchpad and I have a numb pad on it and of course that's subjective a lot of people won't mind the USBC Thunderbolt ports only with no usba and some people don't like numpad so that's going to be great for them and let's not forget the Beating Heart of this machine the Apple M1 Pro CPU it is certainly impressive but the fact that it's arm-based limits it when running VMS for non-arm operating systems this limitation is a huge blow to my workflow as I often need to test different distros in a VM before installing them on actual Hardware short it's doable with qmu however neither virtualbox nor parallels support arm-based VMS and although virtualbox has a beta for M1 it failed to run anything reliably for me not to mention parallels is a paid app why would I pay for something that Linux can do natively for free just based on this limitation only this M1 Mac could never be my main device even if I wanted to run a Mac to make this channel which I absolutely do not but in terms of performance this CPU is an absolute monster on geekbench it scores 2038 for single core and an impressive 12 636 for multi-core making it one of the highest scoring laptops I have ever reviewed what's more it delivers this performance whether it's plugged in or running on battery and did I mention the other Silence the fan never spun up not even once if even during video editing compared to my slim book executive 16 which got 1860 in single core and 10 868 in multi-core with the fan running at full speed and plugged in on battery you can have these scores and the battery life is absolutely fantastic I'm getting between 14 to 16 hours of light work and 6 to 8 hours of video editing that is double what I get on the executive which manages seven or eight hours of light work and about three to four hours of editing in terms of performance this thing is an absolute Powerhouse and combined with the battery life this is truly an amazing device so yeah these new Macs are insane in terms of performance in terms of build quality my own preferences still draw me towards the slim book executive 16. I prefer the keyboard I prefer the numpad I prefer the touchpad I prefer the screen and yes the performance isn't as good and the battery life then definitely isn't as good but it also weighs a lot less when I carry it around despite the excellent build quality and performance of the MacBook it falls short where it matters most to me being able to run a full Linux distro and VMS something my executive 16 does seamlessly so this Macbook will become a very expensive test device for azahi Linux updates in the future and for now it's destined to collect dust in a cardboard so yeah you can expect video coverage of azahi Linux running on this M1 Pro MacBook Pro in the future but in the meantime I'm not gonna use it I would never use Mac OS anyway the software is just subpar to everything I need to do and compared to any Linux distro basically with poor window management with frustrating click to focus an App Store that leaves much to be desired and half-baked features like Dock minimization and app maximization Mac OS just can't compete with a good Linux desktop at least for me in terms of usability in terms of coherence in terms of productivity Mac OS just does not hold up compared to any modern Linux desktop so yes the hardware is awesome but until I can run a full-blown Linux distro on this thing is just not for me but the devices from today's sponsor definitely are for you if you've ever bought a computer shipping with Windows out of the box and try to retrofit Linux on it to notice that yeah it doesn't work properly in every single aspect well I've got a solution click the link in the description below and buy something from tuxedo they make laptops and desktops that ship with Linux pre-installed all the components in their devices are picked specifically because they are compatible with Linux and will run super well under Linux and they have a huge range of devices that will cover every need and every price point whether you want a laptop a desktop something for work through gaming workstation they have it all they're all super customizable all the laptops are openable repairable and upgradable table and the shape to most countries in the world so if you want a good Linux experience the next time you purchase a computer click the link in the description instead don't buy something that supports Windows so thanks everyone for watching the video I hope you enjoyed it if you did don't hesitate to like to subscribe to turn on notifications or to write a comment and if you really enjoyed the channel there are plenty of links in the description below to support it from PayPal liberape patreon and whatever else YouTube thanks YouTube memberships you know how this works so thanks for watching and I guess you'll see me in the next one bye [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: The Linux Experiment

Views: 299,115

Keywords: Apple Ecosystem, Nextcloud, iCloud, Privacy, KDE Connect, GS Connect, MacBook Pro Hardware, MacBook Pro Display, MacBook Ports, MacBook Trackpad, MacBook Webcam, MacBook Mic, MacBook Speakers, MacBook vs Slimbook, M1 Pro, VM on MacBook, MacBook Performance, MacBook Benchmark, MacBook Battery Life, Apple Vs Linux, File Management, Virtual Desktops, macOS Privacy, macOS Fonts, Spotlight Search, macOS Settings, Apple Linux Comparison, mac vs Linux, macOS vs Linux

Id: 0saKpm5g8iU

Length: 17min 38sec (1058 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 26 2023