Apple recently launched new MacBook Pros, complete with their new M1 Pro and Max chips, which are incredibly power-efficient while still maintaining a high level of performance in professional applications. However, the Apple ecosystem of software and hardware remains essentially locked down. They continue to be hostile to user repairs and upgrades, and they certainly are no friend to the open source community. Although I’m not currently in the market for a new computer, it’s impossible to ignore how excellent these computers are, and how Apple’s offerings are going to be uniquely positioned when I am considering my next purchase. As I go through that thought process, I’m realizing how certain philosophies in the computing world are in a strange position. The tradeoffs for remaining with, or switching to, a Linux platform are becoming increasingly skewed against.
Since switching to Linux as my main platform back in 2016 or so, I’ve been infatuated with the whole community. A group of nerds and tinkerers and believers in an excellent cause, as well as many corporations who also recognize the use cases, have let Linux and its close relatives become what they are. If you don’t like how something is done, you can almost always find an alternative. It’s more private and controllable because everything is done out in the open, and I just feel better when I use it.
Closely related to the Linux software ecosystem are similar hardware principles of right to repair and upgrade. Niche manufacturers who already support Linux, like System76, provide detailed support documents and encourage tinkering with both software and hardware. They want the machines to work for you, and believe very strongly that a good hardware and software experience does not need to come at the cost of no options for end-users. Other companies, like Framework, are taking this to the next level with a focus on customizable, swappable hardware that anyone can service.
Apple, and to a lesser extent, Microsoft, are antithetical to these principles. Both make hardware that is aggressively closed off. Apple continues to engineer solutions to make any repairs almost certainly devastating if you don’t go through their proper channels, while maintaining policy surrounding repairs that put both users and third-party repair shops in a bind. Microsoft uses more glue than an elementary school child to keep their fabric-covered Surface devices closed. Apple in particular believes in the design of their cohesive unit, their ecosystem, and anyone wishing to do what they want with a piece of hardware they own is considered an affront to their ethos. In their minds, you buy the right to use the hardware exactly as it comes, and nothing else.
Just last year, the tradeoffs between Linux on the machine of your choice, and macOS or Windows, basically came down to whether you enjoyed a company’s ecosystem, the backing of a large corporation,1It’s important to note that the most popular Linux distributions do have the backing of large corporations, but they don’t share the marketing mindshare of Apple and Microsoft. and the fit and finish of your hardware in the case of Apple. Performance was not substantially different, and more times than not, Linux has a robust enough set of software to replace those found on the other two platforms.2Of course there are people who are so ingrained in one or the other that they would never consider switching away; that’s fine, and not the point of this post. Everyone was using the same Intel chips, so it was more a battle of philosophies and marketing.
Now, Apple has made a significant leap that, I can attest to firsthand, really changes the discussion. I have been using an M1 MacBook Air since December 2020, mainly for work, and it’s by far the best computer I’ve used in terms of hardware. It’s snappy, has fantastic battery life, while remaining extremely portable. You bring these new beastly MacBook Pros into the conversation, and people who work on laptops have a really tough dilemma: sacrifice real performance for an inferior hardware product solely on principle.3Inferior is of coure relative, but I’m really focused on performance. For a given price and power envelope (i.e. laptop on battery) Apple blows everyone out of the water right now.
Despite how much I love using Linux, and really believe in what it does for the world, Apple has forced me to question where I stand on these issues. Then, I have to question why I’m so focused on computers in the traditional sense. Sure, I use a laptop most days, but what about my iPad? My phone? There are hardware and software alternatives more in line with Linux principles, yet I hardly consider them, and realizing that gives me much more sympathy for those who stick with macOS or Windows and give no thought to Linux.4Of course, I don’t excuse people who dismiss Linux and its users out of hand.
Is it enough to just pick a tool that gets the job done, or should each purchase be taking a stance in some fight? I don’t know. It’s more reasonable to accept that not everyone can participate in every fight. You have to focus on the ones you care about.
I don’t know where I will land when I inevitably buy a new computer in the future. I go back and forth each time I think about it, where I’m excited about supporting a vendor who I really believe in, then start to get turned by the siren song of Apple. This is the price of great performance or the lack thereof, and I’m not yet sure what I’m willing to pay.
- 1It’s important to note that the most popular Linux distributions do have the backing of large corporations, but they don’t share the marketing mindshare of Apple and Microsoft.
- 2Of course there are people who are so ingrained in one or the other that they would never consider switching away; that’s fine, and not the point of this post.
- 3Inferior is of coure relative, but I’m really focused on performance. For a given price and power envelope (i.e. laptop on battery) Apple blows everyone out of the water right now.
- 4Of course, I don’t excuse people who dismiss Linux and its users out of hand.