So, I’m finally getting around to buying a Linux first laptop. I’m familiar with Macbooks, and so far liked them. I’ve also live stick used Fedora w/ KDE (though Gnome might fit too) and OpenSUSE Tumbleweed and liked them.
But I do want to have more freedom and privacy. My most important considerations are:
- The laptop is European (or at least, not from the US, unlikely to go Chinese either).
- Good specs for gaming (if need be I could virtualise for playing Mac games). I don’t play shooter games, but do play Paradox games which iirc are more CPU heavy. Edit: the most intense user case is probably Cyberpunk 2077. I have no idea what makes a good processor - at least with SSDs and the like it’s clear that ‘higher number = better’. For me, battery life is important, as well screen resolution, clock speed, and graphic card and processor.
- Looks - I like the Macbook touch and feel. I don’t want a numpad.
The four main laptops I’m considering are in no particular order:
- Star Labs (Starbook Horizon or Starfighter). British. Lookswise they are a great match but the specs I’m not sure. How well would they hold up to an Intel Macbook Pro from 2017?
- Tuxedo (Infinitybook Pro 14 or 15) Bit more well-known German brand.
- Slimbook (most likely the Evo). Spanish brand. Seems more customisable but again, I do not know shit with graphic cards and processors.
- Novacustom (PrivacyGuard V54). Dutch brand. Not a fan of the tiny ass arrow keys. 7 hours for battery life is also not much, imo.
If any of you know something better, please do tell!
As someone running Debian on an old MacBook Pro from 2012, MacBooks are not Linux first. You can run it on all but the newest M-series, but be warned you’re likely to encounter some broadcom driver issues with the wifi/bluetooth. They can be fixed, then they may break again with some random kernel update. It’s not a fire and forget solution.
Have you looked at Framework yet? Linux friendly, designed to be upgradeable and user-repairable. Definitely plan to buy a Framework for my next laptop (ideally once ram/storage prices stabilize)
Yup, I noticed wifi and bluetooth issues as well when running Linux on my Intel macbook.
RE Framework: I did check it. It looks nice, but it is American and I’m a bit wary of whether they have ties to rabidly right-wing tech bros, considering the Hyprland controversy.
Framework sponsors a lot of open source projects, the Hyprland controversy is overplayed IMO and they aren’t really worse than mainstream brands
For the M* series I haven’t noticed wifi/bluetooth issues but it’s an entirely different platform that requires a custom kernel and it has a different set of quirks. Overall the hardware is really nice aesthetically and the processing power is good, but you have to put up with Apple’s bullshit.
Arent Tuxedo, Slimbook and Novacustom just rebranded Chinese Clevo/Tongfang laptops?
I dont know about Star Labs though.
Laptop with Linux def is, they also explicitly label it as such. Novacustom’s laptops seem very similar to Laptop with Linux’s ones.
Doubt it for Tuxedo and Slimbook, though.
Tuxedo/Slimbook are 100% Clevo/Tongfang rebrands because the Tuxedo Stellaris 15 is the exact same laptop as the Slimbook Hero.
Look at the ports on the back and the vents. They’re exactly the same.
Here’s my input as someone who’s used Linux on a Macbook in the past (M2 chip Macbook Air). I’ve tried Fedora/KDE, Arch/Hyprland, and Fedora/Sway.
The Asahi project has done incredible work porting Linux to Macs, but it is nowhere near complete. Not all hardware is compatible; the Touch ID button doesn’t work and there’s been Thunderbolt issues with some models.
My biggest complaint, though? ARM. Proprietary apps on Linux don’t play nice with ARM. I’ve also heard that there are some DRM issues (i.e. with Spotify). Haven’t tested that out myself, though.
If you like Fedora/KDE and really, really, really want a Mac, you could probably get by okay, since that’s Asahi’s flagship distro and flagship DE. Personally, I had lots of issues while trying to use a non-flagship distro (Arch), but that might just be because I’m an idiot.
Also, I do recall an issue with blurriness on certain apps while using Sway/Fedora that was related to Wayland.
I’ve also heard that there are some DRM issues (i.e. with Spotify).
There’s ways to get around the DRM issues, the bigger problem is Spotify desktop app doesn’t support ARM so you need to use a web browser.
Also, I do recall an issue with blurriness on certain apps while using Sway/Fedora that was related to Wayland.
Yeah that’s a Wayland issue not an Asahi issue, Niri and xwayland-satellite hasn’t given me these problems though.
Yeah, having to use a web browser for everything is a pain, especially since my Mac was kinda low-powered.
Didn’t know that it was a Wayland issue that stuff was blurry, appreciate you telling me.
Didn’t know that it was a Wayland issue that stuff was blurry, appreciate you telling me.
This tends to happen on high-DPI monitors in general, I don’t remember what exactly the cause and workaround was but I think I had this problem in Hyprland as well
Yup Hi-DPI monitors have only been a hassle for me with Linux. Might switch to other kinds next available opportunity
Tbh you should just get a mac.
You can have privacy on them with a little less effort than on windows and they’re already decently secure. They can play cyberpunk and you already have the linux (bsd) toolkit. They’re already the kind of computer you like with the good trackpad etc.
I would drop your “be European” requirement.
