I still have a Thinkpad for my primary laptop, but using a mac with retina, 5-10hr batt life, and a nice touchpad for work is such a joy compared to a 1080p matte screen with 3hr battery life.
I mean, there is a wide range of products here. If we're comparing anecdotes, I have a personal MBA with a TN panel with less than 1080p screen, and crappy built-in webcam. But it is not fair to compare it to another laptop I use which was designed and manufactured later.
Keep in mind that battery life is not just about hw, and requires careful tuning of the OS. However, the OP is talking about running linux on it, so the batt life will definitely NOT be as good as running MacOS.
Apple devices always have been usually quite attractive, but currently, there is no better ARM hardware for the end user available. A lot of people would like to use some other cpu than x86 and on top of that the M1 is currently perhaps the most attractive notebook cpu.
Is the Mac laptop ID significantly different than other laptops, e.g. PixelBook Go? I have a MBA, and was super surprised at how think it was compared to my Pixelbook. I would say that Apple laptop ID nothing special, and is lacking things like a touchscreen, etc.
I would say that M1 has good performance ON MAC SOFTWARE, which has been tuned for it (and vice versa). It is unknown if linux will perform as well on it.
The PixelBook is closer, sure - though still not as great when it comes to, say, the trackpad. Apple also still has a near-monopoly on amazing screens. These might seem inconsequential when you scan them on a list, but the entire package really adds up.
Anyway, with that all said, the thread in question is about vendors who explicitly support Linux, which is a very different story. If I had to pick anything in that realm that I'm excited about, it's... maybe Purism's upcoming Librem 14, mostly due to them trying to do something custom. Relies on them actually shipping it, tho.
I remain surprised that System76 hasn't done more towards a non-rebranded laptop shell. I really like their desktop offerings, but I've no need for a desktop in my life.
I'm pretty sure System76 would really love to design an build macbook level laptops with M1 level chips, but how the hell are they ever supposed to get there?
It took Apple, what, 13 years from the iPhone to the M1, surfing on the wave of success of the iPhone.
There isn't even a processor vendor that is capable of supplying them an M1 level chip.
I didn't say that System76 needs to pump out an M1-comparable laptop off the bat.
In fact, my comment specifically notes "non-rebranded laptop shell" as that would go a long way to turning around the cheap feeling they currently have.
Yes, sorry, I was getting ahead of myself, mixing in the M1 stuff.
But my point still stands: it's hard for them to do their own design with the numbers they sell. They started with desktops, because it's easier to do them custom. I hope they will be able to grow into being able to do custom laptops as well.
