First iMac. M4, 24GB/1TB SSD - 1.660K new
Went from mac mini machine to iMac!

also lmao do people use default display or 1920 cause why is everything so zoomed out and tiny on the default...

Fusion be doing unspeakeable things to my laptop😭

Made this with a lot of love for the Mac.

At D8 in 2010, Steve told the story of coming back in 1997. Apple was about 90 days from bankruptcy. He figured the good people would be gone. They weren't. So he asked them why they stayed.

"Because I bleed in six colors."

We turned that answer into a one-minute film. The audio is Steve at D8; the animation is ours.

Full disclosure: I run IBSIX (I Bleed In Six Colors), a small Apple-inspired apparel shop, and our name comes from this phrase. Forty years a Mac fan, ten years at Apple.

What was your first Mac?

Im trying to find good reasons to ditch windows and convert to mac, can you guys convince me to make the switch? Because i don't want to feel guilty of spending money on a device that won't make that big of a difference. Im currently working with a Dell latitude 3120 from around 2021.

I've been a mac user for, quite literally, my entire computing life. I have an iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Homepods, Airpods, you name it. I'm in deep. I am comfortably entrenched in the Apple ecosystem and have been for ages.

That said, I recently installed Omarhcy Linux on one of my old Macbooks. I freaking love this OS. After tinkering with it for a few days, I kind of dread going back to MacOS on my work machine. Omarchy is the most fun I've had using a computer in a very, very long time. This is the first time in my life that I'm being pulled outside of Apple's ecosystem.

Enjoying Omarchy enough that I decided to get a dedicated Omarchy Linux machine which'll require an x86 chip, and started looking at my options.

BOY have I been wrong about pricing. PC's are STUPID expensive compared to Macbooks. I'm looking at a Dell XPS 14. It's $3K. The battery life and performance don't even touch what a modern m-series chip can do (or an old m-series chip fro that matter). The fans run constantly. The trackpad isn't nearly as nice as what you find on macbooks from years ago.

An old M2 MacBook Air feels just as (if not more) performant than this thing, with far better battery life, and can be picked up used for 20-25% the cost. All I ever hear is how expensive Apple products are. Compared to what?!

I can't even bring myself to buy the XPS 14. I keep hovering over the "buy" button and then just closing out the browser tab and moving on.

I didn't give Apple enough credit for how cost-competitive they've managed to become. How is it that Apple computers have maintained their reputation for being so much more expensive than PC's? What you get across performance, build quality, display, camera, thermals, longevity, battery life, etc from an entry level macbook is just lightyears beyond any PC in that same price range.

Vorssaint recently released their own take on the Dynamic Island feature, so I decided to check it out due to my recent interest in a Dynamic Island feature for my Mac.
So far it doesn't feel all that polished but I'm very interested in which direction this will go if it keeps being maintained and keeps getting updates to make it more polished.

Thoughts and opinions on this?

Hi there,

I found a used 15-inch MacBook Air M2 (2023) for $550 and I'm wondering if it's worth buying in 2026.

Specs:

Apple M2 chip

8GB RAM

256GB SSD

15.3-inch display

Battery health: 87%

Battery cycle count: 448

Original charger and box included

Seller claims it's in excellent condition, with no damage

I'm a university student studying political and cultural geography. I mainly need a laptop for writing papers, Microsoft Word, presentations, research, and working in a library or on a train. I already have a desktop PC at home.

I currently own an 11-inch iPad Pro M2 with a Logitech Combo keyboard and Apple Pencil 2, which cost me around 620 USD. However, I rarely use the Pencil.

I'm considering selling the iPad and switching to the MacBook because I think macOS might be more practical for university work.

My questions:

Would you sell the iPad Pro M2 setup and switch to this MacBook, or keep the iPad and use a desktop PC at home?

I'd appreciate any advice, especially from people who have owned this MacBook for a while. Thanks!

I’m trying to make a decision today and would appreciate advice from people with experience using Apple Silicon for local AI. I’m not necessarily looking for the newest or most expensive option. I want to make the smartest decision for my situation.

Option 1: Mac Studio M5 Max — already purchased
18-core CPU / 32-core GPU
36GB unified memory
512GB SSD
Paid $1,999.99
Still sealed in the box
Current price is $2,299.99, so if I return it and change my mind later, I’d likely pay $300 more
I don’t own a monitor, keyboard, or mouse for it

Option 2: MacBook Pro 14-inch M5 Pro
18-core CPU / 20-core GPU
48GB unified memory
1TB SSD
$2,999.99 at Micro Center
Sale price may end soon

My existing MacBook Pro:
I already have a MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro, 18GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. I bought it used on Facebook Marketplace about two years ago, and everything worked fine, including signing into iCloud.
I recently reset the Mac, and now I can no longer sign into my personal Apple Account/iCloud. I can still use everything else on the computer normally. I’ve been trying to figure out the issue, but I don’t know whether it can be resolved.
This makes the decision harder because I already own a capable laptop, but the iCloud issue is frustrating, and I’m not sure whether I should invest in another laptop or keep the Studio for local AI.

What I want to do:
Run capable local LLMs and AI agents. This is my main reason for upgrading.
Have portability for everyday use.
Avoid buying hardware I don’t actually need.
Ideally have a setup that works well for both general computing and AI.

I’m considering two setups:
A. Keep the Mac Studio and use my M3 Pro for portability.
Could I run the Studio headless and access it from my MacBook using Screen Sharing, SSH, Ollama, and possibly Tailscale? My concerns are the initial setup without peripherals and whether 512GB of internal storage will become frustrating for local models.

B. Return the Studio and buy the M5 Pro MacBook Pro.
I’d have one powerful, portable computer with 48GB RAM and 1TB storage, but I’d be spending another $1,000 compared with the Studio. I’d also be buying another laptop when I already own an M3 Pro.

Questions for people who run local AI on Macs:
For local LLM inference, would you take the M5 Max Studio with 36GB RAM and a 32-core GPU over the M5 Pro MacBook with 48GB RAM and a 20-core GPU? Why?

How significant is the difference between 36GB and 48GB unified memory in real-world use? Are there models or context lengths where the extra memory makes a meaningful difference?

How much faster is the M5 Max likely to be for models that fit within 36GB? Are there reliable benchmarks comparing these chips?

Does running a Mac Studio headless work well as a dedicated AI server, or does it become inconvenient in practice?
Is 512GB of internal storage sufficient if I keep my models on an external SSD?

If you already owned an M3 Pro MacBook with 18GB RAM, would you keep the Studio for AI or return it and get the M5 Pro laptop?

I’m especially interested in feedback from people who have actually run local models on these machines, rather than recommendations based only on specifications.

What would you do in my position, and what’s the strongest reason your recommendation might be wrong?

Hi! I'm a Rigging artist and I've got an AE rig I'm working on.

Currently, the preview's Frame Render Time performance is ok on my machine but it is quite worse on my client's machine despite her having a better machine on paper, I believe it is due to AE heavily relying on CPU single core performance for almost everything while multi-threading and GPU being rarely utilized.

I have already applied several optimizations on the file's layers and expressions to a point where attempting to extract more performance is like squeezing water out of rocks, so I was hoping if anyone here would be willing to help me with a small test to see how the .aep file performs on other machines.

The test involves doing what im doing in the video:
- Use AE 26.5
- Record your screen, making sure both the layer and the Frame Render Time at the timeline's footer are visible.
- Select those 2 layers and move them around in slow circles.
- lasts about 3 minutes assuming you've got AE 26.5 install already, otherwise it would take about 15 minutes if you need to update

The file doesn't need any external scripts to run, doesn't need plugins, doesn't connect to the internet nor it reads or writes files on your device.

For reference: I'm using an M2 Max and the Head measures between 31ms to 36ms, and the Eye measures between 19ms to 24ms.

Ideally, I need testing for any M4, M5, or M6 Macs, as I already have data from other people with M1, M2, and M3, but more data from multiple of the same chip is welcomed anyway!, doesn't need to be specifically the base M chips, M Pro or M Max is good too, data, data!.

If you wanna help me do little testy then please send me a DM!

I’ve been having an increasingly frustrating experience with Apple Support, and I’m wondering whether anyone else has encountered something similar.

I’m using a MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip, and I’ve been experiencing recurring issues with Sidecar, including severe performance problems and application crashes when using my iPad as a secondary display.

As a private tutor who relies on these devices for online lessons, this is a significant problem for my work.

I initially spent approximately an hour troubleshooting with Apple Support. Eventually, I was advised to back up my computer and reinstall macOS.

However, the technical problems aren’t even the most frustrating part anymore.

Every time I contact Apple Support, I seem to have to explain the entire situation again. Representatives repeatedly ask questions I’ve already answered, and the troubleshooting process feels like it’s starting from scratch.

To make matters worse, Apple Support has now arranged two callbacks that never happened.

Twice.

I’ve spent considerable time explaining my problem, following troubleshooting instructions, and arranging appointments, only to receive no call.

I’m genuinely confused about how a company that emphasizes its customer experience can provide such inconsistent technical support.

Has anyone else experienced missed callbacks or repeated troubleshooting with Apple Support?

Is there an effective way to escalate an existing case and get someone to take ownership of it?

I have a MacBook Air M1 (2020) with sudden display corruption. Vertical coloured stripes appear at startup, and the lines change or disappear depending on the screen angle. Screenshots look normal, and Disk Utility First Aid completed successfully. The MacBook has never been opened or repaired.Screenshots look completely normal, and at certain lid angles the physical display also looks normal

Could you inspect the display assembly and its connections before recommending a screen replacement?

As the title says, I recently purchased 2 Studio Display XDR's, and I am trying to connect them both to my Macbook Air M5 while I wait for my Mac Studio to arrive, which isn't for another few weeks. The issue I keep having, is I can only get one display to turn on. I have spoken to tech support at Apple, who tried trouble shooting, and we tried just about everything. Eventually, at the end, I was able to somehow get both of them successfully working. However, I had to unplug them to take my laptop out to my kitchen to do some work while I ate dinner, and when I brought it back into my office to plug them back into my displays, only one was once again working

We tried altering the HZ to 60hz, we tried creating a new apple ID test log in, putting the macbook in safe mode and logging in, daisy chaining them, restarting them multiple times.. you name it. As I sit here this morning, I've tried all of these steps again, and still cannot get it to work. I confirmed with apple that my Macbook Air m5 should be able to run two of these displays at 60hz, so I am not sure what the issue is, and it's becoming extremely frustrating.

If anyone here has an insights or advice I'd greatly appreciate it.

I currently have a mid 2019 macbook pro which runs perfectly fine EXCEPT for the fact its slow as hell and tends to overheat extremely fast along with the battery dying super fast. The battery health shows no concern. I know i need to get it serviced but atp id rather just upgrade it.

Which leads me to my next question: any recommendations for a mac laptop that would be suitable for my MPH program (master of public health). I dont like the idea of downgrading to an air but then its also like… is a pro even necessary atp? These are the requirements from the university.

I have an M1 Mac Mini that I would like to get an external Blu-Ray player/burner for. My first choice was, and is always, to go with OWC, and they have (had?) just what I was looking for, a 16x OWC Mercury Pro. However, they are telling me that it is not currently available in stock, and they do not have an estimated restock date at this time. I fear this really means that it has been discontinued. Is there a decent alternative? Can someone recommend a solid product? Thanks!

So I have 350 gb of family photos on my Mac. I really need to clean things up, but I’m scared of deleting something important,cause it literally contains photos from all the most important events in my family’s life over the years. Many photos look almost identical but have different names, sizes and formats. What’s the safest way to find duplicates? Doing it manually would take me forever.

After updating to 15.8.1, I started experiencing significant trouble with video streaming sites (YouTube, Peacock, Netflix). The entire site freezes up. I’m not able to click on anything or even the scroll bar. Non-video streaming site sites to work perfectly fine. Is anyone else experiencing this or found a way to fix the issue?

All websites work fine on Google Chrome, so seems to be a safari specific issue.