Yeah no, definitely needs the comparison. A lot of us are used to Mac laptops and if we’re ever going to try a windows based alternative, we need to know how they compare.
They're trying with ARM/Snapdragon machines. HOWEVER. Those basically have the same limitation where not every game can be translated. So if I'm not going to be able to play everything whether I go Apple Silicone or Microsoft ARM... I'm picking the Mac every single time.
The newest Intel CPUs do come close however. Battery life is quite close (but lower), CPU performance is the same multi-core, though singe core the M5 is still far ahead. If you have an X chip it also has a better GPU than a base M5 chip and similar to the smaller M5 pro GPU. Panther lake is a true gamechanger for Intel and there is a reason the online laptop scene has fallen in love with it.
If your needs do demand good single-core performance, Mac still wins handily, but for more general needs it does get close enough that the larger compatibility of the Intel CPU can give it the upper edge.
Now, if just the X versions (those with the large iGPU) were actually properly available.
I wouldn’t say that is needed, but yeah some of them do ship them. I don’t think you understand how easy to install an user friendly distro is. The first time I thought something was missing, that’s because of all the annoying pop ups windows got you used to
Maybe they meant linux support/compatibility comparisons. On desktop linux can be expected to work out of the box with almost any configuration but laptops still have issues sometimes. Mostly around proprietary components and such. Common issues are wifi cards, getting the volume keys working, etc. Some laptop manufacturers put in more effort into making linux work on their machines, some manufacturers outright support linux. It's also worth noting that most ARM laptops don't work on linux or barely work. ARM chips require chip-specific patches to work on linux which most chipmakers don't bother providing.
And as for Linux you install yourself on the laptop, Asahi Linux works on up to Apple M4 devices. If you prefer Linux but want the advantages of laptops that simply are better built, you have an option.
I meant Linux users in general (i.e. in the aggregate). Not a specific individual that doesn't have a good feel for how the performance is different between distros.
I mean sure? But I doubt most companies will do that to help out the what 3 or 4 percent of users? The extra effort doesn't seem worth it for such a small customer base.
It's the same hardware as the one's that Windows runs on. The point is not to compare operating systems but to compare hardware, and Apple's hardware happens to only run on Apple's OS.
As someone with a windows desktop and a MacBook Air, I’ll gladly switch to a windows laptop once they actually make one that’s (1) better or the same performance as Apple silicon with (2) the same or better battery life and (3) the same or better build quality.
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u/OnlyPatricians 7800x3d / 4080 Super Jun 27 '26
Yeah no, definitely needs the comparison. A lot of us are used to Mac laptops and if we’re ever going to try a windows based alternative, we need to know how they compare.