Malte EngelerJan 15

Dear Linux people,

I want to get a descently modern (used) Macbook and have it run Linux with as much of the build-in hardware being supported (WiFi, webcam, speakers, ports etc).

What MacBook and what Distro would you recommend?

Thx 🙏

Edit: I was thinking not older than 2015/2018 hardware. I like the design of that era. Apple Silicon era is probably too expensive for what I plan.

Show threadtanteJan 15
@malteengeler is your plan to _only_ run Linux or to dual boot? Because if you want to actually go for linux other hardware would make things a lot easier.
Show threadMalte EngelerJan 15
@tante other hardware makes me want to throw the laptop out I fear. But yes, I see what you mean. Still ... a MacBook Air over everything built for windows any day of the week.
Show threadtanteJan 15
@malteengeler the thing is: A lot of the hardware benefits that you get from Apple's ecosystem (think battery runtime) will not materialize with Linux on Mac.
I have tried it a few years ago and for me it was a bit too fiddly TBH.
Show threadMalte EngelerJan 15
@tante ok that good to know thx.
Show threadtante
@malteengeler a used t14s thinkpad for example is not much heavier than a macbook air but works out of the box.
Jan 15 at 10:33pmWeb
Show threadMalte EngelerJan 15
@tante 🙏
Show threadtanteJan 15
@malteengeler (I am not sponsored, I just have been using thinkpads for literal decades now so I am a bit biased. Advantage is that those machines are used by corporations and when they upgrade lots of them get sold for cheap)
Show threadfellmoon 🏴Jan 15
@tante @malteengeler I've literally yesterday gifted a refurbished T14s to someone and it's probably lighter then my x280 which I dailydrive.
Refurbished thinkpads are probably the best value, you can get for linux.
Show threadDavid CulleyJan 16

@tante @malteengeler The HP EliteBook 845 is also very good. Roughly equivalent to the Thinkpad T14. Unlike Thinkpads, however, its case is made of aluminium, so it might look more like a MacBook. Maybe that is close enough for you, despite explicitly requiring a MacBook.

The current generation of the 845 is the G11, but a much better deal is looking for the G8 from 2021 on the refurbished market. You can get a refurbished 845 G8 that looks like new for 350 EUR.

The G7 would be 50 EUR or so less.

As for a Linux distribution, that depends on how well you know Linux already. I would probably suggest Fedora or Pop!OS for the average macOS user, without knowing your use case.

Avoid Ubuntu, that's broken since the latest version.

Dead-simple distributions with absolute beginners and computer newbies in mind would be Mint or Elementary.