Welp, it appears the battery on my 2019 #Apple #MacBook is giving up the ghost, & the Apple Store tells me Apple won't source a replacement for a box this old. (Because of course not.)
Far as I know the box is still useable—as long as it's tethered to the wall.
A new one wouldn't be unmanageably expensive, but <weary sigh>
(Yes, yes, I know, #Linux, but that's not a straightforward conversion. I'm already exploring that option.) 1/2
——WHAT!? Actual •function keys!?!?• (I hate MacBook Pro's touchbar with the heat of a thousand suns)
This...looks possibly not un-viable.
"AI" options: #CrushItWithARock
Does it have on-board storage? (If so, how much? What I'm seeing suggests that it's All Cloud, All The Time, which is a non-starter.)
Also, I've heard the Liquid Glass roundly panned for CPU consumption & accessibility badness.
Now that I'm thinking about it...I think I wound up with a touchbar because that was the only model that came with four ports.... <sigh>
It's also been 7 years since I bought this thing, so the options may have changed.
If they've dispensed with the touchbar, that would actually be wonderful. As I say, I hate it passionately.
<rant>Doesn't add value, can't operate by touch, & I'm constantly "activating" shit I don't want because it covers the part of the case where I rest my fingers when I'm thinking. Also requires •two• touches, one to activate & a second to Do The Thing. Really, wtf, guys?? </rant>
But they are still actual physical keys?
Yeah, having multimodal keys does sound like it could be useful.
It's also encouraging that they've learned The Error Of Their Ways.
(Oh yeah: 'nother thing: the default config was not the same if you have multiple user accounts on your MacBook. Took 3 hours on the line with Apple Care to get them to behave the same; agent had to escalate the question because the default for the Primary account was hidden in some obscure option tree 🤦)
Cavyherd
Knut 🏳️🌈 🇳🇴🧸