kitovMar 20
Jeff Geerling
What's the best laptop Apple ever made? For me, the 11" Air. Let me know, then also hear what @ActionRetro, @thisdoesnotcomp, @mrmacintosh, Computer Clan, @mac84tv, and @branchus had to say this #MARCHintosh! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpPIrmZB828
Mar 20 at 2:02pmWeb
Show threadoscarfalconMar 20

@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus

For me: first the Powerbook 180, then the Powerbook Duo 2300, and for a while after it was the Titanium PowerbookG4, loved that thing... After that the M4 MacBookPro 16"

Show threadJeff GeerlingMar 20
@oscarfalcon @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus The first laptop I owned was a 180c! I used that thing until every part of it died off (used for a while with a broken display and an external CRT)
Show threadoscarfalconMar 20

@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus

My first "laptop" Mac was a Macintosh Portable, heavy and slow but great for the time tbh (no backlight on mine)-loved the blue carry case/suitcase.

Yeah those models, tended to fall apart in stages: first the little back flap that covered the ports, then the ring that held the trackball in place, then the legs and then the hinges...but It was a beast for the time, I hauled all 4 kilos of it around for ages...

Show threadBurak GürsoyMar 20
@geerlingguy I get irritated by any Mac older than an M2 inside. I certainly hate the absolutely useless tiny trackpad in those as well.
Show threadFishdMar 20

@geerlingguy 12" Macbook ... no doubt.

Replace that terrible Intel chip with an M-series and give it at least 2 Thunderbolt ports and I'm sold.

Show threadNilsMar 20
@Fishd They'll probably sell you a laptop with two TB ports, too little RAM and an unusable amount of storage, starting at two grand.
Show threadFishdMar 20

@n That's a given... however, I've a number of laptops at the moment (both personally owned and from work) and in my opinion nothing, I mean nothing comes close to an M series MacBook.

I wish it did, I want to move to linux on a laptop as I'm growing more and more displeased with Apple as a company... but I'm finding linux and x86 hardware too slow, too unstable, too little battery life and the day to day usability of the OS is just not up there with macOS, despite all of macOS's many, many flaws.

Show threadNilsMar 20
@Fishd Yeah, the battery life is kinda magical. :D
Show threadDave Lightbeam5d ago
@Fishd @geerlingguy kinda feel like the Neo is the spiritual successor to that a bit !
Show threadKowanturesMar 20
@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus but aren't the current 13“ Airs actually smaller than the 11“ Airs from back then? 😅
Show threadJeff GeerlingMar 20
@kowantures Not quite; and a TON thicker at the the front
Show threadKowanturesMar 20
@geerlingguy I miss the M1 too 😉
Show threadAlessandroMar 20
@geerlingguy best? I don’t have experience enough (really a G4 iBook and a Core Duo Macbook) but the best looking one is there in your pictures, in all of its tangeriness glory.
Show threadNilsMar 20
@geerlingguy Clearly this is the best Apple laptop. Still has 2011's best indie games on it.
Of course the plastic broke shortly after I bought it in 2007.
Show threadJeff GeerlingMar 20
@n The poor plastics on those things were just not up to snuff
Show threadMontyOnTheRun5d ago
@geerlingguy @n I actually think those are built like tanks! The only plastics broken on mine are on the top of the lid.
Show threadStephenMar 20

@geerlingguy

I loved my mid-2009 Macbook pro. Maybe not the best, but an important computer to me.

Show threadJeff GeerlingMar 20
@Avendor My sister used one for a good while; finally gave up booting, both RAM slots are dead :(
Show threadStephenMar 20

@geerlingguy sad day.

Mine originally came with 2GB of RAM which eventually got upgraded to 8GB and a 160GB hard drive which I think now has a 120GB SSD. The unibody build was huge at the time.

Show threadAaron Sawdey, Ph.D.Mar 20
@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus In it's day, the 12" G4 was a very nice little machine.
Show threadJon SchwennMar 20

@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus

So many clamshells 🥹

I wanted one back in the day but couldn’t really afford one. Now, it’s impossible to find one without cracks for a reasonable price 😞

The answer though for the best (non apple silicon) laptop is the 2015 MBP. I still use mine to manage my retro lab network and jrouter for GlobalTalk.

Show threadBen LambMar 20
@geerlingguy It's the one in my lap right now, my corporate 16" M4 max in ~ space black ~ . Especially since i didn't have to pay for it! ANd it's nice to be back to a black laptop. I still miss my old snow leopard blackbook. The silver is just too much
Show threadOfficeplantMar 20
@geerlingguy it might be a bit early to state it, but my new Neo feels like a leap forward in affordably quality laptop that I cant deny. Its smaller than even my Thinkpad x250 in reality and even manages to fit in my 11in Thinkpad Netbook sling bag I got with a previous machine.
Show threadMicheal Mar 20
@mrmacintosh @branchus @ActionRetro @mac84tv @geerlingguy @thisdoesnotcomp I'm still using a 2013 Macbook Air 11in daily, replaced the battery, fans, heatsink and nvme over the years and it keeps chugging along as a web/terminal machine.

Thanks to OpenCore Legacy Patcher it's running modern MacOS and dual boots with OpenBSD.

I'm planning to use it until the wheels fall off.
Show threadJeff GeerlingMar 21
@micheal nice!
Show threadJust… Josh Mar 20
@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus For me it is the 13 inch Macbook Pro from 2011. It has all the necessary ports along with the superdrive. Most importantly, it is the last Macbook to natively run Mac OSX Snow Leopard.
Show threadarmerpunktMar 20

@geerlingguy I still use my mid-2012 11” Macbook Air as my laptop (though it is running Linux now). I got one of those adapters so I could use a standard M.2 SATA drive so have plenty of storage. I just wish I could upgrade the WiFi, but the only adapter I found was for a later generation and it didn’t fit.

2nd favorite is the G3 Pismo. Such a beautiful looking design and the fact you could lift out the keyboard to replace parts was cool.

Show threadFalk SternMar 20
@geerlingguy There were many great machines. PowerBook 1400c, where you could stick a G3 in the processor slot, the „Pismo“ PowerBook, 12“ PowerBook G4..
Show threadEric de Redelijkheid Mar 20

@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus For me it is my current Air M3.

Moving from Windows to Mac last year was the best decision I made. At the time the 11'' Air came out, I was still hauling what I would call 'pavement tiles' around

Show threadLudovic :Firefox: :FreeBSD:Mar 20
@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus apple IIc
Show threadAndiS 🌞🍷🇪🇺Mar 20
Best, the last 12" PowerBook revision. Most beautiful, the original iBook in Key Lime.

CC: @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
Show threadTonyMar 20

@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus

I loved my 12" PowerBook for the form factor and keyboard. Powerful, it was not. And the screen was incredibly dim compared to other systems like the MacBook and MacBook Pros that released 2 years later. But it survived college and was a great machine.

Show threadAndrew WilliamsMar 20

@geerlingguy

My 12" Powerbook G4. The first Mac I purchased with my own money, and I used it to death. Now resurrected with a new SSD, the battery is toast, the backlight is dodgy, but nostalgia keeps me loving this system. #marchintosh

Show threadJeff GeerlingMar 21
@nikdoof nice background too!
Show threadGary Mar 21

@nikdoof @geerlingguy fancy! 😎

Even with educational discount at the time I couldn’t afford the shiny G4 and had to settle for the white G3 iBook. It was, sadly, stolen but I had some adventures with it 😀

Show threadThomas Bosboom ✅5d ago
@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus The PowerBook G3 where you could swap the DVD drive for a second battery - up to 10 hr Battery in 2000 was wild.
Show threadMontyOnTheRun5d ago

@geerlingguy

I'm with Jeff on this one - love my Air 2017 - the keyboard is not as good as others, but works very well.

As for historically significant, I would go with the A1181

BTW, Jeff, why don't you move the dock to the side of the screen?

Show threadadacosta4d ago
@geerlingguy @ActionRetro @thisdoesnotcomp @mrmacintosh @mac84tv @branchus From design perspective, I gotta say, the PowerBook Titanium. I remember vividly seeing it in magazines and shows such as TechTV back in the early 2000's. Such a sleek design for the era! Matched with OS X it left all #Windows laptops in the dust.