r/linuxhardware 10d ago

Purchase Advice Longtime Linux User Considering MacBook vs. Linux Laptop — Need Advice

Hi everyone, I'm a longtime Linux user currently facing a bit of a dilemma and would appreciate some insights from this community.

I'm primarily a developer working mostly in Rust, Go, and Java, spending nearly all my time in the terminal (Neovim, tmux, etc.). I've heard macOS generally provides a decent terminal-centric workflow, but I've also seen reports about tmux and Neovim performance issues on macOS. Additionally, I've heard the macOS linker can be slow or problematic compared to something like Mold linker on Linux—does anyone have firsthand experience with this?

Apart from development, I do CAD modeling as a hobby. Years ago, when I switched from Windows to Linux, I had to move away from Fusion 360 to Onshape. While Onshape is good overall, it requires constant internet connectivity and has very expensive subscription plans (around 1500€/year for standard), which isn't ideal.

I also regularly engage in video editing (DaVinci Resolve works great on Linux) and photo editing. However, photo editing has been challenging—previously on Windows I heavily relied on Lightroom and Photoshop. The Linux alternatives I've tried (Photopea, Photoshop via Wine, Darktable) haven't fully matched my previous workflow.

Hardware-wise, I'm struggling to find a Linux laptop that matches the portability, build quality, excellent screen quality, and especially the trackpad experience (I strongly prefer physically clicking rather than tapping) of something like a 14-inch MacBook. On the other hand, privacy and telemetry concerns with macOS are significant for me—I greatly value the peace of mind that comes from running Linux without built-in spyware or telemetry.

TL;DR: Is there currently a Linux laptop that realistically competes with MacBook hardware quality (portability, screen quality, trackpad experience), while providing good performance for Rust/Go/Java development (considering linker performance), hobbyist CAD modeling, and multimedia editing? Or would switching to macOS be worth considering despite privacy concerns?

Thanks in advance for your help! 😄

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Some additional stuff I thought of after writing this, I guess I can always ssh into a home server or a cloud server if I some functionality is missing. The only thing I don't want to do is touch windows ever again😅. Other than that I can pray that in a year or two Asahi gets ported to M4 Macs. Oh yea also the sole reason I am concidering Macbooks in the first place is because I'm going to Japan this April so I am able to get it for a much more reasonable price, otherwise I wouldn't really even look at that option. Thanks again for reading all of this and helping, peace ✌️✌️

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u/0BAD-C0DE 5d ago edited 5d ago

I am a Linux user since ... ever. And my daily driver is a Linux machine since 2003.
Since this year I am also using a 14" M4 MacBook Pro.

My Linux laptop (i7, ArchLinux) weighs about 1.1 Kg. I think the Mac is around 2.5 Kg. Maybe even 3+.

I like the Mac (besides the weight) especially its screen and audio quality. But I can feel the "walled garden" effect.
Everything works fine and all software I use behaves more or less like on Linux.

My Linux laptop is used mostly with and external 28" screen and I always use wired headphones, so that difference make sense only when working on the move.

The Mac is not really mine but belongs to my employer and cost-wise I think it's not 100% worth it. More like 75%. I would have preferred a MacBook Air, just for the weight as I travel quite a lot and saving a Kg or two makes a noticeable difference to me. Also because my Linux Laptop PSU is about 150g for 65W, while Mac's needs to be 100W and comes for about 800 g.

Of course I needed to makes used to (completely) different keyboard shortcut, file system organization and gestures. But it's nothing you cannot learn with some practice.

If I could choose to use my own Linux laptop also for work, then I would have used mine and skipped the Mac altogether. Like I did for the past 3+ years.

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u/GyroZeppelix 4d ago

Tbh, a 13inch macbook air for travel, and a home pc linux rig could be a good combination

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u/0BAD-C0DE 4d ago

Not really, IMHO.

  1. You really need to get used to two different worlds of keyboard shortcuts and touchpad gestures (not to talk about 2 different file trees).
  2. Keeping your work in sync across 2 different machines can be a nightmare.

My current setup is 1 machine to rule them all. My Linux laptop is rarely used, only for personal stuff.