From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:27:32 -0400, -hh wrote:

FYI, there's new reports this week about hardware shortages hitting
Apple,
including on the mini (I assume select configurations?) so I'd not delay
too long on any contemplated purchases .. its IMO likely to get worse
before better, and I'd guess that some of it could be because Apple
generally resists changing product prices.

<https://www.cultofmac.com/news/apple-pulls-high-end-mac-mini-mac-studio-models-sale>



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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On 2026-04-13 2:26 a.m., RonB wrote:

On 2026-04-11, CrudeSausage <[email protected]> wrote:

On 2026-04-11 1:17 p.m., RonB wrote:

On 2026-04-11, CrudeSausage <[email protected]> wrote:

<snips>

It is indeed annoying, but you get used to it. All I can tell you for
sure is that on this MacBook Air M4, even though I have half the RAM of >>>> my Zephyrus G14 (16GB vs 32GB), a processor that is only supposed to be >>>> around 50% faster (M4 vs 5900HS), and an NVMe which has been benchmarked >>>> to be around the same, the system is consistently snappy. Whether in
Windows or in Linux, the PC is obviously fast. However, there are
moments in the day where it might have a few delays here and there. On >>>> the Mac, I have yet to experience this. It is a beautiful machine that I >>>> do not regret buying. It truly showcases how brilliant Apple's move to >>>> their own architecture was.

The best part was when I asked the guy who was selling it for way less >>>> than he would get on eBay whether there was a warranty left. He
scrambled to check and then confirmed that 3 years of total coverage had >>>> been purchased from the very beginning. His work bought it for him (and >>>> since replaced it with a MacBook Pro), so he was obviously not aware of >>>> the details. I'm basically good to go with this thing all the way to
August of 2028.

I didn't realize you had bought a new (to you) Mac.

I always enjoy buying computers when I feel that they are good deals.
$800 CAD for a pristine condition M4 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and with
a warranty until 2028 seemed difficult to pass up. Even if my main
computer were to die right now, I enjoy knowing that I have a fantastic
backup in the Mac... or I could just use them for different purposes.

I like messing with different machines also, but they almost just run Linux. (Lot of variety in Linux).

Congratulations. I
thought you were using the older Intel one.

I had some fun with it, but it was mostly an accidental purchase that I
hope my son will have fun playing with eventually.

I've got a 2014 MacBook Air that I never use and the Mac Mini (2012) is used occasionally for testing something related to screenwriting. Emacs (with Fountain-Mode, Trelby (trying to figure how to get it working right on a Mac), Beat (kind of a Highland clone that uses Fountain files — reason why I
wanted to try a Mac), Fade In and ScriptThing for DOS under DOSBox-X (works well on the Mac), Writer Solo and a few others. I don't think I've turned on the MacBook Air in about five months. Should probably charge it.

I guess I wasn't paying
attention. At some point (fairly soon) I'm going to getting my wife a Mac >>> Mini 4 (or 5). A lot of people are telling her (for what's she doing) a Mac >>> would work better than her Windows 11 PC. I may be asking for advice when >>> that time comes. I like Linux, so won't be moving away from it. (Unlike her,
however, I'm not producing AI ads and advertising — or building websites.)

As for your "new" MacBook Air it sounds like you got a good deal. Does it >>> allow you to play games?

I tried Civilization 7 on it, but it wasn't as smooth as it is on my
older gaming laptop with discrete GPU. It's definitely playable, or it
can at least be configured to be a passable experience, but I prefer it
on a gaming machine. I'm going to exclusively play 2D side-scrollers on
it instead. Those are usually my favourite type of game anyway and they
run fine on the Mac.

I've heard of Civilization (probably saw the original one being played at some point). Didn't know they were up to version 7. I don't know what "2D side-scrollers" are. I assume 2D game that are more the old style arcade games.

Civilization just keeps getting better with each version, but people
will always say that the 4 was better than the 5 or that the 6th was
better than the seventh. I find that they are all very strong titles. As
for 2D side-scrollers, it is exactly what you think it is: a game where
the graphics aren't 3D and where the screen scrolls from one side to the other.

What does your wife think of the Mac? I'll be
honest, if I had to choose between Windows or a Mac, I would go with the >>> Mac. (Fortunately I don't have to make that choice.)

My wife doesn't care about technology at all. She told me so this
morning. She told me that she is content using her 2020 MSI until she dies.

My wife is mostly that way. But people have telling her she needs a Mac for her line of work — so we'll probably getting one. I figure she run Mac Mini and her Windows 11 PC on the same monitor and just switch back and forth.

At any rate, she has an iPhone, an iPad and an Apple Watch. So she's already bought into the ecosystem. Like a lot of people, she's not thrilled with Windows 11.

I wasn't sold on the Mac, but there is no denying that Apple does a
better job with its products than anyone else does. It's easy to join
teir club.
--
CrudeSausage
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On 2026-04-13 10:27 a.m., -hh wrote:

On 4/11/26 17:09, CrudeSausage wrote:

On 2026-04-11 1:17 p.m., RonB wrote:

On 2026-04-11, CrudeSausage <[email protected]> wrote:

<snips>

It is indeed annoying, but you get used to it. All I can tell you for
sure is that on this MacBook Air M4, even though I have half the RAM of >>>> my Zephyrus G14 (16GB vs 32GB), a processor that is only supposed to be >>>> around 50% faster (M4 vs 5900HS), and an NVMe which has been
benchmarked
to be around the same, the system is consistently snappy. Whether in
Windows or in Linux, the PC is obviously fast. However, there are
moments in the day where it might have a few delays here and there. On >>>> the Mac, I have yet to experience this. It is a beautiful machine
that I
do not regret buying. It truly showcases how brilliant Apple's move to >>>> their own architecture was.

The best part was when I asked the guy who was selling it for way less >>>> than he would get on eBay whether there was a warranty left. He
scrambled to check and then confirmed that 3 years of total coverage
had
been purchased from the very beginning. His work bought it for him (and >>>> since replaced it with a MacBook Pro), so he was obviously not aware of >>>> the details. I'm basically good to go with this thing all the way to
August of 2028.

I didn't realize you had bought a new (to you) Mac.

I always enjoy buying computers when I feel that they are good deals.
$800 CAD for a pristine condition M4 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and
with a warranty until 2028 seemed difficult to pass up. Even if my
main computer were to die right now, I enjoy knowing that I have a
fantastic backup in the Mac... or I could just use them for different
purposes.

That does sound like a good deal.  Nice.

The best part is that I thoroughly enjoy using the machine. I know that
when I lift the lid, it will wake as expected within a second. I also
know that putting it to sleep won't drain the battery as it does on
Modern Standby devices. I'm not too happy about the small amount of
storage in 256GB, but I never use that much anyway.

< snip unrelated >
--
CrudeSausage
M4 Air
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On 2026-04-14, CrudeSausage <[email protected]> wrote:

On 2026-04-13 2:26 a.m., RonB wrote:

On 2026-04-11, CrudeSausage <[email protected]> wrote:

On 2026-04-11 1:17 p.m., RonB wrote:

On 2026-04-11, CrudeSausage <[email protected]> wrote:

<snips>

It is indeed annoying, but you get used to it. All I can tell you for >>>>> sure is that on this MacBook Air M4, even though I have half the RAM of >>>>> my Zephyrus G14 (16GB vs 32GB), a processor that is only supposed to be >>>>> around 50% faster (M4 vs 5900HS), and an NVMe which has been benchmarked >>>>> to be around the same, the system is consistently snappy. Whether in >>>>> Windows or in Linux, the PC is obviously fast. However, there are
moments in the day where it might have a few delays here and there. On >>>>> the Mac, I have yet to experience this. It is a beautiful machine that I >>>>> do not regret buying. It truly showcases how brilliant Apple's move to >>>>> their own architecture was.

The best part was when I asked the guy who was selling it for way less >>>>> than he would get on eBay whether there was a warranty left. He
scrambled to check and then confirmed that 3 years of total coverage had >>>>> been purchased from the very beginning. His work bought it for him (and >>>>> since replaced it with a MacBook Pro), so he was obviously not aware of >>>>> the details. I'm basically good to go with this thing all the way to >>>>> August of 2028.

I didn't realize you had bought a new (to you) Mac.

I always enjoy buying computers when I feel that they are good deals.
$800 CAD for a pristine condition M4 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and with
a warranty until 2028 seemed difficult to pass up. Even if my main
computer were to die right now, I enjoy knowing that I have a fantastic
backup in the Mac... or I could just use them for different purposes.

I like messing with different machines also, but they almost just run Linux. >> (Lot of variety in Linux).

Congratulations. I
thought you were using the older Intel one.

I had some fun with it, but it was mostly an accidental purchase that I
hope my son will have fun playing with eventually.

I've got a 2014 MacBook Air that I never use and the Mac Mini (2012) is used >> occasionally for testing something related to screenwriting. Emacs (with
Fountain-Mode, Trelby (trying to figure how to get it working right on a
Mac), Beat (kind of a Highland clone that uses Fountain files — reason why I
wanted to try a Mac), Fade In and ScriptThing for DOS under DOSBox-X (works >> well on the Mac), Writer Solo and a few others. I don't think I've turned on >> the MacBook Air in about five months. Should probably charge it.

I guess I wasn't paying
attention. At some point (fairly soon) I'm going to getting my wife a Mac >>>> Mini 4 (or 5). A lot of people are telling her (for what's she doing) a Mac
would work better than her Windows 11 PC. I may be asking for advice when >>>> that time comes. I like Linux, so won't be moving away from it. (Unlike her,
however, I'm not producing AI ads and advertising — or building websites.)

As for your "new" MacBook Air it sounds like you got a good deal. Does it >>>> allow you to play games?

I tried Civilization 7 on it, but it wasn't as smooth as it is on my
older gaming laptop with discrete GPU. It's definitely playable, or it
can at least be configured to be a passable experience, but I prefer it
on a gaming machine. I'm going to exclusively play 2D side-scrollers on
it instead. Those are usually my favourite type of game anyway and they
run fine on the Mac.

I've heard of Civilization (probably saw the original one being played at
some point). Didn't know they were up to version 7. I don't know what "2D
side-scrollers" are. I assume 2D game that are more the old style arcade
games.

Civilization just keeps getting better with each version, but people
will always say that the 4 was better than the 5 or that the 6th was
better than the seventh. I find that they are all very strong titles. As
for 2D side-scrollers, it is exactly what you think it is: a game where
the graphics aren't 3D and where the screen scrolls from one side to the other.

I may have watched my kids playing Civilization a little. I can't remember. This one of I've definitely heard about — but I've never played it.

What does your wife think of the Mac? I'll be
honest, if I had to choose between Windows or a Mac, I would go with the >>>> Mac. (Fortunately I don't have to make that choice.)

My wife doesn't care about technology at all. She told me so this
morning. She told me that she is content using her 2020 MSI until she dies. >>

My wife is mostly that way. But people have telling her she needs a Mac for >> her line of work — so we'll probably getting one. I figure she run Mac Mini
and her Windows 11 PC on the same monitor and just switch back and forth.

At any rate, she has an iPhone, an iPad and an Apple Watch. So she's already >> bought into the ecosystem. Like a lot of people, she's not thrilled with
Windows 11.

I wasn't sold on the Mac, but there is no denying that Apple does a
better job with its products than anyone else does. It's easy to join
teir club.

Apple has figured out that they don't have to be high end to sell computers. It looks like they're now coming out with a $300 Mac Mini Neo. It supposedly will use the iPhone 17 Pro CPU, an A19 Pro. (Not supposed to arrive until 2027.)

https://gagadget.com/en/705146-apples-upcoming-mac-neo-a-300-mini-pc-with-a19-pro-chipset-and-vibrant-colors/
--
Not all Jews are Zionists. Not all Zionists are Jews. Zionism ≠ Judaism.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:03:45 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

Apple has figured out that they don't have to be high end to sell
computers.
It looks like they're now coming out with a $300 Mac Mini Neo. It
supposedly will use the iPhone 17 Pro CPU, an A19 Pro. (Not supposed to arrive until 2027.)

https://gagadget.com/en/705146-apples-upcoming-mac-neo-a-300-mini-pc-

with-a19-pro-chipset-and-vibrant-colors/


<https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-raises-prices-on-surface-pcs-due-to-skyrocketing-ram-costs-181648588.html>

I've never seen the Surface as a particularly attractive option but at over $1000 for the low end model it's not in the game.
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