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Comment by alexhutcheson | Hacker News Reader

I recently ordered a Lenovo X1 Carbon at a steep discount ($830 for Gen 8 w/ 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD). I felt great about it when I ordered it, but now I'm agonizing over whether to cancel and get an M1 MacBook Air instead. I'll probably be using the laptop for 4-5 years, and I'm concerned that anything with a current-gen Intel chip is going to feel like "legacy tech" for most of that time.

Amazing how the M1 has changed the landscape. If the MacBook Air could handle 2 external displays, I probably wouldn't even hesitate.

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I own a Carbon X1 and it's one of my favorite laptops ever. I work exclusively on Linux, and detest Apple and the Walled Garden strategy in all their consumer products. That strategy is ridiculous for developer-related product, and I dislike that MacOS is hard to customize compared to Linux.

I would still cancel and order an M1 instead. It's that impressive of an upgrade.

Yeah, I feel the same. I'm about to buy a Thinkpad T14 AMD Pro 4750U and I know that the M1 is superior, but in the end I've never been interested in Apple gear, and I don't feel like changing that viewpoint now. I'm waving the white flag, but I'm not crossing sides.

Hopefully we'll start seeing Intel / AMD chips that can compete with the M1. Otherwise, I might buy an M1 laptop and run Linux on it.

My workstation will still be Linux, however for a laptop, the new Macbook Air is the new favorite.

As much as I detest Apple's business strategies, this is a remarkable achievement for them. Never thought I'd buy another Apple laptop.

Same. I was about to order a X1, then the new Apple machines hit and switched to an M1 Air. Just the battery life itself is a good enough reason.

I say that as someone who has been very critical of Apple for the last 5 years too. Looks like they care about their laptops again.

Linux works great on X1 Carbons, not so much on new Apple machines. Keep the X1 if you care about that.

Also the next gen Carbons are supposed to have a 16:10 screen.

I actually prefer Windows w/ WSL2 on my laptops rather than a bare-metal Linux install. It adds a bit of friction, but in return I never have any issue with external displays, sleep/wake, OS upgrades, etc.

> Also the next gen Carbons are supposed to have a 16:10 screen.

Yeah, a taller screen and Tiger Lake processors will probably be a significant improvement. However, I think they'll probably sell for close to "list price" when they are released (so $1500+ for a decent configuration). The build quality is a bargain at $830, not so much at $1500.

$830 is a great deal at those specs.

I thought about the X1 Carbon, but the aspect ratio was a turn off for me. Even though it is 14 inch, somehow, I feel I get more usable space with Macs. I am waiting for the 14 inch though since I also plan to keep it for 4-5 years.

Wow how did you get it that cheap?

At that price I wouldn’t worry about it becoming obsolete I would just wait 2-3 years for either another round of Mac updates or a Thinkpad with more modern chip

Public price was $999[1], which stacked with a discount available through my employer.

I suspect they're trying to clear stock of the Gen 8, which faces tough competition from the M1 MacBook Air, the new Dell XPS 13 (with 11th gen Tiger Lake chips), and the upcoming X1 Carbon Gen 9 (also presumably with Tiger Lake chips).

[1] https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x1/X1..., specific model I ordered is "Temporarily Unavailable" on the far right.

You can use display link adapters if necessary, or get a super ultra wide. My air is pushing 5120x1440 @ 120hz on my 49 inch super ultrawide and doesn't stress at all.

I would say your opportunity cost is higher w the Mac but really I would just want 2 laptops in 3 years

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