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Comment by l5870uoo9y | Hacker News Reader

I originally bought my MacBook Air M1 just as a transitional computer because my old, incredibly expensive Intel MacBook Pro had been stolen, and I was waiting for a newer MacBook Pro model. But I grew so fond of the Air that I couldn't bring myself to part with it again. It's lightweight, has incredible performance (more powerful than the most powerful Intel-based Pros), the battery lasts a long time, the keyboard is comfortable, and the design is more curved than the Pro (and the newer Air models), which means it doesn't dig into your wrists.

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I've owned an M1 Pro since its release and it's still going strong. I was going to see how long I could run it for. My bet was that by staying on Sequoia and/or installing Linux, I could run it for a ridiculous amount of time. I've met developers in the past with 12 year old Macbooks.

But due to personal circumstances, my previous employer and I mutually agreed to part ways. I was gifted my work laptop, a Macbook Pro M4. So I will (un)fortunately never get to run the M1 Pro into the ground like I planned to.

The M1s are fantastic. If you have the 16GB model, I have no doubt that you will still be using it in several years. If Mac OS gets sluggish, Linux can be installed on it (I installed Debian Asahi on an M1 Mac Mini).

Me too, base model M1 Pro from 2021 still runs like a dream.

I feel like I'm only gonna get pushed off this thing from software support being dropped.

Thirded. My sole regret is only getting 16GB of RAM.

I just replaced a battery on a mid 2012 retina macbook pro and set it up for my kids to use and I was amazed and how much it does basically everything just fine, which for them means playing videos and some light gaming. screen looks great still, keyboard is actually a bit nicer than the current one with a bit more travel. Speakers are terrible though.

I was in the same boat with an M1 Pro I loved, but the display on mine died, and a replacement is about £800, which is bonkers. So now it's tethered to the monitor on my desk.

If the display died, it'd make a pretty good homelab server.

Despite all the sound and fury online, Golden Gate will also run just fine on the M1. They're barely less powerful than the current Neo - and usually have more RAM.

These laptops have a lot of life in them yet.

you can send me your M1 and I'll run it to the ground and let you know how much it lasts xD

No worries mate, what's your address, credit card details, and SSN?

One of the things of an M1 Pro I depend a lot on is fingerprint reader (ie TouchID) and sadly that won't work on Asahi or any such distro on a mac. That's one reason I've not tried it again. Because I just come back to it (I am also used to keeping kinda long mac passwords).

Aslo, when I parted ways with my last employer I was given this 16GB piece as a temp laptop and the 32GB Pro (iirc M2 or M3) was in repair (sound issues). The "parting" happened during the repair. The IT helpfully suggested if I want they could delay all that if I don't sign the F&F settlement (great team; good to okay company). But I just wanted to get done with all that. I regret it though – I could certainly live without that mac's speaker working, but living with 32GB and local models isn't that nice :D

If that m1 today came out as a 12” retina MacBook (2lb) it would be the first Apple product I’d ever line up for.

Neo is way too bulky/heavy.

I keep looking to see if there’s something better than my m1 air 13”. Even this post had me looking. But the m1 is “triple” the multicore speed of an 11th gen intel in a 12” Lenovo. And almost double the battery life with no active cooling. Luckily I ordered 16 gigs of ram. Should have ordered 256gb storage but I can live with it.

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