Apple has a memory problem and we’re all paying for it::Apple still sells expensive “Pro” computers with just 8GB of RAM and charges a fortune for more.
I buy and use Macbook Pros for work (web dev), and I do look at specs. And yeah, 8GB is ridiculous and the upgrade prices are absurd. Amazingly good machine, though.
I’m in a similar position but reversed. I’ve worked in various levels of support, almost always on Microsoft systems.
My home setup for automation, streaming media and containered apps is Linux. For personal everyday use I use a MacBook Air.
I’m in the Apple ecosystem because it just works, I don’t have to tinker like I do with Linux, or fix some random new bug or issue like on Windows.
I will say, in 5ish years when my Air starts to lag I’ll probably replace MacOS with Linux and rock that until I absolutely have to replace the hardware. Then hopefully the Framework type setups have grown and I’ll be able to go with something like that.
in 5ish years when my Air starts to lag
Or next year when you have literally any sort of hardware issue that Apple refuses to fix, or allow anyone else to fix, and tells you “tough shit, buy a new one”.
It’s always a possibility of a hardware issue but I take that risk with any piece of equipment. My experience with my Apple products has been great! Obviously everybody’s experiences are different.
My first Apple computer, a 2011 MacBook Pro, is still running and used regularly by my niece and nephews. The few times I’ve needed Genius Bar help on hardware it’s been fixed or replaced free of charge.
Totally get that some people haven’t been as lucky and don’t like Apple or their products.
I’ve been having a bitch of a time with getting Plex and home assistant running properly on this old windows machine I picked up for $35 last week. Maybe I should create a Linux partition and give it a go.
the machine is 13 years old (Inspiron 3647) and only ha 6gb of ram and I keep running into memory capacity issues (I’ve also got a weird issue where, whenever I turn on my VPN I lose my internet connection). I’ve already spent another $30 putting an SSD in there and I’m not keen on spending another $20 on ram. I’m betting Ubuntu would run better than Win 10. What do you think?
My experience is that it does run better however, depending on your media file types and player, plus if you’re sharing externally, memory is important.
Most of my content is in a format all of our playback devices can use so no transcoding typically but I share externally with extended family. I upgraded from an old OptiPlex running Windows with 16gb of RAM to an Asus Mini computer to reduce power consumption and have a better processor to support more streams.
No matter which OS you use, I’d recommend running in containers.
