I’m moving to Linux, bye macOS

I’ve been a heavy user of Apple products for a while now (see my two previous posts mentioning it), and it’s time to leave the walled garden for more free and open source pastures.

I first requested a Linux laptop at work. They were kind enough to provide one even though my macOS machine hadn’t reach its “time to live”¹. The laptop is setup with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, and I was feeling already lighter than with the previous machine (despite the heavier hardware 🙃).

Then came the personal machine. I was daily driving a MacBook Air M3, which is compact, light, powerful and energy efficient. I’ve been eyeing on the Framework Laptop 13 for a while now and, inspired by Kev, decided to pre-order the latest generation, DIY edition. You can find my config by following this link. I went with the lowest end AMD CPU, some expansion cards, and purchased RAM and storage separately. It cost me 1380€ total.

I received it this week and the unboxing experience was very pleasant. I installed RAM and storage with ease. It’s not my first computer build, but the instructions were detailed and there were videos to help with every step. I’ve had more trouble than I’d have liked installing the screen bezel though, but it’s there now.

The result looks and feels fantastic!

There are a few things that I miss from my MacBook:

• AirDrop and Continuity: I used to be able to instantly share information between my iPhone and my computer. After switching to Fedora this seems gone — if you have workarounds, let me know!

• Fanless design: the fan turns on a bit more than I’d like — which would be never, let’s be honest.

• One hand lid opening: the lid on the Framework 13 is hard to open. The notch on the bottom part is not very deep and the hinge is strong.

• The trackpad: I’ve never met a better trackpad than on Mac laptops. The trackpad on Framework is hard to press on top.

There are a few things I prefer on Framework:

• It can run Linux

• It has hardware switches for mic and camera

• I can repair it

• It can be upgraded

All in all, I’m quite happy with his move. Installing Fedora was a breeze, everything worked out of the box. I’m not 100% sold on GNOME though, I may try a different desktop environment. I may also cover it with stickers, I’m not sure yet 😇

1. For economical and ecological reasons, the policy at OVHcloud is to keep company provided laptops at least three years and to only replace them on-demand and not automatically. ↵