Thinking About My Next Laptop, Phone and Tablet

My laptop is a 2020 13" M1 MacBook Pro. The thing is 6 years old, but it's still running great. I have no intention of replacing it anytime soon if I can help it. Lately though, looking at Apple and Tim Cook cozying up to Donald Trump, combined with how well Linux Mint has been running on my desktop, my stretch of Apple laptops might be coming to an end.

I've been using an Apple laptop since around 2005 when I got a used iBook G4. I fell in love with OSX and the Apple laptops. I got the first generation MacBook Pro using Intel's chip. I upgraded in 2010, 2015, and 2020. I love the hardware, the operating system and the general ease of use. I even had a 27" iMac for a little while. I am very much hooked into the Apple ecosystem as well with an iPhone 14 Pro, Apple Watch, iPad Pro, and 2 Apple TVs. Needless to say, I am very much reliant upon Apple hardware, and to a lesser extent, services.

So what's made me consider this rather noteworthy change?

One is how easy I was able to get Linux Mint running on my desktop with everything I need for gaming and dev work. I've been a fan of Linux since I started playing around with it in college. At some points though it sometimes felt like I had to fiddle too much to get things to work well enough. Now, with my experience with my desktop and anecdotal stories across my social feeds and blogs I read, it seems that it's gotten better. I know I had to do some fiddling with Linux Mint, especially for gaming, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I remember it being 20 or so years ago.

A second is more political. I try to put my money where my mouth is. While I don't always have the option to always do this, I try when I can to either limit or cease spending money with companies or services whose values clash too much with mine. It's not always possible and I sometimes fail, but it's still something I try to do. Seeing Tim Cook in the Oval Office kissing up to Trump by offering him a trophy sickened me. Seeing Tim Cook do nothing when the richest man in the world made a CSAM generator and charged for it, while at the same time banning apps like ICE Block is just so maddening. Now I know we're living under an authoritarian regime where CEOs have to have a balancing act to not piss off "Cheeto Jesus", and pay him protection money, but it amazes me how little of a spine Tim Cook has.

Another reason, though less significant, is Apple's move to Liquid Glass, and what I'm concerned that might signify. I have the latest iOS and iPadOS installed and while I don't hate Liquid Glass, I don't like it either. It is. That's probably the best I can say about it. The UI has definitely taken a step backward. I haven't had to deal with this yet on my MacBook Pro because I prefer to stay a year behind on MacOS updates and this is definitely not an exception. Sequoia is fine by me. It runs well, it runs smoothly and I can't find anything in Tahoe that gives me any reason to update. This is definitely a much less important consideration in migrating away from Apple, but I'm not sure what that means for their interface design going forward. I've noticed a lot of questionable design choices I couldn't imagine seeing 10 years ago from Apple.

What About My Phone, Watch & Tablet

It's been a long time since I've used anything other than an iPhone. I went from the iPhone 6 to the 8, to the 12 Pro, and now the 14 Pro. I know Apple has their own issues with ads and tracking, but I "trust" them more than Google.

For my phone, when it comes time to upgrade, I'll probably look into GrapheneOS on a Pixel phone. Whether I make that jump is still up for debate, but given the little I've read so far, it seems like a solid option.

My Apple Watch? I find it useful, but I'd be fine getting a basic Garmin watch to track my runs and bike rides, and just get a nice analog watch. Would save me some money too.

The iPad, that's the tough one. I'd probably stick with it, though all I really use it for is writing, doodling, and reading my RSS feeds and digital magazines. I see myself replacing this last, assuming I do.

What Would I Miss

I think the primary thing I would miss would be some of the Apple-specific apps I use, which at this point, really is only two. Things for my to-do list, and iA Writer for my longer-form writing (yes I know iA Writer has a Windows version, but if I leave Apple, it will be to Linux, not Windows). Writing it down though, feels funny as the two apps are both, well, not entirely "unique". There are plenty of todo apps out there, many can run on Linux. And a Markdown editor? Well, it's really just plain text. I just like the iA Writer simplistic experience.

A more secondary thing would probably be the hardware. The trackpad on the Macs I've had has always been leaps and bounds better than anything I've ever used on a Windows laptop. I've also been somewhat concerned about how long Windows laptops hold up performance-wise. I've had great luck with my MacBooks having long lifespans. With Linux, I'm not nearly as concerned about it. I can always go with a less-memory intensive desktop environment like XFCE.

No Rush

Thankfully, there's not really a rush right now (knock on wood) for me to make up my mind. I'm not on the market right now, and maybe Apple will reverse course some. Nothing has been decided and I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Given recent events, and thinking about my technology use, it's made me wonder what direction I want to go, what hardware and operating systems I want to use when my current devices bite the dust.