Hacker News Reader

Comment by seba_dos1 | Hacker News Reader

My gf uses mid-2012 MBP 13, which we upgraded with SSD and 16GB RAM. If it ever fails, there're simply no Macs for her on the market that it could be replaced with and I don't see her going back to Windows - which means I'll probably have to setup a GNU/Linux working environment for her and to make sure Wine runs her Photoshop version well.

Alternatively we may try to get another mid-2012 MBP, as having a Mac around is good when I have to build and test macOS and iOS ports of my software. I can't see us buying any newer MBP, it doesn't make any sense economically.

View on HN

> If it ever fails, there're simply no Macs for her on the market that it could be replaced with and I don't see her going back to Windows - which means I'll probably have to setup a GNU/Linux working environment for her and to make sure Wine runs her Photoshop version well.

Out of curiosity, does your gf actually need a unix based OS? If she uses Photoshop daily and otherwise doesn't do any work that benefits from Linux - why not just use Windows?

She strongly prefers macOS to Windows, so I just assume it will be easier to configure some GNU/Linux DE to feel somewhat familiar. Plus both of us haven't used Windows for many years now, while she knows macOS, and I know Unix in general quite well.

Also, if I can avoid having Windows running on our home network that's a bonus point for me ;)

Why can't she just use a newer MBP 13? Is it because you don't like the anti-consumer build, or does she have an objection of her own?

Basically, for a consumer (non-business, non-gamer) who just needs a laptop that works, running software they are familiar with, I don't see a reason to avoid new Macs.

I understand that the anti-consumer builds are annoying. But, for a non-tech-geek who will likely never upgrade internals, what does it matter?

She had an objection on her own, earlier I wasn't even aware that Macs were so bad since 2012 - I thought it was just a few most recent models. She already upgraded some of the internals earlier (well, had a service point to do it for her). I think she has even chosen this model especially due to non-unibody construction, as already some newer ones were available when she bought it (and it's not her first Mac) - we haven't knew each other back then.

I don't see how upgradability is a geek-only matter. Sure, most people don't do it themselves - they go to the service point and have the replacement done for them. They absolutely do upgrade though - sometimes you get to the point where everything is sluggish, and money don't grow on trees. Plus of course there's a whole environmental impact to consider.

It's actually geeks that have to have the latest and greatest, from what I can see. Most people I know don't replace their phones until it's broken, while Apple geeks always sell their iPhones whenever a new one comes out.

I used to upgrade my laptops and desktops, but these days, the hardware is mostly fast enough that for home use, I haven't seen the need. I just buy them maxed out, use for 5-10 years, and replace. By that time, monitors have gotten better, ports have changed, or there's some other compelling reason to upgrade.

Is there even any MBP 13 with more than 16GB RAM available yet?

There's a multitude of things that are wrong with new MBs, not just the lack of upgradability.

No doubt, but I find that true of many laptops. Dell had the webcam mounted on the bottom of the monitor, so friends/family got to stare up my nose. Others aren't reliable. Some are made with flimsy feeling plastics. Plus, there's the whole Windows 10 problem (I dislike it, I hate that it spams me with ads, don't trust Microsoft - not that I implicitly trust Apple, I just distrust them less than MS).

>and to make sure Wine runs her Photoshop version well.

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing

Actually, if you use playonlinux to broker your wine installations, it does a pretty good job making sure any dependancies are installed. They fully support CS4 and CS6 - https://www.playonlinux.com/en/supported_apps-6-0.html

CS6 is from 2012.

And by fully support do the mean clone stamp overlays, smooth zoom, basically anything that requires graphic acceleration?

AFAIK Photoshop uses OpenGL, so graphics acceleration is probably one of the easiest things to get working on Wine.

If that’s all I needed was the occasional way to build and test iOS apps, as much as I would would hate it, I might buy a Mac Mini. On the other hand, I might get a low end iMac.

I genuinely had no idea Apple was still selling the Mac Mini.

Unfortunately it was nerfed in late 2014 by going to 15W CPU's. No more real quad-core i7's...

While I agree with you, it would probably be good enough for light IOS work.

> Unfortunately it was nerfed in late 2014 by going to 15W CPU's. No more real quad-core i7's...

Hilarious since it is a giant chunk of aluminium, more than eight times the size of a typical 35W NUC-type machine, and has a fan.

the last update to it (3 years ago) was borderline insulting, the model before had a removable base where you could upgrade the ram yourself. The last update they did placed a metal sheet in this area. https://i.imgur.com/TXocZ4d.jpg

Reply on news.ycombinator.com