To those who want LTE connectivity, I don't think you know there's a device called the Thinkpad X1 with this functionality built in.
Or is it that coding on tablets is considered "hip" these days?
If I've got LTE connectivity, I'm probably going to remote in to some other box with a lot more processing power, rather than code on a limited laptop/mobile processor.
They take it in the back to diagnose it, come back with a sad expression and tell you they need to send it in, and you can pick it up in a week. (And that's not even mentioning the fact that most Apple stores are a zoo, and you can easily spend an hour waiting for your 'Genius' appointment)
I wonder if it's possible to rent a decent Macbook though?
Life is suffering: on Razer I replaced Windows 10 with Ubuntu (which at that time wouldn’t work without long list of patches and tweaks; it’s better now with recent kernels), I hate the touch display, I would have preferred 1080p display over 4K, but at least modern Linuxes mostly do display scaling well enough. And then there is the touchpad. Which is several years behind MBP touchpad. And it’s not like it was much cheaper than the MBP.
But It runs google docs and Emacs as well as the MBP did. And has the keyboard that works. So I’m just fine.
I may in a year or two try MBP again. We’ll see.
If you fancy the newer series, the 2018 versions don't suffer from the keyboard getting stuck problems (cause Apple's clever hack). If you don't mind a portable trackpad the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 works native on Linux 4.20 [1] (which works on Ubuntu 18.10 at least) and the driver can be backported via DKMS. Fedora however has the module compiled into the kernel so you gotta recompile the kernel if you're running Fedora.
[1] https://github.com/robotrovsky/Linux-Magic-Trackpad-2-Driver
If it’s a secondary device it also doesn’t need to be as expensive, just good enough to get the basics done. E.g. you’re probably fine with i5, 8gb ram, 256 gb ssd, which in windows land means you can get an ultrabook form factor for around $1000. If you haven’t used windows in a while, get a 2-in-1 touch screen model to get the full difference in experience windows has on offer. It’s interesting to have a machine that can switch from full windowed development environment to ipad and back again with a flip of the lid. (Note that I said interesting, not flawless.)
I have to use Windows a fair amount, and it's a very painful UI.
It really wasn’t that much extra, and it’s a no-brainer when you consider how valuable all the lost time from a multi-week replacement.
This is on the one side a nice hacking challange, on the other side it should document the software gap, Apple needs to address. If Apple would just offer a Unix sandbox app - like Termux - I would upgrade to the latest and greatest iPad pro in a second.
APPLE - are you listening? There is easy revenue to pick up, just in case you are looking for extra revenue.
Also, the laptop will get location/gps capabilities, which you do not get with tethered phone.
Cut out the condescending tone, please.
If I want a device with LTE connectivity build-in there are options out there such as my smartphone (USB-OTG, BT, WLAN), a USB stick, or a so-called MiFi (mobile WiFi). The latter is essentially a portable LTE modem utilizing WLAN so any client supporting WLAN can connect with it to the internet.
It feels no different from using my MBP at a desk, really, and it’s handy to have it when I’m out running errands and such.