6 ms·

My new M1 Macbook Air arrived today. The excitement was quickly replaced by sober frustration. Yes apple did a remarkable job with the M1, no they've still los

by j-pb 6y ago

My new M1 Macbook Air arrived today. The excitement was quickly replaced by sober frustration. Yes apple did a remarkable job with the M1, no they've still lost their mojo when it comes to high quality software. I've spend the last 3 hours trying the wipe and reinstall the thing, because their non-virgin-os migration assistant is simply unreliable. So far, I've had issues where the fused Data/OS drive would just split apart, with no clear way on how to properly format the drive back to an installable state. Disk utility giving no indication whatsoever on which level of nested APFS concepts a wipe should even occur. And with absurd error messages like "can't install MacOs, no admin user found" - 'yeah no shit', during install. I really really really wanna like this machine, but MacOs is stuck in this limbo of not wanting to give you any control, yet not taking over those functions for you, so you constantly have to guess what's doable and expected. Update: Right now I'm trying to reinstall Mac Os via a bootable USB drive, which is actually what's recommended by apple support. (hello mid 2000s) This is basically my last option, before having to bring it into an apple store. The previous method apple recommended involved downloading Big Sur via the command line, which didn't work for me, becaue curl failed to write to disk. I mean, how do you even manage to break curl... Feels just as much work as setting up a linux laptop... Final update: Yep, it's dead jim. Apple support suspects a hardware failure. Back to the store you go. I'm gonna spend that money on 4 DevTerm and a box full of beer. cheers

btilly 6y ago
You have demonstrated exactly why I don't care how fast the M1 runs, I'm not buying Apple hardware. Not until I start hearing that they have done something about their long quality slide. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25238688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25238688 for the last time that I expressed this opinion on HN.
- jakeva 6y ago
  Comments like these always make me wonder if I'm the only person in the world still delighted by Apple products. I mean I alone can not be responsible for their sales volume. And then I start to wonder if I should be more critical of Apple, so I fire up my Windows machine and think silently "No, this is still a worse experience". So I fire up my Ubuntu and have the same reaction. I just don't understand the vitriol some people have for Apple, to me it is hands down always the better platform.
  - j-pb 6y ago
    Better doesn't mean good. Currently I'm waiting for the beachball of death when trying to get into the boot volume selection menu. I think this mac is bricked...
    - jakeva 6y ago
      Ok, well let me add that I do find it good. I never seem to have the problems people complain about. I don't know why, so I'm always baffled by all the complaints.
  - skrtskrt 6y ago
    Mac always works great for me, the hardware (post keyboard fix or pre keyboard problems) is good, so I stick with it. For 95% of users, Mac just works with the exception of how MS Office programs can be pretty meh on Mac. I have tried Linux machines at work and at home, and I appreciate the open values of Linux, but I think it's few years before touchpads and multi-screen graphics are really as slick and reliable as Mac for everyone not just HN power users. The tinkerer in me will buy a Linux machine eventually, but I have tendency to tinker instead of getting things done, which prevents me from going Linux at the moment. Mac OS just works, feels, and looks good by default and gets out of my way. I am also waiting to see how the next couple of years of CPU wars plays out before committing to a Linux laptop like a ThinkPad with all that stuff soldered in place. Can't see myself ever going back to Windows which I grew up with. Windows 10 just looks and feels and acts miserable.
  - bjoli 6y ago
    I have had too many issues that were too complicated to solve. Add to that weird hardware issues (the touch-ic debacle hit me and apple was shitty about it, 2 failed SATA cables (WTF!!) and the apple store wanted to charge me $500 and burn my data. What was the chip that magically became desoldered in newer macbooks? I had that. Apple fixed it not by resoldering, but by putting a rubber thing on the chip that made the chassi push it in place. For that they 1. deleted all my data and 2. claimed warranty didn't cover it. I ended up having to go through the Swedish consumer agency. I think they make decent stuff but are quite possibly the worst company I have ever dealt with. I will never buy an apple product ever again. It was like an abusive relationship.
outworlder 6y ago
> I've spend the last 3 hours trying the wipe and reinstall the thing, because their non-virgin-os migration assistant is simply unreliable Did you try the migration assistant before nuking the machine? Maybe it didn't work for you in the past, is this still the case? I mean, you have taken a perfectly usable system and decided to wipe and reinstall from scratch. That's not a normal user experience. Most users are NOT going to wipe a brand new machine. Should anything break, they will reinstall from a Time Machine backup. Or, worst case, they will Command + R on boot and reinstall from remote recovery. Why isn't that an option? This can hardly be blamed on Apple. Before messing with the system, one should be prepared to spend time bringing it back up, including any mistakes made along the way. Last time I wiped a Windows 10 machine I had even more problems than that - made worse because Windows recovery is borderline useless (and can't install the OS from the internet). But hey, I knew what I was signing up for.
JoshTko 6y ago
I got a M1 Mac mini and had zero issues migrating from a 6 year old macbook pro.
andor 6y ago
I mean, how do you even manage to break curl... Depending on where you tried to write to, you might need to grant "Full Disk Access" permission to your Terminal app.
- j-pb 6y ago
  It was failing after ~20%. No permission issue.
valuearb 6y ago
I'm shocked that Apple hardware isn't 100% failure proof, like Dell, HP, Lenova, Surface, etc. I wonder which of those brands has the highest customer satisfaction?
- j-pb 6y ago
  Yeah but with those brands I could factory reset the bios and called it a day, or worst case popped the lid and pushed the nvme ssd back into place. I don't think it's hardware but a controller firmware issue.

by j-pb 6y ago

btilly 6y ago

You have demonstrated exactly why I don't care how fast the M1 runs, I'm not buying Apple hardware. Not until I start hearing that they have done something about their long quality slide. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25238688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25238688 for the last time that I expressed this opinion on HN.

jakeva 6y ago
Comments like these always make me wonder if I'm the only person in the world still delighted by Apple products. I mean I alone can not be responsible for their sales volume. And then I start to wonder if I should be more critical of Apple, so I fire up my Windows machine and think silently "No, this is still a worse experience". So I fire up my Ubuntu and have the same reaction. I just don't understand the vitriol some people have for Apple, to me it is hands down always the better platform.
- j-pb 6y ago
  Better doesn't mean good. Currently I'm waiting for the beachball of death when trying to get into the boot volume selection menu. I think this mac is bricked...
  - jakeva 6y ago
    Ok, well let me add that I do find it good. I never seem to have the problems people complain about. I don't know why, so I'm always baffled by all the complaints.
- skrtskrt 6y ago
  Mac always works great for me, the hardware (post keyboard fix or pre keyboard problems) is good, so I stick with it. For 95% of users, Mac just works with the exception of how MS Office programs can be pretty meh on Mac. I have tried Linux machines at work and at home, and I appreciate the open values of Linux, but I think it's few years before touchpads and multi-screen graphics are really as slick and reliable as Mac for everyone not just HN power users. The tinkerer in me will buy a Linux machine eventually, but I have tendency to tinker instead of getting things done, which prevents me from going Linux at the moment. Mac OS just works, feels, and looks good by default and gets out of my way. I am also waiting to see how the next couple of years of CPU wars plays out before committing to a Linux laptop like a ThinkPad with all that stuff soldered in place. Can't see myself ever going back to Windows which I grew up with. Windows 10 just looks and feels and acts miserable.
- bjoli 6y ago
  I have had too many issues that were too complicated to solve. Add to that weird hardware issues (the touch-ic debacle hit me and apple was shitty about it, 2 failed SATA cables (WTF!!) and the apple store wanted to charge me $500 and burn my data. What was the chip that magically became desoldered in newer macbooks? I had that. Apple fixed it not by resoldering, but by putting a rubber thing on the chip that made the chassi push it in place. For that they 1. deleted all my data and 2. claimed warranty didn't cover it. I ended up having to go through the Swedish consumer agency. I think they make decent stuff but are quite possibly the worst company I have ever dealt with. I will never buy an apple product ever again. It was like an abusive relationship.

outworlder 6y ago

> I've spend the last 3 hours trying the wipe and reinstall the thing, because their non-virgin-os migration assistant is simply unreliable Did you try the migration assistant before nuking the machine? Maybe it didn't work for you in the past, is this still the case? I mean, you have taken a perfectly usable system and decided to wipe and reinstall from scratch. That's not a normal user experience. Most users are NOT going to wipe a brand new machine. Should anything break, they will reinstall from a Time Machine backup. Or, worst case, they will Command + R on boot and reinstall from remote recovery. Why isn't that an option? This can hardly be blamed on Apple. Before messing with the system, one should be prepared to spend time bringing it back up, including any mistakes made along the way. Last time I wiped a Windows 10 machine I had even more problems than that - made worse because Windows recovery is borderline useless (and can't install the OS from the internet). But hey, I knew what I was signing up for.

JoshTko 6y ago

I got a M1 Mac mini and had zero issues migrating from a 6 year old macbook pro.

andor 6y ago

I mean, how do you even manage to break curl... Depending on where you tried to write to, you might need to grant "Full Disk Access" permission to your Terminal app.

j-pb 6y ago
It was failing after ~20%. No permission issue.

valuearb 6y ago

I'm shocked that Apple hardware isn't 100% failure proof, like Dell, HP, Lenova, Surface, etc. I wonder which of those brands has the highest customer satisfaction?

j-pb 6y ago
Yeah but with those brands I could factory reset the bios and called it a day, or worst case popped the lid and pushed the nvme ssd back into place. I don't think it's hardware but a controller firmware issue.