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I remember using hard disk drive sounds for disk usage and or capacitor noises to debug issues. But, I really like the MacBook Air M1 because its so quiet and i

I remember using hard disk drive sounds for disk usage and or capacitor noises to debug issues. But, I really like the MacBook Air M1 because its so quiet and it helps me concentrate much better and if you are talking to others or recording a talk it is silent. The other thing is that it has no moving parts so it should be very durable.

philistine 5y ago
I use one too and there are still some moving parts. The keyboard keys, the speakers, the display hinge and the Taptic Engine. Those are the parts I'm looking at intently as the ones that will fail on me, especially the hinge.
- zitterbewegung 5y ago
  The most likely thing to break on a computer is the fan itself. Apple has revised the display hinge and the keys have been redesigned. I don't know of any reports of the Speakers breaking or a Taptic Engine (other than people using Bootcamp on Intel MacBook Pros but that isn't an option anymore) but since there is no long term data on all of those components the only thing that I would question would be the redesigned hinge and the keyboard.
  - tomxor 5y ago
    Annecdata: I've never had a desktop or laptop fan fail on me, and I'm the kind of person who keeps them for a decade. Spinning HDDs (Toshiba bearings), keyboards and hinges on the other hand have all failed on me multiple times, in macs. but the fans kept going. The keyboards were the last thing to fail in the 2009 design, they last about 10 years. Also while were at it, mechanical failure isn't always the biggest concern these days, Apple has had nVidia GPU issues (soldier and fab issues) in the past where they ended up underclocking them in a firmware patch in order to push failures out of warrantee.
    - monsieurbanana 5y ago
      I bought a cheap M1 Air model (only the ram is upgraded to 16gb) at $1030 Apple-refurbished. My intent is to try and sell it a bit before the 1 year mark. For some of the reasons you mentioned (specially the last paragraph), but also the battery and the general non-reparability. It almost feels like a consumable item, compared to my previous Thinkpad. Here's the thing: all the other laptops I was looking at cost at least twice the price. High-end Thinkpads, my second choice, almost 3 times. All of the sudden Apple became the budget choice for my use case. In one year hopefully when I sell this one there will be competitors to the M1 chip (or maybe the M1X?), and I'll have more options.
      - zitterbewegung 5y ago
        M1 is a complete SOC and discrete nvidia graphics from nvidia were so bad that Apple switched to AMD permanently.
        tomxor 5y ago
        That was just one example, one that affected me and millions of others. There are also plenty of other chip level failures in newer apple hardware as quite well documented by Louis Rossmann. Not all GPU/CPU issues either, there are many other chips that go wrong due to cheap component choices. The GPU issues were both nVidia's _and_ Apple's fault due to assembly with low quality unleaded solder. In either case their attitude to customers was unforgivable, they replaced old broken boards with new broken boards until people just gave up or were pushed out of warrantee... and for the masses that couldn't be bothered to go through the pain of browbeating an Apple store employee into submission - they got firmware patches to push it out of warrantee. Component failure, solid state or otherwise is not unique to Apple and is an inevitability, it will happen again - complete disrespect for their users by continually lying to their face on the other hand... That is something Apple is uniquely skilled at.
      - NathanielK 5y ago
        > Here's the thing: all the other laptops I was looking at cost at least twice the price. High-end Thinkpads, my second choice, almost 3 times. It shouldn't be this way, but most of the big enterprise retailers have ridiculous sticker prices. Unlike Apple, volume buyers get steep discounts, and individuals are expected to wait for a discount. Ask around online and you'll find it's fairly simple to get fancy Thinkpads for half-off.
idonotknowwhy 5y ago
I used to use capacitor noises too when i was younger. I could tell other devs when builds were finished by hearing the high pitched noise stop. At the time i thought i could hear the cpu but recently learned it was the capacitors lol
- piyh 5y ago
  Inductor coils? I haven't heard of capacitors creating noise before.

philistine 5y ago

I use one too and there are still some moving parts. The keyboard keys, the speakers, the display hinge and the Taptic Engine. Those are the parts I'm looking at intently as the ones that will fail on me, especially the hinge.

zitterbewegung 5y ago
The most likely thing to break on a computer is the fan itself. Apple has revised the display hinge and the keys have been redesigned. I don't know of any reports of the Speakers breaking or a Taptic Engine (other than people using Bootcamp on Intel MacBook Pros but that isn't an option anymore) but since there is no long term data on all of those components the only thing that I would question would be the redesigned hinge and the keyboard.
- tomxor 5y ago
  Annecdata: I've never had a desktop or laptop fan fail on me, and I'm the kind of person who keeps them for a decade. Spinning HDDs (Toshiba bearings), keyboards and hinges on the other hand have all failed on me multiple times, in macs. but the fans kept going. The keyboards were the last thing to fail in the 2009 design, they last about 10 years. Also while were at it, mechanical failure isn't always the biggest concern these days, Apple has had nVidia GPU issues (soldier and fab issues) in the past where they ended up underclocking them in a firmware patch in order to push failures out of warrantee.
  - monsieurbanana 5y ago
    I bought a cheap M1 Air model (only the ram is upgraded to 16gb) at $1030 Apple-refurbished. My intent is to try and sell it a bit before the 1 year mark. For some of the reasons you mentioned (specially the last paragraph), but also the battery and the general non-reparability. It almost feels like a consumable item, compared to my previous Thinkpad. Here's the thing: all the other laptops I was looking at cost at least twice the price. High-end Thinkpads, my second choice, almost 3 times. All of the sudden Apple became the budget choice for my use case. In one year hopefully when I sell this one there will be competitors to the M1 chip (or maybe the M1X?), and I'll have more options.
    - zitterbewegung 5y ago
      M1 is a complete SOC and discrete nvidia graphics from nvidia were so bad that Apple switched to AMD permanently.
      - tomxor 5y ago
        That was just one example, one that affected me and millions of others. There are also plenty of other chip level failures in newer apple hardware as quite well documented by Louis Rossmann. Not all GPU/CPU issues either, there are many other chips that go wrong due to cheap component choices. The GPU issues were both nVidia's _and_ Apple's fault due to assembly with low quality unleaded solder. In either case their attitude to customers was unforgivable, they replaced old broken boards with new broken boards until people just gave up or were pushed out of warrantee... and for the masses that couldn't be bothered to go through the pain of browbeating an Apple store employee into submission - they got firmware patches to push it out of warrantee. Component failure, solid state or otherwise is not unique to Apple and is an inevitability, it will happen again - complete disrespect for their users by continually lying to their face on the other hand... That is something Apple is uniquely skilled at.
    - NathanielK 5y ago
      > Here's the thing: all the other laptops I was looking at cost at least twice the price. High-end Thinkpads, my second choice, almost 3 times. It shouldn't be this way, but most of the big enterprise retailers have ridiculous sticker prices. Unlike Apple, volume buyers get steep discounts, and individuals are expected to wait for a discount. Ask around online and you'll find it's fairly simple to get fancy Thinkpads for half-off.

idonotknowwhy 5y ago

I used to use capacitor noises too when i was younger. I could tell other devs when builds were finished by hearing the high pitched noise stop. At the time i thought i could hear the cpu but recently learned it was the capacitors lol

piyh 5y ago
Inductor coils? I haven't heard of capacitors creating noise before.