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'Just werks' is great marketing but not backed up by reality. I have the displeasure of being handed an M1 Mac for a new ML and NLP job. Let's not even talk ab

'Just werks' is great marketing but not backed up by reality. I have the displeasure of being handed an M1 Mac for a new ML and NLP job. Let's not even talk about the issues osx-arm64 architecture brings for DevOps. Bluetooth: devices do not disconnect when the device ID put to sleep. If I don't disconnect my headphones before leaving my laptop, I can't connect to my phone. My guess this is done for some Apple Bluetooth features, anyone using not-Apple is SooL. HiDPI: Not using an Apple monitor? Too bad no hdpi scaling for you. Yeah the hardware quality and design is nice, software and OS is hot garbage. My Linux Mint ThinkPad had higher UX polish than Macos Monterey.

nuriaion 5y ago
Good HiDPI scaling on my external Monitor is one of the reasons i switched back to os x. For me that works very good independent of the monitor manufacturer.
- gillesjacobs 5y ago
  Any notebook with Windows and multiple Linux distros work with HiDPI scaling on any combination of my various docks, monitors, and cables. Apple definitely does not "just work" in this case. They really "think different" as in different standards to ensure consumer lock-in in their walled garden.
  - matwood 5y ago
    IME, macOS handles mixed HiDPI better than any other OS. I'm currently using a MBP with it's HiDPI screen and it's driving an LG 4k and a Dell 1920x1200 - all work and look fine. I've tried Linux a few times in the past and it's been a mess - particularly in a mixed DPI environment. It also seems to come down to individual apps rather than the desktop manager. Not long ago I really wanted to make linux worked and so was asking questions on forums on how to make HiDPI work well, and a common response was 'no one needs HiDPI'...got it.
roemerb 5y ago
Regarding the Bluetooth thing, it's indeed very annoying. I've found this utility that helps: https://github.com/odlp/bluesnooze https://github.com/odlp/bluesnooze
- gillesjacobs 5y ago
  Thanks that's one everyday frustration down!
skhr0680 5y ago
I hate magic spells like this but option+click on “Scaled” and you might get lucky. Make sure you are using a good cable. Nothing made me hate cables like USB-C
rawfan 5y ago
Interesting. I have the complete opposite experience. HiDPI works great and consistently looks better on macOS than on Ubuntu, e.g.. I'd love to hear what your DevOps issues are. I got an M1 laptop a few months ago and at that point everything just worked out-of-the-box. Ansible, Terraform, Docker.. no issues so far.
- matwood 5y ago
  >I'd love to hear what your DevOps issues are. Same. I've been using m1's since they came out and early on Terraform didn't work (had to wait on Go to support apple silicon), but that was over a year ago at this point. Now, everything works great... Maybe the OP relies on Docker?
  - JamesonNetworks 5y ago
    Docker for Mac has been so bad for so long. I finally moved to running all docker images on a linux box and using syncthing to sync code changes. My battery thanks me.
  - gillesjacobs 5y ago
    Yeah I rely on Docker. Anaconda gave a lot of issues too, but that is not my choice for python package mgmnt anyway. All issues are fixed with specifying Linux/amd64 as the build platform and only installing conda in containers. Installing conda locally is not something you should ever do in any case, it makes a mess of your home, shell profiles and environment variables. Still having OOM 'Killed' errors in builds that I should investigate. Don't know for sure if there are memory limits in default Docker settings on Macos, could be it. In any case, I should respec cleaner builds anyway because right now it's a mess.
- kitsunesoba 5y ago
  I’ve also had a terrible experience with DPI scaling under Linux. My Thinkpad Nano has a screen resolution that works best with its UI scaled to 150% or 175%. Windows does this pretty well, with mainly a tiny handful of old stuff where the dev flung a binary over the wall many moons ago and forgot about it not working right. macOS handles this scenario decently too, though at a slight performance hit since it renders at a higher resolution and then scales down. Linux on the other hand has been a mess. I’ve tried GNOME, KDE, and Cinnamon on the latest Fedora both with X11 and Wayland (except for cinnamon, which is X11 only), and none of them get non-integer scaling 100% right across both the DE and all apps. This is the exacerbated by different UI toolkits having minds of their own and needing independent configuration, where on macOS and Windows they obey the system. In fact, in my experience Linux works best if you have a boring ultra common setup — Intel iGPU with Intel networking with a single normal DPI monitor. As soon as you start deviating from that, expect things to start getting quirky.
Tagbert 5y ago
Why do you need to disconnect your headphones from your laptop to connect them to your phone? When I switch from laptop to iPhone I just go to Bluetooth settings and select the headphones and they connect. I did turn off the auto-switching for AirPods as that caused some unintended switching and offered too little benefit.

nuriaion 5y ago

Good HiDPI scaling on my external Monitor is one of the reasons i switched back to os x. For me that works very good independent of the monitor manufacturer.

gillesjacobs 5y ago
Any notebook with Windows and multiple Linux distros work with HiDPI scaling on any combination of my various docks, monitors, and cables. Apple definitely does not "just work" in this case. They really "think different" as in different standards to ensure consumer lock-in in their walled garden.
- matwood 5y ago
  IME, macOS handles mixed HiDPI better than any other OS. I'm currently using a MBP with it's HiDPI screen and it's driving an LG 4k and a Dell 1920x1200 - all work and look fine. I've tried Linux a few times in the past and it's been a mess - particularly in a mixed DPI environment. It also seems to come down to individual apps rather than the desktop manager. Not long ago I really wanted to make linux worked and so was asking questions on forums on how to make HiDPI work well, and a common response was 'no one needs HiDPI'...got it.

roemerb 5y ago

Regarding the Bluetooth thing, it's indeed very annoying. I've found this utility that helps: https://github.com/odlp/bluesnooze https://github.com/odlp/bluesnooze

gillesjacobs 5y ago
Thanks that's one everyday frustration down!

skhr0680 5y ago

I hate magic spells like this but option+click on “Scaled” and you might get lucky. Make sure you are using a good cable. Nothing made me hate cables like USB-C

rawfan 5y ago

Interesting. I have the complete opposite experience. HiDPI works great and consistently looks better on macOS than on Ubuntu, e.g.. I'd love to hear what your DevOps issues are. I got an M1 laptop a few months ago and at that point everything just worked out-of-the-box. Ansible, Terraform, Docker.. no issues so far.

matwood 5y ago
>I'd love to hear what your DevOps issues are. Same. I've been using m1's since they came out and early on Terraform didn't work (had to wait on Go to support apple silicon), but that was over a year ago at this point. Now, everything works great... Maybe the OP relies on Docker?
- JamesonNetworks 5y ago
  Docker for Mac has been so bad for so long. I finally moved to running all docker images on a linux box and using syncthing to sync code changes. My battery thanks me.
- gillesjacobs 5y ago
  Yeah I rely on Docker. Anaconda gave a lot of issues too, but that is not my choice for python package mgmnt anyway. All issues are fixed with specifying Linux/amd64 as the build platform and only installing conda in containers. Installing conda locally is not something you should ever do in any case, it makes a mess of your home, shell profiles and environment variables. Still having OOM 'Killed' errors in builds that I should investigate. Don't know for sure if there are memory limits in default Docker settings on Macos, could be it. In any case, I should respec cleaner builds anyway because right now it's a mess.
kitsunesoba 5y ago
I’ve also had a terrible experience with DPI scaling under Linux. My Thinkpad Nano has a screen resolution that works best with its UI scaled to 150% or 175%. Windows does this pretty well, with mainly a tiny handful of old stuff where the dev flung a binary over the wall many moons ago and forgot about it not working right. macOS handles this scenario decently too, though at a slight performance hit since it renders at a higher resolution and then scales down. Linux on the other hand has been a mess. I’ve tried GNOME, KDE, and Cinnamon on the latest Fedora both with X11 and Wayland (except for cinnamon, which is X11 only), and none of them get non-integer scaling 100% right across both the DE and all apps. This is the exacerbated by different UI toolkits having minds of their own and needing independent configuration, where on macOS and Windows they obey the system. In fact, in my experience Linux works best if you have a boring ultra common setup — Intel iGPU with Intel networking with a single normal DPI monitor. As soon as you start deviating from that, expect things to start getting quirky.

Tagbert 5y ago

Why do you need to disconnect your headphones from your laptop to connect them to your phone? When I switch from laptop to iPhone I just go to Bluetooth settings and select the headphones and they connect. I did turn off the auto-switching for AirPods as that caused some unintended switching and offered too little benefit.