3 ms·

Two aspects in which Apple's newest Macbook Airs fit at least my own "peak laptop" definition are: 1) no fans whatsoever 2) no coil whine when I plug my headp

Two aspects in which Apple's newest Macbook Airs fit at least my own "peak laptop" definition are: 1) no fans whatsoever 2) no coil whine when I plug my headphones in and stress the CPU The keyboard is exactly the right size and the right font for me, but I'll concede that muscle memory is an individual thing. I've owned Apple's laptops and keyboards made in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2019, and 2022, and they are very hell-bent on being consistent about key size and placement, I should give it to them. I'd like a Linux laptop that would beat this. XPS13 is a close contender because that 3840x2400 screen is the right kind of ratio and super crisp, but man, that fan noise and the coil whine are just killing the mood. Maybe Thinkpad X13s, but Linux support and its screen are both very meh at this point.

ramesh31 3y ago
>I'd like a Linux laptop that would beat this. Por que no los dos? Asahi is running on M2 now: https://asahilinux.org/2022/07/july-2022-release/ https://asahilinux.org/2022/07/july-2022-release/
- WesolyKubeczek 3y ago
  There is a difference between “it runs somehow” and “it uses the potential of my hardware to 100%”. Sorry, I’m not paying mad bucks for something that’s “yes, but”.
bombela 3y ago
Sometimes I find the coil whine useful to detect a stray Firefox tab ;)
bee_rider 3y ago
There are nice utilities for capping your CPU frequency on Linux. So, IMO it would be better to have the fan, set your cap low enough to not need to use it most of the time. Then if you do need it, you have the ability.
rationalist 3y ago
I don't know if I won the lottery, but I have sensitive hearing and I've never heard a coil whine from my XPS 13 (9300). The charging brick did develop a whine which I replaced. It also had the perfect keyboard with no wiggling key caps. Later production 9300 models and recent XPS laptops do have key caps that wiggle (once you notice, it's super annoying, I think I've been spoiled).
maleldil 3y ago
Interestingly, the first time I heard a coil whine in a laptop was with the M1 Pro MBP. I never had it with any PC laptops. I found that it depended heavily on the electric wiring. It happened semi-frequently in Brazil, but almost never in the UK.

ramesh31 3y ago

>I'd like a Linux laptop that would beat this. Por que no los dos? Asahi is running on M2 now: https://asahilinux.org/2022/07/july-2022-release/ https://asahilinux.org/2022/07/july-2022-release/

WesolyKubeczek 3y ago
There is a difference between “it runs somehow” and “it uses the potential of my hardware to 100%”. Sorry, I’m not paying mad bucks for something that’s “yes, but”.

bombela 3y ago

Sometimes I find the coil whine useful to detect a stray Firefox tab ;)

bee_rider 3y ago

There are nice utilities for capping your CPU frequency on Linux. So, IMO it would be better to have the fan, set your cap low enough to not need to use it most of the time. Then if you do need it, you have the ability.

rationalist 3y ago

I don't know if I won the lottery, but I have sensitive hearing and I've never heard a coil whine from my XPS 13 (9300). The charging brick did develop a whine which I replaced. It also had the perfect keyboard with no wiggling key caps. Later production 9300 models and recent XPS laptops do have key caps that wiggle (once you notice, it's super annoying, I think I've been spoiled).

maleldil 3y ago

Interestingly, the first time I heard a coil whine in a laptop was with the M1 Pro MBP. I never had it with any PC laptops. I found that it depended heavily on the electric wiring. It happened semi-frequently in Brazil, but almost never in the UK.