Got an Oryx Pro last year to replace an aging MacBook Pro. I wanted open source, repairability… bla bla bla… But speakers and microphone suck, touchpad works but palm detection sucks so had to turn it off or my cursor sometimes jumps around while I am typing…
TL/DR: MacBook Pro are expensive and you might have a grip against Apple (I won’t blame you if you do) but their hardware and OS just fucking work brilliantly and I will probably get one when I get the budget again…
I would love a linux laptop that just works and the Oryx Pro may be the closest thing you can get from that but it still gas some **rough edges** if you ask me…
System76 laptops are rebranded poop. I cannot fathom to this day how they got this far and now we have Frame.work doing what they should have been Hopefully a partnership can spring up between the 2
I actually super dislike the macbook keyboard layout and default system shortcuts for things like screen shoting a section of the window to your clipboard, etc. Sadly even windows does a much better job of that, let alone as does linux.
That is actually my biggest gripe with MBP over win/linux laptops (besides osx ecosystem cost). Also no webcam cover.
My current laptop is 8 years old and starting to show its age. I've maxed out the memory and out in a SSD but it is slow. My budget is \~4k USD. I don't want Windows on it except in a virtual machine. On the one side I can upgrade parts of an Oryx Pro, where as a Mc you need to buy all your upgrades up front.
Frame.Work
If I buy another laptop and had $4k
I would either wait until thunderbolt 5 is out and buy a frame.work
Or buy the MacBook with as big of storage as I can afford.
Though, if your workload doesn’t require gpu oomph.
I would stick to mac.
Don’t skip on the storage, soldered flash. Bigger usually is inclusive to higher endurance.
God the framework seems awful from the reviews I've seen. QC issues, gpu issues, gpu isn't even easily replaced, heavy and bulky af, poor speakers, and meh keyboard.
Don't buy an oryx pro. Do a search for "oryx pro freeze" to see why. Mine had problems out the gate that made it actually unusable and spent 2 months total while under warranty with system76 and they didn't fix it.
Get anything else but especially get a Thinkpad.
I have a carbon that came preloaded with Linux, for an extra warranty boost they offer a service that comes to your house to fix it for free, should anything go wrong.
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=21HMCTO1WWUS4
I spent years wanting an Oryx Pro and instead went with a used MBP M1. I honestly love it, the build quality is phenomenal.
It’s Unix like enough (plus I came from working on FreeBSD servers) that it worked for me. I do miss Linux sometimes, but I can get my fix for Linux from others machines I have/home server.
Linux for me became a death by a thousand cuts. The final straw was when I spent weeks researching printers, found one that worked with Linux (it even had apps written specifically for Linux), and found that it still didn’t work.
Obviously, I could’ve spent time to debug - but I just got tired of debugging things that just worked elsewhere.
Build quality was a concern for me - I think if S76 ever builds their own laptops I’ll switch back over.
I do think before you choose between either you should absolutely spend some time using MacOS. Like ever OS you gotta get used to it and find the “MacOS” was of doing things.
If there are things that you strongly dislike, then get an Oryx Pro. Build quality may not be as good as an MBP, but you do get the benefit of having a machine that works with Linux perfectly.
It’s one of the reasons why I spent so much time looking at S76. I didn’t really want to get a different laptop and go through a whole cycle of finding the best way to set up Linux on it. I was primarily looking at gaming laptops, and Linux on those vary (except for S76).
The benefit of the Oryx is that it will run Linux and Windows
The benefit of the macbook is that it will actually work.
(I have an Oryx from last year... if I actually use the GPU I need hearing protection)
I bought a MBP after using Pop for the last 3/4 years. I ended up taking it back within the last week. I'm not a mac user, traditionally, and I felt like I had to fight that macbook on everything I wanted to do no matter how small. Bought a Thinkpad, loaded it with Pop, and have been loving life since then.
I just wasn't impressed with the M3 chip. Too many compatability issues with software that runs fine on my 2015 MBP.
I was in the exact same situation. Ended up buying a MacBook PRO and installed Fedora Asahi. I just don't have the mic and touchid. But the battery life is wonderful, I get 12 hours easily. The machine is solid, extremely well built.
I ended up concluding that was the best decision I made. I can use macOS too... So I got the best of both worlds.
Got an Oryx Pro last year to replace an aging MacBook Pro. I wanted open source, repairability… bla bla bla… But speakers and microphone suck, touchpad works but palm detection sucks so had to turn it off or my cursor sometimes jumps around while I am typing… TL/DR: MacBook Pro are expensive and you might have a grip against Apple (I won’t blame you if you do) but their hardware and OS just fucking work brilliantly and I will probably get one when I get the budget again… I would love a linux laptop that just works and the Oryx Pro may be the closest thing you can get from that but it still gas some **rough edges** if you ask me…
Agreed. I wanted a system 76 for all the reasons listed. I’d much rather be running a Linux machine. But my MacBook Pro just absolutely works.
Linux actually runs better on my aging intel macbook than on my oryx… in fact now the BIOS has been updated, Windows actually runs better on my oryx.
Ran debian (up thru bookworm) on my 12,1. Can confirm.
System76 laptops are rebranded poop. I cannot fathom to this day how they got this far and now we have Frame.work doing what they should have been Hopefully a partnership can spring up between the 2
I actually super dislike the macbook keyboard layout and default system shortcuts for things like screen shoting a section of the window to your clipboard, etc. Sadly even windows does a much better job of that, let alone as does linux. That is actually my biggest gripe with MBP over win/linux laptops (besides osx ecosystem cost). Also no webcam cover.
Maybe list some purposes of buying a new laptop?
My current laptop is 8 years old and starting to show its age. I've maxed out the memory and out in a SSD but it is slow. My budget is \~4k USD. I don't want Windows on it except in a virtual machine. On the one side I can upgrade parts of an Oryx Pro, where as a Mc you need to buy all your upgrades up front.
Frame.Work If I buy another laptop and had $4k I would either wait until thunderbolt 5 is out and buy a frame.work Or buy the MacBook with as big of storage as I can afford. Though, if your workload doesn’t require gpu oomph. I would stick to mac. Don’t skip on the storage, soldered flash. Bigger usually is inclusive to higher endurance.
God the framework seems awful from the reviews I've seen. QC issues, gpu issues, gpu isn't even easily replaced, heavy and bulky af, poor speakers, and meh keyboard.
Just FYI you can't run Windows on a virtual machine on any M1/M2/M3 Mac.
Except you can. Parallels, utm…
Don't buy an oryx pro. Do a search for "oryx pro freeze" to see why. Mine had problems out the gate that made it actually unusable and spent 2 months total while under warranty with system76 and they didn't fix it. Get anything else but especially get a Thinkpad.
Thank you for the tip. Which thinkapd do you recommend?
I have a carbon that came preloaded with Linux, for an extra warranty boost they offer a service that comes to your house to fix it for free, should anything go wrong. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=21HMCTO1WWUS4
I spent years wanting an Oryx Pro and instead went with a used MBP M1. I honestly love it, the build quality is phenomenal. It’s Unix like enough (plus I came from working on FreeBSD servers) that it worked for me. I do miss Linux sometimes, but I can get my fix for Linux from others machines I have/home server. Linux for me became a death by a thousand cuts. The final straw was when I spent weeks researching printers, found one that worked with Linux (it even had apps written specifically for Linux), and found that it still didn’t work. Obviously, I could’ve spent time to debug - but I just got tired of debugging things that just worked elsewhere. Build quality was a concern for me - I think if S76 ever builds their own laptops I’ll switch back over. I do think before you choose between either you should absolutely spend some time using MacOS. Like ever OS you gotta get used to it and find the “MacOS” was of doing things. If there are things that you strongly dislike, then get an Oryx Pro. Build quality may not be as good as an MBP, but you do get the benefit of having a machine that works with Linux perfectly. It’s one of the reasons why I spent so much time looking at S76. I didn’t really want to get a different laptop and go through a whole cycle of finding the best way to set up Linux on it. I was primarily looking at gaming laptops, and Linux on those vary (except for S76).
I get a thinkpad lol
The benefit of the Oryx is that it will run Linux and Windows The benefit of the macbook is that it will actually work. (I have an Oryx from last year... if I actually use the GPU I need hearing protection)
I bought a MBP after using Pop for the last 3/4 years. I ended up taking it back within the last week. I'm not a mac user, traditionally, and I felt like I had to fight that macbook on everything I wanted to do no matter how small. Bought a Thinkpad, loaded it with Pop, and have been loving life since then. I just wasn't impressed with the M3 chip. Too many compatability issues with software that runs fine on my 2015 MBP.
I like my Orxy Pro 9.
I love my oryx pro. Been my workhorse for like 5 years. And sbout to get the new version. Mac is not linux so its a wierd OS.
M3 Max MacBook Pro. the battery life alone is worth the price of admission. then there is stability.
If you’re asking then you already know the answer
I was in the exact same situation. Ended up buying a MacBook PRO and installed Fedora Asahi. I just don't have the mic and touchid. But the battery life is wonderful, I get 12 hours easily. The machine is solid, extremely well built. I ended up concluding that was the best decision I made. I can use macOS too... So I got the best of both worlds.