Yeah, def not expecting a 16" Pro. But maybe an M2 Air for a lowly cog like myself at some point? 🥺
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Is your workplace shifting towards Apple Silicon laptops as well?
- Thread starter roach1245
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Likely, given corporate policies in general, you'll b given the M2 MBP. At least the two organizations I've worked at, they frown on anything Air related for business.
IT departments generally do not order specific models at user request. They settle on one or two models to meet specific users needs and then allow you to choose from one of those models. In our company, they have large and small models of both windows and Mac laptops. that lets us pick from 4 models total.
The 13” MBP has always been popular with IT departments who assign them to “knowledge workers” who need a basic laptop but don’t do heavy computing tasks. It helped that it had “Pro” in the name even though there have often been little difference between the Air and that MBP. It does help keep professionals happy who have professional needs that do not require doing a lot of processing.
The 15”/16” MBP was often the model for developers or for those who insisted on a larger screen.
One day perhaps, we're on a very long (well past warranty) refresh cycle of laptops so by the time I'm due there won't be any other option if they want to keep offering Macs. I'm looking forward to the non-butteryfly keyboard for starters more than anything else.
I working at a technical uni. 99% PC partly because up to recently you needed to be a rogue to use a Mac. My advice for those who chose : think about your software needs first and you computer second.
My advice to management, stop putting under spec computers in the hands of scientist.
My advice to management, stop putting under spec computers in the hands of scientist.
But that was it, the grant did not include macbooks. Only chromebooks of cheapest nature
Most of them do seem very flimsy and cheap. Google has released a few nice Pixel Books but they cost as much as an M1 MBA does now.
My office uses thin clients. The monitors are huge but the keyboards are cheap rubbish. I just bought my own keyboard (so did a few of my coworkers).
To be honest, recent Linux distros are good. However, as operating system, Mac and Windows are probably best for academics (as macs use Unix).
I don't think I've ever seen a Chromebook at a conference. The Linux laptops I see are as expensive as Macs, because Linux users tend to be power users who need proper tools.
This statement sort of assumees that macbooks are the most expensive laptops out there. They are not. Not by a long shot. Those who need really powerfull laptops use something like HP ZBooks (which price may go as high as $10K).
My office has I think two Intel Macs (one of those being a 2014 Mini, aka The Slowest Mac of All Time) and about five hundred cheap Windows laptops. No chance of an Apple uprising here!
My home office is packed with Apple devices -- although there is one Windows laptop as well. My workplace is PC because of the server software.
Nope I am a PhD and believe me, I know about my budget. I work in business so it helps a lot, but real academic work is not that well paid at all and you spent a decade at least to get to that degree.
My son works in Oncogenomics. They give out MacBook Pros by default unless a Windows or Linux system is specifically requested. This is the bio world where Macs are very popular. They gave him a 32 GB MacBook Pro 14 this past December. They actually asked him what he wanted and that's what he requested after seeing my 32 GB MacBook Pro 16. He was the first employee to get an Apple Silicon laptop. His previous laptop was a 2015 MacBook Pro 15 and it was replaced due to a bulging battery which they declined to repair.
His environment is mixed with Linux, Windows and macOS. There are a lot of doctors and scientists there and it's pretty hard to tell that group of people what they will be using. Their equipment, front-end, and back-end systems use a variety of operating systems so you have to be able to work in any environment. The Intel Mac made that easier because you could run a Linux VM on your laptop. He still has my 2014 MacBook Pro - maybe he's using that to run Linux on.
His environment is mixed with Linux, Windows and macOS. There are a lot of doctors and scientists there and it's pretty hard to tell that group of people what they will be using. Their equipment, front-end, and back-end systems use a variety of operating systems so you have to be able to work in any environment. The Intel Mac made that easier because you could run a Linux VM on your laptop. He still has my 2014 MacBook Pro - maybe he's using that to run Linux on.
My university has contracts with Dell & Apple, with Apple allowing the university only to acquire the latest generation.
This was terrible for the years 2016-2020 as every 3 years you can ask for a new laptop and in 2016 I tried but was unable to get a 2015 model, only the 2016 butterfly one. So I worked on my own 2015-Macbook-Pro until 2021.
Now it's a blessing with the M1 Pros and M1 Maxs, everyone in the lab has transitioned to that - Apple's Dark Ages are over.
This was terrible for the years 2016-2020 as every 3 years you can ask for a new laptop and in 2016 I tried but was unable to get a 2015 model, only the 2016 butterfly one. So I worked on my own 2015-Macbook-Pro until 2021.
Now it's a blessing with the M1 Pros and M1 Maxs, everyone in the lab has transitioned to that - Apple's Dark Ages are over.
No we aren't. But because local school districts, colleges/universities and other institutions are moving towards Apple Silicon, my workplace is getting a lot of older Intel Macs from them.
Hand-me-downs. Great deals on Intel Macs as more and more institutions and consumers buy Apple Silicon.
I work for a large, household name UK company. A few years ago, it was almost entirely Windows here. Some designers used Macs and there were a few for video editing. Some software engineers, like me, used Linux for specialised development roles.
However, recently there's been a switch to Macs. I go into meetings and almost everyone has a MacBook, apart from the occasional old Windows machine. I believe that the standard business laptop in the company is now the M1 Air. Even us Linux developers have now been moved onto Macs.
However, recently there's been a switch to Macs. I go into meetings and almost everyone has a MacBook, apart from the occasional old Windows machine. I believe that the standard business laptop in the company is now the M1 Air. Even us Linux developers have now been moved onto Macs.
Really depends on what field and what you do after the PhD.
Go into academia? Better hope your parents are rich.
Work at Google as an AI researcher with a PhD? Bring the truck load of money.