Why MacBook is Awesome

I bought my MacBook air (M1 256GB 16GB) in November 2022 and since then enjoyed using it especially for software development. Here I write about my experience and why I think it is awesome!

TLDR;

If you only use online services and tools and/or all the softwares you use are available for MacBook, then go for it! You benefit from more productivity and less distraction, a long lasting battery, usable trackpad, and a decent Unix-based operating system which is always ready for work. Otherwise, considering workarounds will help to decide and weigh pros and cons.

Hardware

The battery has more than 6 hours of usage which is decent for a day of working at a cafe or in a trip

The trackpad is large enough and swipe gestures are very useful for shifting between apps/desktops

It is really portable! The combination of battery and trackpad and also being lightweight makes it so easy to work from anywhere!

Similar interface to your phone which locks with a key and unlocks with the same key by your fingerprint. For Standby/Sleep, just close and open it like locking/unlocking your phone and forget about stand by, hibernation or shutting down

Speakers are of great quality. The quality of sound when you play music with its speakers is so decent that wowed me for the very first times. This is exceptional as usually laptops have useless trashy speakers

It looks beautiful! Not only its outside is classy and stylish, but also the screen has high resolution and everything looks pretty on it

Software

Spotlight let you run any app, search for any file on mac or in Google drive, and has a handy calculator

Microsoft Office apps are supported and run smoothly which is a great asset

Preview is the app that comes with the OS to open different file formats and provides a basic pdf reader/editor. The feature to quickly pick into files by pressing the space button adds up

I work at peace! There was no issues in the long run with OS updates and WiFi connectivity. It has also automatic software updates. Generally, I spend less time troubleshooting issues and therefore there are fewer distractions/interruptions

Terminal makes it very useful for software development as you can run commands and actually install apps by using homebrew (and I even made a script to install almost all the apps I need)

Work (Software development)

• Its powerful terminal is very useful and is very similar to Linux/Ubuntu terminal
• VS Code runs smoothly and Python development including Jupyter notebooks didn’t give me any problem or headaches

Limitations / problems

• I once had problem with Google Drive app and could not kill it. Restarting the system resolved it
• I had copy / paste problem with Maccy app. Restarting Maccy resolved it
• Microsoft Power BI desktop app does not have a Mac version. You need workarounds such as Windows virtual machines, remote computers, or using Power BI online service for it
• The ports are limiting (with only 2 usb C ports) especially if you do not have a good internet connection to use cloud services and/or deal with old devices

Finally, shifting from Windows, it took me some time to get used to settings and keyboard and fully enjoying trackpad. I recommend giving it some time to get used to it, then you will be definitely compensated!