Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

Regular joycon Switch controllers don't work well as they're individual devices with individual bluetooth connections, so you're stuck with using one at a time. At least, that's what I found trying to use them for an emulator. I imagine official Switch Pro Controllers work, but I bought an 8bitDo as the remapping seemed flexible and they come in various styles.

Heya. I’ve been wanting a very lightweight laptop for really nothing more than word processing (admittedly on the heavier duty end of that, long research reports kinda stuff). I’d like it to be apple because I’ve been using them most of my life, so naturally Im thinking of an MBA. Though I’d love to get an M2 1TB guy I can’t realistically afford a long term investment laptop at the moment, not enough work coming in, so I’ll keep using my 2015 MBP til it dies. But I’d like to stop lugging that around, both for its own longevity and also to make my everyday carry lighter. People keep telling me that getting anything prior to M chips is totally utterly pointless at this point, but I’m here to ask if this is really the case given I basically need an on the go word processor that will feel familiar, run ok, sync well with my main machine. Tldr, would a reasonably specced out pre-M chip MBA be worth getting for word processing and internet use if I can find one? If so what should I be looking for ideally? And are there things I could do to keep one of these machines running reasonably well for the next year or two if I got one? Thanks.

adendum: I don't want an ipad.

M1 MBA could be the one! I just got one from Hoxton Macs to replace my 2018 MBP and its lightning fast in comparison. If you look at benchmark there is a big jump from intel to apple silicone but then about 10-15% max each increment M1 to M2 to M3 to M4.

I have an 11 inch MacBook Air running latest MacOS via OpenCore patcher and it's fine. They're pretty cheap secondhand. Try to find a 2014/2015 8GB one, althoug if you genuinely only want a word processor any of them will do.

No offense, but suggesting to buy a 10 year old laptop is a bit nuts, isn't it?

M1 MBA are ~£400 on ebay and £500 on CEX.

If money is really that tight that you can't stretch to £400 and it is just word processing, then I'd get a used small chromebook or put Ubuntu on a small cheap windows laptop. If you ask friends and family you might get something free. I'm sure if you post a wanted ad here and spam the pc thread you'd get something for <£100.

It strikes me as a false economy to spend more than £100 unless you spend the ~£400 on an MI MBA. Especially as you do have a working laptop, albeit not the one you want. #2p

Spending a lot more on something newer that won't actually be any better at the stated task would be nuts.

(actually worse, since newer MBAs are heavier)

A non M is fine right now but you are buying into a technology dead end, either pony up for the M and have something that is going to take updates and be supported for a fair few years or get a cheap as chips stopgap until you can afford an M powered machine.

I was just rembering what a huge faff it was to keep my G5 going (admittedly that was before OpenCore patcher so I was stuck with Leopard, which made things extremely difficult, compatibility-wise).
Yet even if one is able to get the old hardware to run the modern OS smoothly the whole undertaking sounds like a headache.. to me at least.
Also couldn't see myself doing "heavier duty Word processing" on a low-res 11" screen like that.

@margot_skidder if I were you I'd save up or borrow money and get an M1 Air.

plus I think all non M will stop getting OS updates soon

Getting a non M mac now is a waste of money If you ask me. Keeping things working with OpenCore patcher etc is incredibly niche with no guarantee it'll work next week.

Like others have mentioned though, if £400 is a stretch, then by all means get a non-M mac, but be aware that it's obsolete tech and can turn in to a brick at some point

I don't think it turns it into a brick. You just cannot take advantage of any updates. One of my iMacs (a 2012 model) is still running on a Power PC processor and OSX 10.6.8, which I think is Snow Leopard. It doesn't get used very much.

There are of course ways around everything, but to recommend obsolete tech to a non-tech person doesn't feel 100%

Agreed.

This is where I fit in.
Tempted by Framework or even some PCs with Ubuntu but can't bother learning a new system since I'm not tech oriented anyway.

hmmm. a useless comment , but its easy to undersetimate the subconscious amount of 'this is doing my head in' - and its quickly relieved

What to buy a decent screen for my Mac, so any suggestions welcome.

Must have nice colour for grading and such, 4K width I’m not bothered about 27 or something.

Budget 250/350? Will that get me something decent.

I keep banging on about second hand LG 4K /5K screens, but I’m yet to find a better alternative for the money.

Just had my phone robbed by a guy on a bike. If i mark it as lost/stolen on icloud and change all the passwords I can, is that enough. Or should I be wiping it? Banking apps, apple pay all on there.

Wipe it remotely if you can and get your network provide to suspend your SIM so it can’t be used to receive two factor codes.

Change the password on your email accounts for the same reason.

Shit. This is what Apple recommends- https://support.apple.com/en-gb/120837

There has been some discussion about how to prepare for this eventuality recently- no use to you and I apologise if this seems uncaring but it might be useful for others.

Apparently the typical MO for a thief that steals your phone whilst in use is to open the camera app, which prevents the screen lock from occurring. This means that they can get to a place where they’ll be undisturbed and then access your apps, including SMS, WhatsApp and email in order to get codes and authorisations. Apple iOS has a function where with a long press on an application you can select additional login requirements- Face ID to open the SMS app for example.

I have set this for all my messaging applications including social media such as Instagram which have a messaging function which might be used to attack people using my identity. What this means is that even if the thief grabs the phone whilst it is unlocked they can’t then open any app which they might use to access your banking/place orders, or attack your contacts.

The other thing to do is to set a SIM PIN so that the attacker cannot put your SIM into another phone in order to receive one time passwords.

That's the only thing i haven't done yet is set a sim pin.

Ill have a look at them, most places sell like gaming monitors which tbh i dont know if they are good or bad for what im mainly gonna do with it.

I know that proper colour grading or accurate colour monitors are about a grand but im not doing it for a job I just want something to colour my own stuff relatively accurate so on an iPhone when someone watches it, it looks crisp.

It will get you a nice monitor but it’s not going to get you anything accurate for grading or subtle colour work.
Yes you can do the same work on a cheaper monitor but you are paying for knowing it’s accurate within the defined colourspace and being able to see the fine colour adjustments you make, the panels are more uniform plus the best monitors self adjust to keep close to desired settings.
I use an Eizo CG, if on a budget then Asus and BenQ do some well regarded monitors that are not gaming monitors and selling themselves on refresh rate and contrast.