Well, there is an option.

1. Get a T480 with the i7-8650

2. Get the 95Wh battery option (24Wh internal + 72Wh external)

3. Upgrade RAM to 32GB DDR4-2400

4. Upgrade SSD to 2TB NVMe

5. Upgrade display to the T14 Gen2’s 1080p 100% sRGB 400nits display (available with custom brackets for T470/T480 e.g. here: https://www.xelent-store.de/Innolux-N140HCG-GQ2-400cd-Low-Po...)

Result: A laptop with awesome specs in all regards except CPU, and even the CPU is still respectable, replaceable everything, and a great display. For overall somewhere around 500-700€.

There’s nothing better on the market right now, especially as this gives you powerbridge, so you can keep two external batteries and just replace them when they drop to 0% instead of having to wait for it to charge.

And as the T470/T480 is easy to open up, you just need a small iFixit kit and 30 minutes to do all these replacements.

Asus Vivobook 16X OLED? 1) 94 Wh battery 2) R7 5800h / R9 5800hx 3) 4K OLED screen that goes to 550

I think this is going to be my next work laptop. I have been eyeing the new M1X mac, but the attraction of Linux is too high on me. I will decide after Apple releases their better M1…

I hadn't come across this laptop before - looks pretty good!

Do you own one? Keen to know what real world battery life is like, and if there are any tradeoffs/annoyances?

Or for something not quite as good but more likely to be available, their Zephyrus G15: 90Wh, 5800HS or so, 2560×1440.

I have one and can confirm it has a great battery and is snappy. They're a little hard to find in certain configurations but for a "gaming" laptop it's a pretty decent daily driver.

Just wondering, can we really feel the difference between 2k and 4k on a small screen?

Very easily on text. Get a proper high-resolution display and you’ll never want to go back.

That 16″ 3840×2400 display means 283ppi; 1920×1200 would be only 142ppi. (Even a 13.3″ 1920×1080 is still only 166ppi.)

I went down from a Surface Book’s 13.5″ 3000×2000 (267ppi) to a Zephyrus G15’s 15.6″ 2560×1440 (188ppi) and although it’s definitely better than 1920×1080 it’s still definitely not as good as the Surface Book for crispness. (Most people probably wouldn’t worry about the difference, but they’d certainly notice it if going down to the 141ppi that 1920×1080 would represent.) That Vivobook looks magnificent: if I hadn’t just recently obtained my G15 and could actually get that Vivobook, I’d do so like a shot.

Sorry, 2k is a typo. I want to ask about the difference between 2880x1080 and 4k resolution (as I'm using a 2880x1080 display and I know the crispness is indeed a lot better than 1920x1200). I thought a 2880x1080 is already very good and further increase in resolution would be barely noticeable.

2880×1080 is a super widescreen ratio (8:3, or call it 16:6 or 24:9 if you prefer); I don’t know how you intend to compare it to a regular widescreen ratio (16:9) which is only two thirds of the width for a given height.

It also depends on the screen size. Such super-widescreenness is probably only found in fairly large monitors, and at that size I’d say that doubling the resolution (5760×2160) will have a massive effect on perceived text quality. At that size, and depending on how far away from the screen you use it, you could possibly even double it again and still tell and appreciate the difference.

Yes, other screens are ruined for you.

My main monitor is a wonderful 27" Dell Ultrasharp 3K, and for my secondary monitor (which I keep in portrait orientation) I have a 24" Dell Ultrasharp FHD 16:10.

After seeing how crisp and clear the text is on my main screen, I was really annoyed with myself for not getting a 3K screen for my secondary monitor too :(

I'm currently dreading the time when I stop working from home and go back into the office, because at home I have a nice 4k monitor and a 3200x1800 laptop screen, whereas at work it's 1920x1080 or less - and that was fairly recently bought too.

Ryzen still doesn't have Thunderbolt. For some -- like me -- this still excludes Ryzen.

And you are right that Intel U chips are rarely are shipping with 90Wh+ . But https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-Home/Zenbook/Zenbook-Flip-1... does. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 (Yoga Slim 7) has a 71 Wh, the Schenker Via 14 has a 73 Wh, the HP Spectre x360 15 72.9 Wh, the MSI Summit E15 has a 82 Wh.

Thunderbolt is Intel's proprietary technology, I don't think AMD will ever have that. I think you'll have to wait for USB-4 if the current speeds really aren't enough.

Oh of course, I didn't want to go into that detail but trust me I know all that, TB3 got donated to USB IF, it became USB 4 with a few extras (most importantly the USB packets on the bus). And then Intel took USB 4 and put a marketing name on "USB 4 with every optional feature on" and called it Thunderbolt 4.

And yes, likely next year, AMD will have USB 4 but -- not right now.

And the problem is not exactly the bus speed -- although 10Gpbs is not that much -- but the lack of external PCI Express (or any other DMA capable protocol but the last non-PCIe tech doing that was Firewire and that's gone).

Not necessarily so, ASUS as an example has released an AMD board equipped with thunderbolt 4 in the form of the B550 ProArt. In a laptop it’s perhaps a bit more problematic until USB-4 comes along in greater volumes, but by then Thunderbolt and USB-4 will be the same thing

> but by then Thunderbolt and USB-4 will be the same thing

see my reply below -- it already is. sorta.

The M1 Apple lineup has thunderbolt support, so I don’t see why an AMD laptop couldn’t do the same?

Because OEMs would give their left nut to sell to Apple, and that just isn't true of, say, Dell or Asus. Intel lost Apple as a customer for their CPUs, but they would bend or break the rules to license Thunderbolt to Apple even without an Intel CPU... because Apple is Apple, the company that invented personal computing and that has been the driver of every revolution in the industry since.

Because Apple implemented an USB 4 controller. Asmedia, due to covid, didn't finish in time for AMD this time around. It was scheduled for late 2020. https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/asmedia-600-chipset-family...

You’re on a ThinkPad, I’d rather not give Lenovo any money until they sort out the slave labour problems.

...which is so obviously not a problem Apple faces?

https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/10/22428899/apple-suppliers-...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/20/apple-u...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/29/lens-te...

Why no money for apple ?

Anti-consumer behaviour. Multiple hardware design faults in macbooks. Actively working against repair, against software freedom, against the user (see recent CSAM fiasco). Non-removable storage. Preference of thin&light vs upgradeability/cooling.

I wouldn't mind that as I'm not their customer, but all the crap they introduce gets mindlessly copied by all their competition.

Adding to that, I'm afraid of the world moving away from the PC as a standard. Through a lucky set of circumstances, we were able to enjoy a relatively open and universal compatibility standard of computers for the last several decades.

I'm afraid of the computing world fragmenting again into several walled gardens in the likes of Amiga/Atari of old, nothing being compatible with each other, unable to run code not signed by the manufacturer.

The danger should IMO be obvious, but I watch in terror as my friends happily buy into the M1.

The real problem is that there is no competition.

Not a fan of Apple here but I use (and admittedly like) their products: I develop apps and iOS is solid on the app landscape, currently we don't even care about Android versions of our apps in almost any project that we use because most people who are "serious" about their apps are on iPhones and iPads. In addition, even though I have the hacker mindset of many out here, at the end of the day I need something reliable and good-looking, and well supported, which Apple has and others don't.

I don't like Apple's user-hostile behavior and would happily love to see some competition. For me:

Apple is bad, Microsoft/Google is worse. So Apple is relatively good.

PC like desktops are in no danger of going anywhere, there will always be a huge gamer and hobbyist market for them.

Seeing that, it seems like this is likely cyclical.

We’ll have 20 years of siloed hardware, and then some competitors figure out a way to get a foot in the door, or signed-only systems will become distasteful to consumers and Companies will revert, interoperability will become the norm again.

There are always barriers in computing and society will respond to it.

You dismiss 20 years of darkness like it's nothing...

PC-compatible hardware and software is not going anywhere...

Until everyone stops buying it and it becomes a premium thing which the little man like myself simply cannot afford.

PC like desktops are in _no_ danger of going anywhere. There will always been a huge gamer and hobbies market for them.

Laptops maybe, but the framework laptop is exactly what you want, seems pretty decent, and has a decent chance of taking off.

> Preference of thin&light vs upgradeability/cooling.

I recently watched something[0] about the Macbook cooling (Intel, at least) and you seem to be right.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlOPPuNv4Ec&t=0

That's the premium you pay for the best.

What is with this knee-jerk defense of Apple every time someone suggests holding them to a higher consumer standard?

You can sell good products while still embracing open technologies.

It's protection of one's investment. One doesn't just buy a laptop from Apple but one invests in all the devices, apps, ecosystem and brand. It's why past apple users express so much hurt when the company crosses a line. To leave or even to criticise hurts psychologicaly and financially. Thus it is logical to protect ones investment and defend the brand on social media.

This extends to many brands of course for example AWS or anything where time or the person is invested but it's most easily noticeable with Apple on HN.

Yes. We live in a world where our only real freedom is our purchasing decisions. I think that leads to people making brands, TV shows, video games, etc. a big enough part of their identity that criticism of that thing feels like criticism of them personally.

How is a laptop an investment? Its a tool one uses, but it doesn't generate a return, properly speaking. Or would you say that all tools are investments?

You pay $800 and you get your value. The market obviously decided that the value provided is good enough, since their sales are good. Just because you value certain things doesn't mean the collective does.

Just because some sliver (OK, large sliver) of their consumer base is satisfied with this shit doesn't mean that they didn't live a sizeable amount of people stranded for both hardware and software options. Because they did.

I used to be able to slam an MBP down on the woodworking table, open it up and start typing. Now there is no slamming, because they flimsy. No typing near dust, because they get stuck in the keyboard. Every app is a single window, so you can't chat with two people at once. Everything is in the cloud, so you wait on your very fast computer to do networking all the f.in time (even opening Finder). The UI has lost so much of it's legibility that I don't know what I'm looking at half the time anymore. Active window? Maybe not? What does that label say? Why is this a modal? Where is the "don't ask again items" preference pane?

We have parted ways, I think. I'm not riding with them anymore.

Flimsy? MacBooks? Are we in different universes?

Keyboard is/was a valid concern. But flimsy, I’m not seeing.

Pretty sure I could murder someone with my M1 MacBook Air, clean it, and then write code.

Or poke a hole in the screen by leaving a single speck of sand on the keyboard before closing the lid.

There used to be a thick glass panel in front of it, but no more.

Again, don’t know where you’re getting this. 2020 MacBook Air has a glass panel. Ctrl-F “glass” on https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/specs/.

Would you please do something for me?

Open your new MacBook Air, place a single grain of sand smack in the middle of the keyboard between the G and the H. Close the lid.

Turn around and sit on it.

Tell me all about glass then. If you record it I'll have a listen.

Holy crap, now I have to sit on it? That’s a bit different than the original claim…

Only way to make sure.

Alternatively, throw a pinch of sand on the keyboard, close the lid, bag the Mac. Now, with some vigor, take it out blindly by any corner and trow it down on the thick wooden table, slamming it with it's own weight.

A few times.

And tell me how that gentle test went for you. :)

Send my condolences to any laptops you use.

Macbooks are easily the flimsiest devices I own if not for the display alone. I've dropped a Thinkpad out of a moving vehicle, and it booted up like nothing happened. My Macbook tumbled 2 feet onto a concrete floor and now the $600 topcase is destroyed...

This is the market being insane though, because they pay a premium because of branding.

Which is especially hilarious in low-income countries like mine. The cheapest latest iPhone (I don't remember what the current number is) costs about 3 median monthly incomes. Most of the population cannot afford one, so what do you do? get a loan and pay in monthly installments until the next one comes out, of course.

This isn't a rare occurrence, I'd say ⅓ of my acquaintances do this. The power of marketing at its finest.

It used to be, circa 2009-2015, for me and mine.

But not so anymore. Yes you pay. Yes the price is fair for what's on offer. No, it's not quality, and not the general direction I'm interested in, at all. Not in hardware, not in software.

I have a different definition of "best".