On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by ho_schi on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @07:34AM (#34880384)

Yep. We should mention here improvements within the last decade? The X13 Gen3 (AMD) also should allow run theoretically 17 hours[1]. I think a peak was reached with the MacBook (Polycarbonate Body) or T430s which allowed to replace the battery at the device bottom with a coin, easy maintenance and sturdy frame. And good balance because the weight counteracted the open display.

With "peak" I mean the situation that a thing reached a point where it was actually good and then get impaired. Sometimes because another feature was added but didn't fit. Or just for the sake of change. The seven vs. six row keyboard layout is such a thing. The 16:9 screens where everyone immediately wanted the 16:10 back (happening right now). The MiniSD-Slots replacing the SD-Slots...

[1] https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkPad/ThinkPad_X...

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by eptcyka on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @11:17AM (#34882843)

How does one achieve 17 hours of battery life with an X13 Gen3 AMD? I can manage maybe 6.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by sudosysgen on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @11:38AM (#34883171)

Do you have a discrete GPU? Disable it. Run TLP and powertop to see what uses too much power and to adjust tweakables.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by eptcyka on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @11:50AM (#34883364)

I do not have a discrete GPU, have run TLP and Powertop and have adjusted the tweakables. Maybe it's my 1440p display.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by sudosysgen on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @02:13PM (#34885523)

If you use zenmonitor, what is the package power on a typical workload? It should be 2-3W maximum normally. If it's too high, it's a too common case of manufacturers setting insane tweakables, and can be remediated using amdctl/ryzenadj/zenstates (or in some BIOSes using the PBO2 setting). Otherwise, it can sometimes be a bad SSD using a lot of power.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by eptcyka on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @04:03PM (#34887270)

I'll try those out, thank you for the tips.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by kitsunesoba on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @11:38AM (#34883166)

The big problem with newer AMD ThinkPads from what I've heard is use of some second-rate (mostly Realtek) components in places, which in comparison to those used on Intel models don't perform as well and are more likely to cause trouble under Linux.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by gmokki on Tuesday February 21, 2023 @12:10PM (#34883632)

I just swapped the realtek wifi of my P14s amd gen 2 with Intel ax210. Cost was around 10€.

I think since around one year ago upstream kernels do support the realtek wifi card properly.

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Re:On Replacing My MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480 by ho_schi on Wednesday February 22, 2023 @07:35AM (#34894597)

Actually they use four different. You can swap them yourself (15 - 20 EUR):

    * Qualcomm (Atheros) -> GOOD (or even best?)
    * Intel              -> GOOD
    * Realtek            -> It works okay for average users
    * MediaTek           -> Bad or lack of reputation

The X13 is currently shipped with Qualcomm. Older T14 seem to use mostly Intel. On a P14 Lenovo we got a MediaTek (no reliable after Resume from Suspend) replaced by Realtek.

I would be happy if AMD and Qualcomm team up together again. The questionable ARM-Deal with Microsoft also didn't worked out well for Qualcomm.

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