For the longest time, I’ve used Lenovo and HP laptops. Interestingly, even though I’ve been using an iPhone for years, I’ve always paired it with a Windows PC. I recently got a MacBook for the first time, and after using it for about a week, I think I finally understand some of the excitement around these things.
One of the perks of being a graduate student is getting support for the tools you need for research. Reading papers doesn’t require much from a laptop, but data analysis is a different conversation depending on the software and what you’re asking it to do. I’ll be using R for my thesis project analysis, so my advisor bought me a 16" MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip, 24GB RAM and 1TB storage to handle the work.
For reference, I was previously using this HP EliteBook 845 G8 with an AMD Ryzen 5 Pro Processor + 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. So when I talk about the difference, that’s the machine I’m comparing it to. And so far, there’s a lot to talk about.
I knew it would be fast, but apparently I didn’t understand how fast
The first thing I noticed was how quickly code runs in R. I obviously expected better performance, but expecting it and actually experiencing it are two different things. I get responses much faster, and everything generally feels easier to work through. Since this is what I’ll be using for my thesis, the processing speed is probably the most important improvement for me. I need to be able to run my analysis without the laptop struggling to keep up, and so far, I’m more than happy with what I’m seeing.
The battery deserves its own appreciation post
Jesus Christ, the battery on this thing is crazy! The first time I charged it, I used it over three days before having to charge it again. Obviously I wasn’t working on it for 72 hours straight, but considering that I even used it to charge my phone at some point, I think that’s impressive.
I have a Dell monitor on my office desk which I connect to the MacBook through HDMI because I need a bigger screen to properly look at some of the things I'm working on. I suspect that using the external display contributed to draining the battery faster, but I don’t know how much of a difference that actually made. Either way, I’m very happy with the battery life.
All this speed and you hear nothing and feel nothing
Before I got this MacBook, I saw a video on TikTok of someone talking about how shocked he was that his MacBook was so quiet. He couldn’t hear the fan or anything, and I remember thinking he was tweaking a little. My apologies to that man because I understand now.😂
I’ve had this laptop for a week and haven’t noticed any fan noise. On my Elitebook, it would sometimes start quietly, but as I opened more apps, the fan would gradually become louder, especially if you open processor demanding apps like Chrome. With this one, I keep opening things and hear nothing. It also hasn’t felt hot during the work I’ve been doing, which makes the whole thing even more impressive to me.
I’m finally enjoying having two Apple devices
Moving files between my phone and laptop has become so much easier. I had to constantly send things to my saved messages on Telegram when I wanted to move them to my Elitebook. Now before you come for me, yes, I know there were easier was, but I had my reasons for choosing this ~~more stressful~ method. With the Mac, I just AirDrop whatever I need and get on with my day. And yes, I know I’m probably being unfair to my Elitebook because I already use an iPhone, and that and my laptop are now both Apple devices signed into the same Apple account, so obviously there are conveniences that come with that. But still, after years of using an iPhone with a Windows laptop, I think I’m allowed to be excited about finally enjoying those conveniences. Lol. Starting something on one device and picking it up on the other feels easier now.
Fingerprint authentication and passkeys have also worked really well for me. My Elitebook laptop had those options too, but I had many instances of trying to use something I’d already registered and running into an error with those confusing error codes instead. I haven’t experienced that here yet, and hopefully it stays that way.
Somehow, I still haven’t opened the camera
When it comes to camera, I need to give my Elitebook some grace. It didn't have the best camera,, but it definitely held its own against many other treacherous cameras I've seen on laptops. But while I'm writing about this post, I just realized I haven’t even opened the camera on my Macbook since I got it.
I haven’t had a Zoom meeting or any online session where I needed my camera in the past week, so I’ve had no reason to use it. But.....it’s Apple, which means my expectations are already high when it comes to cameras. Whether those expectations will be met is something I’ll have to come back to after actually testing it.
The MagSafe charger has been a different story
One issue I’ve had, though, is that my MagSafe charger hasn’t worked since I got the laptop. When I connect it, the orange light keeps blinking, but the laptop doesn’t show that it’s charging. For a laptop that costs this much, having to troubleshoot the charger before your first charge is annoying, to say the least.
I went online to see whether other people had experienced this and found videos and comments describing the same issue across different MacBook generations. One suggestion I kept seeing was to use a USB-C to USB-C cable with the original power adapter to charge the laptop first, then try the MagSafe cable again after a day or two. Some people in the comments said that worked for them, so I ordered a USB-C cable from Walmart.
To be clear, I didn’t buy a whole new charger. I’m using the same power brick that came with the MacBook, just with a USB-C cable instead of the MagSafe cable, and that’s been charging the laptop fine. I hadn’t tried switching back to MagSafe before bringing this up, so I paused to test it just now. Still blinking orange. Still not charging. So much for my live success story.😂
I don’t know what’s causing it in my case, and the fact that the USB-C cable works hasn’t explained why the MagSafe one doesn’t. Since the orange light is blinking, the cable is obviously receiving power. Some people said switching back worked for them, but it hasn’t worked for me so far. So although I’ve been enjoying the laptop, the charging experience hasn’t been entirely smooth.
Relearning how to copy and paste wasn’t part of my excitement
Moving from Windows to Mac has reminded me of when I first moved from Android to iPhone. You know how to do something, then you change devices and all of a sudden, it's back to basics and you have to learn how to do it again. It’s a little annoying when the things in question are as basic as copying, pasting and taking screenshots.
The first night I got this laptop, I stayed up watching YouTube videos about keyboard shortcuts and how to find my way around. I’ll obviously get used to it, but for now, having to pause and look up something I used to do without thinking is annoying.
The way apps close also confused me initially. You click the close button and the window disappears, but the app can still be running. So now I’m learning the difference between closing a window and actually quitting the app, which wasn’t something I expected to spend time thinking about or even knew was a thing.
The trackpad is taking some getting used to
The trackpad is huuge. It's almost as big as the keyboard itself. I seriously wonder what apple was thinking with it. Sometimes I’m trying to move the cursor with one finger without realizing another finger is resting on the trackpad. On the Elitebook (and other laptops I've used), the trackpad is smaller, so where my other fingers naturally rested was outside it. The same hand position on this MacBook puts them on the trackpad. It’s probably another thing I’ll adjust to, but right now I wish it was smaller.
I’m also not particularly fond of the glossy screen. I can see my reflection in it, and it shows fingerprints very easily. I like my screen looking clean, so seeing marks on it after barely touching it is annoying.
For a laptop that costs $2,999, I think it’s been worth the purchase so far, especially considering what I need it for. I’m enjoying the speed, battery life and how easily it works with my phone, even if learning my way around has tested my patience a little. I’d just like the MagSafe charger to join the rest of the laptop in doing what it’s supposed to do.
Did I mention that you can choose to reopen your currently open apps when you decide to abruptly restart your PC? Oh I just did? Okay bye :)
All images are mine and were shot on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. The cover photo was edited from one of my original photos, using ChatGPT.