concept: a laptop that 1. runs linux well 2. has a good screen 3. has a good keyboard 4. has a good trackpad 5. at least decent battery life 6. looks good is anyone working on this
Replies
system76.com/laptops has some options, not sure if it meets all the criteria, pick a device that fits your general criteria and see third-party reviews for it perhaps
jul 15, 2025, 6:33 pm • 2 0 • view
I'm having a great experience with linux on this asus proart 13 (HN7306). The biggest issue is the hybrid standby doesn't work, obviously. But I just suspend to disk or turn the display off and it even still the battery lasts a good while. The fancy trackpad dial doesn't work either but whatevs.
jul 15, 2025, 10:32 pm • 1 0 • view
The screen looks incredible and it's super lightweight and portable. Resolution scaling with Wayland and Sway works perfectly. Keyboard is, well, a laptop keyboard, nothing particularly bad or good about it. I lucked out with Sway too because I was able to get the rotation and touchscreen working.
jul 15, 2025, 10:37 pm • 1 0 • view
Combine with this tool: github.com/hobyst/nvrun The setup essentially uses the integrated GPU for the desktop environment and then I'll adhoc run GPU intensive applications with nvrun. This helps the system stay super power efficient and only uses the dGPU when I want it and only for that app.
jul 15, 2025, 10:47 pm • 1 0 • view
apple solved it in 2021
jul 15, 2025, 6:16 pm • 28 0 • view
asahi's trackpad code is... passable at best and arm64 linux continues to be a bad experience with random software i use not working on it
jul 15, 2025, 6:20 pm • 5 0 • view
the core trackpad stuff is all done by apple's firmware, I can't tell the difference. gnome has proper gesture support
jul 15, 2025, 6:22 pm • 13 0 • view
Even two-finger rotate works in GIMP (which annoys me more than anything, never done it on purpose)
jul 15, 2025, 6:24 pm • 6 0 • view
might give it another try then
jul 15, 2025, 6:28 pm • 3 0 • view
IMO the palm rejection is awful on asahi. Love the peeps that make it tho!
jul 15, 2025, 6:39 pm • 1 0 • view
shame that palm rejection still doesn't work tmk
jul 15, 2025, 6:45 pm • 1 0 • view
I have tap-to-click or whatever it's called turned off so I've never had an issue with it. In fact, I have palm rejection entirely turned off because I like to be able to move the cursor while typing.
jul 15, 2025, 7:17 pm • 3 0 • view
that's actually a different setting! you can turn off the trackpad while typing but palm rejection still doesn't work- so if your palm touches the edges of the trackpad it still moves the mouse.
jul 15, 2025, 7:55 pm • 0 0 • view
that's a no-go then
jul 15, 2025, 6:51 pm • 1 0 • view
is Asahi still being actively developed? I remember something about marcan resigning recently?
jul 15, 2025, 6:24 pm • 2 0 • view
asahi is way more than just marcan
jul 15, 2025, 6:26 pm • 3 0 • view
When I tried Asahi last year it drained itself in a day or so with the lid closed. Not usable for a machine that you use away from an outlet. Anyone know whether they’ve fixed this?
jul 15, 2025, 7:16 pm • 3 0 • view
Old MacBook Pro is the direction I’m thinking about. No experience beyond virtualized at this point (misread something this weekend) but realized I might be able to do it with a 2011 or 2016 machine and get more use out of them.
jul 15, 2025, 7:57 pm • 0 0 • view
📌
jul 15, 2025, 7:04 pm • 0 0 • view
tuxedo is working on a qualcomm laptop... not a lot of news on the progress there though
jul 15, 2025, 6:30 pm • 4 0 • view
Where do the XPSs that came with Ubuntu fall short?
jul 15, 2025, 10:31 pm • 1 0 • view
i forgot they existed doesn't dell have an auto-contrast thing that's baked in firmware and impossible to turn off or did they fix that
jul 15, 2025, 10:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Uhhh you mean brightness adjusting by what's on-screen? Yeah you can turn that off in the intel graphics control panel (I hate it SO much) I would assume it just *doesn't work* on Linux rather than not being able to turn it off
jul 15, 2025, 10:38 pm • 1 0 • view
yep that
jul 15, 2025, 10:41 pm • 1 0 • view
I have an old macbook that runs fedora pretty well (after some wifi driver fuckery). The battery life on it is shit though. I'm sure I could replace the battery on it though. Thinkpads _kinda_ fit, but they look really ugly.
jul 15, 2025, 6:50 pm • 0 0 • view
yeah apple has had one for a bit now
jul 15, 2025, 7:49 pm • 4 0 • view
hey macos is unix not linux
jul 15, 2025, 7:54 pm • 1 0 • view
Asahi linux is a thing! asahilinux.org Works very very well, the only reason I don't daily drive it is because suspend power is not as good as macOS yet
jul 15, 2025, 7:57 pm • 6 0 • view
i'm still loving my thinkpad p1gen2 i got in 2020. 4K IPS screen, runs Ubuntu great. Haven't reevaluated since but i tried all the keyboards then and the Thinkpad was clearly still the best
jul 15, 2025, 6:34 pm • 1 0 • view
would just recommend getting one with a dedicated GPU. The integrated graphics isn't enough for regular web browsing in 4K on ubuntu..... drivers pain....
jul 15, 2025, 6:35 pm • 1 0 • view
Lenovo X1 was the best laptop I ever had and hit all of these requirements. Its specs will always lag macbooks but I loved my x1 and it served me well for over 5 years. My only complaint about the current gen was limiting to 32gb RAM. I have never been a 4K screen guy, 2K is sufficient imo. ymmv.
jul 15, 2025, 7:20 pm • 2 0 • view
Can’t speak to the modern X1’s battery. the whole line is predicated on mobility so I would hope it still holds up. I regularly got 4ish hours on a non-trivial workload w/o recharging. It could go 2ish days on standby, longer in s3 sleep.
jul 15, 2025, 7:22 pm • 0 0 • view
marcan
jul 16, 2025, 12:43 am • 1 0 • view
before someone cites framework it fails at "good trackpad" and "looks good" and the screen is kind of arguable
jul 15, 2025, 6:16 pm • 19 1 • view
Apparently the 12 has a good trackpad but it fails badly at screen and battery life. Going to find out re the framework 12 today lol.
jul 15, 2025, 6:30 pm • 4 0 • view
the 12 excels at looking good though imo
jul 15, 2025, 6:52 pm • 3 0 • view
I swear I didn't pick the nail polish colour to match the trackpad, I just like lavender.
jul 15, 2025, 7:42 pm • 5 0 • view
The rest of the laptop is actually the black/grey sku, bc I wanted to get it faster.
jul 15, 2025, 7:43 pm • 4 0 • view
yeah i watched a review and was like "66% sRGB coverage" and i was like "🥲🥲🥲"
jul 15, 2025, 7:14 pm • 3 0 • view
Yeah. It's low on my list of things I care about in a convertible bc i don't do colour-sensitive work and won't be watching movies or gaming on it, but it would be *real* nice for it to not be crap. The trackpad is pretty solid. Not macbook good, but as good as my current Samsung or better.
jul 15, 2025, 7:45 pm • 1 0 • view
is this gonna be the latest thinkpad x1 carbon or something
jul 15, 2025, 6:22 pm • 13 0 • view
fwiw i find the framework 13 amd trackpad comparable to my previous thinkpad x1 carbon aesthetics is arguable, but translucent keys and colourized modular ports and screen frames etc are pretty boss if you're into that but i am quite partial to the thinkpad vibe too
jul 16, 2025, 12:42 am • 1 0 • view
oh also the hidpi 120hz (variable rate capable!) display is very nice if you're willing to overlook rounded corners (i don't notice them anymore, took a few days)
jul 16, 2025, 12:43 am • 1 0 • view
if you can compromise on 6, the rest of that list is just a Thinkpad.
jul 15, 2025, 7:01 pm • 0 0 • view
Asus UM5606
jul 15, 2025, 7:24 pm • 0 0 • view
2013-2017 MacBook Air with a fresh battery is the closest you'll get I'm afraid. Dismal screen by today's standards, but anything "retina" from that time frame runs too slow and hot to be practical.
jul 15, 2025, 7:31 pm • 0 0 • view