Apple's Late-2016 MacBook Pro Is Still A Wreck With Linux

[horizonbrave]

Do you have any reason to believe that F27 would be different than Ubuntu 17.10 with a 4.14 kernel?

Sorry for late reply. No solid reason I just remember that last year I could positively boot Fedora on a 2009 MacBook Pro model, but I couldn't boot other distros.
I'm not sure (as I'm very far from being a Linux expert) if it was by the way Fedora could interact with the machine UEFI rather than a kernel merit but I suppose the former.
Even these days I couldn't install/boot properly Ubuntu 17.10 (can't open a virtual console, the rest is fine) on E6530 Dell Laptop (2012 with Nvidia/Intel hybrid graphics) but Fedora 26/27 runs/installs without problems. That's why (with few other reasons) Fedora so far is my distro of choice: it installs easily (and fast). By the way I learnt that is better to stay away from Mac and Nvidia hardware for Linux compatibility.
Still not sure still if Micheal gave Fedora a try on that Mac of his.

[timrichardson]

You mean if the run a repair shops? Why would they? There are Lenovo authorized repair shops everywhere, and Lenovo enumerates and sells replacements for every single part for more than 10 years back and have detailed step-by-step guides for how to replace everything. They are not glued together toys like Apple hardware.

You know what is a joke? Apple in-warranty service vs Lenovo. I run a one-person consulting business, the computer is the lifeblood of my cashflow. I had four macs, two of them had problems in warranty. There are three Apple Stores in my city. It doesn't get any better, you'd think.

The general process is to leave the laptop for five days, even when it's a recall fix that needs simply a new part, such as a panel replacement for delamination. That is a joke. You can pay $500 for a special "business" service which is on top of Applecare, if you don't mind, but otherwise, it's a long queue.
In my most recent experience, I gave up on the apple stores and persuaded a local authorised reseller to order to order the part and call me when it arrives (that's how I know it's a 30 minute fix). This is risky for them, because they have to send the faulty part back within hours of receiving the spare part, or they get penalised, which is why Apple repair places want to keep your machine. That was my last Macbook Pro, because of the 16 GB max-ram issue (at the time). I bought a quad core Thinkpad P50 beast for half the price of the Mac equivalent, from the US. I wasn't happy with the screen after about six months. I'm living in a different country from where I bought the laptop and relying on international warranty. What does this mean? It means the the next day a tech came to my house and fixed it. Go back and read that again. It's amazing. Next day. To my house. The warranty is for three years, extendable to five. I have a ancient W520 ThinkPad as a backup. It's in perfect order, but these things are easy to buy spare parts for me, and easy to maintain. Color me in as a ThinkPad convert. Let's not even talk about keyboards. Which by they way cost $140 from lots of websites, and are user replaceable. I bought the quadcore W520 for $AUD360 from a business that refurbishes old ThinkPads, it's my backup. The sell spare parts. The most common spare part you'll need is a new battery. It's easy to buy OEM (ie Lenovo) batteries.
Oh, and they both run Ubuntu very nicely. They are both Nvidia Optimus machines, which is why I am specific about Ubuntu.

[carewolf]

yes, I meant if they replace it themselves. Also AFAIK they don't sell parts to non-authorized people. If they do, please point to me how, because I need a mobo for a client that is certified by lenovo, not a used spare part from ebay.

I called the local lenovo support after being out of warranty, and they instead suggested an authorized repair shops or to sell me a replacement that I could install myself. I bought a new CPU fan for something like $40 and installed it myself (the old one was noisy after 5 years, and not just for being dirty)

[Luke_Wolf]

yes, I meant if they replace it themselves. Also AFAIK they don't sell parts to non-authorized people. If they do, please point to me how, because I need a mobo for a client that is certified by lenovo, not a used spare part from ebay.

Here you go https://lenovo.encompass.com/

[garegin]

You mean if the run a repair shops? Why would they? There are Lenovo authorized repair shops everywhere, and Lenovo enumerates and sells replacements for every single part for more than 10 years back and have detailed step-by-step guides for how to replace everything. They are not glued together toys like Apple hardware.

yes, I meant if they replace it themselves. Also AFAIK they don't sell parts to non-authorized people. If they do, please point to me how, because I need a mobo for a client that is certified by lenovo, not a used spare part from ebay.

[carewolf]

Can anyone conform this for me. Lenovo doesn’t do out of warranty repairs for their systems. Is this a joke or something? I’m assuming they don’t do this for business line (Thinkpad, ThinkCentre)

You mean if the run a repair shops? Why would they? There are Lenovo authorized repair shops everywhere, and Lenovo enumerates and sells replacements for every single part for more than 10 years back and have detailed step-by-step guides for how to replace everything. They are not glued together toys like Apple hardware.

[GruenSein]

Absolute myth created by Jobs and his buddies in the media and Hollywood. There was never a time when Macs had a corner on any form of software for more than a few months before Linux or Windows or both caught up and surpassed it in raw numbers.

Since close friends of mine have been running a print business for over twenty years now and I observed it first hand, I beg to differ.

[M@GOid]

Can we have laptops that use 19:10 screens back pls. Or maybe some manufacturers put out some Surface Book clones with the same aspect ratio for the screen?

No. :-)

Stop using full screen windows on a high res 16:9 screen. We are on the 21 century now, you can have more than one window opened at the same time, with much more vertical screen lines than any ancient 4:3 or 16:10 screen you used in the past. Unless of course, you are stuck with a crappy 1366x768 screen, like me and all the other poor that cannot afford a better spec machine.

[M@GOid]

My recollection was that Macbooks used to be "the laptop to have" for Linux developers, with a surprising number of Apple laptops appearing at X conferences.

It would be interesting to have a discussion with Apple about at least informally supporting Linux on Boot Camp.

Well. any favoritism a Macbook enjoyed might have been lost after that wonderful new model without physical F-keys and USB Type-C only ports.

Lenovo tried remove the F-Keys one year on the T-series, only to have them back on the next year. 10 bucks says they received death treats for that.

[Raven3x7]

Can we have laptops that use 19:10 screens back pls. Or maybe some manufacturers put out some Surface Book clones with the same aspect ratio for the screen?