Does this mean it is now possible to run OS X on an ipad? Those also tend to use phone processors.

Technically possible yes. It will have been for years at this point. But Apple hasn't released a build for ipad.

I have.

Plastic is great, until your laptop falls and the plastic shell shatters. That's the weakness of plastic - it's brittle. I have a ten year old macbook with a dinged aluminium chassis. The structure of the shell is still intact despite a few falls.

Not all plastics are brittle, even after time. It is highly dependent on the plastic used.

ok, now please explain whether any plastic is more or less brittle than aluminium.

It's not.

That being said, aluminum will suffer from dents and scratches. Every material is a trade off. You're not going to pull a "gotcha" comment, here.

The best platform, provided the games you want to play actually work and work well. Many do not, even some popular ones.

I own a steam deck and love it, but please, let’s temper the enthusiasm with realism.

sure "best" is subjectively true for my criteria: it plays the largest number of games with about zero annoyance / friction. maybe desktop windows plays more games, but it certainly has a bazillion more frictions and annoyances

Not really. Both AMD and intel have several models where the names are similar but differ in an important way such as one being pervious generation.

I'll just get a Pentium Gold CPU, with a name like that I bet it will be the best model!

Fine, but how is anyone supposed to divine all that nuance from a single letter?

As much as I hate Apple, they really do have product names down to a science.

that ifixit article is an AI slop puff piece.

Thinkpads have good repairability, few people would debate that. They are not perfect and the ifixit "review" itself acknowledges that the wifi antenna is soldered, hence not repairable.

Do internal WiFi antennas fail often?

the form factor is a problem. Have you ACTUALLY tried using an ipad as a laptop for more than a few minutes? It is top-heavy and falls over all the time. Even if you solve that problem, you now have multiple devices that you must keep charged and with you at all time.

At that point, an actual laptop is simpler.

That form factor exists on the windows side for about a decade now, so yes people do actually use it day to day for their work.

It's easy to forget that many laptops are used 99% plugged to a hub and an external monitor. I have a keyboard and mouse I like a lot, and having a tablet floating on an arm next to my other screen instead of half open clam with a useless keyboard pointing at me is incredibly freeing.

Even on the go, bringing a bluetooth (trackpoint II）keyboard is just better overall IMHO. It's up to people's taste, but tablet form factors are not some unsolved mistery. Commercial success would of course be another discussion.

Tablets will need to become a great deal lighter than they currently are before the awkwardness you describe will dissipate. Maybe after some kind of breakthrough in battery tech that allows for a much lighter and thinner battery?

Until then, I would agree that the old 12" MacBook still has a big leg up over an iPad + keyboard due to its clamshell form factor. It's so much less fussy for any use case where a keyboard matters.

I've seen people use their (non-Apple) tablet in the kitchen for recipes. Can't imagine taking my laptop to the kitchen.

I have a kickstand case with a magnetic Bluetooth keyboard and integrated 3rd party pen holder and it works just like a laptop but supports the pen, plus I can leave the keyboard behind and prop it on my treadmill to watch movies, etc. It's actually a lot more convenient than a laptop in a lot of circumstances.

>Have you ACTUALLY tried using an ipad as a laptop for more than a few minutes? It is top-heavy and falls over all the time.

Not even sure what you mean. Get a keyboard stand or a regular stand + keyboard. Never "falls over" for me.

Do you try to balance it on its side or something?

can you walk into a Samsung shop and have your battery replaced with an OEM part, warranties and all, in about two hours?

I don't think that's the topic being discussed here.

That describes relatively easy for you, but not for the average person who can’t even be bothered to change the default ringtone.

The challenge I've found when looking for instructions for flashing one of my old phones is the assumption of knowledge some rom builders have, or perhaps an assumption about their audience. This seems like it has the potential to bit someone in the ass because if they're relying on other sources like the lineageOS wiki or forum posts elsewhere for example there's no guarantee it'll stay available, complete, or relevant to their variant over time. It's an added burden for what is a gracious volunteer role, but it's a handicap if they want more people using the fruits of their labor.

I can't be bothered to change my phone's default ringtone and yet I've had very little issue installing LineageOS and GrapheneOS on the various phones I've owned over the years.