Post funny things about programming here! (Or just rant about your favourite programming language.)
Context: this is a legit screenshot I took on my workplace around 1.5 years ago. Hopefully it's been patched by now? Completely ridiculous behavior
Badly shielded USB3 causes RF leaks at 2.4GHz. use 5Ghz WiFi or better shielded devices.
This is the answer.
Some early wifi routers with USB ports on them had the same issue.
I’ve seen this exact problem on other laptops. Not saying it’s okay, but it’s not exactly an Apple only problem. It’s a “let’s cram everything into this single port and hope it doesn’t interfere with anything” problem.
It’s also a common problem with 2.4 GHz Zigbee USB sticks. It’s recommended to connect them to a longer usb cable.
Charging from the left side isn't all that either, some macbook pro models actually become slower due to thermal throttling because charging from the left creates heat closer to the CPU. Resulting in a significant CPU slowdown.
Apple users have to jump through so many hoops just to look down on everyone else
I know nobody asked, but the reputation Macs have amongst IT industry professionals is insanely annoying to me. I guess it's a difference between what I like in a laptop versus what other people like in them.
I've seen developers working for FAANGs unironically praise the M1 Macbooks as work machines. And I'm just sitting here, like...why? You are locked into an inferior operating system that becomes progressively more janky the deeper you get into its configuration. I have one and the damn thing has an option to change the "modifier key" for the fucking mouse, so you can change your mouse's modifier key to its ctrl or shift key, apparently. Y'know, in case your standard 20 dollar Logitech wired mouse, like the one I'm using, has shift and modifier keys. Just super useful /s. It randomly had slack muted after installing it, so I could never get message notifications until I figured out what to alter after digging through the guts of its terrible system configuration UI. It can't remember the order of attached displays and half the time I have to rearrange them after resuming it from hibernation. If you want to do basic window manager things, like press the meta key (also referred to as the windows key on non-macbooks) + direction arrow to have a window snap to a quadrant of your screen, you have to install a 3rd party application with Homebrew. Its keyboard is that weird, unresponsive, flat form factor that makes it a nightmare to actually use as a portable device. With any luck you don't have to compile anything for it, because...you probably won't be able to. Perhaps most annoying is the fact that, even if you want to use it as a full desktop replacement and plug in 3 monitors with the same resolution into it at a desk (most Macs have at least passable 3rd party dock support), the Mac just won't let you. It only lets you plug in 2 and it duplicates one of those two onto the 3rd one. If you want to plug in 3, you technically can: you just have to download 3rd party displaylink drivers, which, knowing Apple, probably won't fucking work and might permanently fuck up your display.
I get that it's a relatively powerful computer for the ludicrous amount of battery life it gives you, but that's purely because it's an extremely optimized ARM based processor that's only designed to work with this specific operating system. I also get that machines running Linux also have their own problems, but you aren't paying for whatever Linux distro you're running (probably) and you also have the power to change things with a little bit of effort. If I'm buying a machine like an M1, where the OS is presumably part of the whole "package," it should just work well out of the box.
Beyond those complaints, it's got good speakers and never produces any heat. Honestly, the only good things about the machines are those hardware elements: the speakers, battery life, and lack of heat. If they could run linux and had decent keyboards, I might like them. But Apple is practically an antonym for FOSS at this point. I also have a Thinkpad X1 Carbon, which is physically a worse machine: it gets hot, has a fraction of the battery life, etc. But you can install any Linux distro (that isn't Nix based, sadly) to it without issue and its keyboard makes it actually tolerable to code on for extended periods. I wonder if the people that really like the M1s like them because it's the laptop equivalent of an iPhone.
I believe many of the display issues were fixed with the M2. And you don't need brew to install a window manager, although the fact that brew lets you treat it like a linux box is great.
The system configuration is more about what you're used to than anything else. I haven't used Windows in a couple of decades, and I absolutely hate it. Can't even think of going back. The modern version looks like a tablet OS trying to pass as a desktop OS. Give me a Windows machine and the first thing I'll do is wipe it clean and install Ubuntu. But I'm also sure Windows is great for you. So it's what we're used to. Nothing wrong with it.
I believe many of the display issues were fixed with the M2
I have an M2 and it has literally every display issue I've talked about here.
But I’m also sure Windows is great for you
I hate Windows. I have a single Windows machine that I use for a few specific things and then like...5 linux machines. And then the M2.
Apple: "You're not using your mac how we designed it to. Please pay $4000 more to use the right side usb-c without issues".
Maybe you were holding it wrong
Maybe the cable was not of the 60 usd official licensed by apple type.
Oh, I forgot about that one! Apple are full of shit. Also "it's not a bug, it's a feature" is a classic.
Whoops, it seems the last one isn't from Apple, I guess I've just seen it used about their products so many times I assumed it originated from them...sorry about that. I shouldn't go around the internet assuming things.
I'm amazed at how many professionals use Macs because Apple seems to hate power users. I had to use a Mac briefly recently and was amazed to find they still don't have window snapping.
It also had no idea what to do with my monitor, couldn't even detect the correct resolution. I'm guessing if I had bought a $3000 Apple monitor it would have worked immediately. But had to dive into "advanced settings" just to set the correct resolution.
check out Rectangles my dude (obviously doesn't come with it but in case you're looking)
Not to talk shit about Mac users, but in this day and age with how advanced technology is, you have to be insane to buy a Mac. What kills it for me is that nothing is upgradeable on the damn thing, like zero. If your internal drive dies, you're SOL. And if I got this correctly, they now have the bios OS on the same drive, the Internal. So, you won't even be able to get to your bios. You won't be able to install the OS on external hard drive in case you needed to. This is insane and I can never understand why anyone would buy into this shit.
Mac users, and actually most laptop users, don't give a shit about the things you mention. They buy it, use it for some 2-5 years, then sell it and get a new model. Upgrading hardware is way too complicated for most people. They don't know or care what a BIOS is. It comes with the OS installed and that's the only thing they would ever want. Turn it on, use Safari, outlook, and office 365, maybe some tool like Photoshop/Ableton/etc, that's it.
I mean iPhones are the same right? They lock down everything so it's idiot proof and they control the environment exactly so they can maximise the smoothness of the experience.
I have to use an apple phone for work and it's sorta annoying to use. Like sure it's fast and snappy but there's no back button and it isn't as intuitive as Apple users want you to believe it is.
The problem with Apple OSs is that Apple decides how you are suppose to use the device.
They decide that a phone/tablet/laptop is suppose to be used in a certain way and if you try to use them like a different computer form factor, you are left confused and frustrated.
I have been a long time user of Linux, Android, and Windows. I have no Apple devices and never will because every time I am forced to use one I can't figure out how to do the simplist things that is trivial on every other OS I have used. Not to mention they won't let you customize the device how you want to use it.
They do have a fantastic aesthetic and OS if you want a phone/tablet/laptop that does the simplist low-effort use, but I am always lost when trying do do anything outside of Apple's groove. They are all looks and no substance.
M1 and M2 Macs have some of the worst pre-boot and recovery options I have ever seen.
If a BIOS update fails on them, they don't have any redundancy to fail back to a working BIOS. This has been standard on every business machine for at least 5 years. On any Dell or Lenovo machine, if your BIOS becomes borked, it either auto-recovers from a previous BIOS that is stored on your HDD/SSD, or it allows you to insert a USB drive with the BIOS on it and recovers from there.
The Mac BIOS can update during a standard OS update without indicating that you'll brick the machine if it powers off for any reason.
I had someone with a failed update on an M2 Mac that left the machine without a BIOS entirely. To recover, you need another Mac machine with USBC so you can plug them into each other and run Apple Configurator 2 to start a complete redownload of the OS to recover from.
It's at least an hour long process for something that should take 5 minutes to fix. Also, it requires another Mac, you can't run the recovery from any other OS.
Absolute baloney from Apple.
Damn, that's sounds so painful. One more reason why I'll never buy one I guess. lol
The Mac BIOS can update during a standard OS update without indicating that you’ll brick the machine if it powers off for any reason
I hate Apple, but my Lenovo does exactly the same. It fucking installs BIOS updates automatically without any warning. Once, after a reboot it was hanging too much on a black screen and I thought it just froze, so I forced a shutdown by long pressing the power button. Luckily the BIOS restored via the fallback, but that wiped the TPM for some reason and because windows 11 on laptops automatically encrypts the drive with bitlocker I might have lost everything (luck again, I'm part of the 1% of the bitlocker users that actually keep an offline backup of the encryption key)
At least (I'm guessing, never bought any M1 Mac and will never do it) apple should be smart enough to disable the power button during BIOS updates, and maybe postpone the update on a low battery, leaving the danger only to desktop users
The arm macs are really fast and the battery life is great. With that said I'm not shelling out for one. I'll gladly take one if my job pays for it.
I couldn't imagine buying any laptop other than a Mac because the performance to battery life ratio on everything else is awful. Plus if you want a UNIX system, it's an easy buy.
After owning an Apple ARM laptop I'd never go back to anything else.
Random computer quirks always fascinate me. The strangest one I had involved a computer that shouldn't have existed.
One time in the early aughts I had a patchwork computer that I put together from the junk pile of a local computer store that a buddy of mine ran.
It was barely holding together in a rusty frame, with zip ties and wood glue.
Its modem was temperamental as hell. It would only stay online so long as it was pinging a website via command prompt. It was only some websites, too. Like I could ping Geocities, but not livejournel.
I remember many weekends doing Mephisto runs in Diablo II, praying that my command prompt doesn't bug out anytime I'd get anything worthwhile.
I have a personal server, mostly acting as a NAS but with some web hosting as well. For whatever reason, it randomly freezes until you manually power cycle it, it happens really often, like every 20 minutes.
Turns out it's due to some weird interaction between debian and older ryzen CPUs, if the CPU isn't busy it just dies. Solution? A Minecraft server, with no one on it, it keeps the CPU just busy enough to keep it alive. I've had it running for months at a time with no issues.
Go into grub and set intel_idle.max_cstate=1 if you want it to be elegant. Had the same problem. AMD didn't implement proper sleep states. There's an open PR ranting about interconnect issues somewhere if I can find it.
So that’s why Apple removed all USBC ports on the right side of Macs… (M series air and 13” pro have this issue)
My PC went through a phase of switching off when you accessed the network share with my pictures on it.
I could access it locally. I could use other network shares.
It stopped doing that when I swapped the PSU.
Fuck computers, I want to live in a cave.
Windows 7 forgets your wifi password if you plug the dongle into a different port.
I still randomly see myssid 4 (or some other random number) on Windows 11 with no explanation.
Laughs in framework with four identical USB-C ports that can do anything
That's actually not true, and framework has similar issues. There was vampire power drains from certain mix and match options with HDMI and USB-C ports.
https://community.frame.work/t/tracking-high-battery-drain-during-suspend/3736
On the AMD framework, the upper right and left USB-C ports are slightly different from the lower ports
https://community.frame.work/t/usb4-and-thunderbolt-on-amd/30771
I love my framework laptop, but we shouldn't pretend that they are free from quirks that plague other brands.
Fascinating. Good to know...
I'm having the same issue at work at the moment. When I connect to my dual monitor setup at work, all my usb devices stop working. Mouse, keyboard, the internal camera, monitors... All dead till you reboot, then they work for 10 Minutes again.
Now i have the same Monitor setup at home, no issues here. Mind you, it's a Lenovo ThinkPad with Lenovo monitors and it worked for years without issues.
The Lenovo technician told our IT guy that's because my monitor setup at home is another generation with a different chipset in the usb hub/switch. After giving us a few tips that didn't work, like disconnecting the Monitors from power for a minute or using a different port on the notebook they defaulted to "You're shit out of luck because the support ends after 4 years" - The monitors are 4 years old.
I can't remember which model it was, but wasn't there a MacBook Pro that had 4 USB-C ports, only two of which supported Thunderbolt? Want to connect your monitor to the right side of the machine? Well... tough shit, I guess.
MacBook USB-C can be goofy. I know for restoring firmware (which Apple refers to as "reviving"), on some models, you have to use a very specific port
Somewhat tangential, but USB-C docking stations, as useful as it is to have everything in one cable, it can also be annoying.
At the office, I often just want to charge my laptop with them, but they also give me a wired internet connection, which, thanks to corporate networking shitfuckery, doesn't work. So, every time I plug in, I have to disable that wired connection.
Also, recently a colleague had problems getting her headset working when she was plugged into certain docks, ultimately due to a bug in the OS.
Like, alright, that should be fixed in the OS, but that USB-C dock doesn't even have a speaker attached to it. It's completely useless that it shows up as an audio device.
And even after we found a workaround to fix her headset, she will now have to switch over her audio device every time she plugs into a dock.
So, basically it's now one step to plug in the cable, but potentially multiple steps to undo half of what you unwillingly plugged in...
I just love how the other person immediately knew there could be a difference between the left and the right USB port.
My current and previous jobs provided macbooks for "security" and the one with my last job would not charge on the right USB ports. I assumed this was just expected, like only one side was actually hooked up to the battery while the other was just for data transfer.
Power delivery has different requirements, so it's normal that not all ports allow it. And it's also possible to have USB-C ports that are only on USB 2.0 hardware.