> I’m very vigilant and still a bit freaked out when I carry the Macbook around. Careful in tight spaces! Better not hop on a city bike with it in my backpack, ’cause what if I fall?
I've actually found MacBooks to be impressively sturdy. Perhaps I've been lucky. I've dropped my 2016 Intel MBP once while coming out of my car, it hit the pavement on its corner. There was a little dent in the corner, and the screen/lid was a couple millimeters askew from the body, but it worked fine and was my mainstay for a few years more.
A colleague had this beautiful star-streak pattern on the aluminum back of their screen from the time they knocked their Mabook down their driveway, in a botched attempt to catch it as it fell. They were even a bit sad when they had to upgrade, and actually asked if they could swap the case!
In contrast, I had an old Lenovo laptop just explode from falling on the pavement.
(On the other hand, I've had to get the macbook repaired twice due to the butterfly keyboard issue...)
With all that said, the MBP is obviously heavier than the GPD Micro, and the lightness of the latter makes it inherently less fragile.
When my 2014 MBP was just a couple years old I drove away with it on the roof of my car (granted, in a soft plastic case). It fell off on the highway where it laid between lanes until someone stopped and picked it up and contacted me.
Small dent in one of the corners from hitting the pavement, but it’s still going strong today. Battle scars.
I closed my M1 MBA's screen on a plastic fork right at the base of the hinge, cracked the glass (but why?) nameplate because the hinge was ultra tight with zero clearance between the screen and base when closed (room for error), and a few weeks later pinstripes started appearing on my screen due to electrical damage from the crack.
Closing a portable PC with a pen inside was the leading cause of accident. I don’t know if it is anymore, since there is generally no deep trench at the top of flat-keys keyboards, like there were on deep-keys keyboards.
My MBP fell off my chair (maybe 18"?) onto a wooden floor and the screen shattered. Not sure what it cost my employer to replace that, but I am extremly unimpressed w/ the durability of these things. It was certainly inconvenient for me to have to switch computers for a couple weekswhile mine was being repaired.
I mean that's the nature of a unibody machine with edge to edge glass sandwiched in.
The main body is amazingly sturdy. I've crushed mine behind a power seat with enough force to bend the aluminum but the machine kept on bar some faint stuck pixels in the imprint of the keyboard.
But drop it the wrong way and the aluminum lip will give way immediately, and it's no different than if you dropped a thin pane of glass with no protection right on its edge.
For what it is I say the Macbook is very study. It's never going to be a rugged book with the current design, but I haven't had many "ultrabook-style" machines that were as tough as a Macbook.
I agree with you on sturdiness - I thrown one 7 feet onto concrete and it was dented but kept working for years. I think the bigger issue is the mental model of "what if I break it?" being applied to a $300 machine vs a $3000 machine is very different.
May be worthwhile checking the policy fine print. My homeowners insurance has a $2k per incident claim limit fwiw, unless the item is explicitly scheduled (which increases the premium).
I can relate to that. Fell of a bike last week going 15-20 kph, my backpack with 14" MBP M1 fell on the pavement and slided a few meters -- not a scratch (or dent) on that thing. And there's nothing in my backpack to soften the blow!
I too have found the MacBook Air family to be hardy. Have owned probably 20 of them since they came out. Rock solid hardware, modulo a certain butterfly keyboard incident or three.
I owned businesses. I didn't use all of them myself. I do tend to buy The Latest Thing every year or two. And my purchase history of computers is of interest to you because...?
> And my purchase history of computers is of interest to you because..
Not the OP, but saying you "owned 20 of them" certainly made it sound like you personally had gone through 20 Macbook Airs in 13 years and I too had questions why.
Wasn't sure what could prompt such frequent replacement with the same product. Maybe if one had a rage problem rendering them inoperable after throwing into a wall, or some other serious condition, perhaps OCD? I've encountered crazier things in my life.
My old 2011 MBA is still chugging along just fine, despite lots harsh use and hot tub time.
The nearby air has extremely high moisture content, I didn't dream the MBA would be able to sustain the abuse for so many years without getting fatally corroded.
It's taken substantial splashes and even a partial dunk or three.
I had the same thought too. I read your comment as you ‘personally’ used 20 of them. Given the Air had several episodes of years without changes, that would imply they were replaced with the exact same model.
> I’m very vigilant and still a bit freaked out when I carry the Macbook around. Careful in tight spaces! Better not hop on a city bike with it in my backpack, ’cause what if I fall?
I've actually found MacBooks to be impressively sturdy. Perhaps I've been lucky. I've dropped my 2016 Intel MBP once while coming out of my car, it hit the pavement on its corner. There was a little dent in the corner, and the screen/lid was a couple millimeters askew from the body, but it worked fine and was my mainstay for a few years more.
A colleague had this beautiful star-streak pattern on the aluminum back of their screen from the time they knocked their Mabook down their driveway, in a botched attempt to catch it as it fell. They were even a bit sad when they had to upgrade, and actually asked if they could swap the case!
In contrast, I had an old Lenovo laptop just explode from falling on the pavement.
(On the other hand, I've had to get the macbook repaired twice due to the butterfly keyboard issue...)
With all that said, the MBP is obviously heavier than the GPD Micro, and the lightness of the latter makes it inherently less fragile.