I'm using my old 2011 MacBook Pro, running Ubuntu for a while now, since Apple declared it EOL, but it's struggling a little.

It's an old top-of-the line Intel I7 quad-core, in which I've replaced the battery, upgraded the RAM to 16GB (from its original 8), and replaced its hard drive with a 1TB hybrid drive (with 256GB of flash cache built in). I ran Mac OS on it for quite some time, but they stopped supporting the Intel Macs in general, and this model in particular, a long time ago. So I put Ubuntu on it, because I'm lazy and familiar, and it's worked like a champ since.

In the last week or so, though, the charger has a hard time charging while I'm using it. Instead of the orange "I'm charging" indicator on the plug, it flashes green, like it's loosing its connection. It occasionally turns orange for a bit, but then returns to flashing green pretty quickly, or turns out entirely. Sometimes jostling the brick lets it behave a few moments longer, but only enough to build a little false hope. However, if I shut the lid and let it sit, it will pretty quickly perform as expected. It makes me think it's something Ubuntu is doing to manage the power, not the MBP.

I've turned to battery setting to "power saving," as I don't do anything that really demands performance anyway. I've done all I can do to disable the discrete graphics card, which occasionally causes lock-ups anyway, probably because of "almost ready" drivers.

I've been cringing at myself, but I'm considering the Mac Neo. I really don't do anything on it that requires a heavy hitting MBP, or even a comparable MacBook Air. I cringe a little at the 8GB offering, even more than the A18 CPU, but I don't use my laptop as a heavy-duty workstation any more, but as a convenient mobile platform. I honestly use my iPad Air with a Bluetooth keyboard as a laptop more, or attached to a bigger monitor with a keyboard and mouse as a desktop replacement, except the times I need to use an IDE or do something that isn't available on the iPad. The times I want to do that stuff, I need a laptop or I have to find time at my desktop.

I've been thinking I could upgrade my Mac Mini from the original M1 to the newest M4, jumping from 8GB to 16GB of RAM, and grab a Neo for just a smidge more dollars than getting just a MacBook Air with the M5. I'm not pushing envelopes anymore, so I don't need the bleeding edge CPU. My Mac Mini is still meeting my needs, so if I postponed that replacement for a while, maybe that'll get upgraded with the M5 or M6, or whatever. I am frequently running into space issues on my iPad and Mini, each with 256GB, so I'd probably spring for the 512GB Neo, and still come out ahead over a similarly sized Air.

Especially since this has gone from 80% to 70% battery in the time I've tapped this out. And it's been plugged in the whole time. It did run dry yesterday while I was poking at something in an IDE, which thankfully happened to save immediately before the failure. Save early, save often, like Larry used to warn us.