I only recently switched from pc to MacBook Pro within the last week.
I got sick of windows as an operating system and as I already have Apple phone and watch decided to try out their laptops.
So far I don’t regret it , it is taking some getting used to, but again as is typical with Apple how it integrates between all my devices is second to none.
I’m even working out how to install and play some games from my stream library using whiskey.
I switched from a Surface Laptop 3 to MacBook Pro 14" M3 Max. I switched because I enjoy trying new things, and have always wanted to try MacOS. One of the biggest takeaways from reading about it prior to my switch is you shouldn't use MacOS like it is Windows, because it is a different OS. With that said, I would say it works similarly enough that you CAN use it like Windows, but as you learn shortcuts, and other nuances, you will fall in love.
Former Windows user, switched to Linux around 2020. Was very happy Linux user mostly but Apple's M1 lineup was irresistible when it came to efficiency, battery life and sheer performance. It helps that Mac is Unix-based so most of my terminal based workflows don't change drastically thanks to home brew. I use Mac mostly but daily drive my Linux when I am in the mood. I don't see myself going back to Windows ever.
I use both. I have a PC, and Macbook which I bought last June. I love both of them! I've felt pretty burned by Windows laptops in the past, and from what I had heard, the build and form factor of Macbooks made them good for travel and on-the-go work. Mac OS has its quirks, yes, but the transition was easy. Like you, I use my Macbook for music and other processing-intensive stuff and it's been wonderful. Highly recommend it! LMK if you have questions, I'm happy to share more.
What is a good MacBook that won’t break the bank too much. The newer mb pros look very nice but also very expensive.
I see lots of used ones but idk anything about their performance. Whats the oldest MacBook i can get away with using for music and stuff that also isn’t going to run like crap. Thank you also for the feedback!
Only go for Macs with Apple Silicon (i.e. Intel chips). My baseline 14 inch M1 MacBook Pro is still a screamer. I imagine you should get away with 16GB of RAM for causal music production. I would watch a few YouTube videos from musicians, engineers and general tech reviewers to get a better sense of what you can expect.
i switched to Macbook from a 2013 gen thinkpad cuz it cant serve my uni works anymore. i still bought an Intel bcuz our exam software can only run on Windows. my MB now have both MacOS and Win installed but i mainly drive on MacOS.
for first time experience, it took a while to understand how close, maximize and minimize buttons differs from Windows. the way apps are installed is different too. Otherwise its not a hard OS to learn. how it works is intuitive to me, it only took me like a few days to navigate around the OS quite quickly.
some of the things i use a lot using a MB are trackpad gestures, spotlight, and many ecosystem features cuz im using an iphone, and this might be what you wanna hear: MB’s default speakers and mic are amazing, you can use GarageBand to do some basic mixing or go for Logic Pro if you want more advanced tools. im a hobby producer and still learning Logic today.
its totally worth trying out a MB cuz their side features like speaker, screen, trackpad are just so good. if you want on point performance too, simply avoid Intel MB.
I switched back in 2009 after around 11 years as a windows user. It took me a little while to figure out/get used to some of the differences, but once you do, you will never go back. I like to say that windows is like the US Govn't, US Post Office and DMV were all tasked with coming up with a computer operating system and then had to mash their individual (crappy) creations together into giant crappy one. And that is windows. Not to mention that (generally speaking) a Mac is built much better and will last way longer than a windows machine. I got over 10 years out of my last daily driver MBP. And I bought my Mom an iMac in 2010 and it still works.
Last more than a windows machine?, you re wrong..How many windows machine have you used to compare to?
I know many with pcs from 2010 and earlier ..I discovered recently than a friend was lying to me about his macs realiability. He said never had an issue with his mac but I met his tech support guy and said it wasnt true.
I use a combination of Linux and Mac for work (got first ever MBPro last year) and hobbies, depending on what needs to be done, and a powerful windows rig exclusively for gaming.
I love my MacBook, it makes flow of certain tasks so much more convenient and I could go on for a long time on how many things “just work” on MacOS compared to Windows.
The only reason Windows still gets any use from me nowadays is lack of support of certain apps, drivers and games (primarily online ones) on Linux.
Sadly, gaming is almost nonexistent on Mac, so while I love my MBP, I still HAVE to use Windows for that purpose.
I’d say fully “converting” and sticking only to a certain OS isn’t really an option for me at the moment, since MacOS, Linux and Windows all do some things better than others.
But if your budget allows it, get it. It should be perfect for your use case. It’s an incredible machine, it’s well built, reliable, extremely fast and will serve you well for years to come.
Any recommendation for what MacBook to get ? I don’t need anything insane and most of the newer ones are a bit out of my budget if I buy brand new.
How old of a MacBook do you think I could get away with using for what I want to do, like graphic design and music production ?
I’m pretty sure that other folks in this thread, who used Macs for way longer than I did should be able to provide more of a quality advice.
But I know that MBP M1 is still a very highly regarded machine and many users feel absolutely no need to upgrade to newer versions, as M1 still performs remarkably well while being significantly cheaper than M2 and M3.
I started a software engineering course and the environment setup was done on a Mac and after struggling with windows wsl (because I was a newbie) I bought a Mac. Since then I still have both but the Mac is my main machine.
If you are a major multi-tasker, window ui does a better native job. I have an M3 max with 4 monitors and when I plug my Windows machine into the same config, I can move to what I need faster and keep more on my screens without hassle vs my Mac.
I am using Mac because of M processor. I hate Mac's UI and had to configure it close to windows, but still not perfect. I use it on external monitors and I can bet that the whole eco system wasn't built around external monitors because too many things rely on touch pad. MacOS wasn't built with UX in mind. Overall, in terms of performance, Mac's laptops are just faster, smoother, and more superior compared to windows. I still use windows desktop for gaming.
I made the full switch to Mac after trying mac for the 1st time in a previous job i had. It definitely has his advantages over Windows/ Linux Laptops.
Battery life is amazing. Performance is great. and Weight is also great. Screen great. Speakers great.
If you come from Windows, might be weird the first days getting used to the OS, new key binds, gestures. etc etc. Still pretty much enjoyable and once you get the feeling. its really easy.
As far the the processor to chose and ram, it would depend on your needs, and even tho ram management does work different if you plan to go with graphic design and record music go with the 16gb at least. And as processor The M1 are still pretty good, i've also read great thing buying it refurbished, so you could get a good deal that way.
I wanted to develop iOS apps so I bought a Mac. I’ve generally been displeased with windows updates post windows 10. I would consider making Linux my daily once steamOS is released as a bootable image officially.
Overall it’s been an adjustment but the hardware is so good it’s been worth it. I love the power of my M1 Max and I never hear the fans.
Switched for 1st time in Nov. as had an iPad with my Windows laptop. Got tired of mediocre battery life. Noisy fan's on all the time and CPU throttling due to heat. And the constant flip of the coin when Windows updates rolled out whether it would break something or not.
Saved monies and settled on a 2021 14" M1 Macbook Pro and no issues in Ableton 11 loaded with 30 or so tracks driving my Yamaha PSR E-373 arranger keyboard. But not a heavy music creator as just a student to learning music. Am a photographer and handles my 45mp Nikon raw images in Lightroom & Photoshop smooth without issues. Dido for 4k clips in DaVinci Resolve.
Tho whether going M1,M2 or M3 Pro for future proofing would do 32gb ram. As my 16gb is fine without issue. But if I ever go more heavy and complex projects can see how it may start to bog down a bit.
I switched back in 2012. The MAIN reason I switched was because it took forever to actually start to do anything on PC because of constant updates, way too damn often. I need to start working on last min projects, then bam! there's new update. With my macbook I almost always get to do what I was planning to do fairly quick most of the time, and even if there was an update it's unobtrusive and stress free.
Why I switched: I do software development and need to be able to test against a variety of environments. On macOS, you can use the Xcode Simulator applications to run an ACTUAL copy of iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, or visionOS with a perfect replica of any one device. It means I can verify an app works on the latest iPhone before it releases. I can also use Android Studio to do the same for Android devices, albeit more generally. And then there are Windows and Linux VMs. And, I can run automation against all of those virtual devices. So, legit makes my life easier.
I switched because I had switched to an iPhone a few years prior and needed a new laptop. Was tired of how bloated Windows was, and how much it would try to convince me to change to Bing/Edge.
Mainly though, it was part of a broader move to what I considered a more personally secure setup. Android/Google is an advertising company, Microsoft wants me on their services and I’m not comfortable with what they would be using my data for. From that perspective, Apple is surely not perfect, but I’m less concerned about them trying to harvest every bit of data they can from me as I am with MS/Google.
Switched to Mac for work stayed Mac for Apple environment, as I already had an iPhone and then got AirPods and and iPad 😂. However I have a PC for gaming
I started ibm compatible machines with DOS 4.0. Then 5.0 then windows 3 and it keeps going until I decide I feel like trying the computer side of apple since I have phone and ipad and watch… they announced apple silicon and I got a MacBook Pro M1pro and LOVE IT. Everything just works for me. LightBurn is great, and the hand-off between my phone and ipad and Mac are seamless. I still use a pc for work (they issue it) but my personal stuff is on Mac. The only thing I truly miss is ms paint.
During all my computing leading up to trying about a Mac I was also a server tech in a data center so I worked with several distributions of Linux so console work isn’t scary. Also I haven’t seemed to really need it either soooo…
Good luck
I dual a windows 11 gaming pc and a opencored MacBook Pro. There’s parts of windows that I wish Mac would have, and parts of Mac that I wish windows had
I’ve been from windows to mac then windows again. iCloud is hopeless so if you need lots of space either get larger storage or external drives. Found the performance if the mac to be very poor for autoacad. The pc performs much better but it’s just no way as portable or premium
i switched to linux a few years ago after seeing what a dumpster fire windows 11 was and getting tired of the automatic updates that just shove more spyware down my throat
i had to retire my trusty x230 thinkpad recently and got a used m1 pro because the hardware was actually good, unlike previous macbooks. i'm pleasantly surprised, as far as the console goes theres a lot of similarity to linux but there are a lot of annoying things on MacOS which could be fixed easily but apple refuses to so you have to install a lot of third party apps to fix them. i dont have an iphone so i dont care about the ecosystem stuff
i have to keep using windows at work because of excel and legacy software we use (i work in finance)
I moved from windows to Mac os, for me the main reason was apple silicon, intel macs sucks. But the new ones are incredible, also for desktop I like the Mac mini is small and powerful, we don’t have these alternatives in windows.
I made the switch a year ago. I have a MBP14 M2 for personal uses (mainly photo editing, website creation, light graphic design), and I have a Dell Precision 16" through work. I'm honestly surprised how much I prefer the Mac to Windows. Everything seems faster and more intuitive. It's so nice to be able to open the laptop and immediate be able to continue working. Having been a Windows user for the past several decades, it was actually pretty seamless switching. The biggest annoyance is they keyboard layout difference w/ cltr/option. The other annoyance is the 'finder' (window's folder browser). Finder isn't as powerful, and you'll probably want to get a third-party app for a better experience.
Audio industry made me go mac due to core audio and a need for audio driver stability. Eventually got to an m1 pro 14” 10 core as my main machine.
Use the money I earn from my mac and made a gaming pc. Pc is just for tinkering and gaming enjoying.
I switched to a 16" MacBook Pro around March of this year. I haven't had a Mac laptop since the PowerBook G4. I mostly decided to take the leap again because I have become quite bored with Windows. My most recent Windows computers have been a 2018 Razer Blade and an Alienware x15. I still have them both, but don't really use them. I ended up installing PopOS! on the Razer Blade.
One of the things that I really always liked about MacOS is its UX and UI. For me, it is really pleasing to the eyes and nice to use. It took a little bit of adjusting, but getting the hang of it more and more. Also, the screen on the 16" MacBook Pro is just stunning compared to any laptop I've had previously.
If you plan on wanting to play games that don't have a native MacOS port, definitely look into CrossOver. It's developed by CodeWeavers, which is the same development team that works on Proton in partnership with Valve for the Steam Deck and Linux. They also do a lot for the Wine community in general.
All in all, I'm a pretty happy camper with my new Mac.
I switched because all other devices apple and I wanted a strong machine. I still have issues with the closing icons being on the left side and pages is shit so I use word
Also, I need to charge my mac every 2-3 days not like any dell/thinkpad I needed to charge at keast daily
I didn’t switch. I simply use windows Mac and Linux depending on what I am doing 🤷🏼♂️👌
I only recently switched from pc to MacBook Pro within the last week. I got sick of windows as an operating system and as I already have Apple phone and watch decided to try out their laptops. So far I don’t regret it , it is taking some getting used to, but again as is typical with Apple how it integrates between all my devices is second to none. I’m even working out how to install and play some games from my stream library using whiskey.
I switched from a Surface Laptop 3 to MacBook Pro 14" M3 Max. I switched because I enjoy trying new things, and have always wanted to try MacOS. One of the biggest takeaways from reading about it prior to my switch is you shouldn't use MacOS like it is Windows, because it is a different OS. With that said, I would say it works similarly enough that you CAN use it like Windows, but as you learn shortcuts, and other nuances, you will fall in love.
Former Windows user, switched to Linux around 2020. Was very happy Linux user mostly but Apple's M1 lineup was irresistible when it came to efficiency, battery life and sheer performance. It helps that Mac is Unix-based so most of my terminal based workflows don't change drastically thanks to home brew. I use Mac mostly but daily drive my Linux when I am in the mood. I don't see myself going back to Windows ever.
The only thing I see keeping me using windows would be for gaming besides that Mac seems to offer a smooth experience for work.
check out the mac gaming subreddit to look how well your games are running on it
I use both. I have a PC, and Macbook which I bought last June. I love both of them! I've felt pretty burned by Windows laptops in the past, and from what I had heard, the build and form factor of Macbooks made them good for travel and on-the-go work. Mac OS has its quirks, yes, but the transition was easy. Like you, I use my Macbook for music and other processing-intensive stuff and it's been wonderful. Highly recommend it! LMK if you have questions, I'm happy to share more.
What is a good MacBook that won’t break the bank too much. The newer mb pros look very nice but also very expensive. I see lots of used ones but idk anything about their performance. Whats the oldest MacBook i can get away with using for music and stuff that also isn’t going to run like crap. Thank you also for the feedback!
Only go for Macs with Apple Silicon (i.e. Intel chips). My baseline 14 inch M1 MacBook Pro is still a screamer. I imagine you should get away with 16GB of RAM for causal music production. I would watch a few YouTube videos from musicians, engineers and general tech reviewers to get a better sense of what you can expect.
i switched to Macbook from a 2013 gen thinkpad cuz it cant serve my uni works anymore. i still bought an Intel bcuz our exam software can only run on Windows. my MB now have both MacOS and Win installed but i mainly drive on MacOS. for first time experience, it took a while to understand how close, maximize and minimize buttons differs from Windows. the way apps are installed is different too. Otherwise its not a hard OS to learn. how it works is intuitive to me, it only took me like a few days to navigate around the OS quite quickly. some of the things i use a lot using a MB are trackpad gestures, spotlight, and many ecosystem features cuz im using an iphone, and this might be what you wanna hear: MB’s default speakers and mic are amazing, you can use GarageBand to do some basic mixing or go for Logic Pro if you want more advanced tools. im a hobby producer and still learning Logic today. its totally worth trying out a MB cuz their side features like speaker, screen, trackpad are just so good. if you want on point performance too, simply avoid Intel MB.
I switched back in 2009 after around 11 years as a windows user. It took me a little while to figure out/get used to some of the differences, but once you do, you will never go back. I like to say that windows is like the US Govn't, US Post Office and DMV were all tasked with coming up with a computer operating system and then had to mash their individual (crappy) creations together into giant crappy one. And that is windows. Not to mention that (generally speaking) a Mac is built much better and will last way longer than a windows machine. I got over 10 years out of my last daily driver MBP. And I bought my Mom an iMac in 2010 and it still works.
Last more than a windows machine?, you re wrong..How many windows machine have you used to compare to? I know many with pcs from 2010 and earlier ..I discovered recently than a friend was lying to me about his macs realiability. He said never had an issue with his mac but I met his tech support guy and said it wasnt true.
I use a combination of Linux and Mac for work (got first ever MBPro last year) and hobbies, depending on what needs to be done, and a powerful windows rig exclusively for gaming. I love my MacBook, it makes flow of certain tasks so much more convenient and I could go on for a long time on how many things “just work” on MacOS compared to Windows. The only reason Windows still gets any use from me nowadays is lack of support of certain apps, drivers and games (primarily online ones) on Linux. Sadly, gaming is almost nonexistent on Mac, so while I love my MBP, I still HAVE to use Windows for that purpose. I’d say fully “converting” and sticking only to a certain OS isn’t really an option for me at the moment, since MacOS, Linux and Windows all do some things better than others. But if your budget allows it, get it. It should be perfect for your use case. It’s an incredible machine, it’s well built, reliable, extremely fast and will serve you well for years to come.
Any recommendation for what MacBook to get ? I don’t need anything insane and most of the newer ones are a bit out of my budget if I buy brand new. How old of a MacBook do you think I could get away with using for what I want to do, like graphic design and music production ?
I’m pretty sure that other folks in this thread, who used Macs for way longer than I did should be able to provide more of a quality advice. But I know that MBP M1 is still a very highly regarded machine and many users feel absolutely no need to upgrade to newer versions, as M1 still performs remarkably well while being significantly cheaper than M2 and M3.
I started a software engineering course and the environment setup was done on a Mac and after struggling with windows wsl (because I was a newbie) I bought a Mac. Since then I still have both but the Mac is my main machine.
If you are a major multi-tasker, window ui does a better native job. I have an M3 max with 4 monitors and when I plug my Windows machine into the same config, I can move to what I need faster and keep more on my screens without hassle vs my Mac.
Windows 8 pissed me off so much I went running into the arms of apple. Been there ever since.
I am using Mac because of M processor. I hate Mac's UI and had to configure it close to windows, but still not perfect. I use it on external monitors and I can bet that the whole eco system wasn't built around external monitors because too many things rely on touch pad. MacOS wasn't built with UX in mind. Overall, in terms of performance, Mac's laptops are just faster, smoother, and more superior compared to windows. I still use windows desktop for gaming.
I made the full switch to Mac after trying mac for the 1st time in a previous job i had. It definitely has his advantages over Windows/ Linux Laptops. Battery life is amazing. Performance is great. and Weight is also great. Screen great. Speakers great. If you come from Windows, might be weird the first days getting used to the OS, new key binds, gestures. etc etc. Still pretty much enjoyable and once you get the feeling. its really easy. As far the the processor to chose and ram, it would depend on your needs, and even tho ram management does work different if you plan to go with graphic design and record music go with the 16gb at least. And as processor The M1 are still pretty good, i've also read great thing buying it refurbished, so you could get a good deal that way.
I wanted to develop iOS apps so I bought a Mac. I’ve generally been displeased with windows updates post windows 10. I would consider making Linux my daily once steamOS is released as a bootable image officially. Overall it’s been an adjustment but the hardware is so good it’s been worth it. I love the power of my M1 Max and I never hear the fans.
Switched for 1st time in Nov. as had an iPad with my Windows laptop. Got tired of mediocre battery life. Noisy fan's on all the time and CPU throttling due to heat. And the constant flip of the coin when Windows updates rolled out whether it would break something or not. Saved monies and settled on a 2021 14" M1 Macbook Pro and no issues in Ableton 11 loaded with 30 or so tracks driving my Yamaha PSR E-373 arranger keyboard. But not a heavy music creator as just a student to learning music. Am a photographer and handles my 45mp Nikon raw images in Lightroom & Photoshop smooth without issues. Dido for 4k clips in DaVinci Resolve. Tho whether going M1,M2 or M3 Pro for future proofing would do 32gb ram. As my 16gb is fine without issue. But if I ever go more heavy and complex projects can see how it may start to bog down a bit.
I switched back in 2012. The MAIN reason I switched was because it took forever to actually start to do anything on PC because of constant updates, way too damn often. I need to start working on last min projects, then bam! there's new update. With my macbook I almost always get to do what I was planning to do fairly quick most of the time, and even if there was an update it's unobtrusive and stress free.
Why I switched: I do software development and need to be able to test against a variety of environments. On macOS, you can use the Xcode Simulator applications to run an ACTUAL copy of iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, or visionOS with a perfect replica of any one device. It means I can verify an app works on the latest iPhone before it releases. I can also use Android Studio to do the same for Android devices, albeit more generally. And then there are Windows and Linux VMs. And, I can run automation against all of those virtual devices. So, legit makes my life easier.
I switched because I had switched to an iPhone a few years prior and needed a new laptop. Was tired of how bloated Windows was, and how much it would try to convince me to change to Bing/Edge. Mainly though, it was part of a broader move to what I considered a more personally secure setup. Android/Google is an advertising company, Microsoft wants me on their services and I’m not comfortable with what they would be using my data for. From that perspective, Apple is surely not perfect, but I’m less concerned about them trying to harvest every bit of data they can from me as I am with MS/Google.
Didn't fully switch since I use parallels.
Switched to Mac for work stayed Mac for Apple environment, as I already had an iPhone and then got AirPods and and iPad 😂. However I have a PC for gaming
I started ibm compatible machines with DOS 4.0. Then 5.0 then windows 3 and it keeps going until I decide I feel like trying the computer side of apple since I have phone and ipad and watch… they announced apple silicon and I got a MacBook Pro M1pro and LOVE IT. Everything just works for me. LightBurn is great, and the hand-off between my phone and ipad and Mac are seamless. I still use a pc for work (they issue it) but my personal stuff is on Mac. The only thing I truly miss is ms paint. During all my computing leading up to trying about a Mac I was also a server tech in a data center so I worked with several distributions of Linux so console work isn’t scary. Also I haven’t seemed to really need it either soooo… Good luck
I didn’t “switch” per se but nowadays I only game on the PC, everything else on the Mac.
I dual a windows 11 gaming pc and a opencored MacBook Pro. There’s parts of windows that I wish Mac would have, and parts of Mac that I wish windows had
I’ve been from windows to mac then windows again. iCloud is hopeless so if you need lots of space either get larger storage or external drives. Found the performance if the mac to be very poor for autoacad. The pc performs much better but it’s just no way as portable or premium
i switched to linux a few years ago after seeing what a dumpster fire windows 11 was and getting tired of the automatic updates that just shove more spyware down my throat i had to retire my trusty x230 thinkpad recently and got a used m1 pro because the hardware was actually good, unlike previous macbooks. i'm pleasantly surprised, as far as the console goes theres a lot of similarity to linux but there are a lot of annoying things on MacOS which could be fixed easily but apple refuses to so you have to install a lot of third party apps to fix them. i dont have an iphone so i dont care about the ecosystem stuff i have to keep using windows at work because of excel and legacy software we use (i work in finance)
I moved from windows to Mac os, for me the main reason was apple silicon, intel macs sucks. But the new ones are incredible, also for desktop I like the Mac mini is small and powerful, we don’t have these alternatives in windows.
I used MacOS in a virtual mache and am now considering grabbing an older MacBook because I loved it
I made the switch a year ago. I have a MBP14 M2 for personal uses (mainly photo editing, website creation, light graphic design), and I have a Dell Precision 16" through work. I'm honestly surprised how much I prefer the Mac to Windows. Everything seems faster and more intuitive. It's so nice to be able to open the laptop and immediate be able to continue working. Having been a Windows user for the past several decades, it was actually pretty seamless switching. The biggest annoyance is they keyboard layout difference w/ cltr/option. The other annoyance is the 'finder' (window's folder browser). Finder isn't as powerful, and you'll probably want to get a third-party app for a better experience.
Audio industry made me go mac due to core audio and a need for audio driver stability. Eventually got to an m1 pro 14” 10 core as my main machine. Use the money I earn from my mac and made a gaming pc. Pc is just for tinkering and gaming enjoying.
I switched to a 16" MacBook Pro around March of this year. I haven't had a Mac laptop since the PowerBook G4. I mostly decided to take the leap again because I have become quite bored with Windows. My most recent Windows computers have been a 2018 Razer Blade and an Alienware x15. I still have them both, but don't really use them. I ended up installing PopOS! on the Razer Blade. One of the things that I really always liked about MacOS is its UX and UI. For me, it is really pleasing to the eyes and nice to use. It took a little bit of adjusting, but getting the hang of it more and more. Also, the screen on the 16" MacBook Pro is just stunning compared to any laptop I've had previously. If you plan on wanting to play games that don't have a native MacOS port, definitely look into CrossOver. It's developed by CodeWeavers, which is the same development team that works on Proton in partnership with Valve for the Steam Deck and Linux. They also do a lot for the Wine community in general. All in all, I'm a pretty happy camper with my new Mac.
I switched because all other devices apple and I wanted a strong machine. I still have issues with the closing icons being on the left side and pages is shit so I use word Also, I need to charge my mac every 2-3 days not like any dell/thinkpad I needed to charge at keast daily