Hey, folks,
My laptop broke the other day, and I need a replacement asap. But here's the rub: I despise windows. I've been a full time fedora user on my main device for a decade now, and I run Ubuntu on my desktop that I rarely touch because it's ooooold. I am not a techy person. At all. I'm an idiot, actually. I use Linux because it's cheaper, it keeps my aging hardware alive longer, and because politically I align pretty well with the idea of FOSS. And because I absolutely hate windows. I don't even like KDE, because it reminds me of windows. Cinnamon? Too much like windows! Lol. I love my workflow in gnome, I love that it's shiny and pretty and looks nice. And for the most part, I'm a browser based user. I rarely have cause to do much outside of the browser, except for sail the seas for some audiobooks. Even my papers for school are written in Google docs.
But also, on my desktop or a secondary device, I don't mind having to fiddle with things and get them working, I enjoy it. It makes me feel like I have actual tech skills when I absolutely do not. But on the device I use for school I just want something that works and I never have to think about. I feel like a traitor to the cause even considering it, but I think I want to get a used m1 air. I've never used a Mac before, though. I used an iPhone once, for about 10-15 minutes, and I hated it. But, like, of course I did. It was completely different, and incapable of doing the thing I wanted it to do.
How painful is the Linux to Mac transition? If I'm using an android phone, an Ubuntu desktop, and a MacBook, how awful is everything going to be to switch between devices? Am I going to regret this purchase, or, worse yet, become an apple fan boy and abandon my glorious FOSS devices forever?
Please assist
it's expensive. This may sound obvious but since you mentioned cost, it's worth mentioning. Also, as an ex lifelong Apple customer (started in the early 80s and quit some 7/8 years ago) I've seen how it went from being not cheap to being really expensive (non upgradable hardware is not cheap).
It's also not Linux nor Gnome despite macOS being unix-based. macOS is more and more like iOS (aka, limited/controlled). Some like that, I did not.
The Mac also don't like to communicate with non-Apple hardware. The experience is great between anything Apple, like incredibly and most likely uniquely smooth, but with Linux... not so much.
Edit: why not purchase a used laptop (say a Thinkpad that should work wonder with Linux) or even one of the Framework new model (they're not as expensive as Mac)?