> For example connectivity to cellular networks (still missing in even the fanciest laptop but available on my watch.)
What? Lots of laptops have a sim card slot.
My fairly long in the tooth Thinkpad Helix 2 does and so far as I can tell so do lots of the modern Lenovos.
A quick google suggests that many Dell Latitudes do as well.
I wonder if the author is accidentally conflating "fancy laptop" and "MacBook".
Edited to add: I was getting 12h+ on thinkpads going back as far as 2005, the "all day battery life" thing isn't that new to me either though I'm sure the M1 based machines would last 18h+ given a similar level of use so it's still not at all shabby.
Edited to add: I was getting 12h+ on thinkpads going back as far as 2005, the "all day battery life" thing isn't that new to me either though
Pretty sure you weren't watching or editing 4k video for that amount of time, which is what people are doing (and more) with these M1 Macs that last all day.
I think this is one of those things that's more likely to be found in cheap devices, or devices intended for poorer markets - similar to dual sims in phones. It's something that's more useful in areas with poor internet connectivity.
> On the global list, the average internet speed in New Zealand put us in 27th place. However, the average internet speed in NZ was 14.7 Mbps, still faster than the Australian average speed of 11.1 Mbps.
The US is 10th on average
When I visited, I had the hardest time finding free WiFi. A place gave me 5mb of data over 1 hour which i had to redeem using a paper based password system. I mean at point, why even bother giving me a hope.
Cellular is a niche feature. I would disagree with how categorical that quoted statement was but not the general point.
Of course laptops with cellular exist but they are hard to find and it is anything but typical that you can just add that to some laptop you want to buy. You have to search them out.
Contrast that with the Apple Watch or iPads. Every Apple Watch except the lowest end model and every single iPad Apple sells offers the option to order it with cellular. For these kinds of devices it’s just obvious that this is possible. It’s a foundational, central feature, not just some add-on you can get with some models.
So, yeah. That is actually a difference that matters. PC makers have been much better at moving their PCs into this direction than Apple with their Macs, but they still suck at this (with it being relegated to a niche feature).
What? Lots of laptops have a sim card slot.
My fairly long in the tooth Thinkpad Helix 2 does and so far as I can tell so do lots of the modern Lenovos.
A quick google suggests that many Dell Latitudes do as well.
I wonder if the author is accidentally conflating "fancy laptop" and "MacBook".
Edited to add: I was getting 12h+ on thinkpads going back as far as 2005, the "all day battery life" thing isn't that new to me either though I'm sure the M1 based machines would last 18h+ given a similar level of use so it's still not at all shabby.