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Just give me cellular in a MacBook Air already Apple if you want me to insta-buy! Bonus points for OLED. Air’s don’t have to be just cheap. I want a thin and l

by kondro 11mo ago

Just give me cellular in a MacBook Air already Apple if you want me to insta-buy! Bonus points for OLED. Air’s don’t have to be just cheap. I want a thin and light premium laptop for walking around and a second Mac (of any type) for my desk.

leakycap 11mo ago
I'm guessing carriers/networks can't handle a fleet of MacBooks-with-cellular yet. The data workload would be sustained and intense with macOS not having the type of system-level cellular framework/data control as iPad and iOS (I have used the low data mode on macOS, it helps but only handles a small part of the problem). I have bought cracked-screen iPhones since Personal Hotspot allowed wired connections back in the 2000s, velcro'd them to the back of my MacBook screen and have been living the "I have internet on my Mac everywhere" life since then. With 5G, I can't really tell when I'm on Wi-Fi vs. when my MacBook opts for the hotspot connection. I'd love a cellular MacBook and would also insta-buy, but I've given up hope until the next network upgrade.
- paradox460 11mo ago
  Osx has, for a little while now, had a "metered" flag for networks. Not sure which apps, if any, respect it, but it's there
  - leakycap 11mo ago
    > (I have used the low data mode on macOS, it helps but only handles a small part of the problem) Yes, I mentioned that in the post you responded to. > Not sure which apps, if any, respect it, but it's there It reduces data consumption for me about 1/5. Not nothing, but the Mac can easily consume hundreds of GB of data a week doing "normal" activities. YouTube on a MacBook is many times more data than the equivalent on a phone screen.
- kondro 11mo ago
  That doesn’t make much sense to me, there are literally billions of phones that people are using all the time. Apple has over 2.3 billion active devices of which a small percentage are Macs (an estimated 24 million were sold in 2024 and around twice that in iPads). The most difficult to scale part of a cell network is number of devices connected, not bandwidth used anyway and cellular Macs aren’t going to add significantly more load to a network. And that assumes that Apple even cares what a carrier thinks. I’m in Australia, not the USA, and for all people like to complain about internet here, we have excellent mobile coverage and it’s relatively affordable, but it’s all priced by usage. I have 4 devices on my plan with shared 210GB of 4G usage between them for around AUD$200 (USD$130) a month on Australia’s best network (Telstra). I work remotely from cafes a lot (probably around 20-30 hours a week) as a developer and get nowhere close to that usage. I update all my apps, download all my podcasts, listen to lossless music and stream video whenever I want during breaks (although I’m not a huge out-of-home video consumer). I do literally nothing to limit my bandwidth usage and am lucky to use 30-40GB a month across all my devices.
  - xethos 11mo ago
    > The most difficult to scale part of a cell network is number of devices connected, not bandwidth used Not a network engineer, but isn't it possible that it's only wasy to scale the number of devices because mobile devices play nice with the network? For example, battery life depends on batching network requests, meaning the incentives are aligned between Google, Apple, and the carriers? If every device defaults to treating the network like a LAN, like MacOS is accustomed to being able to do, that may change the part of the network that's easy to scale
  - rtpg 11mo ago
    The problem I think is that desktop software is often not written on the idea that they might need to sip from a straw. Anyone who has tethered their machines to a phone with a middling connection knows how bad the computer experience cna get. Like you mentioned 50 gigs a month per device... when I had to tether my machine for a week I was finding myself using 10 gigs _a day_, and this was ~6 years ago. Not an argument that this stuff is impossible, of course, but I do think these machines are different beasts.
- B1FF_PSUVM 11mo ago
  > cracked-screen iPhones Sheesh, what do you have against MiFi 4G pocket routers?
  - leakycap 11mo ago
    4G came out a loong time ago and is slow. Cracked phones aren't tempting for anyone to steal when I leave it out, and the 5G iPhone SE came out many years ago and is available new for about $130 without a cracked screen, but finding a use for cracked devices saves them from being ewaste.
jazzyjackson 11mo ago
I know minis don't sell well but I wish they kept the Air 11" format but without the bezel one way or another My craving has been answered by the GPD WIN MAX 2, a 10" mini laptop with lots of ports and bitchin' performance (AI 9 chip sips battery). It's windows, but an upgrade to pro to disable the annoying stuff via group policy + never signing into a Microsoft account, it's amazing how much faster it is than a machine that's always trying to authenticate to the cloud before it does anything. Wake from sleep is also excellent which was the main thing that kept me using MacBooks. Anyway it's the first computer I've bought in a decade that has some innovation to it. Edit: there's a slot for a cellular modem but I haven't done enough research to find one that will play nice on US networks
apparent 11mo ago
Why carry around two cellular modems? Are you ever out and about with your computer but not your phone? I've been happy to hotspot my computers and tablets to my phone, which I always have with me. The only possible issue I can think of is battery life, but if I'm carrying around my laptop I can throw a charge cable in the bag to keep my phone juiced.
- raw_anon_1111 11mo ago
  For tablets, at least with T-Mobile, for $25 you get unlimited data. You only get a limited amount of tethering data.
  - leakycap 11mo ago
    T-mobile is so scammy, though. Have you been keeping up with all the lawsuits against them in the US?
    - raw_anon_1111 11mo ago
      All carriers are scammy in their own way
      - leakycap 11mo ago
        So, maybe don't do business with the worst of them? Of the big 3 in the US, T-Mobile is the one I'd avoid right now.
        raw_anon_1111 11mo ago
        Verizon is overpriced and is the Comcast equivalent of cellular carriers. AT&T is about as bad
        leakycap 11mo ago
        Verizon owns most of the value brands in the US and you made no connection between them and Comcast beyond mentioning them in the same sentence. AT&T is "about as bad" as what? You gave no information.
joshstrange 11mo ago
I've heard (but not tested) that Tahoe and iOS 26 do a _much_ better job of auto-connecting and reconnecting (if your cell drops, like going through a tunnel or similar) to make it easier to use your phone with your MBP. I hope this is the case. I don't know if I would buy a cellular MBP (just wouldn't use it enough) but better tethering is a huge win for me.
brailsafe 11mo ago
When they finally put cellular in Macbooks, I bet they only put them in the Air for like 2 years, because we all know serious professionals are always at a desk with WiFi
dbg31415 11mo ago
Just out of curiosity why do you want cellular in a laptop? Just seems like another monthly service bill. I just tether to my phone. Wouldn’t that work?
lifter3101 11mo ago
Didn’t you just describe an iPad? Unless you need your second Mac to run “normal” apps.

by kondro 11mo ago

leakycap 11mo ago

I'm guessing carriers/networks can't handle a fleet of MacBooks-with-cellular yet. The data workload would be sustained and intense with macOS not having the type of system-level cellular framework/data control as iPad and iOS (I have used the low data mode on macOS, it helps but only handles a small part of the problem). I have bought cracked-screen iPhones since Personal Hotspot allowed wired connections back in the 2000s, velcro'd them to the back of my MacBook screen and have been living the "I have internet on my Mac everywhere" life since then. With 5G, I can't really tell when I'm on Wi-Fi vs. when my MacBook opts for the hotspot connection. I'd love a cellular MacBook and would also insta-buy, but I've given up hope until the next network upgrade.

paradox460 11mo ago
Osx has, for a little while now, had a "metered" flag for networks. Not sure which apps, if any, respect it, but it's there
- leakycap 11mo ago
  > (I have used the low data mode on macOS, it helps but only handles a small part of the problem) Yes, I mentioned that in the post you responded to. > Not sure which apps, if any, respect it, but it's there It reduces data consumption for me about 1/5. Not nothing, but the Mac can easily consume hundreds of GB of data a week doing "normal" activities. YouTube on a MacBook is many times more data than the equivalent on a phone screen.
kondro 11mo ago
That doesn’t make much sense to me, there are literally billions of phones that people are using all the time. Apple has over 2.3 billion active devices of which a small percentage are Macs (an estimated 24 million were sold in 2024 and around twice that in iPads). The most difficult to scale part of a cell network is number of devices connected, not bandwidth used anyway and cellular Macs aren’t going to add significantly more load to a network. And that assumes that Apple even cares what a carrier thinks. I’m in Australia, not the USA, and for all people like to complain about internet here, we have excellent mobile coverage and it’s relatively affordable, but it’s all priced by usage. I have 4 devices on my plan with shared 210GB of 4G usage between them for around AUD$200 (USD$130) a month on Australia’s best network (Telstra). I work remotely from cafes a lot (probably around 20-30 hours a week) as a developer and get nowhere close to that usage. I update all my apps, download all my podcasts, listen to lossless music and stream video whenever I want during breaks (although I’m not a huge out-of-home video consumer). I do literally nothing to limit my bandwidth usage and am lucky to use 30-40GB a month across all my devices.
- xethos 11mo ago
  > The most difficult to scale part of a cell network is number of devices connected, not bandwidth used Not a network engineer, but isn't it possible that it's only wasy to scale the number of devices because mobile devices play nice with the network? For example, battery life depends on batching network requests, meaning the incentives are aligned between Google, Apple, and the carriers? If every device defaults to treating the network like a LAN, like MacOS is accustomed to being able to do, that may change the part of the network that's easy to scale
- rtpg 11mo ago
  The problem I think is that desktop software is often not written on the idea that they might need to sip from a straw. Anyone who has tethered their machines to a phone with a middling connection knows how bad the computer experience cna get. Like you mentioned 50 gigs a month per device... when I had to tether my machine for a week I was finding myself using 10 gigs _a day_, and this was ~6 years ago. Not an argument that this stuff is impossible, of course, but I do think these machines are different beasts.
B1FF_PSUVM 11mo ago
> cracked-screen iPhones Sheesh, what do you have against MiFi 4G pocket routers?
- leakycap 11mo ago
  4G came out a loong time ago and is slow. Cracked phones aren't tempting for anyone to steal when I leave it out, and the 5G iPhone SE came out many years ago and is available new for about $130 without a cracked screen, but finding a use for cracked devices saves them from being ewaste.

jazzyjackson 11mo ago

I know minis don't sell well but I wish they kept the Air 11" format but without the bezel one way or another My craving has been answered by the GPD WIN MAX 2, a 10" mini laptop with lots of ports and bitchin' performance (AI 9 chip sips battery). It's windows, but an upgrade to pro to disable the annoying stuff via group policy + never signing into a Microsoft account, it's amazing how much faster it is than a machine that's always trying to authenticate to the cloud before it does anything. Wake from sleep is also excellent which was the main thing that kept me using MacBooks. Anyway it's the first computer I've bought in a decade that has some innovation to it. Edit: there's a slot for a cellular modem but I haven't done enough research to find one that will play nice on US networks

apparent 11mo ago

Why carry around two cellular modems? Are you ever out and about with your computer but not your phone? I've been happy to hotspot my computers and tablets to my phone, which I always have with me. The only possible issue I can think of is battery life, but if I'm carrying around my laptop I can throw a charge cable in the bag to keep my phone juiced.

raw_anon_1111 11mo ago
For tablets, at least with T-Mobile, for $25 you get unlimited data. You only get a limited amount of tethering data.
- leakycap 11mo ago
  T-mobile is so scammy, though. Have you been keeping up with all the lawsuits against them in the US?
  - raw_anon_1111 11mo ago
    All carriers are scammy in their own way
    - leakycap 11mo ago
      So, maybe don't do business with the worst of them? Of the big 3 in the US, T-Mobile is the one I'd avoid right now.
      - raw_anon_1111 11mo ago
        Verizon is overpriced and is the Comcast equivalent of cellular carriers. AT&T is about as bad
        leakycap 11mo ago
        Verizon owns most of the value brands in the US and you made no connection between them and Comcast beyond mentioning them in the same sentence. AT&T is "about as bad" as what? You gave no information.

joshstrange 11mo ago

I've heard (but not tested) that Tahoe and iOS 26 do a _much_ better job of auto-connecting and reconnecting (if your cell drops, like going through a tunnel or similar) to make it easier to use your phone with your MBP. I hope this is the case. I don't know if I would buy a cellular MBP (just wouldn't use it enough) but better tethering is a huge win for me.

brailsafe 11mo ago

When they finally put cellular in Macbooks, I bet they only put them in the Air for like 2 years, because we all know serious professionals are always at a desk with WiFi

dbg31415 11mo ago

Just out of curiosity why do you want cellular in a laptop? Just seems like another monthly service bill. I just tether to my phone. Wouldn’t that work?

lifter3101 11mo ago

Didn’t you just describe an iPad? Unless you need your second Mac to run “normal” apps.