And that is where the problem lies. With Windows I can buy pretty much any laptop and expect it to work with. With Linux I have a limited selection of laptops, if I want it to work fully. I'm a developer and I know my way around Linux pretty well, still I usually run into "missing drivers", "package management is broken", "hardware working mostly but not fully" when I try Ubuntu or Debian.
Your options are pretty much just the Dell XPS/Precision line and the Lenovo X1 Extreme series? Anything else?
Though, isn't the issue more that your listed requirements show a strong personal preference to macbooks?
Disclaimer: Content customer
However with Dell XPS Linux version, Lenovo has a couple, and also System76 and things you have now hundreds of laptops guaranteed to work and many more that actually still will. Just research them first if you're not sure. These days there is so much info on laptops that work well.
The first class supported ones like XPS (which I'm on my second) get firmware updates etc. it gets easier and easier every year.
All I'm doing to have perfect Linux support in all my laptops is to go for the boring models. No RGB keyboard, no bleeding-edge dGPU's, and no dual, or foldable screens.
The reason I don't live in that world is because laptop manufacturers, in the general course of things, don't ship their laptops with Linux; they ship them with Windows.
The obvious answer is to buy from manufacturers who ship their laptops with Linux. You could try Dell or System76.
Incidentally, it would be nice to live in a world where I didn't have to check for MacOS compatibility; I could just buy MacOS from Apple and run it on whatever. The answer is very similar: if you want that experience, buy it from the laptop manufacturer that ships their machines with MacOS.
i always have had a debian and a windows laptop. for at least 20 years. 95% of my time is on the debian one.
this year was the first time where i thought a windows laptop might be enough. i am waiting for the next release of the WSL2 and i think i'm jumping ship for good.
