Which line of Apple Mac hardware is traditionally the most compatible with Ubuntu?

[aycona]

I am open to all the models below, whichever is most likely to give me the least amount of frustration in terms of hardware compatibility. I'm not concerned about cost or any other factor and I want to run Ubuntu on bare metal, not within a VM.

They all exceed my requirements in terms of power and if its a laptop or Mac mini I will just purchase an external screen as I need a 27" display.

Any advice would help me tremendously!

Macbook Air 13"

• i7-3720QM @ 2.0GHz
• 8 GB
• 256 GB SSD
• HD4000

Macbook Retina 15"

• i7-3720QM @ 2.30GHz
• 16 GB
• 256 SSD
• HD4000 + GT650M-1GB

Mac Mini

• i7-3720QM @ 2.60GHz
• 16 GB
• 256 GB SSD
• HD4000

iMac 27"

• i7-3770 @ 3.40GHz
• 32 GB
• 1TB Fusion
• GTX 680MX

[iMac71]

I have an old iMac 7,1 (mid 2007) and I haven't had any problem with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 12.10, 32bit and 64bit, except for the loss of internet connection on Ubuntu 12.10 64bit after the installation of the upgrades, but this issue is not Mac-specific, as it concerns the Broadcom wireless card b43xx.
So IMHO the best choice is the iMac: an all-in-one PC that doesn't require external monitors and integrates very well with Ubuntu.

BTW: I suggest to install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, since it is supported until 2017.

[powerpcliberation]

Sorry but I have to totally disagree with the all in one recommendation "iMac71" makes. All in one computers are only practical in terms of space but in every other aspect they are covered in horrible. I have been a Mac tech since the early 90's and all in one systems always have the most hardware issues.

Over the last 2-3 years one of the main machines I have worked on are the 2008 and up iMacs with dead hard drives. They are death ovens for parts and especially hard drives. The internal design lends itself to providing the optical drive with far more cooling than the hard drive which is totally backwards of anything that resembles a healthy environment for hardware and your data.

Sorry but all in one desktops are for pathetic form before function fanboys.

Also, if you're planning on it being a pure Linux machine and have no interest in running OS X then it's quite silly to buy Apple hardware. It's all heavily engineered for OS X and although it's x86 hardware there are no shortage of proprietary hardware. New Apple hardware only really makes sense if you need to run X natively.

Apple was a great hardware company all round until about 2007. Since then they have been a bunch of form before function finger dragging motion sensor using apes.

If you have to go Apple then go with a Mac Mini or Mac Pro tower. All in one computers are one bad part away from being useless. In terms of expandability they are useless out of the box. Horrible advice iMac71.

[aycona]

Sorry but I have to totally disagree with the all in one recommendation "iMac71" makes. All in one computers are only practical in terms of space but in every other aspect they are covered in horrible. I have been a Mac tech since the early 90's and all in one systems always have the most hardware issues.

Over the last 2-3 years one of the main machines I have worked on are the 2008 and up iMacs with dead hard drives. They are death ovens for parts and especially hard drives. The internal design lends itself to providing the optical drive with far more cooling than the hard drive which is totally backwards of anything that resembles a healthy environment for hardware and your data.

Sorry but all in one desktops are for pathetic form before function fanboys.

Also, if you're planning on it being a pure Linux machine and have no interest in running OS X then it's quite silly to buy Apple hardware. It's all heavily engineered for OS X and although it's x86 hardware there are no shortage of proprietary hardware. New Apple hardware only really makes sense if you need to run X natively.

Apple was a great hardware company all round until about 2007. Since then they have been a bunch of form before function finger dragging motion sensor using apes.

If you have to go Apple then go with a Mac Mini or Mac Pro tower. All in one computers are one bad part away from being useless. In terms of expandability they are useless out of the box. Horrible advice iMac71.

Hi, thanks, I really appreciate the advice. I'm a software developer and I occasionally need to test things on OSX which is why I've got no choice with Apple hardware. I hear you regarding the iMac, I'll forgot about that option. Based on the research I've done in the last 24 hours it would seem that the mini is the best model for me, gonna order one today. Cheers!