I went back to Apple Mac - my thoughts

JamesM · 13 Oct 2017 at 14:26

+1 FishLicker

Always have been a windows user until March this year when I decided to get a 13" Macbook Pro 2016 through the business. Talked myself into getting it purely for website coding and for that it's simply superb. It helps that the stuff I do and the people I follow all use Mac's so it's easy to learn and copy and see how things work, etc. Trying to get a Laravel setup on a windows machine was a nightmare!

It was bloody expensive but the fact that all of my devices (iPad, iPhone, Watch, Macbook) all sync together and work seamlessly between each other and with the whole OS eco system, I can see why people get hooked on it.

That said I still have my Windows machine but it's now purely for gaming.

MrRockliffe · 13 Oct 2017 at 15:54

crinkleshoes said:
Fair enough, it's the resolution I care about - I don't like anything less than a usable area of 1920x1080 and can handle that down to a 13" screen.

The standard scaling out of the box on the 15" rMBP is only a usable 1400x900 resolution.

Always try to remember you are more likely to hear complaints than compliments... so you'll have a few people make a lot of fuss about an issue, whereas most users without an issue will not even think to comment about it. They wouldn't be able to stay in business if these problems were significant and mine, for one example, was great out of the box.

I understand, but more Mac's are sold, but I found less build quality complaints than the numerous threads on Reddit for the razer machine. Then again, mostly techies buying the razer who are obsessed with numbers etc, so more likely to find something wrong

crinkleshoes · 13 Oct 2017 at 16:43

Yup, exactly... enjoy the MacBook.

I liked it when I had it generally... great build quality, keyboard and trackpad.

I just got feddup of some little annoying niggles in OSX... like when you get a yes/no ok/cancel pop-up you have to use the mouse... in general use I prefer to only use the mouse when I absolutely have to and use the keyboard for everything else because it's quicker... in OSX you don't even have the option to do that.

There are other things... it's a good OS, fluid etc... just turns out I prefer Windows... shock horror... well, actually I dual-boot with Kali Linux.

Amp34 · 15 Oct 2017 at 06:34

Bluecube said:
1 billion users who don’t have a choice...

Windows 10 still suffers from the errors made in Windows 8. There are STILL two control panels for handling Windows settings, STILL two user interfaces to learn (Modern and standard UI), STILL a confusing car crash of methods necessary to display basic info such as network connections. Then there’s the constant stream of updates and reminders to update that interfere with actually trying to work on your machine...

I never understand this complaint, or perhaps I have my MacBook configured incorrectly as it's always prompting me to restart to install updates, just as windows does.

As I've said in the past - OSX on a MacBook for "pleasure", Windows on a desktop for productivity.
For me the trackpad, multi desktops and gestures make web browsing and video viewing nicer on OSX, but if I want to do anything productive then I go straight to Windows. There's just no comparison in the productive power of windows over OSX IMO, the way the file system works, the way the programs work relative to windows etc just makes it a lot easier for power use.

LiE · 15 Oct 2017 at 07:25

I’m far more productive on OSX for work than Windows. It will depend what time of work you do. So I don’t think it’s fair to say “there’s no comparison” and windows is a better OS for productivity.

Bluecube · 15 Oct 2017 at 08:55

Amp34 said:
I never understand this complaint, or perhaps I have my MacBook configured incorrectly as it's always prompting me to restart to install updates, just as windows does.

The only time I have to restart my Mac is when there’s a major update. Last time that happened was the update to High Sierra.

hornetstinger · 15 Oct 2017 at 08:59

Bluecube said:
I went from a Dell XPS to a MBP. On paper, the XPS was a better machine (carbon fibre, i7 CPU, yada, yada) but the MBP just stomps all over it. The all metal build is far superior to anything else out there, the screen is sublime but the biggest killer app (imho) is Mac OS. Windows was atrocious. No matter how good PC manufacturers make their hardware, they will be crippled by the crapness of Windows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7XSckjRPo0

Bluecube · 15 Oct 2017 at 10:39

What’s your point? That a MBP that has been taken apart and has bit some of it supporting structure missing, flexes and shifts? Appalling stuff...

Amp34 · 15 Oct 2017 at 19:28

LiE said:
I’m far more productive on OSX for work than Windows. It will depend what time of work you do. So I don’t think it’s fair to say “there’s no comparison” and windows is a better OS for productivity.

Photo processing and sorting at home and a multitude of things at work (the vast majority of the programs in the industry I work in will only work on windows).

Obviously the latter is likely to be pretty widespread in most industries, but as you say depends on the type of work. However for me even photo processing using standard software like Lightroom and PS is just much less faf on a Windows machine. (Largely down to the “quirks” of finder and the way OSX likes to try and “streamline” certain types of files into its own software)

I also find that the taskbar is a lot more powerful than the dock, which is important when you’re dealing with a dozen different programs and windows open at the same time over several screens (for work). The (still) fairly awful windows management and resizing in OSX is also a factor.

Again, all IMO. Some people will disagree and find different.

Amp34 · 15 Oct 2017 at 19:30

Bluecube said:
The only time I have to restart my Mac is when there’s a major update. Last time that happened was the update to High Sierra.

Do you turn your Mac off/close all apps a lot? A significant number of updates require all apps such as safari to be closed before they can be installed so even if you don’t need to turn off the computer itself you still need to do essentially that.

My MacBook is very rarely restarted and I have multiple safari browsers open at all times.

hornetstinger · 15 Oct 2017 at 19:40

Bluecube said:
What’s your point? That a MBP that has been taken apart and has bit some of it supporting structure missing, flexes and shifts? Appalling stuff...

"A bit"??

It's quite obvious to anyone who is an engineer they have reduced so much metal, and the design is compromised. Unless you're a apple fanboy, so think apple make special metal.

Bluecube · 15 Oct 2017 at 21:17

Amp34 said:
Do you turn your Mac off/close all apps a lot? A significant number of updates require all apps such as safari to be closed before they can be installed so even if you don’t need to turn off the computer itself you still need to do essentially that.

My MacBook is very rarely restarted and I have multiple safari browsers open at all times.

No I don’t turn my Mac off nor close apps a lot. I put my Macs to sleep when I’m finished with them, leaving the apps open. The only time I’m asked to close apps is when those specific apps are being updated.

Bluecube · 15 Oct 2017 at 21:22

hornetstinger said:
"A bit"??

It's quite obvious to anyone who is an engineer they have reduced so much metal, and the design is compromised. Unless you're a apple fanboy, so think apple make special metal.

Hardly compromised. I’ve just picked my MBP up and tried to bend it. You will be absolutely astonished to find that I couldn’t! And I consider myself a strong fella. Just tried again. Nope. Not a bit of flex at all. My XPS, while similarly solidly built, did have flex in it despite the carbon fibre/ aluminium build.

So once again, I ask you - what’s the point you’re labouring to make?

hornetstinger · 15 Oct 2017 at 21:33

Bluecube said:
Hardly compromised. I’ve just picked my MBP up and tried to bend it. You will be absolutely astonished to find that I couldn’t! And I consider myself a strong fella. Just tried again. Nope. Not a bit of flex at all. My XPS, while similarly solidly built, did have flex in it despite the carbon fibre/ aluminium build.

So once again, I ask you - what’s the point you’re labouring to make?

Louis repairs laptops and sees crappy design choices. Nothing wrong with flexing - depending on materials and support frame. Did you even watch that video?

Bet you don't know apple try to shut him up...

Tunney · 16 Oct 2017 at 09:58

The thing I love about Apple laptops is that they last. I've had my retina Macbook Pro since 2013 and I have no plans to replace it. It still works great. My wife has only just replaced her MacBook Air that was bought in 2011. She's used it every day for work and it's only now starting to show it's age.

That's exceptional value even if the sticker price can be a little eye-watering.

glenimp617 · 16 Oct 2017 at 10:12

The devil is in the detail, and Microsoft have never been about the detail. This is what makes a macbook imho.
It's just one less headache. Example, and I have used this before. If you ever need to restore your laptop you can pull the latest OS via the internet "DURING" installation. You can't on windows. You have to mess about downloading an old iso, put onto usb stick, install and then spend an hour doing updates.

I'm not even going to mention apples holistic approach to device cohesion.

Apple (and fast approaching google) are light years ahead in this regard. My windows laptop doesn't even know my android phone is sat right next to it. Jeez, what is this 2014!

Windows 10 and it's AppV integration came 5 years too late. Talk about missing the boat. Moving x86 apps to the store is at least a step in the right direction for once.

beachBOYken · 16 Oct 2017 at 11:01

Have a late 2013 iMac, love it. its had the odd bug over time from the various OSX updates but post Yosmite its been pretty flawless.

My favourite thing about having various apple devices is the brilliant photo syncing, It's pretty amazing how Apple organises and tags the location of all you photos.

Dont think I could go back to window's now.

glenimp617 · 16 Oct 2017 at 11:11

I think as we move forward and progress into the next stage of computing, windows 'may' get left behind as the desktop of choice of consumers. The issue is that it doesn't have a decent mobile offering. Obviously we know what benefits that brings to osx and googles new pixelbooks. I assume they will be more tightly integrated into their respective desktop offerings over windows.

Cleisthenes · 16 Oct 2017 at 12:38

beachBOYken said:
It's pretty amazing how Apple organises and tags the location of all you photos.

Although the whole system is great, are you aware that Google has a very similar system with arguably more features?

The only apple product I own is my 2015 MBP and I absolutely love it. It's way overkill for my workload now I'm not a student but I would find it very very hard to sell if I had to.

russell664 · 17 Oct 2017 at 07:56

I just bought a new MBP with touch bar 13".

Love it so far. I did however, have an issue a couple of days ago, the 'I' key only responded to harder presses. I tapped it a few times and now all seems well *Knock on wood*. Didn't feel any different at all, just was less responsive.
Though, I like the keyboard, it is comfy touch typing!

The build quality is just wow. The machine looks lovely.