M1 Mac vs i7 PC laptop

lumencreative · 11 Dec 2021 at 10:58

I don't want this to turn into another Mac vs PC thread but I have a genuine question...

My wife currently has a Huawei Matebook 13 with an i5 CPU. She loves her laptop but it has become a bit battered, there's a crack in the bottom of the screen (doesn't actually reach the start menu so can still use it), and a few dents here and there. Before she had the Huawei, she had a 12 inch Macbook which she also loved (she's not bothered whether she uses MacOS or Windows).

I am thinking of getting her a new laptop and can't decide whether to buy her the current model of Huawei Matebook with the i7-11370H or go for an M1 Macbook Pro.

Looking for some persuasive opinions

ChrisD. · 11 Dec 2021 at 11:04

Does she have other Apple devices?

lumencreative · 11 Dec 2021 at 11:05

ChrisD. said:
Does she have other Apple devices?

She does. She has an iPhone, Apple watch, and we use iPads within our business. I do know she used iMessage a lot on her old laptop but she mostly uses Whatsapp now which she has installed on her laptop.

ChrisD. · 11 Dec 2021 at 11:08

The M1 is a cracking CPU, the MacBook Air is probably enough for most people. Realistic all day battery life, silent, cool, fast. And then there’s the trackpad which just makes life so much easier on a laptop.

Feek · 11 Dec 2021 at 12:40

My suggestion would be to buy her an M1 laptop and let her try it. Remember you get a two week period where you can return it for a full refund, no questions.

She may absolutely hate macOS. This gives her a chance to try it, risk free.

dannyjo22 · 11 Dec 2021 at 12:41

I've been using MAC OS for 6 weeks now. Only ever been a pc user despite having about 12 other apple devices in the house. I will be honest, there have been times in the last few weeks where I've been frustrated due to not knowing the shortcuts or just simple things like opening a bunch off photos and just want to flick through them and delete as I go. I couldn't find how to do that on Mac. But those are small annoyances that are just part of the learning curve, when I've learnt those things I've far and away prefer the look, feel and set up of my M1 Mac. Lack of ports are a pain in the back side but tbh I don't see me ever going back now.

It's just so much easier with settings, so much cleaner to view and make changes. Like iPad levels of ease. But as I said you can question your decision when you can't find how to set things up 'like you had it in windows'.

I think November is a good time to try before you set in as they have such a lengthy returns period for xmas. I think If I'd only had a few weeks I'd have returned this M1 mini in panic. The extra time has been great for learning and I find I'm using my desktop a lot more as I'm so happy with the purchase.

ChrisD. · 11 Dec 2021 at 14:58

Don't underestimate the usefulness that you get with Handoff. Copy from one device and paste on another, including clipboard and files.

lltfdaniel · 13 Dec 2021 at 12:57

ChrisD. said:
The M1 is a cracking CPU, the MacBook Air is probably enough for most people. Realistic all day battery life, silent, cool, fast. And then there’s the trackpad which just makes life so much easier on a laptop.

I agree.

RallyMotor · 21 Dec 2021 at 16:21

I fully agree with your point.