moving over to apple... is it worth it?

GTanny

GTanny

GTanny

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Hi all,

ill try keep it short, ive never owned an apple product myself but i am very fond of my wifes iPad and when i have played with a macbook pro in the shops i like the style and feel of the system.

my wife on the other hand has an iPhone and an iPad and would love a macbook and i would love to get her one for either xmas or her birthday but what i dont understand is the pros of apple over windows, i know they are preferred by a lot of video and photo editing but we dont do any of that so would it still be worth it for her to browse facebook and play with apps?

one idea was to pick up a very good condition used macbook pro for around £5-700 (around 2011-2012) as a starting point but i dont want it to need upgrading or be redundant in a year or so

i get the feeling its a case of if i dont know why a mac would be better dont get one but its not for me it would be for my wife as a present and as an apple lover i dont want to get her it if she will be dissapointed.

cheers in advance
 
Whether it is or isn't better than a Windows PC is kind of beside the point if you think about it. The modern MacBooks are very nice machines and will more than meet the demands of somebody who just browses the internet and pokes around with a few apps.

I highly doubt she would be disappointed. Yes there are some new conventions to learn with the OS but it's nothing to worry about. I'm sure she would be very happy with one.
 
Have you considered the MacBook Air? Perhaps more suited for your needs if the budget allows.

You'll hear lots of pro's and cons regarding Apple machines. At the end of the day, all you're doing is switching to a different OS running on very nice hardware. It's down to personal preference. If you like the OS, or like the idea of trying something new, and are attracted by the design then go for it!

I made the switch back in 2009 with an iMac, now have a retina MacBook Pro and a selection of iOS devices too - certainly can't see me ever switching back to Windows!

Just don't install Windows on it like some do... :)
 
From a hardware point of view it is all just really well thought out and put together. I like how the build is extremely minimum, no stupid sticks everywhere and everything seems like it fits together.

Battery life is always really good on them, the magsafe adapter is really nice and the charger is quiet compact. They look very pretty, and with the retina models the screens are amazing.

They also hold their value really well, it would be hard to find any other laptop brand that holds over 50% value even after 2 years.

From a software point of view, it lets me run all 3 OS that I like, ubuntu, OSX and Windows. For me personally I love that it has a terminal that is unix based and under the hood it is also a unix. There is multiply desktops which is something windows is in dire need of. there is a huge selection of apps to change your entire workflow. It is a very smooth OS and it has a lot of unique application.

The price is however extremely high and I still find it difficult to justify not matter how much I enjoy using them.

Turbo-G said:
Just don't install Windows on it like some do... :)
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There are still a lot of apps that just don't have a mac version so some people must have windows on their machines. I'm sure its not out of choice most of the time but out of need, of OSX could match the feature/software they need they wouldn't run another OS.
 
Echo the above. I installed windows as a 2nd partition on mine purely for gaming and it does a great job at that too.
 
Fallen god said:
From a hardware point of view it is all just really well thought out and put together. I like how the build is extremely minimum, no stupid sticks everywhere and everything seems like it fits together.

Battery life is always really good on them, the magsafe adapter is really nice and the charger is quiet compact. They look very pretty, and with the retina models the screens are amazing.

They also hold their value really well, it would be hard to find any other laptop brand that holds over 50% value even after 2 years.

From a software point of view, it lets me run all 3 OS that I like, ubuntu, OSX and Windows. For me personally I love that it has a terminal that is unix based and under the hood it is also a unix. There is multiply desktops which is something windows is in dire need of. there is a huge selection of apps to change your entire workflow. It is a very smooth OS and it has a lot of unique application.

The price is however extremely high and I still find it difficult to justify not matter how much I enjoy using them.



There are still a lot of apps that just don't have a mac version so some people must have windows on their machines. I'm sure its not out of choice most of the time but out of need, of OSX could match the feature/software they need they wouldn't run another OS.
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This.
 
i swapped my pc for an imac and i love it.

Its simple and works. Ive not got everything apple and it all works together easily.
 
I've always been a PC user and for the past 7 years a Linux user.

I bought a Macbook Air as a replacement for an aging netbook. It's more powerful than my desktop and does pretty much everything I want without fuss.

I say pretty much as there are a few annoying quirks. E.g constantly having to use the cmd or fn key to get certain functionality. the lack of MTP support for camera's, mobile phones and other devices etc..
 
I still think for the OP it will be more than enough. For such a shallow usage pattern it's almost entirely about the look and feel of the device, the novelty of owning an expensive Mac, and having something to match the iPhone/iPad.
 
I've recently moved across to Mac, and I'm loving it.

I'm guessing she will be using the machine for similar uses to what mine is for (and probably a little bit less), and I am yet to find a drawback that I wasn't expecting of a laptop. The machines are brilliantly made, and OS X makes everything very easy to find, without looking like windows 8.

As a few have said, with you owning some apple stuff already, it would be a good purchase to make!
 
Agree with pretty much everything that is said here, Macs are good, solid bits of kit. I had a 2011 MBP with Windows and it held up very well for gaming.

These days I do have a PC for my games, but as far as everything else goes, I have a Macbook Air and it does everything I need it to, I even use it as my HTPC as it's so quiet.
 
Cheers for the advice guys, I'm looking into one now but I saw a website (forgo the name think I got the link of here) saying to hold off on a macbook pro purchase but a macbook air should be Ok... I prefer the look and style of the pro so I'll maybe hold off as an Xmas present unless I get a good deal.
Shows how quick things change she's just sent me a massage saying she's now editing her vlogs she does for some mummy forum so it may get more use then first thought.
 
theheyes said:
I'd get an Air personally. It'll still edit videos.
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i should have mentioned that the furthest it will go is from the living room couch to the kitchen table, ive just had a read and the main selling point for Air over Pro seems to be convenience.

have i missed the point? I should have really mentioned that the only reason we want a laptop over a PC based system is we live in a small house and with 2 children its easier to keep a laptop out the way while still having the ability to use it downstairs. i gave my dad my old PC when moving home as we didnt have room for it.

edit: looking a bit further at comparrisons its seems the air has a slower but better processor and a better graphics card which may be a better option for me anyway... ill do a fair bit more reading and reseraching before shelling out £1000 on anything though (or £5-700 if i go used)
 
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To be honest, either will do fine, but the new Air really is good.

A second hand Pro is probably going to have a mechanical drive etc. and it's not a big deal (I'm typing on one right now) but with you mentioning the future proof issue an extra couple of hundred quid now might not seem like a bad investment at all two or three years down the road.
 
GTanny said:
i should have mentioned that the furthest it will go is from the living room couch to the kitchen table, ive just had a read and the main selling point for Air over Pro seems to be convenience.

have i missed the point? I should have really mentioned that the only reason we want a laptop over a PC based system is we live in a small house and with 2 children its easier to keep a laptop out the way while still having the ability to use it downstairs. i gave my dad my old PC when moving home as we didnt have room for it.

edit: looking a bit further at comparrisons its seems the air has a slower but better processor and a better graphics card which may be a better option for me anyway... ill do a fair bit more reading and reseraching before shelling out £1000 on anything though (or £5-700 if i go used)
Click to expand...

The new Air is a decent machine with a good GPU, if your getting a new MBP you should wait as the new ones are due out soon. They will have better graphics then the Air and a step up in battery life.
 
I've always been a PC user but last year got my hands on a 2009 Macbook Pro. At home I hardly use my desktop PC or Lenovo Laptop because the Mac does everything. I'm running Parallels with Windows 7 for anything PC related but do everything else on the Mac.

The battery still lasts over 3 hours and even though it's not a top spec anymore it's really quick, more so after the recent RAM and SSD upgrade. I was thinking about upgrading to a new model but even though this one is 4 years old it still feels quicker than my i5 desktop in all day to day duties.
 
The air has already been updated to the Haswell architecture whereas the Macbook Pro range is still on Ivybridge which is why they say to hold off on upgrading to a Pro now. As stated above worth holding off on the Pro range until they have been updated. Won't be much longer now.
 
On a laptop, OS X is second to none IMO. The battery life and the trackpad just make using it a dream. Integrating with iOS devices is a bonus really.

If you do get one, I would personally say the Air would be the better purchase (it's also incredibly light). The RAM is not upgradable in either the Air or the new (Retina) Pro models so I would recommend getting the maximum amount possible.
 
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