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this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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No case, no board, no power supply, no OS. You don’t even give a machine you compare to.
Because none of that is going to matter.
Realistically there are infinite comparison possibilities but in raw performance/$$$ the PC almost always wins. This is nothing new, been this way for ages and ages.
It matters if you want to compare prices between complete functioning machines with comparable performance.
It doesn't matter and I don't care enough to go and research all that information for you. I already know. If you want to know, you can go and research it for yourself.
I have researched this many times. PCs of similar quality and performance cost about the same as Apple’s products. That’s without taking the higher resale value into account.
Not even close.
I'm pretty sure the standard is building your own can be slightly cheaper, depends which peripherals you already own since those aren't usually part of a build every time.
But anyways, the advantage is that the built device will last longer and is made of replaceable parts that are cheap and easy to find. Easy to upgrade.
Please provide an Apple model and a comparable PC with prices.
Give me a model to compare to? Are all apple models the same? Or do you mean just pick any of them?
Geekbench can be a benchmark for comparable performance. You can look up benchmarks for Mac models and then find comparable performance PC parts under benchmark charts.
Does it count if I find a cheaper laptop that has better numbers than a macbook air that is more expensive?
I do think you might be right that building your own is more expensive now, not sure when that changed.
If I can find a comparable performing non apple device pre built for less, then the only sticking point is proprietary software?
The pre built laptop should come with an operating system that supper sets the hardware well to be comparable, I would say.
Performance isn’t everything in a laptop. Screen quality, weight, and battery life also matters. To be comparable, an alternative laptop should be at least in the same class in these aspects.
What would you say about this quality issue thats come up in this post? Longevity is important too.
Apple’s quality is mostly pretty good. Once in a while they have problems with certain models and establish a free service program even for machines out of warranty. The oldest device that still gets a service program is from 2008.
Apple’s repair policies have improved over the years.
Longevity is usually also typically pretty good for Apple devices, especially the higher end models. My iPad Pro from 2018 and iPhone 11 from 2019 still get software updates and perform just fine. Until last year I was still using my MacBook Pro 15 retina from 2014 until last year. It still works fine, I just needed something faster. I would say that’s good enough in terms of longevity.
Upgrading parts of machines is difficult to impossible depending on the device. The newer MacBooks are systems on a chip with memory integrated and SSD soldered to the board. That means you have to buy enough memory and storage now, that will last you for the next decade. That’s a higher expense now, than being able to upgrade these parts five years down the line.
Well I suppose I'll have to see how they resolve this problem then. It does seem like theres a solid use case for the devices, I think I just don't fit any of them.
Can you think of any company that makes something comparable to apples macbooks or imacs? Maybe shooting for close enough would work for me, as long as I can still put whatever OS on it I want and swap out some parts every once in a while.
Other companies typically have a little different priorities in their products. Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1, Microsoft Surface, Dell XPS are great laptops in the same league I would say. Dell Precision workstations are same league as the Mac Pro. Dell, HP, and Microsoft Surface make some decent all in one PCs.
All in one computers like the iMac are a niche on the PC side and don’t sell that well. The types of customers are different. PC buyers are usually more price sensitive, whereas Apple customers buy a whole package including the included software. It’s also much easier to buy a Mac, because there’s less choice. The PC market is filled with countless very similar models. Apple makes its simpler.
You get a ton of great software included with every Mac: GarageBand for music production is probably the best for home music creation on any platform. iMovie is an excellent consumer video editing software. The office suite with Keynote, Pages, Numbers is also very good. So what you get when buying an iMac is a powerful machine that’s a great office and media production machine out of the box. No drivers need to be installed, updated, or configured. There’s no adware and trials included in the default install. If you want a Unix like system on a laptop and never worry about battery life, kernel support, etc. All of that can make for a nicer experience.
In the end it depends on what you want to do with your computer. Depending on what tasks you want to accomplish and where you want to use it a different model would make sense for you. There are also applications macOS just isn’t the best fit like gaming or if you have special pro software or peripherals. If you enjoy tinkering and building your own machines, you’re better off using something else as well.
I don't have enough computers yet to have dedicated ones is the problem, and I don't work in an industry that demands one. But I do understand the value of Apple essentially handling all the difficult stuff for me, I don't have infinite time to manage devices.
I might try to pick up a cheap older one to try out the ecosystem like you mentioned as Ive barely used one before.
Can I out macOS on non apple devices?
Pick one and find a comparable PC.
The MacBook Air is the best selling model, so take that if you don’t want to choose yourself.