Anyone else abandoning ship?

[CE3]

Agreed. I use OneDrive from my Windows desktop, Windows laptop, MacBook Pro, iPad, and Galaxy S8. Same with Word, Excel, and the rest of Office 365. One price for all platforms.

And even if you’re mixing and matching services, I don’t see what’s so messy and complicated about it if they connect to all your devices and/or it’s a setup that works for you.

If you’re integrating features that have the same functionality Apple offers, the most work you’re probably doing is clicking or tapping to open a different (non-Apple) application. How hard and confusing is that?

 

[richinaus]

I must say, I have not had any issues using AirDrop. For me, it is one of the more reliable services Apple offers. Just have them flip the switch to "Everyone" and you are good. Don't even have to go to settings for that. It's right in Control Center.

That is a nice machine at a good price. It will also been very loud and hot. Don't expect it to necessarily be a better experience overall than a MacBook Pro. For me, if I want that much of a GPU, I am just going to get a desktop so it can properly cool and run at the speeds it is supposed to. Cramming something like that into a laptop case is only going present problems that force compromises. No different than what Apple does with small cases and ever increasing core counts. Not better, not worse, just the same.

Of course, I have been down that path before and never again - I await to see reviews on this but am not expecting miracles. I would hook this up to an egpu on the desk and use the laptop for decent VR on the go for presentations etc. This wouldn’t be a gaming device for me. It will be a vastly better experience for the apps I use given they are PC only and make use of CUDA on Nvidia GPU’s. Most likely Apple will remain a ‘consumer’ device for me and work will be PC only.

 

[Cashmonee]

And even if you’re mixing and matching services, I don’t see what’s so messy and complicated about it if they connect to all your devices and/or it’s a setup that works for you.

If you’re integrating features that have the same functionality, the most work you’re probably doing is clicking or tapping to open a different (non-Apple) application. How hard and confusing is that?

Not hard or confusing. In my experience, many of the third party solutions for things that rather deeply integrated into the system such as Airdrop or Messages are not reliable and are susceptible to being broken with updates, etc. The way Apple designs their OS now makes it difficult for developers to get access to a lot of things like messaging or file sharing and requires a workaround, sometimes with unpublished APIs or bugs.

I am not trying to defend Apple, but I cannot really say there is a direct replacement for Messages that truly has feature parity. A similar thing could be said for Airdrop and Continuity. There are solutions, but they are always going to be less integrated, require more work to use, and come with compromises.

 

[LeeW]

I have made a point of using my Windows PC more, even after spending a small fortune on the new MM. Every time I go in, a little tweak here and a tweak there. I am on Windows 10 now and honestly, it's not that bad.

There are for sure some features I miss and some software that Windows just has no polished alternative but there are some usable ones.

But I am coping and so far, no real issues.

Actually very surprised at how Windows has come on having dug into all the settings. The first couple of years after XP was released was my last real time spent on Windows.

Could I switch? Whilst the MM is sitting here at my side I could say yes. If I sold it and it was not here I would probably be twitching a lot

I think what annoys me most is that my only real interest in Apple is macOS, I like my new MM but I don't love it, it was a necessary purchase to stay with macOS. Hackintosh? Sure, but I want something that just works, no tinkering. Besides, the Hackintosh is dead as soon as Apple starts using their homemade CPU's.

If I could get comfortable with a good setup I would drop Apple tomorrow, to be honest.

 

[revmacian]

Not a complete mess. I use OneDrive on my two platforms, the iOS device and my Windows for my files and photos. So how is this a mess?

Well, for you it isn't a mess. But, you aren't the only person on the planet, are you? To me.. it's a mess.

 

[c0ppo]

Well, for you it isn't a mess. But, you aren't the only person on the planet, are you? To me.. it's a mess.

So OneDrive on phone + pc is a mess, but iCloud on phone + pc (mac) isn't a mess?

 

[Cashmonee]

I have made a point of using my Windows PC more, even after spending a small fortune on the new MM. Every time I go in, a little tweak here and a tweak there. I am on Windows 10 now and honestly, it's not that bad.

There are for sure some features I miss and some software that Windows just has no polished alternative but there are some usable ones.

But I am coping and so far, no real issues.

Actually very surprised at how Windows has come on having dug into all the settings. The first couple of years after XP was released was my last real time spent on Windows.

Could I switch? Whilst the MM is sitting here at my side I could say yes. If I sold it and it was not here I would probably be twitching a lot

I think what annoys me most is that my only real interest in Apple is macOS, I like my new MM but I don't love it, it was a necessary purchase to stay with macOS. Hackintosh? Sure, but I want something that just works, no tinkering. Besides, the Hackintosh is dead as soon as Apple starts using their homemade CPU's.

If I could get comfortable with a good setup I would drop Apple tomorrow, to be honest.

I fully agree with this. Unfortunately, as I said, there is no great to-do/planning app that works on Windows along with iOS and macOS (my work provided computer is a MBP). If there were, I probably would have gone with a Windows laptop.

 

[rayriceroni00]

Not to mention some of the messes the apple ecosystem creates.

In iBooks, there are several gradeschool science books that my son ordered via his iPad, (without my authorization) about 5 years ago. Nobody has been able to figure out how to remove them from the family (icloud) library. Hours of searches and attempts, with no solution. He has graduated HS already, but apparently I'm stuck with them for life.

I still think iTunes is the biggest garbage software that Apple ever produced. Since iCloud was introduced and works amazingly well for restoring iOS, I don't touch iTunes. I remember the good old days of the free U2 album. Took me weeks to remove that steaming pile of crap. Every time I'd start my car, that horrendous music would auto start.

Yes, after wasting two weeks of my setting up a maxed out 2018 MacBookPro

Where were the major hangups? I'm still amazed how time machine works so well. It's almost iCloud iOS restore good. 45min and I moved 400gigs from time machine and restored my new MacBook to look 99% identical to the 2013 I just left.

I have found Airdrop to be hit or miss. There are a few things you can go through to troubleshoot it and they usually work, but I definitely haven’t found it to work the first time, every time. It also has the problem of being platform dependent.

I have also used SHAREit and have likewise found it at times to be hit or miss, but it is cross platform and generally works fast.

Airdrop is neat, but I just always end up imessaging people with anything. Faster and more reliable IMO.

 

[Cashmonee]

So OneDrive on phone + pc is a mess, but iCloud on phone + pc (mac) isn't a mess?

I find OneDrive to be the best file syncing service. Far better than iCloud. This is one area where there are several great alternatives, and is not a pain point of migrating from macOS or Apple.

 

[rayriceroni00]

I find OneDrive to be the best file syncing service. Far better than iCloud. This is one area where there are several great alternatives, and is not a pain point of migrating from macOS or Apple.

Tried Dropbox lately? Amazing. Especially for sharing links and collaboration.

iCloud wins hands down for the ability to restore to devices. Microsoft can't touch how good Apple does restores.

 

[Cashmonee]

Tried Dropbox lately? Amazing. Especially for sharing links and collaboration.

iCloud wins hands down for the ability to restore to devices. Microsoft can't touch how good Apple does restores.

I agree that iCloud is good for restoring devices. I am all in on Google Drive at work and OneDrive at home and do not wish to upset that balance. So I have not tried Dropbox in a while. Honestly, what killed Dropbox for me several years ago was their unreasonable pricing for storage. OneDrive gives me 1 TB per user up to 5 users and Google Drive is unlimited because we are Google Apps subs. Dropbox wanted more than I was willing to pay for storage only with no other benefit. Has their pricing improved?

 

[rayriceroni00]

I agree that iCloud is good for restoring devices. I am all in on Google Drive at work and OneDrive at home and do not wish to upset that balance. So I have not tried Dropbox in a while. Honestly, what killed Dropbox for me several years ago was their unreasonable pricing for storage. OneDrive gives me 1 TB per user up to 5 users and Google Drive is unlimited because we are Google Apps subs. Dropbox wanted more than I was willing to pay for storage only with no other benefit. Has their pricing improved?

Not sure what Dropbox used to be. 1TB now is $9.99/mo or $100 for the year I believe. For me, I love it because I have history with it and it's amazing for sharing photographs with clients.

I also use Google Drive for things. Can't fault that one.

How is OneDrive on MAC OS or iOS? I love that Dropbox/Drive work so well on MAC, iOS, and Windows.

 

[Ploki]

Not sure what Dropbox used to be. 1TB now is $9.99/mo or $100 for the year I believe. For me, I love it because I have history with it and it's amazing for sharing photographs with clients.

I also use Google Drive for things. Can't fault that one.

How is OneDrive on MAC OS or iOS? I love that Dropbox/Drive work so well on MAC, iOS, and Windows.

I don't have all that good experience with it, but i tried it in early stages.

I prefer DropBox (have around 11gb space) + iCloud 50gb.

 

[Cashmonee]

Not sure what Dropbox used to be. 1TB now is $9.99/mo or $100 for the year I believe. For me, I love it because I have history with it and it's amazing for sharing photographs with clients.

I also use Google Drive for things. Can't fault that one.

How is OneDrive on MAC OS or iOS? I love that Dropbox/Drive work so well on MAC, iOS, and Windows.

For me it works as well as Google Drive with the added benefit of allowing AutoSave for Office documents. It sits in Finder as a folder just as Google Drive or Dropbox does. I have been really happy with it, and it is included in my Office365 sub. So for a little over $5 a month depending on how cheaply I can find a year card for Office 365 I get Office apps with 1 TB per user of storage for up to 5 different users with several installs for each user. Pretty good deal honestly.

 

[EdwardC]

I as well use Microsoft products on my two iPhones and iPad, with One Drive and One Note on my iMac and Win 10 box its super smooth and the apps work very well. For work I have fully made the transition to Win 10, will probably stick with iOS products for my mobile needs.

 

[Altis]

Sold the 17" MBP yesterday. Was kind of sad to see it go only because it was in such great shape and a 2010, so no logic board issues like the 2011.

Only have one Mac left in the house, the MBA. It's still on Mavericks so runs well enough, although the screen has some bright spots that seem to be getting worse over time.

macOS just isn't what it used to be, and I find myself enjoying both Windows and Linux much more, especially in terms of speed/responsiveness. Both need to be set up to preference though as I don't really care for the default settings (of any OS, really).

 

[rayriceroni00]

Sold the 17" MBP yesterday. Was kind of sad to see it go only because it was in such great shape and a 2010, so no logic board issues like the 2011.

Only have one Mac left in the house, the MBA. It's still on Mavericks so runs well enough, although the screen has some bright spots that seem to be getting worse over time.

macOS just isn't what it used to be, and I find myself enjoying both Windows and Linux much more, especially in terms of speed/responsiveness. Both need to be set up to preference though as I don't really care for the default settings (of any OS, really).

Your response is interesting in that I'm passing you going the other way. For me, Windows peaked with 7. It was relatively stable and still had enough advanced settings in control panel for a power user. As we go towards 8 then 10 it's being dumbed down both visually and with settings. In our corporate environment, Windows 10 rarely has a perfect day. Office apps freezing, document uploads hanging, programs not responding. My wife's Lenovo laptop at home running 10 is the first 10 I've seen that is smooth and flawless. I attribute that to it having like 3 things on it: Office, Chrome, and Spotify. It's also not plagued with crap like group policy and talking to domain controllers.

I just boxed up my 2013 MAC and it rarely had issues. The occasionally hanging app maybe once every few months. Upgraded starting around Mavericks through Mojave. No issues and never had to restore it. MAC OS is more enjoyable for me, especially with the amazing MacBook trackpads. Every laptop attempts to copy gestures these days, but IMO MAC's is still king. I also think combining a laptop/tablet makes zero sense, so that market doesn't appeal to me.
[doublepost=1547679132][/doublepost]Also do you guys prefer max apps in MAC OS swiping three fingers left and right, or do you like Windows virtual desktops or whatever they call them? I have yet to find a real use for the linux like attempt at new virtual desktops in Windows 10.

 

[Altis]

Your response is interesting in that I'm passing you going the other way. For me, Windows peaked with 7. It was relatively stable and still had enough advanced settings in control panel for a power user. As we go towards 8 then 10 it's being dumbed down both visually and with settings. In our corporate environment, Windows 10 rarely has a perfect day. Office apps freezing, document uploads hanging, programs not responding. My wife's Lenovo laptop at home running 10 is the first 10 I've seen that is smooth and flawless. I attribute that to it having like 3 things on it: Office, Chrome, and Spotify. It's also not plagued with crap like group policy and talking to domain controllers.

I just boxed up my 2013 MAC and it rarely had issues. The occasionally hanging app maybe once every few months. Upgraded starting around Mavericks through Mojave. No issues and never had to restore it. MAC OS is more enjoyable for me, especially with the amazing MacBook trackpads. Every laptop attempts to copy gestures these days, but IMO MAC's is still king. I also think combining a laptop/tablet makes zero sense, so that market doesn't appeal to me.
[doublepost=1547679132][/doublepost]Also do you guys prefer max apps in MAC OS swiping three fingers left and right, or do you like Windows virtual desktops or whatever they call them? I have yet to find a real use for the linux like attempt at new virtual desktops in Windows 10.

It's funny, my desktop and laptop running Windows 10 run absolutely beautifully, but whenever I use someone else's it's more often than not atrocious (especially corporate computers).

So I don't blame others for having that opinion.

From the slow animation/input blocking delays, to poor window management, to all kinds of bugs, macOS has just been driving me nuts lately, and it's always something new.

Just yesterday, we were trying to use a colleague's MBP for a slideshow at a tabling event, and it was just brutal trying to get it to work since it was a mix of photos and videos since it wanted to open the videos in Quicktime but the photos in Preview -- but you had to select all the photos for them to show up in preview. But once that was sorted, all of the vertical photos (yes they trigger me, too) would get all messed up and show up half off the screen, so only the top was visible (like the photo was shifted down off the screen). Then when it gets to the end, it just stops there. Fired up the Windows 10 laptop, opened the first file and hit slideshow and it just worked -- cycled through all the photos and videos in the folder.

The other day when I was preparing the 17" MBP for selling I went to install a fresh copy of the OS and figured I'd go for High Sierra (from El Capitan). HS insisted on formatting the drive to APFS and it did, but apparently the machine hadn't yet updated the firmware to deal with APFS. So the drive was just stuck in APFS with no ability to install HS or format the drive back. I had to physically remove the drive and mount it on another machine, reformat it, and figure out a way to deal with it.

I don't really like the direction macOS or Windows is heading, but Windows seems to just work very well at the moment.

 

[rayriceroni00]

On the plus side you got what like 8 whopping years out of that? I pushed my top end 2013 like 5 years. That's about my personal limit. If Apple keeps the trade in program, I might shoot for 3-4. I was surprised they gave me $555. Ebay was pushing $680 maybe, but deduct PayPal and Ebay fees plus the hassle and risk the buyer will dispute it, I'll just go the hassle free way.

 

[dwsolberg]

I can't. I develop iOS apps for a living, but I do really, really hope that Apple figures out that keyboard. I'd like more key travel, but really what I want is reliability. I've replaced mine three times so far (MBP with touchbar purchased in December 2016). I bought a keyboard film, which I hope prolongs the next replacement.

Everything else about the computer is very nice, but it's so, so frustrating when the keyboard isn't working. And yes, you can repair it, but Apple gives itself a week to repair it, so if you're using it for work, you sort of have to wait for a vacation to get it fixed.

 

[_Kiki_]

I can't. I develop iOS apps for a living, but I do really, really hope that Apple figures out that keyboard. I'd like more key travel, but really what I want is reliability. I've replaced mine three times so far (MBP with touchbar purchased in December 2016). I bought a keyboard film, which I hope prolongs the next replacement.

Everything else about the computer is very nice, but it's so, so frustrating when the keyboard isn't working. And yes, you can repair it, but Apple gives itself a week to repair it, so if you're using it for work, you sort of have to wait for a vacation to get it fixed.

if it's crucial to the job you should have a second MBP for replacement, you said you are living from developing iOS apps, so the money shouldn't be a problem, you can't rely on just one machine

 

[roxygal9]

I bought a X1C about 6 months ago, and I have been so happy with it. I see why Lisa from mobile Tech review loves this computer! I find my self using it more often than picking up my MacBook - it feels lighter than the MacBook to. The screen is truly amazing - you really should see the HDR display on this thing. I have also enjoyed one drive with my office 365. I have for the most part enjoyed the windows experience enough, that I am actually considering buying a surface tablet or a 2-1 (never tried one before). The iPad Pro is great, but its hard to multitask, organize files, etc on it. Plus I am sure the 2-1/tablet would synch well with my thinkpad.

I have an Apple Watch 3, so I am stuck with the iPhone for now. I love the Apple Watch, and its exercise functions. I recently bought the xs max - its a gorgeous phone with a gorgeous display - but I don't think it was worth 1k.

 

[uller6]

I know I’m going to get flamed for saying this, but I dual boot my nMP into both OS X and win10. I spend significantly more time in win10 than I do OS X. The apple hardware is great - it’s a near silent workstation that is still pretty beastly for my comsol simulation work, CAD in solidworks, data analysis in origin, and gaming. Windows 10 is decent, but then again all flavors from 7 onward were decent. I also might be the only person on the planet who liked vista, but it was a solid upgrade from the nightmare that was XP.

 

[FlyingTexan]

Die hard windows guy until I bought this 2017 MacBook pro. I love this thing but damn they really make it a bitch to use with windows bootcamp. Everythign is just bugs. Right now my Bluetooth mouse lags like hell when I connect to wifi. I love this thing. Personally I love the keyboard, I love the resolution of the screen, and most importantly I love it's design. I'm not anything other than a general computer user but I spend so much time on them I wanted a premium machine and that's exactly what this is. It's a fantastic machine.

It will also probably be my last for many of the reasons you mentioned above. If it's not my last it will definitely be the one I keep for a very long time. With 16GB of memory and a dedicated gpu there's really nothing I need in addition as far as macs go. Honestly I'd sell it if I thought it were worth it to me. It's a great media consumption device and I use it for that more than anything.

However I'm waiting for the new Acer Triton 500 to come out. Intel i7-8750h, 32GB memory, two nvme in raid 0, RTX 2080. I'm going to have that as my fun machine. I spend so much time in hotels it's something I've learned I've wanted but there's just nothing that touches a MacBook pro for everything else. If I figure out I can live with 1080p resolution then I'll have this guy on ebay but if not I'm going to keep it as a side machine for everything else.
[doublepost=1547705338][/doublepost]

I know I’m going to get flamed for saying this, but I dual boot my nMP into both OS X and win10. I spend significantly more time in win10 than I do OS X. The apple hardware is great - it’s a near silent workstation that is still pretty beastly for my comsol simulation work, CAD in solidworks, data analysis in origin, and gaming. Windows 10 is decent, but then again all flavors from 7 onward were decent. I also might be the only person on the planet who liked vista, but it was a solid upgrade from the nightmare that was XP.

Ok have you had any issues with bluetooh mouse not working? Mine's been perfect for over a year and now it lags all over when connected to wifi and I don't know what to do.
[doublepost=1547705427][/doublepost]

if it's crucial to the job you should have a second MBP for replacement, you said you are living from developing iOS apps, so the money shouldn't be a problem, you can't rely on just one machine

What? Sure you can. It's a junk machine if you can't rely on it. Why not just use it and if it crashes run over to the apple store and swap it out or replace it then?
[doublepost=1547705474][/doublepost]

On the plus side you got what like 8 whopping years out of that? I pushed my top end 2013 like 5 years. That's about my personal limit. If Apple keeps the trade in program, I might shoot for 3-4. I was surprised they gave me $555. Ebay was pushing $680 maybe, but deduct PayPal and Ebay fees plus the hassle and risk the buyer will dispute it, I'll just go the hassle free way.

Do you have to trade it in and purchase something new or can you just take it to apple and be done with it?

 

[Bodie CI5]

LOL! At last somebody else can corroborate what I have written here before!

I’ve finally decided I’ll be selling my SB2. Pure exercise in extreme frustration. Worst laptop I have bought apart from a netbook I purchased in late 2000s for 400AUD. At least that was 400AUD only; this SB cost me 3000AUD!

A few friendly folk suggested I buy a T5 Samsung external drive on another thread here on MR in order to alleviate the extraordinarily slow speeds on the machine (alternative hardware thread - Surface devices thread). However, it has meant that my SB2 has become what the MBP is maligned for - dongle hell.

I couldn’t even watch Bladerunner which I bought from MS’s own store the other night without major slowdowns! A petty example, to be sure, but experience breaking nevertheless.

dang.. is this even legal? pretty sure i saw exact same photo for MBA once.
https://www.mi.com/global/mibookair/
[doublepost=1547479631][/doublepost]
It does? The i5 in 13" is dualcore with intel HD620, and the i7 is older and inferior CPU.
frankly, the i5 in 13" is faster than the i7 in surfacebook 2...

the 15" is limited to 16GB of RAM. and is 1866Mhz and has a quad-core CPU.
13" MBP is 2166MHz and 15" is 2400MHz...

It also doesn't have TB3 external ports (my 1TB thunderbolt3 superfast external NVMe disk is crying)

It also has 2x slower write speeds for same capacity SSD.

In terms of GPU, GTX1060 vs Vega20 is head to head...

Not sure if that's exactly "crushing it in performance"...
Frankly, the i5 13" macbook pro is probably faster than the 15" surfacebook 2 in terms of CPU.

Whatever
Lenovo i bet is great, surface book 2 is overpriced for what it is.
LOL!
SurfaceBook 2 13" quadcore with 16GB of ram and 512GB SSD costs 2299$.
MacBook Pro 13" quadcore with 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD costs 2199$

And with MAcBook Pro you get faster SSD, faster RAM, faster CPU, and much much more external bandwidth via 4 tb3 ports.
this is ridiculous, and they say Macs are overpriced?!