Apple Explains Why You Should Buy a Mac

[DanTSX]

I can’t believe people still parrot this FUD. Mac had a minuscule 5% market pre-OSX, but had loads of viruses. Back when I fixed them for a living, every Mac people brought in for service had viruses. WinXP looked like Fort Knox by comparison.

Frankly, I find the candy color UI bleh🤮. I like OSX for the consistent UI and because a background task won’t jump to the fore without me bringing it to the foreground. Windows has a nasty habit of doing this. Irks me to not end when I’m entering a long list of numbers. 5 minutes of 10 key entry ending up as gibberish in Words instead of beautiful columns in Excel.
I like the boring look of WinNT.

Meh, I fixed Win and Apple as a job during Hs and college (mid-90’sn- early 00’s)
Even enter OSX, there were few Apple viruses or malware. I wouldn’t say that there were not vulnerabilities. But PC’s were were Petri dishes of viruses almost the second they were online for any period of time. I think we had seen maybe only 1-2 confirmed Mac viruses on the machines I touched.


We did have a bunch of angry and embarassed böömer dads claim that viruses or “hacking” was the reason for embarrassing pictures or chat logs🤣

 

[MacBH928]

The reason to buy a Mac is MacOS (period)

Easy to learn. Astoundingly powerful. And designed to let you work, play, and create in ways you never imagined. It's the computer that comes packed with apps that are ready to go right out of the box. Free, regular software updates keep things up to date and running smoothly. And if you already have an iPhone, it feels familiar from the moment you turn it on.

Apple is talking like its the early 90s and some people do not know what a computer is. I don't know if such consumers still exist. There is a white lie in there "designed to let you play"

 

[Sciomar]

I usually enjoy building my own computers, but I am enjoying the parts of the Apple ecosystem I have access to sans MacOS thus far. I know full adoption is their angle, and I am beginning to want to just get a Mac and succumb entirely. Definitely watching how this m1 does over time, my current rig may be retired for one of the M variants.

 

[Dark_Omen]

Maybe it's because I have been using (indoctrinated?) DOS/Windows computers for so long, I just find them easier to use than the Mac platform. Maybe for a newbie to either platform the Mac's might be easier to learn. But for me, it's like trying to learn another language. Didn't find that that simple or intuitive at all to use at first.

And I know my PC will play all my legacy games like Neverwinter Nights 1&2/Skyrim/Oblivion, etc. Can these Mac's do that? Also all software that I need to use is available in the Windows world. Still don't know if that's the case with Mac's.

Each platform has their plus/minuses. I don't think I will ever fully get out of the PC/Windows universe.

There's no Windows computer in existence (within a comparable price range) that works as fluid as an M1 Mac.

A simple gesture on the trackpad, and all of your apps are sitting right there. If you can use an iPhone, you can use a Mac. Learning MacOS would be easy for a first grader.

I used to say the same things you did about MacOS when I was a kid...Seemed weird and difficult to learn. I then used critical thinking skills to learn how to use the OS. I'm not huge into PC gaming, so I can't speak for that. The few games I do run occasionally on Steam run just fine -- these are console games that are playable on older platforms like the PS2 and PS3.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I usually enjoy building my own computers, but I am enjoying the parts of the Apple ecosystem I have access to sans MacOS thus far. I know full adoption is their angle, and I am beginning to want to just get a Mac and succumb entirely. Definitely watching how this m1 does over time, my current rig may be retired for one of the M variants.

Stop fighting the inevitable and embrace the M series Mac.

 

[delsoul]

Wonder if Apple also tells potential buyers that you can buy this model, but it won’t come with that feature. But…if you buy that model, it won’t come with the features on this one!

San dimas high school football rules!

 

[Altis]

Windows is not that easy to learn. Just because people are used to it (from school or work) doesn’t mean it’s easy for new users. I’d argue neither is macOS, but the closer Apple made the UI to be similar to iOS, the easier imo it would be since many more people nowadays get familiar with mobile first. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the lost the mobile OS war.

They both have a dock/taskbar with quick links to apps and currently used apps (I prefer to have the windows each have their own spot, personally), a launcher, a desktop space, a file browser, etc... They're far more similar than they are different. They both have some quirks that are not intuitive at all but I don't think anyone struggles to use either.

As for powerful, it’s undeniable. The base M1 Mac can already go head to head or faster than a core i7, a high end CPU. Most PCs out there are the i3 or i5. Whether you need the power or not is a different story, but imagine a base config iMac computer that can handle hevc 10 bit videos with ease, while even the best intel PCs are choking. For amateur video editors, Apple silicon is a huge deal.

Who's going to notice this, especially at the new users they're targeting? Remember when Apple would go on about how specs are trivial and the experience is what matters? Nobody's going to notice their Office documents or web browsers working any faster, media playback, etc... benchmarks and video rendering time don't really matter to most people. It isn't a bad thing, but the marketing term "astoundingly powerful" is rather meaningless.

Comes with apps, yes, this is mac’s strength. There’s Preview, which is a powerful PDF editor. To edit PDF on Windows, you have to either buy Adobe Acrobat (not the free version) or find another 3rd party app. And there’s no parity of macOS Photo and iMovie on Windows in terms of software quality with the ones that come with Windows. Also, with many Windows machines, HEIC support is not included, you have to buy it from the Windows store. (There’s workarounds, but normal people wouldn’t know)

You can mark up PDFs right in Edge browser, including with pen/highlighter. Photos is definitely on its own, but iMovie doesn't come preinstalled anymore, nor does Garageband. They're okay at best (check out their reviews on the app store currently) and you can just install DaVinci Resolve for free on whichever platform anyways. You certainly have far more choices for software with Windows, free, paid, new, old -- it isn't even a contest. Almost no software is made only for Mac that isn't made by Apple, namely Logic, FCP, and Xcode (for which you need a Mac, but is that a good thing?)

Much all of the software we use at my university, especially in engineering and science, is only supported on Windows or in some cases Linux as well (granted, some of it is old and/or pretty awful). ie. Intel Quartus / Xilinx Vivado (engineering), SAS (for statistics), ANSYS (physics/engineering), Altium, OrCAD, etc... and of course games!

MacOS major weakness is not the free software updates, but the software support longevity. This is the big advantage of Windows. Eg. I have a 2012 Mac mini. It’s already dropped by Apple with Big Sur. Meanwhile, Windows 10 can still run fine on way older computers and intel Macs. In fact, many old intel Macs’ lives can be extended with Windows (the irony ).

It's actually quite a shame since the Mac hardware seems to age like wine. I'm always amazed at how well even 10 year old MacBooks have held up, so it saddens me when software support is fully cut. It sure is nice that Intel Macs ' life can be extended with Windows (and Linux!), but I'm not sure what will happen with the M1 Macs. I hope that given how powerful they are, they will be supported longer.

I do like being able to use older software, sometimes because it was expensive and still does the job (Photoshop CS3), sometimes for nostalgia, and of course older games. I'm always amazed that such old software can still run without much trouble.

Anyways, all this is to say that I'd like to see Apple focus on substance rather than what seems like low-effort and non-unique marketing points.

 

[tmarsden]

There's no Windows computer in existence (within a comparable price range) that works as fluid as an M1 Mac.

A simple gesture on the trackpad, and all of your apps are sitting right there. If you can use an iPhone, you can use a Mac. Learning MacOS would be easy for a first grader.

I used to say the same things you did about MacOS when I was a kid...Seemed weird and difficult to learn. I then used critical thinking skills to learn how to use the OS. I'm not huge into PC gaming, so I can't speak for that. The few games I do run occasionally on Steam run just fine -- these are console games that are playable on older platforms like the PS2 and PS3.

Both MacOS and Windows are easy enough to learn for basic usage. Mastering either is a different story. How many users from either platform actually mess around with guts of the OS? Statistically speaking I would say very few. Most people probably spend the majority of their time in a web browser anyway so OS is becoming less and less important for the masses as time goes on.

BTW 4 finger swipe up on a windows trackpad ( or Win + Tab ) brings up multitasking view which shows you all open apps and all desktops. It’s really dead simple to launch or switch between apps on either platform.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

I already bought one, but when they say lots of apps, what exactly do they mean by that. Maybe I'm just not in the right demographic (I track stocks and do option trades for a living), but the App selection is kinda limited.

I am still learning how to use the Mac though. I do like the hand gestures and I think my favorite thing is mission control and you can have multiple desktops.

 

[Westside guy]

Why on earth are the new iMac display‘s bezels a different color than the rest of the machine?

 

[IllinoisCorn]

I've seen BMW advertisements; their products don't sell themselves. Many advertisers say why their products are better than their competitions' products. Maybe they don't use a cutesy phrase like that, but they pick other cutesy phrases.

Yeah, agree with this. Products don't sell themselves. Companies advertise. If you're not seeing the advertisements, you're (the royal you--I am not pointing fingers) not looking in the right place or perhaps you're not the target market.

The best salespeople & advertisements? Other customers that recommend your products.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Why on earth are the new iMac display‘s bezels a different color than the rest of the machine?

I hear you brother and I was totally in agreement with that take when these were announced.

Having seen them in person however, I can say they'd look very strange with black bezels. I think Apple made the right call. These are pretty machines. They look right. Even the absence of the logo on the chin was the right call.

Just really well done, and again, I laughed at these when they were announced, so shows you what I know.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

I already bought one, but when they say lots of apps, what exactly do they mean by that. Maybe I'm just not in the right demographic (I track stocks and do option trades for a living), but the App selection is kinda limited.

I am still learning how to use the Mac though. I do like the hand gestures and I think my favorite thing is mission control and you can have multiple desktops.

If you are new to Mac and you are coming from an iPhone or an iPad and used to acquiring those apps, you are probably looking at the Mac App Store and thinking "slim pickings."

You're not limited to Mac App Store applications. Want an app for trading stocks? Google stock trading apps and Mac.

In other words, you're not limited to what is on the App Store. Just search the web (but obv be careful of malware).

 

[1madman1]

My take on this from the perspective of someone who grew up with Apple products and has used Macintosh as their primary desktop platform since ~1998.

• Astoundingly powerful. And designed to let you work, play, and create in ways you never imagined.

What does this even mean? How is it different from anything else? I'd say "play" is a blatant lie, MacOS as a platform has seemed pretty gaming unfriendly for the last 5 years or so.

• It’s the computer that comes packed with apps that are ready to go right out of the box.

No more so than Windows, substantially less so than major Linux distros. MacOS used to be much better here until they started dumbing it down to the level of the trash that is iOS in recent years. iLife and iWork were actually pretty great back in 2007. iMovie in particular used to be a fantastic tool and was literally a stripped down version of Final Cut, now its just a Windows Movie Maker clone.

• Free, regular software updates keep things up to date and running smoothly.

Windows 10 and Linux are updated even more frequently. Linux is free by design, Windows 10 is near as may well be "free" at this point.

• And if you already have an iPhone, it feels familiar from the moment you turn it on.

I very much dislike how my iPhone X works, I'd certainly hope not.

• Ready, set up, go.

Apart for from Migration Assistant's ability to import data from a previous MacOS install, I'd say Windows and Linux are no more difficult these days. In the case of getting aftermarket add-on hardware up and running, I'd say Windows is easier and more consistent.

• Mac does more. So you can, too.

What? How is it better than any other modern computer platform? I'd argue there is more content available on the Windows side.

• Always intuitive. Never intimidating.

I'd give this one to Apple, the MacOS GUI evolves far more slowly and thus behaves more consistently and predictably than Windows - which is a good thing. Linux is *really* bad at this.

• Works perfectly with all your Apple devices.

I'd certainly hope so, that's kind of the point isn't it? There's no way I'd buy a crippled iOS "walled garden" device otherwise.

• Keep what’s private, pri••••. (goes on to talk about Filevault and Malware/Viruses)

I go out of my way to disable as much of this junk as I can. I like the ability to actually reliably recover data when (not if) something fails. "Malware and Viruses" are generally the user's fault and a consequence of lack of care and vigilance. I have *never* used any form of addon security software, even back in the days of Win9x/DOS and MacOS 8, and have never had an issue.

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

Great to see Apple giving a little love/marketing money to the Mac. I always see ads for iPhones, iPads, Watch, Arcade, etc. but never for the Mac. With M1 it seems Apple thinks the Mac has the ability to drive some growth and is putting some effort into the marketing side of things.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Why on earth are the new iMac display‘s bezels a different color than the rest of the machine?

My guess is to enhance contrast in a more subtle fashion.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

If you are new to Mac and you are coming from an iPhone or an iPad and used to acquiring those apps, you are probably looking at the Mac App Store and thinking "slim pickings."

This was exactly my thought. It's basically like windows now, where the best apps are to go directly to the website even though there is supposedly an "app store".

 

[IllinoisCorn]

This was exactly my thought. It's basically like windows now, where the best apps are to go directly to the website even though there is supposedly an "app store".

Yeah, the Mac App Store didn't live up to what Apple (and users!) expected.

I downloaded Office and Twitter from it. That's it. Everything else I have is third party from the Wild Wild West of the internet. And, knock on wood, never downloaded Malware.