Do you use your personal Mac for corporate work?

[tmanto02]

I’ve been using my personal MacBook Pro for work despite being offered a corporate PC for many years.

I’m trying to rationalise upgrading to the upcoming MacBook Pro range, as I’m excited to shift to Apple silicone, and my current battery life isn’t what it used to be.

Im very ingrained into the Apple ecosystem and all of the corporate software I use works perfectly on my Mac

I won’t be able to salary sacrifice in anyway, but can use it as a tax write off.

Who else uses their personal Mac in a corporate work environment?

Help me feel more comfortable in dishing out thousands of dollars!

 

[skaertus]

I’ve been using my personal MacBook Pro for work despite being offered a corporate PC for many years.

I’m trying to rationalise upgrading to the upcoming MacBook Pro range, as I’m excited to shift to Apple silicone, and my current battery life isn’t what it used to be.

Im very ingrained into the Apple ecosystem and all of the corporate software I use works perfectly on my Mac

I won’t be able to salary sacrifice in anyway, but can use it as a tax write off.

Who else uses their personal Mac in a corporate work environment?

Help me feel more comfortable in dishing out thousands of dollars!

Well, it depends on what kind of corporate software you use.

For years now, I have been using my personal computer for work, despite being offered a corporate laptop. And there are several reasons for this.

Although the laptops that were offered to me were good, they were not mine. I was not able to install my own software on it. And I did not feel comfortable using it to do personal stuff. So, I always used my personal computer when working at home.

But I also have to say that, although I have tried, a Mac is not the best option for the corporate use I make of PCs. I basically use Microsoft Office, especially Word, Outlook, Teams, and, to a lesser degree, Excel, and PowerPoint. In my experience, Microsoft Office for Windows is far superior and runs smoother than Microsoft Office for Mac. Other co-workers share the same impression as me.

However, there are a few guys who prefer working on a Mac. I have a close friend who uses Microsoft Office for Mac and he is fine doing it.

So, it basically depends on your expectations and on what you do in your corporate environment. But I would not feel guilty of spending money on a personal computer, be it a Windows PC or a Mac, to do corporate work. I do have a personal computer in which I do corporate work, and I also have a personal subscription to Microsoft Office, despite being offered a corporate one.

The truth is, you will end up spending several hours working on a computer. Just use whatever you prefer, even if you have to spend your own money on it. At least make it feel more personal and a little bit more pleasant.

 

[James_C]

I’ve been using my personal MacBook Pro for work despite being offered a corporate PC for many years.

I’m trying to rationalise upgrading to the upcoming MacBook Pro range, as I’m excited to shift to Apple silicone, and my current battery life isn’t what it used to be.

Im very ingrained into the Apple ecosystem and all of the corporate software I use works perfectly on my Mac

I won’t be able to salary sacrifice in anyway, but can use it as a tax write off.

Who else uses their personal Mac in a corporate work environment?

Help me feel more comfortable in dishing out thousands of dollars!

I have been using my own Mac for work in a corporate environment since 2002 at various companies I worked for. Back in the day it was a 15" Powerbook G4, over the years switched to various iterations of MacBook Pro 15" and last year upgraded to a M1 MacBook Air. I am lucky in my role IT normally reports to me, and I have had sympathetic IT managers and MD's that did not mind. (In fact a number of them now use Macs, after they have seen me use one at work). I am also pretty self sufficient and most IT have remarked that I need less support using a Mac at work than many of my colleagues using PC laptops.

I have a very Mac centric workflow and use quite a few Mac productivity tools to get stuff done. Textexpander and most of the Omni group tools including Omni Focus that I use for task and project tracking. These all work well with companion apps on the iPhone. I am sure that there are good windows alternatives but I am not interested is spending time learning new tools when the ones I use work well.

However I am lucky that most of the companies I have worked for did not have Windows only ERP apps. Over the years using a Mac at work has got a lot easier as Microsoft now have done a good job with making Office 365 for Mac compatible with its Windows counterpart. I am a heavy Excel user and I did used to have to run Office under windows in a Parallels VM as it used to run like a dog in the Mac version of Excel. These days the Mac version of Excel finally supports multi threading and I don't have to use the Windows version of Excel, except in rare cases where I need to use Powerpivot and some of the Excel BI tools. Also Mac OS integrates well into an active directory environment.

In the past I used to use my own Mac as Macs tended to more expensive than PC's given to other staff, and I did not want to give the perception that I was spending more money on my computer and less on what everyone else had to use. These days with the M1 Laptops they are now very competitive with a high end PC laptop and less of an issue. I am a firm believer when it comes to spending the companies money, would you spend that money if it was your own money.

 

[tmanto02]

Thanks both!

Agree that MS Office typically runs much smoother on PC, especially working in a OneDrive environment however I’m used the the ‘quirks’ and am proficient enough to troubleshoot myself without the need to engage IT. Mac Office can be a memory hog especially when working off multiple PowerPoint presentations simultaneously, but interested to hear if that is improved with M1’s superior memory management?

The legacy apps which are required for my role are all accessed via Citrix regardless of the end user OS so no problems there. If I need to do more complex excel work which is rare, I use the server side Windows version.

I'm genuinely amazed how compatible it all is, particularly with the advent of USB-C. When in the office my Mac connects via a Dell docking station to my external screens, ethernet connection and other peripherals.

So long as the upcoming M1X/M2 Mac supports dual external monitors I think will continue on my journey. Unfortunately I’m not in a position where I can dictate what computer my organisation will provide but happy to do it at my own expense. Much like you both, the importance of my OS preference and total control of the user experience for professional use outweighs the financial cost of doing so. I see it as an investment in both my career, and sanity!

Thanks for your contribution.

Tim

 

[James_C]

Yep, using a Mac definitely makes me happier. While I use my own M1 MacBook Air the trade off is the company purchased a LG UltraWide 35WN73A 35 Inch Curved Monitor (around £500 inc VAT on amazon) which also solved the problem for me in only having one external monitor. The display has a USB C connection so not only do I only have one cable to the monitor it also charges my MBA. I prefer it two displays I was having to keep moving windows around on separate displays. Office 365 works very smoothly on the M1. My other colleagues use PC's and one Excel model I built runs fine on my M1 MBA but really chugs on their 2 year old PC Laptops.

 

[skaertus]

Thanks both!

Agree that MS Office typically runs much smoother on PC, especially working in a OneDrive environment however I’m used the the ‘quirks’ and am proficient enough to troubleshoot myself without the need to engage IT. Mac Office can be a memory hog especially when working off multiple PowerPoint presentations simultaneously, but interested to hear if that is improved with M1’s superior memory management?

The legacy apps which are required for my role are all accessed via Citrix regardless of the end user OS so no problems there. If I need to do more complex excel work which is rare, I use the server side Windows version.

I'm genuinely amazed how compatible it all is, particularly with the advent of USB-C. When in the office my Mac connects via a Dell docking station to my external screens, ethernet connection and other peripherals.

So long as the upcoming M1X/M2 Mac supports dual external monitors I think will continue on my journey. Unfortunately I’m not in a position where I can dictate what computer my organisation will provide but happy to do it at my own expense. Much like you both, the importance of my OS preference and total control of the user experience for professional use outweighs the financial cost of doing so. I see it as an investment in both my career, and sanity!

Thanks for your contribution.

Tim

I do not have an M1 Mac, but I suppose that memory management has somehow improved the experience with Microsoft Office. I briefly tested Microsoft Office on an M1 iMac (8 GB RAM) which was on display at a store. I opened four PPT presentations and it took 600-800 MB (which is less than it takes to open the same presentations on my 16 GB Intel-based MacBook Pro). It was a brief test, and I cannot say for sure, but my first impression is that there was an improvement.

Still, the Windows version of Microsoft Office is miles ahead. Opening a similar number of presentations makes my Windows PC use 200-250 MB only. Microsoft Office for Windows is so smooth that it behaves like an extension of Windows itself, and no other piece of software seems to be as streamlined and optimized for running on Windows. Office for Mac, as good as it may be, simply cannot reach such heights.

In any case, in my very brief experience with an M1 Mac, it seemed to run Office just fine. And there is the undeniable fact that Mac hardware is just a pleasure to use.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

No and also not the other way around. I don’t use my corporate Mac privately. So I always have 2 MacBooks next to each other.

 

[Fishrrman]

The commander has it right.

Work things belong on a "work computer".

Personal things belong on ones OWN (non-work) computer.

 

[bniu]

The furthest I go is use a personal display for my work laptop. I wish I could use a mac at work, but windows 10 is decent. I wish I could take my webex calls on my personal iPhone just so I don’t have to keep switching my AirPods between work and personal devices.

 

[Madhatter32]

I have always used my MBP for corporate work going back many many years -- even when it was a pain to do so -- when I was out of the office or working from home. In the office, I always use what is made available to me -- which is always a Windows based machine. I know both systems pretty well but I prefer to use a Mac when possible. It's a personal preference. Windows just reminds me of the office I guess and I almost always prefer not to be there.

 

[cwosigns]

Yes, I have. It’s one of the reasons they bought me a 16-inch MBP; they frowned on using personal devices for work but loved the work I was doing on a Mac. I still do some stuff on my personal Macs, but I limit it to cloud-based access and Microsoft Office, Teams, and Monday.com. Nothing from work stored on my personal devices, and nothing personal stored on my work devices.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Never mix work and private. Bad things happen when you do that. If work is providing you a computer, use it. You don't want to find yourself in messy legal proceedings because you put work on your personal computer. Take heed.

 

[throAU]

Yes. I work in IT at just below CIO level and we aren't officially doing BYOD but I do it with consent from management. Partially as a pilot and also because we do have some subsidiary businesses with Mac users.

However, my "personal use" of my Mac is limited to "Serious stuff" anyway, mostly work.

I have a home desktop for 99% of my non-work related stuff.


I'm expected to be "available" 24/7 if required so I will use whatever device is at hand.

 

[ghanwani]

Never mix work and private. Bad things happen when you do that. If work is providing you a computer, use it. You don't want to find yourself in messy legal proceedings because you put work on your personal computer. Take heed.

Unless one's workplace prohibits it, I don't think there is any issue here at all. For those that are trying to cheat, they will find a way to do it. For those that are not, as long as all data are deleted at the time of employment separation, what is the issue? Many companies have BYOD policies so there should be no issues.

 

[clueless88]

Unless one's workplace prohibits it, I don't think there is any issue here at all. For those that are trying to cheat, they will find a way to do it. For those that are not, as long as all data are deleted at the time of employment separation, what is the issue? Many companies have BYOD policies so there should be no issues.

Mixing work and private life on your phone or on your computer definitely makes things easier when all is going well. The organization that I worked for had a BYOD option if one didn't want to use the company issued cell phones and/or laptops--I chose to decline BYOD.

In the eventuality where there is a technical failure with the hardware/software in your computer, your company's IT department will not be readily available to fix the problem on your personal computer/phone to get you up and running again. Although the phone and/or laptop that your company provides may not be as slick/sexy/cutting edge as your personal widgets, when things go sideways on the company's machines, your IT folks should be able to either provide remote repairs/diagnosis and if that doesn't work should be able to provide replacement hardware with a hard drive image of the same vintage as what you are using.

However, there will come a day, sooner or later, where you and your company will part ways (being recruited to a different company, corporate downsizing, or even retirement and you will have to disentangle the work tentacles from your personal computer or phone. I deliberately kept work stuff on my work laptop/phone and did all of my personal stuff on my personal laptop/desktop/phone. Companies will scan your hard drive while you are connected to their network (same with phones) and they (at least the organization I worked for) reserved the right to remove any material they deemed inappropriate. When I retired I just handed in my laptop and phone--I didn't have to remove any private stuff from either. If I had used my private phone or computer to do company work, I would have had to remove all of the company's software/files/documents/etc from the laptop as well as phone contacts/texts/emails from my phone when I retired.

It was a pain lugging around two phones and two laptops when traveling, but at the end it made the transition away from work very easy.

 

[kb2755]

I have a personal Intel 2020 13" MBP and a work-provided 2018 15" MPB. We're almost entirely Microsoft software at work and I haven't had any problems with shared documents or any other compatibility with my Windows-using colleagues. Outlook, Teams and Office all work perfectly for what I use them for.

I will say, I've never been inclined to use a personal device for work. I like to keep the separation at the device-level. I have a dedicated work phone and computer and will do everything I can to keep it that way as long as I can.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

.......I wish I could take my webex calls on my personal iPhone just so I don’t have to keep switching my AirPods between work and personal devices.

Does your company have a rule that keeps you from installing WebEx on your phone and using it? WebEx also tends to have phone capabilities so you could have the meeting call your phone as well. At least - the company I work with does.

To answer the OP - Since COVID started, I have used my personal equipment to work. Including my MacBook Pro. However, our company uses Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) so that is my work desktop - from my Mac. It's been nice as I can switch "desktops" with a swipe. But - I now have an updated work laptop (Win 10) and will use that from now on.

 

[bniu]

Does your company have a rule that keeps you from installing WebEx on your phone and using it? WebEx also tends to have phone capabilities so you could have the meeting call your phone as well. At least - the company I work with does.

To answer the OP - Since COVID started, I have used my personal equipment to work. Including my MacBook Pro. However, our company uses Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) so that is my work desktop - from my Mac. It's been nice as I can switch "desktops" with a swipe. But - I now have an updated work laptop (Win 10) and will use that from now on.

We can install webex on our personal devices but that also means installing the device management profile and my employer has a lot of restrictions in that case, so I prefer not to do that. we are encouraged to not dial into meetings as it costs extra, and I do have a company issued cell phone, and that has webex on it.

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

As someone who's newly entered the workforce--I'm surprised at the talk of "work/personal" separation. I work in editorial content creation, so it might be different, but 100% of my work exists on Microsoft's "cloud" (whatever it is called). The only software I need outside of a browser is the Office Suite.

The only thing I do NOT do on my personal laptop is logging into shared company accounts. That could be a potential security risk.

 

[adamjackson]

I work MANY jobs and I told my 'jobby-job' when I joined them 12 years ago that I was going to bring my own computer and just needed their certs so I could handshake onto the VPN whenever I needed to and I've done that for over a decade.

Honestly, their 'hardware package' is pretty weak and that's because I have high standards. Today, they'd give you:

1. 14" i5 Dell Laptop with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD
2. iPhone SE (if manager approves)
3. A MacBook Pro 13" base is available if your manager approves it and it's rare that would happen in my position

By contrast, I use everything in my signature for work and am much happier. I'm on this computer from 8AM to 10PM with a mid-day 4- hour break 5 days a week and 6 hours on Saturday and Sunday and I don't take vacations or holidays so I'm not going to use an under powered laptop and switching between that and a Mac literally 50 times a day.

I've told the head to global IT and our CFO when I've met them in person (we're a 5,000 person company) that if they ever kill the BYO program, I'm going to look for another job. My loss wouldn't be a big deal but that's how strongly I feel about it. I'm saving them thousands of dollars anyway so if I can secure my kit, they aren't concerned. On my iPad Pro & iPhone, they do have Microsoft Intune installed which gives them remote-wipe ability if I lose it. They don't track my apps installed or browsing history. I understand and accept that requirement to be able to work on my tablet & phone

Tax-season is hard because I have 7 different income types from all of my side jobs and main job and it's hard to keep track of but I have 7 mailboxes in Mail.app and move between jobs throughout the day and I've done it since I graduated high school so I'm used to my work flow and like investing in hardware that helps me get things done faster.

 

[Christopher Kim]

I have a Lenovo PC Laptop at work (dock into dual-external monitors), and use my MBP when I work from home in a dock / external monitor setup (mostly just sporadically in evenings, but during pandemic have had to Work-From-Home for extended periods of time).

Most of my work is in Powerpoint or Excel, and so I use Office for Mac when using my MBP. While I agree it isn't exactly the same as when I'm working on my PC (especially keyboard shortcuts), it's good enough, and a small inconvenience for when I do work-from-home.

I work off of a OneDrive account for all my files, so never download files onto my MBP, and use Outlook for my e-mails on either system (no problem there). I could take my PC laptop home with me, but prefer to use my MBP when I can, and I'm happy that my company and workflow allows for me to work fairly seamlessly between in-office PC and Mac environments.

 

[TotallySolarGuy]

My work issues a Dell Latitude but my personal preference is the Mac environment (i have a new M1 MBP, iPad Pro, iPhone, etc…). Most of our work is done in the MS Office suite, plus MS Teams and MS Project.

I understand the good practice of keeping work and personal virtual space separate. My question is: Is it possible to use Boot Camp or Parallels, or Windows Virtual Desktop, to have a totally separate virtual work environment, but still take advantage of the superior hardware of my M1 MBP? Any resources on how to set that up would be much appreciated. I don’t want or need to mix work and personal business data, but also don't want to carry around duplicate hardware if i don’t need to.

 

[TotallySolarGuy]

Does your company have a rule that keeps you from installing WebEx on your phone and using it? WebEx also tends to have phone capabilities so you could have the meeting call your phone as well. At least - the company I work with does.

To answer the OP - Since COVID started, I have used my personal equipment to work. Including my MacBook Pro. However, our company uses Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) so that is my work desktop - from my Mac. It's been nice as I can switch "desktops" with a swipe. But - I now have an updated work laptop (Win 10) and will use that from now on.

Why go back to the Win 10 work laptop instead of continuing to use WVD?

 

[jav6454]

I wouldn't, due to legal concerns and me wanting to keep personal and work separate.

 

[OW22]

Guys, from a legal perspective you should never use your personal phone, tablet, computer for work. If you are in a senior position especially and your company is ever taken to court, if any legal action was taken against your company and you use your personal devices for work, they could be taken from you during any discovery and you would have lawyers going through your entire computer/phone/tablet. All your personal files, messages, everything.

And a legal action can be taken for any reason. Whether it's a HR issue, a legal action taken for anti-trust reasons, a competitor takes action against you, a community it literally can be anything.

Keep them separate.