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If the MacBook Pro didn't have Mac OS X, would you still buy it at the same price?

If the MacBook Pro didn't have Mac OS X, would you still buy it at the same price?

  • Yes I would.

    Votes: 38 13.8%

  • No, I wouldn't.

    Votes: 237 86.2%
  • Total voters
    275
I

iAppleseed

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 11, 2011
177
0
If it didn't have Mac OS X, would you still buy it at the same price? And why?
You can't install Mac OS X on it too.
Also, do you believe that Mac OS X alone makes the additional cost worth it?
 
MacDawg said:
Its a package deal
Style, design, peripheral integration, OSX, iOS integration

That's the beauty of it
It isn't a standalone
Click to expand...

I know it is. But some Mac haters keeps on bragging about how our systems are overpriced and how we can get a cheaper one. I think that we can all agree that our systems are a bit above the average price but I want to know why even if we know we can get a cheaper one, we still continue to buy a Mac. I want to know what made it special. The first thing that came to my mind is Mac OS X, with it's simplicity and ease of use. I wanted to find out if that's true with macrumors members.
 
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I prefer OSX but I would buy a MBP just to run Windows if I had to as their is no Windows Laptop with an equal blend of performance, battery life, and design.
 
Yes, OSX is worth what, $30 bucks?

If windows had the same level of battery life, performance and functionality, would just as well run Windows.
 
Adamantoise said:
That was true like 2 years ago. Not today though.
Click to expand...

Not true today. No windows laptops exist that have similar build quality, trackpad, battery life, screen quality, speed, size...

Otherwise, we wouldn't be waiting for a MBP.
 
I have to agree with the above poster that its a package deal. Beauty and Style alone aren't enough to make me buy this if it was a windows machine. The reason why it works so well together is the integration with OSX. No windows machine has a trackpad with comparable gestures out there. Plus OSX is in my opinion the single most important reason why I bought the machine. I was OSX lol
 
Adamantoise said:
That was true like 2 years ago. Not today though.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge there is no aluminum unibody Windows PC laptop with quadcore processors 8 hour battery life in a similar size and weight form factor.

If you can find one let me know. The only PC that comes close is the envy but its overall blend of performance battery life size and weight fit and finish is still not at Apples level. Also the magnesium frame is not a unibody.

Clearly unibody construction yields a stronger lighter laptop. Why have not PC makers followed suit. Still cluny junky shiny plastic heavy laptops seem to be the norm, now with cludgy oversized trackpads and aluminum look top covers to give it that MBP look

No I think I'll take the MBP even running Windows
 
This is a great poll question. My answer is clearly no, I would probably end up with a Thinkpad or a HP Envy, the MBP would be taken into consideration but in the end loose due to slightly higher cost and lack of customizability and features.
 
I too have grown very fond of OSX. It is a fantastic OS. Snow Leopard, is so good in fact, efficient, lean, rock solid and elegant that I haven't wanted to upgrade to Lion.

With that said I am not an OS noodler. The OS environment is secondary to the performance of the actual applications. PS, Word, and most other applications run equally well under Windows and Mac alike.

Again, I'm not saying I would prefer Windows, I'm just saying that the MBP is a great mix of performance and design that is currently unequalled in the PC Laptop world.
 
underblu said:
To my knowledge there is no aluminum unibody Windows PC laptop with quadcore processors 8 hour battery life in a similar size and weight form factor.

If you can find one let me know. The only PC that comes close is the envy but its overall blend of performance battery life size and weight fit and finish is still not at Apples level. Also the magnesium frame is not a unibody.

Clearly unibody construction yields a stronger lighter laptop. Why have not PC makers followed suit. Still cluny junky shiny plastic heavy laptops seem to be the norm, now with cludgy oversized trackpads and aluminum look top covers to give it that MBP look

No I think I'll take the MBP even running Windows
Click to expand...

About 6 months ago when I started using Mac and was still telling myself "don't get enchanted by the thing":) I went to Media Markt (european electronic markets chain) to see if there are some PC laptops that are similar (in terms of material, battery life and specs) yet cheaper than the MBP.
• I couldn't test the battery life (although even the battery life that was promised didn't look amazing in most if not all cases)
• specs were usually better, but not in all aspects - if it had better processor and more RAM then it was usually an ultrabook so it had no ethernet port, no ODD (that important for me) and an SSD which is cool, but definitely too small for me - in that cases it was basically for the price of 13 MBP and not much cheaper than the 15 MBP.
Nevertheless MBP lost the RAM competition:)
• the body - that is where I also haven't found an equal for MBP. I mean Samsung, Toshiba, Dell or HP may all be nice with a mix of aluminum, magnesium and sometimes plastic, but it's not the same feeling of build quality as with MBP, especially when you take one in your hands. They don't feel as solid - besides I don't really like design in most cases, still has that "plastic" look despite the metal body, though most of the manufacturers use macbook-like keyboards:) Plus a lot of these PCs have colors and patterns on their bodies and that just looks weird for me now:) compared with the nice, monochrome (except for the keyboard) silver MBP
• touchpad - they come close, but still not there.
• OSX - there's something to the saying that MBP and OSX make a great team. Windows 7 looks okay, but it seems to candy-like to me.

So while I'm not a computer expert, I'm pretty sure one could find a cheaper PC laptop superior to MBP in terms of technicalities and not as bad in terms of build quality.
MBP's battery life is one aspect that seems out of reach for other brands, but that aside I could probably get one of those Toshibas, Dells, HPs etc and be content with it. But I wouldn't have that feeling I have with MBP each time I sit down to do my own stuff or even when I have to do some working - that feeling of aesthetic jouissance:). I've simply decided that I can go crazy and spend more on a computer to allow myself a bit of pleasure. I've used PCs my entire life and was OK with, now I came to a conclusion that "OK" doesn't cut it anymore. At least for me.

So, guess I should say.... hi I'm Milosz and I'm a "Apple-holic";)
 
MacDawg said:
Its a package deal
Style, design, peripheral integration, OSX, iOS integration

That's the beauty of it
It isn't a standalone
Click to expand...
+1

iAppleseed said:
Also, do you believe that Mac OS X alone makes the additional cost worth it?
Click to expand...
Nope. Not alone it doesn't. See above.

iAppleseed said:
I know it is. But some Mac haters keeps on bragging about how our systems are overpriced and how we can get a cheaper one.
Click to expand...
Always consider the source. Their priorities are obviously different. Why do their opinions matter to you? Use what works for you and let them use whatever they want. Overpriced is always highly subjective and there's no point in arguing with someone who has entirely different priorities/needs/wants/etc over what's "best" when you can't even agree on the criteria for best.

FYI -- what you're stating above would be the opposite of bragging.

Adamantoise said:
That was true like 2 years ago. Not today though.
Click to expand...
Citations? What do you consider to be equivalent in those regards? It is true today as people still buy MacBooks. Yes, there are laptops that have swiped design cues but that's an entirely different matter.
 
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The problem with putting too much emphasis on specs is this.

If you're talking about an OS that is widely distributed across multiple hardware configuration such as Windows or Linux it's important to realize that optimizations can only be done on a small scale.

Vendors cover this by beefing up the configuration to cover some of the inefficiencies.

I see this with Android as well. Consumers think they're buying faster speed but meaningful comparison can only come from normalizing the software and hardware.

With OS X I have an OS that is tailored for the hardware chosen. It's why my Macbook Air feels faster than it should. It's tweaked for the CPU/GPU and SSD that Apple has picked and that results in better performance.
 
No - to be perfectly honest, the slight premium you pay for Macs does account for OS X. No other computer can run it, so if you like it (which 99% of people do), you buy a Mac.
Not saying MBPs aren't great computers, but if you prefer Windows there are a lot of other options out there.
 
No. The Mac is what it is because of the synergy between the hardware and OSX. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Case in point:

Install OSX on non-Apple hardware. The OSX experience will suffer. (Missing features, compatibility problems, etc.)

Install Windows 7 on a Macbook. The Macbook experience will suffer. (Crappy trackpad experience, poor battery life, etc.)

There are many Windows laptops out there that run Windows much better than a Macbook, but there is no Windows laptop that offers all the benefits of running OSX on a MacBook.
 
Would I buy a MBP if it didn't contain the one feature that makes it worth the cost? No...just like I wouldn't buy a PS3 that didn't play video games.
 
I would have to go with no.

I bought my first MBP because I was getting tired of Windows. We all know how horrible Vista was, and I had hope for 7, but it was no better.

Basically support for XP was diminishing and I wasn't about to re-invest in a whole new OS that I didn't like. And having loved my first gen iPod touch, I thought I'd give OS X a try. The simplicity of the MBP's design was a huge plus for me too. So I bought the first 13" pro.

I can honestly say OS X is the reason I own a mac and I am now completely OS X dependent.
 
mikeo007 said:
Install Windows 7 on a Macbook. The Macbook experience will suffer. (Crappy trackpad experience, poor battery life, etc.)

There are many Windows laptops out there that run Windows much better than a Macbook, but there is no Windows laptop that offers all the benefits of running OSX on a MacBook.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess I did experience crappy trackpad experience. Good point.
 
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