OK, I want a MBP, but I am not an iOS user.

[StuMcBill]

Rightio,

I plan on buying a MacBook Pro when the Ivy Bridge / redesign is released, however, I am an Android user with both an Android Phone (Galaxy Nexus) and an Android Tablet (Transformer Prime), and everytime I read anything about iTunes / Lion / Mountain Lion, it always comes with more iOS and iCloud integration?

If I get a Mac in these circumstances, will I be "hindered" by the fact that I don't use iOS? Also, will I see any benefit from iCloud?

I do have a Hackintosh, but I don't have Lion working properly on it so its not a fair representation of the Mac experience?

Thanks for any advice / help / comments you may have!

Cheers

Stewart

 

[lamboman]

Well, as Android doesn't natively offer any form of desktop support directly (that is, there are no desktop apps available that offer synchronisation and whatnot, though this isn't a bad point IMO), you won't lose anything at all.

iCloud is great for your contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and other features such as Find My Mac and Back to My Mac, but beyond that it is useless IMO. If you want an app to use seriously for document sync, Dropbox is what you want to use. Yes, you can't edit documents by using Dropbox, but you're unlikely to use a phone to do so anyhow.

Also, most apps offer their own sync service, which of course will work across iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, etc.

 

[parapup]

I have a similar setup and beyond iTunes Match I haven't needed to use iCloud for anything - as you will know Androids are perfectly functional without desktop tethering - Google Music, GMail, Gcal, Amazon Music etc. are great cloud base services that just work with Android and if you need WiFi sync there is always DoubleTwist that works with Android and Macs.

 

[dacoolest]

Rightio,

I plan on buying a MacBook Pro when the Ivy Bridge / redesign is released, however, I am an Android user with both an Android Phone (Galaxy Nexus) and an Android Tablet (Transformer Prime), and everytime I read anything about iTunes / Lion / Mountain Lion, it always comes with more iOS and iCloud integration?

If I get a Mac in these circumstances, will I be "hindered" by the fact that I don't use iOS? Also, will I see any benefit from iCloud?

I do have a Hackintosh, but I don't have Lion working properly on it so its not a fair representation of the Mac experience?

Thanks for any advice / help / comments you may have!

Cheers

Stewart

I have a macbook pro and an android phone. Even if I use windows, I used to browse the phone as a mass storage and copy/move files from pc to phone as necessary. Cos I don't like that Kies and all the stuff. So I do not see any difference between using it with a mac and a windows pc.

 

[grahamnp]

OSX integrates nicely with iOS at the moment and that will improve with 10.8 but you don't suffer for not having an iOS device. Android devices will work fine, I don't believe Google is out to get Apple. The make their money off cloud services, it is in their best interests to get their stuff out on as many platforms as possible.

You might not find as many 3rd party Android related apps for the Mac like you might on Windows but that would be because Windows is more popular, not because of some incompatibility between OSX and Android.

Think of this way, you are rewarded for using iOS on OSX, not punished for using Android.

 

[frank.deale]

I think there is much to be said for experiencing both IOS and Android. I have the Galaxy Nexus and am on the Google side of things, but the MacBook Pro is an extraordinary computer that I will never be without. I also use an iPod Touch.

 

[akhbhaat]

I can tell you this much: OSX is actually the friendliest platform for Android development. It's the only operating system that doesn't require me to hunt for drivers, modify device files or run permissions scripts for ADB when trying to install and test/debug applications on a hardware device (physical phone/tablet).

All I have to do is plug the device in...and it just works.