What do you love?

[h.gilbert]

I like it because it feels like the perfect blend between iOS and android. Clutter free, no pre-installed nonsense, no ads, and simple to use. But like Android in the way that, if you want to, you have choice and freedom.

 

[MBAir2010]

OH thanks to a single software developer in their garage,
my mac mini m1 can use that canonscan lide30 scanner I purchased in 1999!

 

[G5isAlive]

I don't need to elaborate. I mean what I said - most people don't have enough components for the joined-up working to actually make a meaningful difference over a lesser ecosystem-ish experience.

How many components does someone need to own to experience the Apple ecosystem? Let me help. The number is 2. While you might own more apple components than most, I disagree that one has to own a lot to get the point. But don't elaborate Hey, since you DO own so many let me ask, do you ever have trouble with your AirPods getting confused on which device to link to? I know sitting at my MacBook with my iPhone to one side, and iPad to the other while watching Apple TV across the room I often have to tell my AirPods what to pair with as I jump from component to component. Or maybe it just lags behind (seems to take seconds) for me to be patient. Is it the same for you?

 

[tweaknmod]

Onto the second page of (mostly) appreciation, gratitude, and gushing over nerdy details – this is fantastic!

Tech forums often skew towards the negative and critical, so it's really nice to see so many people engaging in this conversation with a more positive focus.

Even knowing few will return here after commenting: Thanks to all who took the time to share the love.

Oh! I just thought of another one:
I love how my Apple TV will ask if I want to connect nearby AirPods. It makes it so easy to switch from phone/laptop to movie mode.

 

[DankeBrutus]

It's the little things. When I bought my first MacBook in 2017 I went into it with skepticism. I had always been a Windows user, of course, and thought that I would feel like my hands were tied behind my back with the Mac. That never really happened though. I felt back then that Apple provided users freedoms that Windows didn't where it mattered. Things like...

• easily editing music metadata in iTunes/Music
• assigning custom keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences/Settings
• more degrees of freedom with adjusting Dock sizing and position than the Windows Taskbar

Now as someone who has used a lot of Linux in the past few years and mostly left Windows behind for a Mac + Linux personal setup I appreciate more little things.

• Terminal utilizing many UNIX commands - similar CLI workflows in both macOS and Linux
• Virtual desktops/fullscreen apps
  • switching between desktops on macOS is far more intuitive. Even without a trackpad!
    • CTRL+Left/Right versus CTRL+META+Left/Right
  • fullscreen actually using the entire screen and creating a virtual desktop make separating workflows and apps much easier
    • on KDE Plasma at home with Win10/11 at work I find my desktop, even with multiple virtual desktops, easily becomes much more cluttered
  • apps remember their positions even with virtual desktops (if only some other OS, AKA WINDOWS(!!!!!!!!!), would do this)
• Spotlight
  • I've used Spotlight alternatives like Alfred, Raycast, and Monarch but recently found myself going back to Spotlight for behaving how I want it to right away instead of needing configuration
  • Windows search is better than it was but is still a joke
• The ecosystem
  • I've reached a point where I am quite happy with the ecosystem.
  • my iPad, Watch, TV, Mac, MacBook, and iPhone talk to each other in meaningful ways.
    • my Watch unlocks my Mac mini
    • I have never stopped loving iMessage being on my Mac, iPad, and MacBook
    • my iPhone and iPad are easy devices for controlling AirPlay in my house
    • my HomePod mini shares humidity and temperature - makes me want a HomePod in every room of the house
• Hardware
  • the M1 in my MacBook is still nuts to me with how fast it does things while being silent and running cool
  • every Apple device I have bought uses good materials - good feeling aluminum, plastic, and rubber
  • I love the black PCBs inside the Macs I have owned
  • every MacBook I have owned or held feels great in the hand
  • the Magic Keyboard is probably the best scissor-switch keyboard I have typed on
• Legacy support
  • I can still plug one of the classic iPods I own like the iPod Classic 4th gen (Mono & Photo), Classic 5th gen (Video), or iPod nano (4th gen) into my Mac or MacBook and restore it, update it, sync music, audiobooks, and podcasts, and continue using the device
  • at time of writing I believe a user can still use now unsupported versions of macOS like High Sierra onwards for server functions like Content Caching, Time Machine, and File Sharing
• Option key
  • simply having one extra modifier key makes a huge difference
    • Option+Left/Right = move cursor between words
    • CMD+Left/Right = move cursor to the begging or end of a line
    • Option+Shift+Vol up/down = finer increments in volume control - same for brightness with those adjustments
    • revealing more options in context menus
• The most important - getting out of my way
  • I have never booted a Mac only for it to ask me to subscribe to some Apple service - Microsoft loves asking me to sign up for MS 365 whenever I boot my Windows partition

 

[Kotsos81]

I forgot to mention two of my favorite things: 1) preview (very handy, sometimes it is like a micro-spotlight for me) and 2) uniform performance regardless of the power supply type (grid or battery) - never seen anything like it on Windows laptops.

 

[ejb190]

So a couple years ago, I was managing a mixed network situation in a high stress environment. A printer went down, but luckily I had a spare. We hook it into the network. The PC had to be shown where the printer was on the network. It took three tries to get it installed. The Mac asked, "Hey, want to install this new printer I just found?"

It's the little things. When I bought my first MacBook in 2017 I went into it with skepticism. I had always been a Windows user, of course, and thought that I would feel like my hands were tied behind my back with the Mac. That never really happened though. I felt back then that Apple provided users freedoms that Windows didn't where it mattered. Things like...

Yup. Exactly. Especially the whole legacy thing.