Omg I've become an Apple fan-man!

[savarin]

I have refused to buy apple products since the early days when I found the same size hard drive from the same company was three times the price for the apple product.
Maybe things are better now but stuff them.

 

[WobblyHand]

That, right there, is why I stick to business class & quality Lenovo Thinkpads (prior IBM).

Yes. Over the years bought 3 laptops, all from the same vendor. The first died from a MB failure.

The second, the case warped and separated, so much that the keyboard lifted 1/2" due to the case warpage. The back corner curled, breaking the fastener threads. That was my wife's computer. Never seen anything like that on any computer in my life.

Finally, the third one, mine, had a super weird USB issue. It would turn off at a random time but only if I used the USB to program an Arduino device. But the power shut off would occur anywhere between 5 seconds to 30 minutes later. There would be a screen and keyboard freeze for 10 seconds, then the computer would turn off. Nothing in system logs that would help. No clues at all in journals. Manufacturer couldn't help. It might have been some deep kernel issue. Issue started after a a certain kernel. This went on for months with no enthusiasm or urgency on their part. I had installed a different OS and the problem persisted. So I gave up on them. Time for new hardware for both my wife and I.

So far, so good. It was a big change. Some stuff is really awkward on a Mac, other stuff is easier. Yeah, you are in a sealed garden, but thus far, things are working, so we can do stuff and not worry about hardware issues. My wife also has an iPad so she likes the integration with her Mac.

Strangely we still have Android phones. They still seem to be a better value. I try to buy them on Black Friday for a discount every 3-5 years or so.

 

[Cadillac]

I feel that apple does something to the older generation electronics after the newer versions are released. I have three iPads and two of them are super slow they seem. They won’t load fast and glitch a lot. I would say they work great when new and convenient but after acouple years something happens

 

[ChazzC]

I’ve bought 10 new Mac’s since 1992, including the three I use regularly (including a 2010 MacBook Air in the Shop and a 2020 M1 MBA that runs my workstation). The previous ones included a Portable, a 20th Anniversary Mac, PowerMac G5, a couple of PowerBooks and a MacBook Pro (the third daily user, which I use so I can run a powerful third party PDF Editor that is no longer supported on the newer Mac’s). If you add in used Mac’s the total goes up to 17, including the 2017 MBA that we got our Granddaughter and my wife now uses after we had the screen replaced (Granddaughter now has a 2020 M1 MBA).

iPads: still have the 2011 my wife got me (even though I don’t use it); have & use Mini 2 & Mini 4, 2017 iPad & 2015 iPad Pro.

iPhones: still have original iPhone (lives inside the original box), and had iPhones 4, 6, 6s and currently wife & I have 14+’s.

Also have a couple of Video iPods (work great, but a tiny screen) and an iPod Mini.

The older Mac’s and iPads don’t run the current OS/iOS, but work fine. I’ve upgraded my Apple hardware to get faster performance (when needed) or to stay reasonably current with technology (my 2010 MBA has an SSD, but the original versions had hard drives - the same drives developed for iPods, but with higher capacity).

I have also owned a few PC’s, but only so I could run software required by my employers. Yes, Apple does issue new models frequently, but only peer pressure makes people buy a new iPhone every time one comes out.

Software? I can work with MS Office documents, and save documents to Office formats using the free Apple software that comes with a Mac. Even AutoDesk is publishing Mac versions (if you have the money).

Oh, and I’m Nikon all the way!

 

[GrifterGuru]

I will miss Word, PowerPoint and Excel,

@Winegrower How have you not heard of LibreOffice?? Can open and save in MS Office formats including word, excel & Powerpoint.

I feel that apple does something to the older generation electronics

@Cadillac

Yup, they do. It's called loading updates to intentionally slow down older devices to force obsolescance and trigger you into buying a new/newer model. They won't admit to it, but it is a well known fact.

only peer pressure makes people buy a new iPhone every time one comes out

@ChazzC

Not necessarily. A lot of companies purchase and use apple products and have very specific "obsolete" hardware timelines, which last I heard was no device older than three years. For business, it makes sense.

Sure, the need to "keep up with the Jones'" is also a driver of sales for those that absolutely, positively, must have the latest tech gadgets the absolute second they are released.

Pah, screw that! I prefer reliability over all else and frankly, the simpler the device the better because there is less to go wrong.

 

[matthewsx]

I’m from Cupertino but as a support person I’ve never had the luxury of having an OS be my religion. I’ve supported everything my employer wanted.

Some people love to hate on iPhones but in my experience Android is worse in terms of compatibility and hardware lifespan.

I’ve only had to upgrade iPads when the battery wears out or once when I needed to run a specific version of apple software for a conference I was working.

Mac OS is a fully qualified Unix distribution which is why so many programmers prefer it now.

Biggest problem I have with Apple is since the old devices keep working I have too many laying around. Need to sell them off I guess.

The OP figured out he can get good devices used and skip the premium price. I still have a 2010 iMac that I bought used and it still works. That machine marked a milestone in my personal support world when I created profiles for my wife, daughter and mom. I went from several hours a week supporting them on PC’s to almost nothing.

For corporate domain management Microsoft wins mostly because their admin tools are simple and lots of folks know how to manage Active Directory compared to Linux/Unix.

But as for my house, we will follow the Apple

John

 

[ChazzC]

USER=63806]@ChazzC[/USER]

Not necessarily. A lot of companies purchase and use apple products and have very specific "obsolete" hardware timelines, which last I heard was no device older than three years. For business, it makes sense.

Yes, for larger companies I can understand that: they don’t need to worry about pushing an update out and not having it work on an older platform, whatever that platform might be.

I still remember one of the first times I saw a MacBook Air: an IBM employee was traveling with his personal laptop on a company trip.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Welcome to the world of forced obsolesence.

Went down the "fruit" hardware rabbit hole once and never again.

Stick to android. It is far less painful, far less hassle and a darn-sight cheaper.

This is my biggest objection to Apple devices. I'm principally a PC guy, but it applies to tablets and phones too.
Apple devices are forcibly obsoleted much too quickly, and, while the prices have come down, they are still far more expensive
That, and you can't get "under the hood".
While not nearly as sleek and sexy, a Windows PC is still useable for 10-15 years, sometimes 20. Microsoft is trying to force retirement of older machines with Windows 11, and failing miserably.

 

[GrifterGuru]

Microsoft is trying to force retirement of older machines with Windows 11, and failing miserably

@MrWhoopee

No kidding! The absolute requirement for a TPM security chip is only one part of the issue. Spying, backdoors, reporting keystrokes, telemetry, browsing habits et -al are amongst other major issues.

Heck, my current laptop is already over 12 years old but still lightening fast and more than powerful enough for my day-to-day needs. If I need something more powerful, I have the tower pc that I built with and for a friend who passed away at least three years ago. Built to the best possible specs, it handles anything I can currently throw at it!

 

[Chip Hacket]

@MrWhoopee

No kidding! The absolute requirement for a TPM security chip is only one part of the issue. Spying, backdoors, reporting keystrokes, telemetry, browsing habits et -al are amongst other major issues.