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Need Suggestions: MacBook or Windows Laptop? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

44 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Backstory/Context: My wife is an aspiring writer and wants to self-publish a novel that she's been writing. Currently she's typing on my old Asus ROG gaming laptop that I no longer use. It's (barely) running Windows Vista, it was built with Crysis in mind (really shows you how old it is), it's bulky & heavy, and the battery is completely dead (no longer charges)

Originally, I wanted to get her a MacBook because she can switch between MacOS and Windows (via Boot Camp) to get the best of both worlds, that's until I found out Boot Camp no longer works/exists. I also felt sticking with the Apple ecosystem might be better in the long run, allowing her to sync her iPhone, use iMessage/FaceTime/iCloud etc... when she's not near her phone, better laptop design & portability.

I've been using MacBooks since Leopard-era and have experience with Apple computers before (candy colored iMac and 5200LC) so I know my way around an Apple keyboard & the shortcuts.

She, on the other hand, has only used Windows.

Definitely looking for laptop recommendations in general. Sure, it might be bias to post this in an Apple community but as an Apple user, I'd like to hear other opinions. Maybe there's a Windows laptop with a similar feel/design of a MacBook? Perhaps the MacBook is the better choice?

Might be worth mentioning that I've heard horror stories about people finding spyware on Windows laptops (I think Dell/Alienware was the big one) and I'm totally out of the laptop game.

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[–] the16bitgamer 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Depends on use case. As others have suggested please ensure that she is in the discussions.

M powered macs are both a blessing and a curse. They are fast, battery efficient, and have the ports you need with the Pro.

But they force you to be stuck with the storage amount you leave the store with, no ability to upgrade, and a reduced software library thanks to the removal of x86 code. If she plays games on her machine, she's going to have a bad time.

Meanwhile, Windows machines haven't changed much since 2015. Yes they can still do everything that they could, so software isn't an issue and games play better than they ever did. But the cost is the amount of extra research you need to do to ensure you are getting a good machine.

My current windows laptop looked good on paper, but the battery life turned out to be worse than I expected and the speakers are so quiet I can't hear them.

With that said. If you have the budget, the Macbook is the better work machine in my view. Especially if your are just typing. We are leveling out on storage and RAM requirements, so long as you get more than 256GB of storage (1TB recommended 512GB min) and at least 8GB of RAM anything you get will feel snappy and quick.

However if she intends to use it for more, I.e. games, video editing, photo shop, connecting other devices to it like a Garmin. Then you should ensure that whatever you get can do it. (Web browsing doesn't count any more)

You can't just fallback on Linux just yet, as there is only a few distros for it and software is still limited.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A Mac is never going to be the greatest gaming machine, but an M-series MacBook is still preferable to an Intel one. For instance, Civ VI via Rosetta runs better on my M1 MacBook Pro than it did on my previous i7.

[–] the16bitgamer 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I do not consider a Mac for a gaming machine since it’s library is extremely limited compared to a pc.

With that said, a steam dec+Mac would be a good combo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Sure, but the gaming situation is no worse than before the Apple silicon switch. You mentioned a reduced software library, but Rosetta 2 can run pretty much any Intel-only app at speeds comparable (or faster) to the last-gen of Intel Macs. This isn’t like the transition in 2005!

Besides, we’re three years into the switch, almost all non-game apps are Universal now.