I've been a Mac user for over a decade but I'm lacking enthusiasm towards the recent wave of computers that Apple released (the disappointment started at least two or three years ago).
Gone is the advantage they had with the first Intel based Macbook Pros in terms of quality and durability (Windows wasn't great also at the time and I was tired of Linux on the desktop).
My 2012 Macbook Pro 13" is still working well, a testament of such quality but... "times are a changing".
My feeling is that Apple has neglected their computers to focus on the smartphones. Nothing wrong with that, they are a private company, they can focus on whatever product they want.
My computer is starting to show its age, so I'm thinking about changing it in 2019.
Thanks to some discussions on dev.to, some articles and the Windows Subsystem for Linux I'm keeping an open mind on the idea of switching back to a PC and Windows 10.
I have to admit that I'm a little scared about going back to Windows. I hated Windows for a long time as a user and everytime I'm in front of a Windows computer my initial reaction now is more or less "how do I operate this thing? What happens if I click this? Do they still have viruses?". I firmly believe macOS is much simpler to use but if millions of people are fine with Windows, I'm sure I'll survive too I guess.
Yesterday I also watched this review from one of my favorite youtubers, Sara Dietschy, and I was quite impressed:
(She's been slowly switching away from Apple laptops and workstations as she mostly does video editing)
Today I tried to compare the Dell XPS laptops (13" and 15") with equivalent configurations of MacBook Pros and well... MacBook Pros prices are a little too much in my opinion.
This is a comparison table I made with Notion:
Dell XPSs are 1549€ and 1769€, MacBook Pros are 2270€ and 2417€. 700€ of difference 😱 And Dell laptops are expandable too, so you can put 32 GB of RAM and increase storage in the future.
The biggest hardware quirk of the Dell XPS is the placement of the webcam (at the bottom!?), but MacBook Pros have that ghastly touch bar and the weird butterfly keyboard people like to complain about. Dell XPS 15" model, for almost 700€ less, has a 4K touchscreen, a SD card and... different types of ports (requiring less adapters and dongles).
Do you think 2018 MacBook Pros models are overpriced? Am I missing something?
Latest comments (99)
I had a Dell with Windows about 10 years ago. It was giant, heavy, cheap plastic, some parts were sticky for some reason, and I had to keep it on top of another giant cooling system. It was like 15cm tall, closed. Slow as a slug, uncomfortable keys, unresponsive touchpad. And the cables! Oh no. I hated everything about it.
Then I got a MacBook Pro in 2015. Thin, slim, beautiful, fast, metal! Everything is just fantastic.
I hope I never have to change it. If I ever do, I’ll buy the same one again.
I feel you, I use to have one of those computers as well.
To be fair the new Dells are light years better than those of 10 years ago :-)
You also have which is probably the best MacBook Pro edition ever made, if not the best laptop ever made.
I'm holding out for the 2019 model, hopefully they'll get it right this time: macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/
It's not that hard, they just need to bring back the perfect keyboard they had and provide an option without the touch bar. Everything else is mostly fine!
I have been using the Dell XPS 15 for a long while now. I've actually had a couple, and the most recent has the webcam at the bottom. To be totally honest, I actually prefer that!! For some reason, and I cannot really explain why as I'm not quite sure, but the webcam at the bottom seems to frame my face better at the angles of screen I normally use, than the webcam at the top.
Every time I use my mac, I always have to fiddle with the screen to get it to frame my face properly, but then the angle of the screen is at a poor angle to view stuff on the screen. I had the same problem with my first Dell XPS 15 which had a webcam at the top. I think just having the camera some 7-8" higher just puts the frame, a common screen angles, too darn high.
So, I wouldn't fret about the webcam at the bottom of the screen! In fact, Dell may have a little bit of genius about doing it that way, to get better framing at useful screen angles. ;)
As for WSL, it's really great! If I did not have to do iOS development, I would ditch the MacBook in a moment flat and never look back. I've been using Windows for a long time, and Macs for about 6 years. I've never once had an enjoyable moment with any of the MacBooks I've used, and over time the MacBooks just seem to get worse. The keyboard was never great, but with the newer ones and ultra-slim keys (no tactile feedback), the touch bar (ugh), the GARGANTUAN trackpad that I cannot seem to help but accidentally touch with the inside of my thumb/hand all day long, and the tactile feedback design of the trackpad (which even disabled, still has a really quirky feel/feedback)...using MacBooks has been a growing journey in frustration and poor user experience.
The Dell XPS 15, on the other hand, is a dream. Every time. I love everything about it, the screen is BEAUTIFUL with amazing, rich color. You'll love it!
Of course Macs are overpriced... I didn't know that was a discussion point. But you still get what you pay for, a really high quality product that works incredibly smooth and seamless with its OS and has some of the finest software you can find.
Just try out Sketch or Affinity software for a while, and then think you have to go back to Adobe's UI nightmare on windows. The thought is just too much....
I agree that the Touch Bar is a disaster. I don't want to look at the keyboard to see what a button is doing. Windows has proven that touch screens on a laptop can work. I guess Apple just doesn't want to go in that direction because it would immediately cut into iPad sales (especially iPad Pro).
But no, using windows is still a UI nightmare. It feels like they just randomly litter the screen with all kinds of buttons, shortcuts, applications and who knows what. And once you are inside an app or open a settings screen, you're transported right back into windows 98. The UI for printing, or adjusting monitor settings is laughably bad, I can't imagine why there isn't a law against bad windows UI by now.
Windows is a wonderful OS but you need to be constantly wary of what you are installing on your PC and where the downloaded bytes are coming from. Having a good anti-virus is a good idea, in fact the one that comes by default with Windows (Defender) is good enough. Having a package manager like chocolatey to manage your installs is also a great idea if you are a beginner.
Linux on the other hand is even more superb, it gives you a lot of freedom and flexibility but you need to step into the shoes of power users for that. I'd suggest you to try windows for a few months or so, then switch to linux once you have enough knowledge.
You pay also the macos experience. Not only the hardware. Windows is a mess of bug, bad apps, vulnerabilities and it require tons of ram.. and it’s much harder than macos to use, i suggest you to stay on mac. I tried time ago the same thing and i sold my windows after 2 months, returning on mac.
I fear that I'm not very keen into learning a new OS from scratch after this many years where the biggest appeal for developers is installing another operating system inside of it (Ubuntu with WSL) just to have a similar experience.
The hardware is clearly on par if not superior but my user experience is worth a lot.
Also, as other reminded me in this thread: I can just plug in my Time Machine backup in the new computer and keep on working as if nothing changed :-)
All Mac's are overpriced :P
But for real, I do* all of my dev work on a $280 Thinkpad x230 that I bought last year. It's an old computer, but it is also upgradable and repairable. It's got 16gb of ram and a 256gb SSD. If something goes wrong with it, I can probably fix it or at least repair the part that broke. I can't say that about my Mac (which is a 2015 Mac Pro, that I found for half off). I have Arch Linux installed on my Thinkpad - it is blazing fast and configured the exact way I like. Not saying this is for everyone, but it definitely works for me.
As far as software goes, I definitely feel the differences between Linux and macOS, but as more things move onto the web it gets easier and easier to make the switch. I'll probably stick with Thinkpad+Linux moving forward. I just have to remind myself that the people who built the tools I really love had to build those tools without that tool, so I can probably build things without it too. :P
dockerrunning so I'll be switching back soon.Nice, I don't really want two separate computers though
That's the gist I think :D
Ahahah something like "well, they used to punch cards into computers, so now I'm living the dream" :D
Exactly! Lol
Yes, I'm using Typora actually on Windows. It's closest in features to iA Writer for Mac. And I like the built-in code syntax highlighting. Neat feature. I will look into your other recommendations soon. Thanks!
All MacBooks are overpriced. 🙂
Thanks for your perspective. Very insightful
Nice
Welcome to the fray :)
True, I've had a few apps needing to be updated because of sandboxing. Hopefully programmers will catch up
This is huge. I deal with three languages too (unfortunately one of them is not Japanese...) and I've never had any issues
TM is a huge time saver, and I've been saved by it more than one time. If I were Microsoft I would form a team of engineers to copy it bit by bit and sell it with a different name.
Perfectly argumented, thank you.
I didn't mention it in the original post, the fact is that I was also considering of renting the computer using my freelance business. I've had a conversation with an acquaintance who works in communications and she told me she rented her Mac and her iPhone (I had no clue one could do that). She pays a monthly fee to Apple, gets repair and theft insurance, and then return the computers for new models after two years. It's another aspect to consider :)
Yes, it is and it always will be. That's the benefit of monopoly