Do you think Macbooks are honestly worth it ?
Firstly, i'd imagine the tech wizards on this site have probably answered this question a hundred times so I apologise, most threads which covered this were old and didn't cover the latest additions to Apple hardware.
I'll be buying my first laptop for Uni next year, had a decent desktop so never really needed one.
I'm aware many consider Macbooks to be amongst the best laptops out there for their sturdy reliable frames, excellent repair/advice service, faultless keyboard etc. I've never had one myself so I don't know all too much about them. I also know that there are laptops out there with much better specs for probably half the price of a mac.
I know someone who works for Mac in another country and previously told a family member of mine they could get them a Macbook Pro 13inch (assuming without Retina display) for the equivalent of £522 and a 15 inch for the equivalent of £951.(assuming with retina display)
I'm not a massive gamer but I'd like a laptop which could play standard PC games, don't need ultra high fancy settings or anything but it'd be nice if I could play offline games for example. Other than that it would mostly be used for completing Uni tasks, procrastinating and watching netflix etc
Could someone outline some pros and cons of macs ? You think it's worth me taking advantage of this ?
I'll be buying my first laptop for Uni next year, had a decent desktop so never really needed one.
I'm aware many consider Macbooks to be amongst the best laptops out there for their sturdy reliable frames, excellent repair/advice service, faultless keyboard etc. I've never had one myself so I don't know all too much about them. I also know that there are laptops out there with much better specs for probably half the price of a mac.
I know someone who works for Mac in another country and previously told a family member of mine they could get them a Macbook Pro 13inch (assuming without Retina display) for the equivalent of £522 and a 15 inch for the equivalent of £951.(assuming with retina display)
I'm not a massive gamer but I'd like a laptop which could play standard PC games, don't need ultra high fancy settings or anything but it'd be nice if I could play offline games for example. Other than that it would mostly be used for completing Uni tasks, procrastinating and watching netflix etc
Could someone outline some pros and cons of macs ? You think it's worth me taking advantage of this ?
(edited 8 years ago)
For superior build quality, yes. For raw performance, no.
I'm a huge mac fan. Bought my macbook air for £600 in 2010 and sold it for £325 the other week--not only are they super reliable they also hold their value extremely well.
I'm a huge mac fan. Bought my macbook air for £600 in 2010 and sold it for £325 the other week--not only are they super reliable they also hold their value extremely well.
Original post by Atreus
Firstly, i'd imagine the tech wizards on this site have probably answered this question a hundred times so I apologise, most threads which covered this were old and didn't cover the latest additions to Apple hardware.
I'll be buying my first laptop for Uni next year, had a decent desktop so never really needed one.
I'm aware many consider Macbooks to be amongst the best laptops out there for their sturdy reliable frames, excellent repair/advice service, faultless keyboard etc. I've never had one myself so I don't know all too much about them. I also know that there are laptops out there with much better specs for probably half the price of a mac.
I know someone who works for Mac in another country and previously told a family member of mine they could get them a Macbook Pro 13inch (assuming without Retina display) for the equivalent of £522 and a 15 inch for the equivalent of £951.(assuming with retina display)
I'm not a massive gamer but I'd like a laptop which could play standard PC games, don't need ultra high fancy settings or anything but it'd be nice if I could play offline games for example. Other than that it would mostly be used for completing Uni tasks, procrastinating and watching netflix etc
Could someone outline some pros and cons of macs ? You think it's worth me taking advantage of this ?
I'll be buying my first laptop for Uni next year, had a decent desktop so never really needed one.
I'm aware many consider Macbooks to be amongst the best laptops out there for their sturdy reliable frames, excellent repair/advice service, faultless keyboard etc. I've never had one myself so I don't know all too much about them. I also know that there are laptops out there with much better specs for probably half the price of a mac.
I know someone who works for Mac in another country and previously told a family member of mine they could get them a Macbook Pro 13inch (assuming without Retina display) for the equivalent of £522 and a 15 inch for the equivalent of £951.(assuming with retina display)
I'm not a massive gamer but I'd like a laptop which could play standard PC games, don't need ultra high fancy settings or anything but it'd be nice if I could play offline games for example. Other than that it would mostly be used for completing Uni tasks, procrastinating and watching netflix etc
Could someone outline some pros and cons of macs ? You think it's worth me taking advantage of this ?
Original post by Pop_tart
Not really adding anything other than opinion sorry! I think they are awesome machines but they cost more than I am generally willing to spend on a laptop!
Is it worth that money? Simple economics says yes! Most important question is, is it worth the money to you?
Is it worth that money? Simple economics says yes! Most important question is, is it worth the money to you?
Well, yes as from what I hear they are much more sustainable than your average laptop which lasts 3 or 4 years before it packs up. As I've never actually owned one though it'd be interesting to hear from someone with experience.
Original post by Professor Oak
For superior build quality, yes. For raw performance, no.
I'm a huge mac fan. Bought my macbook air for £600 in 2010 and sold it for £325 the other week--not only are they super reliable they also hold their value extremely well.
I'm a huge mac fan. Bought my macbook air for £600 in 2010 and sold it for £325 the other week--not only are they super reliable they also hold their value extremely well.
Would you mind elaborating please ? I get the gist of what your saying but if you could be clearer ...
Original post by Atreus
Well, yes as from what I hear they are much more sustainable than your average laptop which lasts 3 or 4 years before it packs up. As I've never actually owned one though it'd be interesting to hear from someone with experience.
I have personally not owned one but my stepdad had two and they both outlived all my windows computers combined XD
Depends what you use it for.
For me it wouldn't be worth it as I just use my laptop for internet use, rarely use programmes or download anything.
For me it wouldn't be worth it as I just use my laptop for internet use, rarely use programmes or download anything.
I think its worth it. I got mine during the student discount and other things that you would have to buy on a normal laptop (insurance, anti-virus, Microsoft etc) does not need to be bought with a Mac. Its also very reliable. I personally don't like the weight but I got the pro instead of the air because I do a lot of photography/editing.
If you're wanting decent games then a Mac does the job fine. Super great games then any PC guy can tell you that Windows is better.
Secondhand MacBooks from eBay or any way you can get one for cheaper are not hard to come by. Got a late 2011 Macbook Pro for £350 last month and 4 years before that a white Macbook and they did the job great, or at least this one can play okay-ish games. Sometimes you're more lucky or unlucky with what ones are available.
Secondhand MacBooks from eBay or any way you can get one for cheaper are not hard to come by. Got a late 2011 Macbook Pro for £350 last month and 4 years before that a white Macbook and they did the job great, or at least this one can play okay-ish games. Sometimes you're more lucky or unlucky with what ones are available.
Yes, I recently bought a 13" MBP (Retina) for £850 despite the fact I was quite willing to spend up to 2k on a laptop.
Like you, I have a decent desktop, so I had no interest in getting a laptop for gaming, but just to have a system for when I have to be away from home (and so, my desktop). I ended up deciding on a MBP after spending a fair amount of time researching, and these are pretty much the key points:
- While in a desktop I pretty much fully agree with "better spec means better computer" the same is not true when it comes to laptops. If you look at the high end of the market, laptops with 970/980Ms, they all suffer similar issues derived from the simple fact that high energy, high heat producing components and the laptop form factor do not mix well. It is incredibly difficult to combine high specs and a laptop that has adequate cooling, low noise and no throttling and they haven't managed it yet even at the upper end of the market. Of course, there's a genuine market for people who need/want serious gaming rigs and portability, so they sell quite well anyway.
- Linked in with the previous point, you won't find higher spec laptops with as good a battery life as a MBP. Putting a dedicated GPU in a laptop kills battery life, even when you're not running 3D applications, and the only reason Apple have got around this in their higher end 15" MBP with the 750M is by having it switch to the on-board graphics when it isn't needed.
- If you love the design/construction of the MBP (in terms of the unibody design) you won't find many higher spec'd laptops opting to go down a similar path because it's absolutely terrible for heat dissipation.
- MBPs pretty much have the nicest keyboards and most accurate trackpads around. It seems a lot of other laptop manufacturers don't pay much attention to these two (track pads in particular) even at the high end of the market.
- The display is obviously fantastic, but you can also get 3k/4k (better) displays many Windows laptops. The difference is, scaling doesn't suck in OSX anywhere near as much as it does in Win8. Also, 3k/4k is a battery drainer and, frankly, pointless in 13"/15" laptops. One of my 27" monitors runs at 2560x1440 and at this PPI you're already pretty much beyond what the eye is capable of detecting, the 13" MBP (Retina) has a higher resolution of 2560x1600, so an even higher PPI and anything beyond this on a 13"/15" laptop is just a gimmick and a battery drainer.
- OSX is partially based on Linux, so is better optimised and will run better spec for spec than Win7/8 which has obvious benefits on a laptop.
Personally, I ended up going with the MBP because it just seems to perfectly balance design, battery life, build quality and component choice (such as the PCIe storage) to make an excellent (non-gaming) laptop. I also think that if you get the base spec model, combined with the student discount, it's not 'overpriced'. If you upgrade the RAM to 16GB, or the i5 proc to an i7, PCIe storage from 128GB to 256GB or 512GB (you can actually get 1TB as well) you do pay a premium for it (for not necessarily much, if any, real-world benefit) and it starts to become fairly expensive.
Like you, I have a decent desktop, so I had no interest in getting a laptop for gaming, but just to have a system for when I have to be away from home (and so, my desktop). I ended up deciding on a MBP after spending a fair amount of time researching, and these are pretty much the key points:
- While in a desktop I pretty much fully agree with "better spec means better computer" the same is not true when it comes to laptops. If you look at the high end of the market, laptops with 970/980Ms, they all suffer similar issues derived from the simple fact that high energy, high heat producing components and the laptop form factor do not mix well. It is incredibly difficult to combine high specs and a laptop that has adequate cooling, low noise and no throttling and they haven't managed it yet even at the upper end of the market. Of course, there's a genuine market for people who need/want serious gaming rigs and portability, so they sell quite well anyway.
- Linked in with the previous point, you won't find higher spec laptops with as good a battery life as a MBP. Putting a dedicated GPU in a laptop kills battery life, even when you're not running 3D applications, and the only reason Apple have got around this in their higher end 15" MBP with the 750M is by having it switch to the on-board graphics when it isn't needed.
- If you love the design/construction of the MBP (in terms of the unibody design) you won't find many higher spec'd laptops opting to go down a similar path because it's absolutely terrible for heat dissipation.
- MBPs pretty much have the nicest keyboards and most accurate trackpads around. It seems a lot of other laptop manufacturers don't pay much attention to these two (track pads in particular) even at the high end of the market.
- The display is obviously fantastic, but you can also get 3k/4k (better) displays many Windows laptops. The difference is, scaling doesn't suck in OSX anywhere near as much as it does in Win8. Also, 3k/4k is a battery drainer and, frankly, pointless in 13"/15" laptops. One of my 27" monitors runs at 2560x1440 and at this PPI you're already pretty much beyond what the eye is capable of detecting, the 13" MBP (Retina) has a higher resolution of 2560x1600, so an even higher PPI and anything beyond this on a 13"/15" laptop is just a gimmick and a battery drainer.
- OSX is partially based on Linux, so is better optimised and will run better spec for spec than Win7/8 which has obvious benefits on a laptop.
Personally, I ended up going with the MBP because it just seems to perfectly balance design, battery life, build quality and component choice (such as the PCIe storage) to make an excellent (non-gaming) laptop. I also think that if you get the base spec model, combined with the student discount, it's not 'overpriced'. If you upgrade the RAM to 16GB, or the i5 proc to an i7, PCIe storage from 128GB to 256GB or 512GB (you can actually get 1TB as well) you do pay a premium for it (for not necessarily much, if any, real-world benefit) and it starts to become fairly expensive.
Original post by Noble.
- OSX is partially based on Linux, so is better optimised and will run better spec for spec than Win7/8 which has obvious benefits on a laptop.
- OSX is partially based on Linux, so is better optimised and will run better spec for spec than Win7/8 which has obvious benefits on a laptop.
How?
Original post by estel
How?
Sorry, how what?
Original post by Noble.
- OSX is partially based on Linux, so is better optimised and will run better spec for spec than Win7/8 which has obvious benefits on a laptop.
- OSX is partially based on Linux, so is better optimised and will run better spec for spec than Win7/8 which has obvious benefits on a laptop.
It's not exactly like that - while OSX is indeed based on UNIX (not Linux), that isn't the reason it's better optimised, it's because OSX runs on a very limited subset of hardware which is entirely controlled by Apple, and so they can tweak their OS to be as efficient as possible on their hardware (longer battery life basically).
Original post by Skye25
It's not exactly like that - while OSX is indeed based on UNIX (not Linux), that isn't the reason it's better optimised, it's because OSX runs on a very limited subset of hardware which is entirely controlled by Apple, and so they can tweak their OS to be as efficient as possible on their hardware (longer battery life basically).
Sorry yes, I meant UNIX. The problem with that argument is you'd then expect Microsoft's in-house products (like the Surface Pro) to benefit from that, but it doesn't; on the most like for like configurations (Surface Pro vs. Air) you still get double the battery life on the Macbook. While it certainly helps, what's far more likely to be the explanation is that OSX just overall has a more efficient code base (partially inherited from UNIX) and Windows hasn't caught up to the efficiencies Apple have managed to achieve in the kernel/low-level libraries.
I have a 6 year old Macbook. It's super reliable, super fast even though it's now quite old (for a laptop) everything happens immediately, it never crashes, does everything I want it to... and now so many people have them, you don't have to worry about compatibility with AV equipment etc. either. I'm planning on replacing mine with a Macbook Pro before I lose the student discount as I feel I'll be kicking myself if it died and I'd missed my 15% off! Also the operating system has now gone out of date on mine and they seem to have stopped supporting things like Safari so I've had to download Chrome for it, sad times.
I highly recommend it. Although I don't use mine for gaming or anything. I think the main reason I like it is because it's super simple, very intuitive and the speed is really everything. Windows drives me potty now every time I have to sit twiddling my fingers waiting for it to get its act together.
I highly recommend it. Although I don't use mine for gaming or anything. I think the main reason I like it is because it's super simple, very intuitive and the speed is really everything. Windows drives me potty now every time I have to sit twiddling my fingers waiting for it to get its act together.
Original post by Noble.
Sorry yes, I meant UNIX. The problem with that argument is you'd then expect Microsoft's in-house products (like the Surface Pro) to benefit from that, but it doesn't; on the most like for like configurations (Surface Pro vs. Air) you still get double the battery life on the Macbook. While it certainly helps, what's far more likely to be the explanation is that OSX just overall has a more efficient code base (partially inherited from UNIX) and Windows hasn't caught up to the efficiencies Apple have managed to achieve in the kernel/low-level libraries.
The Surface Pro 3 does have better battery life than other Windows laptops though. Maybe that's as far as Microsoft can get without rewriting their entire kernel
Original post by Atreus
Firstly, i'd imagine the tech wizards on this site have probably answered this question a hundred times so I apologise, most threads which covered this were old and didn't cover the latest additions to Apple hardware.
I'll be buying my first laptop for Uni next year, had a decent desktop so never really needed one.
I'm aware many consider Macbooks to be amongst the best laptops out there for their sturdy reliable frames, excellent repair/advice service, faultless keyboard etc. I've never had one myself so I don't know all too much about them. I also know that there are laptops out there with much better specs for probably half the price of a mac.
I know someone who works for Mac in another country and previously told a family member of mine they could get them a Macbook Pro 13inch (assuming without Retina display) for the equivalent of £522 and a 15 inch for the equivalent of £951.(assuming with retina display)
I'm not a massive gamer but I'd like a laptop which could play standard PC games, don't need ultra high fancy settings or anything but it'd be nice if I could play offline games for example. Other than that it would mostly be used for completing Uni tasks, procrastinating and watching netflix etc
Could someone outline some pros and cons of macs ? You think it's worth me taking advantage of this ?
I'll be buying my first laptop for Uni next year, had a decent desktop so never really needed one.
I'm aware many consider Macbooks to be amongst the best laptops out there for their sturdy reliable frames, excellent repair/advice service, faultless keyboard etc. I've never had one myself so I don't know all too much about them. I also know that there are laptops out there with much better specs for probably half the price of a mac.
I know someone who works for Mac in another country and previously told a family member of mine they could get them a Macbook Pro 13inch (assuming without Retina display) for the equivalent of £522 and a 15 inch for the equivalent of £951.(assuming with retina display)
I'm not a massive gamer but I'd like a laptop which could play standard PC games, don't need ultra high fancy settings or anything but it'd be nice if I could play offline games for example. Other than that it would mostly be used for completing Uni tasks, procrastinating and watching netflix etc
Could someone outline some pros and cons of macs ? You think it's worth me taking advantage of this ?
Standard Pro is outdated........these are not gaming laptops at all to be fair, you'll running off the integrated graphics system and not to mention compatibility issues unless you dual boot or use something like parallel to get windows running.
It all comes down to what you need to do and use it for
They're like PCs that can do less stuff lol.
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