Survey: 71 percent of students surveyed said they would either use a Mac or prefer to use a Mac if cost were not a consideration

[PositivePolitique]

Of course. All my friends would use Macs if they weren't so expensive and not broke college students. They are amazed at the synchronisation between my iOS devices on the Mac and of the speed and overall reliability/stability every time they use mine. I don't think most people give a damn about the benefits of PC in the real world like they do on this forum, it's similar to the iOS vs Android predicament.

 

[maximumzero]

I'm the opposite, I have a Mac pro at work. I've been using this thing for over 3 years now and I still don't like it much. You could call me a power-user because I work in Cyber Security. Most of our team uses these (I work Cyber Security and we use a lot of *nix stuff and they are somewhat safer for fiddling with corporate malware stuff).

The good:
Bash/*nix underneath
Trackpad
Hardware quality of laptop


The bad:

No delete key

Mouse acceleration never feels right. I use a pretty high sensitivity and a bit of accleration because I had tendonitis when I was younger and minimize my side to side mouse movement. Mac uses a different acceleration curve than Windows. Ended up installing a third party app to tweak it.

Taskbar sucks. Ever since Win7, Windows really nailed the window management. The "show all windows and select" thing Macs have sucks by contrast. Also, it moves around on its own from window to window really easily and you can't fucking freeze it on the screen you want. Swiping for apps is fine if you're using the trackpad but not if you have like 20 tabs open and 10 apps. *sigh*

Alt-tab sucks. Windows = cycle windows. Mac - cycle apps. 3 years in and it still drive me nuts.

Newer macs with no ports to save a few mm of thickness = dumb. It's not a fucking tablet, Apple! People want a computer to actually use it for stuff!

Click to shrink...

IIRC CMD+Tilde cycles through windows while CMD+Tab cycles through apps, though I'm at work right now and can't check.

 

[Deleted member 925]

I say: College students are still influenced by media and their peers. Not having a MacBook is considered by a lot of people to be unfashonable or puts you in a lower class than other people.

Yes, people really think this. This really be why Apple does so fucking well. Peer pressure, advertising, and misleading statistics.

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This is such a bad fucking take.

 

[Mobu]

Windows is a dogshit OS, only good for gaming

 

[Deleted member 3058]

I say: College students are still influenced by media and their peers. Not having a MacBook is considered by a lot of people to be unfashonable or puts you in a lower class than other people.

Yes, people really think this. This really be why Apple does so fucking well. Peer pressure, advertising, and misleading statistics.

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Counterpoint: MacBooks are legit pretty damned amazing laptops.

 

[onadesertedisland]

At this point, both OSs are equally capable with regards to how I use computers. I use both in work and move between them without any trouble. I do hate Apple's mice/trackpads and keyboards though.

 

[Deleted member 925]

The cult Apple created is genius. You either have an Apple product, or you're poor. And a lot of people care about how they're viewed, even more so among students.

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A lot of you guys have a really naive and immature idea and outlook. I guarantee actual real life college age kids aren't doing this shit.

Maybe in high school with an iPhone or AirPods, but no one is being shamed because they don't have a Mac of all things. Lol come on

 

[Heart of Poumn]

The best thing about my old macbook air was the sleep function worked almost flawlessly. Sleeps when I shut it, and wakes up quickly when I open it. I can also have that thing in sleep mode for 1-2 weeks and be able to open it with a good amount of battery life still. Very handy with school as you'll be opening and closing it frequently traveling around campus.

I don't know if it's a Windows thing, or the manufacturers that make the windows laptops I've used, but the sleep has always been a crapshoot. Issues from laptop deciding not to sleep when closing, restarting when opening, or just extremely sluggish at waking back up. The usability of windows laptops have gotten a lot better over the years, but I still seem to have issues in this particular area.

 

[julian]

Both are PCs...

I really, really hate Apple's marketing.

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Interesting since clearly everybody here is associating the term PC with Windows, but ok.

I get that people like Macs/Apple, no hate or anything.

But I would NEVER buy a Mac. They become paper weights after a few years. My girlfriend bought a desktop mac a few years ago, it was like 1700 dollars... and its slower than my 300 dollar Lenovo laptop I got off Ebay.

They become instantly obsolete after only a few years, they have closed architecture that does not allow for upgrades and they really only excel in a few departments.

Id rather spend 1700 dollars on a custom rig that will outperform all the Macs out there AND have the option to do more.

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That's certainly truer now, but even just a few years ago I'd fight you on that one. My Macs ran for years and years. The only reason they broke is because somebody very clearly broke them (somebody dropped apple juice on my titanium and my wife repeatedly dropped my MacBook Pro). But before that they ran for 5+ years and I used them for video editing.

Also, wow the PC elitism is strong in this thread.

 

[julian]

A lot of you guys have a really naive and immature idea and outlook. I guarantee actual real life college age kids aren't doing this shit.

Maybe in high school with an iPhone or AirPods, but no one is being shamed because they don't have a Mac of all things. Lol come on

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I used to be shamed for owning a Mac. Times have changed.

 

[Deleted member 4783]

A lot of you guys have a really naive and immature idea and outlook. I guarantee actual real life college age kids aren't doing this shit.

Maybe in high school with an iPhone or AirPods, but no one is being shamed because they don't have a Mac of all things. Lol come on

Click to shrink...

Nah. It's pretty much real. In this very forum you have users saying you are poor for using Android, and the classic "green bubbles lol".

 

[Rats]

Counterpoint: MacBooks are legit pretty damned amazing laptops.

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Not really a counterpoint.

Fact: Macs are high quality computers with certain material advantages over Windows computers.

Also fact: Advertising works, and people who are not computer-literate buy Macs for irrational reasons.

 

[Nacho]

I had to use Macs at work for the past couple of years. I'm working from home now and it just occurred to me the other day after getting a new monitor and upgrading a few things, then having to help my gf with her MacBook that I don't have to be stuck using Macs anymore. Thank God.

I mean I won't knock anyone who uses them, they're good for some things and people, just not for me.

Edit: I will say that for the late 8 or so years, Macs have been laughably underpowered for the cost. Their pro line was neutered or practically nonexistent for a while wasn't it? How does it still have domination in the creative space idk.

 

[Baji Boxer]

I'm the opposite, I have a Mac pro at work. I've been using this thing for over 3 years now and I still don't like it much. You could call me a power-user because I work in Cyber Security. Most of our team uses these (I work Cyber Security and we use a lot of *nix stuff and they are somewhat safer for fiddling with corporate malware stuff).

The good:
Bash/*nix underneath
Trackpad
Hardware quality of laptop


The bad:

No delete key

Mouse acceleration never feels right. I use a pretty high sensitivity and a bit of accleration because I had tendonitis when I was younger and minimize my side to side mouse movement. Mac uses a different acceleration curve than Windows. Ended up installing a third party app to tweak it.

Taskbar sucks. Ever since Win7, Windows really nailed the window management. The "show all windows and select" thing Macs have sucks by contrast. Also, it moves around on its own from window to window really easily and you can't fucking freeze it on the screen you want. Swiping for apps is fine if you're using the trackpad but not if you have like 20 tabs open and 10 apps. *sigh*

Alt-tab sucks. Windows = cycle windows. Mac - cycle apps. 3 years in and it still drive me nuts.

Newer macs with no ports to save a few mm of thickness = dumb. It's not a fucking tablet, Apple! People want a computer to actually use it for stuff!

Click to shrink...

No delete key? Mine has a delete key, but mine is also about 9 years old. Odd thing to remove.

 

[Deleted member 925]

Nah. It's pretty much real. In this very forum you have users saying you are poor for using Android, and the classic "green bubbles lol".

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The green bubbles is literally a meme, I've seen people use it in real life but never felt like it made the connection to shaming someone who is poor.

I also would not use Era as any sort of example for anything, because people here do say shit that is so extreme and would never happen in real life.

 

[Menelaus]

We have nothing but problems with every goddamn mac we buy at work, and we're buying $3000+ models for our marketing team.

Between known issues like the keyboards, random issues like hard drive/logic boards, overheating...biggest waste of fucking money we spend.

It's not my call to buy them though, so I have to just keep forking money over for these pieces of shit, and they STILL beach ball to this day.

 

[Merv]

Nah. It's pretty much real. In this very forum you have users saying you are poor for using Android, and the classic "green bubbles lol".

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Yet here I am with an $800 Android. Kids are dumb and people underestimate their pettiness. Kids are shaming each other over Fortnite skins these days.

 

[Bluelote]

Macs are fine, but for gaming Mac OS is bad (Apple not embracing Vulkan is really dumb)
also the support life in terms of OS vs hadware and the dealing with legacy software is far worse than Windows,

also some of their computers are just poorly designed in terms of cooling and lack of I/O ports or any sort of upgrades/repairs, they were much better at this 15 years ago.

still, they make nice computers, if they were comparable in price I could see myself using one as a secondary machine.

 

[whatsinaname]

Click to shrink...

Where is the breakdown for "use mac but prefer PC"? What was the exact wording of the survey?

 

[Trace]

College students extremely impressionable by peers and advertising, more news at 11.

 

[Sidebuster]

I don't get what people mean when they say the Apple products sync well together (compared to Windows?). I run Linux on everything and Android on my phone and everything syncs as well. I use syncthing on all the devices and anything I put in the folders gets copied across devices. Firefox on each device and I can send tabs to each or whatever else. Keepass, the same with use of syncthing. The difference is I guess that I got to choose what programs I use? I haven't touched Windows in over a year now and my old 2010 imac is sitting back in its box it came in (and having regretted ever buying it to begin with). I had a 3G as well and it was fine up until they stopped supporting it before I was done with it.

I don't think I'll ever use an Apple product or Windows ever again. Neither are very good and there are better options if you can set the clock on a VCR.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

It has been a while since I was a student. That said, I'm not interested in a Mac, even if the price was lower.

 

[DJ_Lae]

They are nice laptops, although the price is definitely offputting.

It's also interesting (if not surprising) that the top two reasons these students have for wanting one are brand and appearance.

 

[Tawpgun]

If you're only doing basic stuff. ie MS office suite, browsing the internet etc.

Macbooks are awesome. I have yet to find a normal laptop with as snappy and nice feeling as that macbook trackpad.

That being said, I have run into issues where I can't do shit because of OS requirements. But thats because I tried to download a specialty program.

 

[addik]

I love working on a Mac--just less hassle then when it comes to PC, a lot of my software are stable (or more stable compared to the Windows, at least), and it's just easier to boot things.

That said, it is very expensive and I don't like the new line of MacBooks/MacBook Pros/Airs that they've put out recently. When my MacBook Air gave out recently, I was horrified at the thought of getting a new MacBook--and I didn't like their new Air. Luckily, I was able to have my Air fixed for a good price.

I like their desktop options though, but as the years pass by, I feel more inclined to get a PC.

 

[flyingman]

Makes sense.

Windows is a nightmare. Besides Office, not much else going for it for students. I use my PC as a media server now a days. I7/16GB Of Ram is perfect for it.

Mac offers stable, virus free, timely unbroken updates, better battery life (most of the time) and way better customer support.

Click to shrink...

literally all engineering programs run on windows ,

 

[THRILLHO]

I use a Mac, But i have virtual windows installation on it lol. What category would I be in?

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a more interesting poll would be

(a) macOS on Windows hardware, or
(b) Windows OS on Mac hardware


I'd pick a. Hardware is useless without good software, though I'd still have to dualboot for games lmao

 

[Rats]

I don't get what people mean when they say the Apple products sync well together (compared to Windows?). I run Linux on everything and Android on my phone and everything syncs as well. I use syncthing on all the devices and anything I put in the folders gets copied across devices. Firefox on each device and I can send tabs to each or whatever else. Keepass, the same with use of syncthing. The difference is I guess that I got to choose what programs I use? I haven't touched Windows in over a year now and my old 2010 imac is sitting back in its box it came in (and having regretted ever buying it to begin with). I had a 3G as well and it was fine up until they stopped supporting it before I was done with it.

I don't think I'll ever use an Apple product or Windows ever again. Neither are very good and there are better options if you can set the clock on a VCR.

Click to shrink...

The difference is that syncing between Apple devices requires significantly less effort than the alternatives. I know to you and I the effort does not seem all that significant, but trust me when I say that it is to the average user. I've spent years helping ordinary consumers with this stuff, and a whole lot of people get stuck at the first sign of friction.

 

[fontguy]

I just can't live without my notes, reminders, voice memos, etc. all living on both my phone and desktop within apps that all use the same design language.

I fucking hate Apple's product line right now, and their prices are only getting more ridiculous, but they've got me by the balls.

 

[henlo_birb]

I like both and prefer each for different things. :-)

 

[Deleted member 48897]

This really can't be said enough. Windows 10 has two UIs. There are options exposed in one UI that aren't exposed in another. There's no way to run a "pure" UI. It is an ungodly Frankenstein monster. I have never met anyone who was happy with it.

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You're 100% correct so I'm quoting your post for emphasis.

I use a Macbook for work and it's nice as long as I'm doing most of my tasks in the terminal. Trying to use the finder for stuff takes me back to the era of Windows 98.

Mac hardware is OK but definitely overpriced; if it were closer to the cost of its competitors I'd be much more interested in it. Otherwise it doesn't provide much I can't already get from a cheaper laptop and a Linux variant.

 

[shnurgleton]

I prefer macOS over Windows for software development work, unless I'm working strictly in C#. Win is preferable basically for all other uses, but I mostly only use a laptop or desktop for development anymore, so that's my preference

 

[Auros01]

I'm not a heavy laptop/desktop user outside of work, so I just have a Chromebook at home that I use for some light browsing and what-not.

I do really like Mac OS, a lot. Actually, I like the whole Apple ecosystem but not enough to cave in to the Apple tax. The perks they provide aren't even close being worth the cost, IMO.

 

[Lakeside]

I just can't live without my notes, reminders, voice memos, etc. all living on both my phone and desktop within apps that all use the same design language.

I fucking hate Apple's product line right now, and their prices are only getting more ridiculous, but they've got me by the balls.

Click to shrink...

I was sorta bummed about the new Mini prices, but in the end I'm ok with it. I bought a refurb with 16GB RAM / 512 SSD / 8700 CPU / 10GbE. It wasn't cheap but I got a quality tiny box with great performance and two Thunderbolt 3 controllers (4 ports) for a not terrible price.

I wanted another Mac Pro but I can add an eGPU if I decide it matters.

 

[Deleted member 42484]

I don't play games on the PC anymore so for what I use my computer for I much prefer using a Mac.

We still have PCs at work so I still do use a PC on occasion. Most of the time I just bring my own computer in instead.

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And a great OS.

 

[maximumzero]

I feel like Apple's higher relative price is offset by the hardware retaining their value more than their competition.

A five year old Macbook or iMac is going to sell for a much higher price than a comparable five-year old PC Notebook or AIO.

 

[THRILLHO]

The best thing about my old macbook air was the sleep function worked almost flawlessly. Sleeps when I shut it, and wakes up quickly when I open it. I can also have that thing in sleep mode for 1-2 weeks and be able to open it with a good amount of battery life still. Very handy with school as you'll be opening and closing it frequently traveling around campus.

I don't know if it's a Windows thing, or the manufacturers that make the windows laptops I've used, but the sleep has always been a crapshoot. Issues from laptop deciding not to sleep when closing, restarting when opening, or just extremely sluggish at waking back up. The usability of windows laptops have gotten a lot better over the years, but I still seem to have issues in this particular area.

Click to shrink...

this blows me away as well. I paid $3000 for a workstation-class Windows laptop and if I forget to shut it down when I leave the office, it inevitably wakes up because I also left my wireless mouse on when I packed up for the day and it jiggled in my bad, thus waking up the (closed) laptop which then runs its fans and leads to the "hot bag" issue. Fucking shit Microsoft its 2019. Figure your shit out. That's just straight up embarrassing. I hate having to be the janitor for my computer's OS, always cleaning up after it, and that's why I prefer macOS. (not judging anyone else's decisions, just my own experience)

 

[Seesaw15]

I say: College students are still influenced by media and their peers. Not having a MacBook is considered by a lot of people to be unfashonable or puts you in a lower class than other people.

Yes, people really think this. This really be why Apple does so fucking well. Peer pressure, advertising, and misleading statistics.

Click to shrink...

What a bad take. Kids (or more specifically their parents) buy macs because its a reliable brand with a simple OS that will more than likely last for the 4+ years of undergrad with little issue.

PC is great if you know what you're looking for but the amount of options/quality disparity between manufactures is confusion/overwhelming for the average consumer/parent trying to buy their kid a laptop before school starts.

 

[iareharSon]

I got a Mac Mini last week, and I'm quite liking it thus far. I would never be able to transition to a Mac completely, because it's pretty trash when it comes to gaming. But I'm using my gaming PC as a Steam In-Home Streaming server (streaming to either my Mac Mini or my two Apple TVs), and use the Mac Mini as my main computer when it comes to working, surfing, leisure, etc. Considering I transitioned from Android to iPhone recently, have two AppleTVs in my home, and recently purchased the new iPad Pro - I'm starting to see the system of staying within the ecosystem. So I thought why not purchase a Mac?

I'm still not quite used to the OS, and while I'd consider myself a power user in Windows - I'm anything but in MacOS. I do have to say that it's a pleasant experience thus far. I can understand when people say that "it just works." There's some things I don't like; like the file system and installing applications (drag and drop the icon? What the shit is that?) - but a lot of my complaints are probably that it's not Windows since I'm unfamiliar with MacOS. I've absolutely loved things like Alfred, Keyboard Maestro, Magnet, etc - in terms of productivity.

One of the most surprising things about MacOS that I've experienced thus far is that it seems like there's a lack of quality free applications? Compared to Windows, it seems like everything worthwhile has a cost of entry to it?

I still use a Surface Laptop as my laptop, and I don't see myself purchasing a Macbook anytime soon. It's pretty damn cost prohibitive, and I absolutely hate the keyboard experience on them. If they change the keyboard, maybe I'll take a plunge in the future.

 

[Rats]

I'm not a heavy laptop/desktop user outside of work, so I just have a Chromebook at home that I use for some light browsing and what-not.

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This is the secret best take. Get yourself a nice Chromebook for casual home use.

 

[Big-E]

I am fully in the PC camp and I am never going to be swayed. I do have a question though as I sometimes have to help students with their macs and one thing I don't understand is that it seems the macs don't have a proper delete button? The delete button on a mac serves as a backspace in word processors but I can never find a button that would delete forward text. When I ask my students they say that they don't know how to do that either. Is this really a thing on macs?

 

[Jerm]

I really enjoy PC for gaming but I would like to make the switch. The specs and prices put me off every time but if I could have a desktop PC and a MacBook, I would go that route. Being able to stream your games these days helps unless they're multiplayer.

 

[Lakeside]

There's some things I don't like; like the file system and installing applications (drag and drop the icon? What the shit is that?)

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This is actually the BEST thing. There is no system registry so you can add/remove apps by dropping them in the Applications folder or just moving them to trash. There are sometimes a few stray files left behind elsewhere, but you can just search for them and delete them too.

 

[Massicot]

I've built a kinda natural affinity for PCs mainly because 90% of everything I happen do on a computer (gaming, data analysis like JMP/Minitab, CAD/Solidworks) just seems designed around a windows ecosystem most of the time. I have an iPhone that I like a lot, but just never found a reason to get a mac knowing what I use computers for.

 

[Youngfossil]

I am fully in the PC camp and I am never going to be swayed. I do have a question though as I sometimes have to help students with their macs and one thing I don't understand is that it seems the macs don't have a proper delete button? The delete button on a mac serves as a backspace in word processors but I can never find a button that would delete forward text. When I ask my students they say that they don't know how to do that either. Is this really a thing on macs?

Click to shrink...

command + Delete

 

[iRAWRasaurus]

I have both. I mainly use my Mac for school and pc for gaming.

 

[kiguel182]

I love MacOS so much that the hardware shortcomings are just something I need to live with. I would love a 13 inch with dedicated graphics but such is life. Also, a non breaking keyboard!

Apples software approach and the OS is just too good. From the Unix base to the integrations with iOS and their design language.

Apps on the Mac usually also pay a lot attention to design and the iOS ecosystem.

There's things to improve but every time I use Windows (I have it on my MacBook too) I just wish I was back on MacOS.

 

[dred]

Have Macs gained any traction in the engineering world? I've been working for 9 years out of college and everyone I know uses a PC.

 

[RROCKMAN]

Now if only apple can get over themselves and offer Macs at decent prices that would be great.


If they could also make it so that you can find a power supply for your device without having to know what time of year you brought it in would be fantastic too.

 

[kiguel182]

My Mac was also a blessing in my Computer Science degree.

Everyone had some virtual machine or dual booting for Linux and I had my Unix Shell handy.