“At the risk of dating myself (actually, I’ll remove that risk — I’m 36), I remember when 3.5-inch floppy disks seemed cutting edge and an eight-megabyte video game seemed like a software behemoth,” Steven John writes for BusinessInsider. “I grew up using PCs — an Intel 386 to start off with, then a 486, and oh baby, did things get crazy when we got a Pentium — and, for reasons I can’t clearly recall now, disparaging Apple products.”
“Throughout high school and college, I stuck with the PC, going through several desktops and laptops,” John writes. “Then my wife started using a Macbook. The Asus laptop I owned at the time still had a few of years of service left in it, but it would be the last PC I ever bought. Why did I switch from PC to Apple?”
• Macs are just easier to use than PCs
• Apple products work well together
• Macs outlast PCs, in my experience (and in everyone else’s experience, too
• I know where to go for help with my Mac
• Buying Apple computers is more straightforward
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Macs outlast PCs, in my experience (and in everyone else’s experience, too). TFTFY.
Finally swallowed the red pill, Steven did. Welcome to the light, Steven! We’re sorry it took you so many years, but we’re glad you’re finally here!
SEE ALSO:
SAP: Apple’s Macintosh is key for any modern enterprise – February 4, 2016
IBM: Every Mac we buy is making and saving us money – October 28, 2015
Now we know why IT support hates Macs (hint: Windows PCs = job security) – October 19, 2015
IBM: Corporate Mac users need less IT support than those stuck on Windows – October 18, 2015
Just 5% of Mac users at IBM need help desk support vs. 40% of Windows PC sufferers – October 15, 2015
Professional users are dropping Macs in their droves, I don’t know any fellow artist left using a Mac because we all got tired of waiting for a Mac Pro.
You have to face facts PC hardware is so much more powerful and a fraction of the cost and the performance gap is only going to get wider when AMD release the updated 7nm Threadrippers with up to 64 cores.
Thankfully disloyal Pro mac users make up a tiny peecentage of the market. Everyday Mac users run into the tens of millions if not larger, and continue growing every quarter.
The infinitesimally small Mac Pro market will get their devices too – then traitors like you can switch back yet again with your tail between your legs in utter shame.
Sorry, the disloyal traitors in this picture live and work in Cupertino and are the ones responsible for pros having to move on thanks to Tim Cook & Co.’s blatant incompetence and design screw-ups. Followed by an unbelievable amount of time before acting and apathy about fixing the problem stat and keeping their product line updated in a timely manner and in a manner pros NEED. Not what little Jony thinks is a good trash can idea.
Don’t blame the users, blame the idiot at the head of this fruitless endeavor on permanent siesta. With an Apple like this we don’t need enemies.
Yea, but its going to catch up to Apple sooner or later as they keep pushing back Mac updates by years! They are far more expensive anymore than a PC. I used to be able to build the same and the Mac was maybe $200 more and at one point it was $100 less. But today they are way over priced for the same hardware specs. The last was about a year ago and was about $1000 difference. Apple needs to stop trying to get people to switch to an iPad and keep the Mac hardware up-to-date yearly once again with better graphic cards and user replaceable parts with ease of working on them when they do fail. The Macbooks are so thin now and is one layer, there is no reason they should be as difficult to repair as they are! With Apple lacking, I don’t blame anyone for switching back to PC’s, but Apple better wise up soon!
LOL, how old are you 13?
The Pro marketshare is dropping for one reason and one reason only, Apple doesn’t give a wet shit about Pro level users anymore. All we creative professionals wanted was continually updated cheese-grater Mac Pro but Apple gave the joke of the Trashcan then absolutely nothing for 6 years. Yeah 6 loooong years all under the ingrate Tim Cook.
My colleagues in the 3D animation community have dropped Macs and go to any high end recording company and you’ll very likely see PCs where there used to be Macs. No one in business can wait 6 years to get their arse into gear and deliver a highend desktop.
Everyone of my colleagues is very happy rocking extremely fast hardware and no one will be back to Apple, no one is going to switch back because Apple has nothing to offer the Pro segment, nothing.
The real shame is Tim Cook. History will paint him in a similar light as John Sculley.
Pixar doesn’t even use Macs.
…Except in certain high-visibility places. Their render farms are PCs.
“Disloyal Pro mac users”?
Nope.
By definition, customers can’t be “disloyal”: it is the customer who rewards the supplier by buying their products.
When customers choose to leave, it is invariably because the supplier failed to earn their business by delivering good products at a good value.
“Infinitesimally small”?
That statement belies a lack of perspective.
There are products which are designed to make profits and those which are designed to break even, etc. Which is which is a strategic topic because this isn’t merely about an individual product’s profits. Instead, it is about making the company holistically profitable, which means taking steps – – including choosing at times to NOT make money – – to foster & develop customer loyalty, such as through brand reputation. The goal is to positively influence customers and motivate them to be more willing to pay a premium for your product and have lower friction for repeat business: strategically, it is more advantageous to keep an existing customer than to be constantly hustling to make new ones.
To this end, many companies have chosen to have flagship products. Flagships might make money, but they’re not designed to be huge profit centers, because their objective is to do more than simply make a few bucks: they typically are exploited to have trickle-down positive effects, such as to foster a clientele who then provides you free advertising and be an “influencer” to attract new customers. This is the long game, not short term profits.
Finally on some nuts & bolts, the high end desktop Mac products have become extremely noncompetitive with the Windows PC. For example, its been awhile since I’ve done a direct cost comparison, but at my last check, it was $7500/unit to stay with MacOS versus $5500 for Win10. Note that this is PER SEAT, so moving just three production machines over to Windows saves enough to “buy a 4th for free.”
Now YMMV on if Win10 really is all that horrible, but the real question is if that difference is worth $2000 per seat? YMMV, but for many, the answer is no, so they’ve moved to Windows. Personally, I’m already using both MacOS & Win10 (without the nightmares), so I see the justification to stay with MacOS for my Pro desktops is becoming increasingly weak: its no longer hardware or OS, so it comes down to the Apps needed for my workflows.
And to this end, Apple simply no longer has any unique “Killer Apps” relevant to my needs to accept being exclusively locked-in to their ecosystem.
I for one, am a “professional user” and not one included in the “droves” Switched Back is referring too. Please don’t make assumptions for other professional users. You have a choice, isn’t that great.
But then again, I’m old(er) than the person who wrote this article and can remember using a “real” 5.25 floppy haha
5.25-inch?
Pah- amateurs! I remember 8-inch floppy drives. And punch cards.
… you young whippersnappers haven’t lived until you’ve used a clay tablet and stick.
I am a young whippersnapper! Used abacus and slide ruler.
Cassette tapes and reel-to-reel decks predated the 8″ floppies. I am old enough to have used those.
I began at 8, leaning to use RPN on HP calculators. My father, a defence contractor, had a HP 65 and he taught me to program it with little slide-in magnetic cards. He kept it in his office locked in a security cradle attached to his desk with a steel cable.
I wouldn’t mind purchasing an iMac Pro 10-core as it would serve me well for many years. However, when I look at some of those custom-built Windows PCs, I can only shake my head in disbelief that Apple can’t come up with anything even close to those computers. They’re more powerful, attractive, versatile and even cost less than what Apple offers. I don’t need a fancy, custom Windows PC at all, but I’m just looking at them from a computer enthusiast point of view. Apple just seems to have limited itself to certain markets and maybe that’s a good thing. I just don’t know. Apple doesn’t build gaming PCs, so it’s difficult to do a direct comparison.
I just wish Apple would build some awesome pro desktop that industry professionals would rave about and not some crappy trash-can Mac Pro-type computer. Apple’s last cheese-grater Mac Pro could have been updated with new hardware (motherboard, CPU, GPUs, fast RAM, storage, etc.) and it could have been everything a professional would have needed. Apple seems to avoid using industry-standard hardware and I can’t understand why. I just hate hearing about how Apple sells weak or outdated computer hardware when the company is loaded with cash. That just seems like a poor way of doing business if they’re not going to offer the latest hardware to consumers.
I listened to the naysayers and ‘abandoned’ Apple about 3 years ago and found myself in the hell of Windows. My productivity was negatively impacted and I decided to purchase an iMac Pro for approx £9K. Best decision I’ve made for a long time and due to the performance and reliability, the iMac Pro off in about 4 months (for a Pro that uses their computer for income generating work this is an easy decision to make). I’m now waiting for the new ‘ModMac Pros’ later this year and will make another Cap Ex decision that will pay back handsomely within about 6 months.
this article should start with a disclaimer: “I’m writing this article because I was payed, because my wife needs new pair of shoes, my kids need winter coats and I need to pay electric bill”.
You may say Apple products are great. I’m ok with this statement if you’re ok with OSX lacking touch screen capabilities [’cause nobody wants that] and you admit that you can see too much touchbar equipped apple laptops in refurbished products department. — is that because Apple is deaf to listen their customers… or Apple customers are stupid?
Apple has how much percentage of enterprise again? Call me when they get out of the single digits. Yawn.
Trondud has how much of any market beyond market leadership of dud commentary at MDN?
When Trondud makes some money out of comments the way Apple makes billions upon billions, ill stop considering Trondud such a whiny loserish dud
Before I got my 1st 5-1/4 floppy drive for my 1st PC, a TRS-80, I used a cassette tape for storing my data and basic programs. Then I switched to an Apple IIe, then an Apple II GS (I know, I’m old). I switched back to MSDOS PC’s as the II GS was not being supported by Apple and the MAC was still monochrome and a “closed” box. I had several PC’s, mostly custom built with high end hardware, for gaming, photography and just “to have”. When I was ready to upgrade again, it was the time when Windows 8 was being introduced. I played with the new OS at a store and I hated it so much, I decided it was time for a change. Microsoft OS’s are very high maintenance and there comes a point all the “futzing” (anyone remember that term?) gets old. I went back to Apple with a MacBook Pro and just loved it, especially the operating system. I already had an iPhone so that part was a plus too. Most all my important data and files (music, video, images) ported over. since then I’m still using the MacBook Pro but for the most part I’m using and 27 in iMac with dual 27 in screens. I won’t go back to a Windows machine. As some say, the Apple – It just works. (for me anyway).
“I switched back to MSDOS PC’s as the II GS was not being supported by Apple and the MAC was still monochrome and a “closed” box”
Monochrome, no slots, tiny screen, no expansion, no upgradability. Aside from the “monochrome” thing, sounds a lot like iOS. I think many of the more experienced people here are willfully forgetting that this is just the same story all over again. Apple dumped on YEARS of good will and computing advances when they moved to the Mac. Some folks never returned, but enough folks loved the Mac (many having never used Apple II before) that it more than made up for the money lost from people not buying Apple II’s.
Now, there are people who have never used the Mac before, buying and loving their iOS devices. And, in another 18-20 years when Apple is moving on past iOS, there will be more experienced folks wondering why iOS isn’t getting the attention it deserves.
Trolls. I can’t imagine any creative person or artist with a brain choosing to deal with Windows. Or Android.
Here’s a high profile Cinema 4D developer and artist using his new PC.
Go to any animation/mograph forum and look for the ‘Switching to PC Advice?’ threads. No one wanted to leave the Mac but if you can’t be arsed to update your most powerful Mac for 6 years what does Tim Cook expect?
Honestly I never thought I would say this, but 5 years ago almost all of the employees of my company used Windows desktops or laptops. About 18 months ago company gave users an option to have a PC or Mac laptop for work purposes. Fast forward to today. MacBook Pros outnumber PC laptops by over 6 to 1, and even our IT department is grateful to be on a Mac platform. They’re going to phase out ALL Windows machines in a year, but if you still want it, they’ll provide you with Parallels to shut you up. I’ll never go back to a PC – Microsoft just didn’t get with the program. Windows is godawful.
My 2 cents: I switched to Mac in university with the iBook G4. great computer, running to this day if I’m not mistaken. Upgraded later to a MacBook Pro, which did not last the heavy use I put it through – about 5 years. I’m writing this on a 2011 iMac which is still a better computer than most of the ones I use at work.
I’ve wanted a new laptop for a couple of years, but two things have kept me from buying a MacBook: price and storage. Who makes a laptop in 2019 with a base hard drive of 128GB?
I would love to purchase a Rift after having the opportunity to use one at work (education) but apple makes nothing VR ready out of the box. Who on earth is in charge of the Mac over there?