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Could the Best Windows 10 Laptop Be a Mac?
dkatana writes: Now that Windows 10 is finally out there many people are looking for the best laptop with the power to make the new OS shine. The sweet spot appears to be in $900-$1500 machines from Dell, Asus and HP. But Apple, the company that has been fighting Windows for ever, has other options for Windows 10: the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. According to InformationWeek there are many reasons to consider purchasing a MacBook as the next Windows machine, including design, reliability, performance, battery life, display quality and better keyboard. Also MacBooks have a higher resell value, retaining up to 50% of their price after five years.
with Windows 10. The upgrade hasn't gone smoothly on any of our desktops and even worse on laptops. Our biggest customer is upgrading to 10, so have to use it for testing so we have no choice but to upgrade some of our systems. The MacBook we tried 10 on worked pretty well. It locked-up a couple of times in a week of use, but that's better than the non-Apple systems. The Apple drivers for Windows, while not perfect, seem better than the ones from most other companies. I would guess that after the next Boot Camp update, it will be even better. With Microsoft's policy of not providing drivers and leaving them to manufacturers, they've really put users between a rock and a hard place.
There are no MacBooks with touch screens (and unlikely to be one any time soon). All newer Windows versions are so heavily touch-oriented I don't see how the TFA could be true. Even with a keyboard and mouse attached, the touch interface has it's advantages. I often find myself occasionally trying to use my finger to navigate a non-touch laptop and then remember "oh yeah, no touch interface".
Incorrect: Apples also have a model number, it's printed in small type on the back/underside along with the power requirements and FCC compliance statement, and looks like A####. For example, I'm typing this on a model A1416, punch that into google and you'll see exactly what I'm using without even having to leave the search result page.
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They do not last any longer than any business class hardware, they are no faster than any other laptop (I guess other than a pcie SSD which really doesn't translate into noteable improvements)
As someone who has spent the last 5-years using macbooks with windows installed for work there are massive downsides. The keyboards are awful (bad layout and bad feel), they run very hot, and the battery life is poor. Both the last two points are Apples fault for disabling various power CPU states and using a proprietary GPU switching solution which they do not provide a driver for leaving Windows with access only to the integrated GPU.
If you're a Windows user you should not by Apple unless you absolutely need to have access to OSX, and even then you should consider a Windows laptop and a mac mini which combined will probably cost less.
Macs have a high TCO. As well as the purchase price, you now increasingly need extras because e.g. there is only one USB port. Maintenance costs are high too, because Apple tries to force you to pay them for replacement of consumable items like batteries.
As for build quality and durability, Macs are not as solid as machines like business Thinkpads or Panasonic Let's Note (Toughbook). They are just not designed to be. Thinkpads in particular are way ahead, offering complete and easy instructions for maintenance, easy access to spare parts and so forth. Macs are not designed to be as durable or repairable as these machines, they are designed to look nice and go back to Apple for any work. Don't get me wrong, they are well made, but nothing exceptional.
One other thing - Apple don't offer laptops with TPM chips. TPM is useful for Bitlocker support. If you want to run Windows with encryption (maybe not NSA proof, but cop/border security/thief proof) then a TPM chip is worth having and almost all business oriented laptops have them. Might even be a requirement for some corporate users.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
And that Dell XPS 13 2015 will cost a pretty penny, as soon as you deck it out to similar specs, if you even can.
Ahh, no...
The Dell is $800 feature complete with a nice Core i3. What does the MacBook have? Core M. Not even close. It is also $1,300, more than 50% more expensive.
The only thing the MacBook has is 256GB of SSD storage, to the XPS 13's 128GB. Otherwise the XPS 13 is a better machine. A 13.3" 1080p display, very light and tons of battery life.
Why anyone would buy the MacBook, other than to look "cool", is beyond me. You can buy three of the XPS 13 for less than the cost of 2 MacBooks.
My apple notebook is nearly 5 years old and the same model has sold recently on eBay for roughly 50% of what I paid. It's not bullshit.
aah no, $ 1300 gets you a macbook pro with an i5 - comparable to the xps 13 9343 from dell with the same cpu, ram & ssd capacity, sold for the same price. the dell is a little smaller, but got a lot of brittle carbon fibre, the mbp has more ports (hdmi & 2x thunderbolt/mini display port), a more than 50% larger battery, slightly lower screen resolution, but a faster gpu to go with it. so it's at least a tie with the mbp being the faster, but slightly bigger & heavier machine. i'd go for the macbook, because it also got mag-safe, osx and a better touchpad. but if you're a windows user, the windows keyboard of the dell is something to consider.
Sold my ASUS laptop that was 4 years old for 60% of what I paid. Hate to break it to apple people but you buy a good enough machine it or the parts will be worth something later, not just apple.