Windows vs Mac - advice, please

[Still Mulling]

Hello! My wife is in desperate need of a new laptop.

She predominantly uses MS Office and web-portal based items for her work. We're moving from Android to Apple with mobile devices (not for debate, so don't get sidetracked please! ), so we are considering getting a Macbook of some flavour and installing MS Office for Mac. Hopefully that won't create file compatibility issues across OSes? Can Mac save as docx etc. and have the same functionality as Office for Windows? (Macros not required.)

However, they are damn expensive!

I worry that a Windows laptop will come with a butt-load of bloatware from the manufacturer, be less intrinsically secure, and not be supported for as long on the software side. I'm also worried about a faster drop-off in performance over time.

My sister has used £1.5-2k Macbooks for years, and gets around 6-7 years of life out of them. That doesn't seem that much longer than I should expect from a £7-800 laptop, does it? I'm struggling with the ROI there. I'm also a Windows user through work devices, and have good knowledge of how to maintain them.

I have a Kensington docking station that claims to be compatible with both OSes, so hopefully no issue connecting to dual-Samsung monitors through that.

Given our user-profile and concerns, can anybody recommend from experience, please?

Oh, minor point ref. price: she may be able to get a discount as an educator, but I don't know how much that would be at this point.

Thanks in advance!

[sociopath]

I'm still using a 14, year old laptop on win 10.
I've upgraded the ram and the drive to Ssd.

Cost loads less than a Mac, and I can do what I want with it and not what MS wants

[JohnnyUK]

Oh gosh, Apple every time if it's your own money.

The M1 / M2 MacBooks will last at least 5 to 7 years.

Microsoft Office 365 or the legacy Office 2019 (cheap as chips) works very well - as good as on Windows IMHO.

If you buy into the Apple ecosystems i.e. phones, tablets etc, then it's a no-brainer...

ETA Apple do discounts for Students / Teachers etc

Edited by JohnnyUK on Friday 24th February 16:41

[Still Mulling]

JohnnyUK said:

Oh gosh, Apple every time if it's your own money.

If you buy into the Apple ecosystems i.e. phones, tablets etc, then it's a no-brainer...

Thanks Johnny. Can you expand on these two points for me, please? What makes it a no-brainer, given the high costs involved.

(Feel free to consider me brainless )

[Still Mulling]

sociopath said:

I'm still using a 14, year old laptop on win 10.
I've upgraded the ram and the drive to Ssd.

Cost loads less than a Mac, and I can do what I want with it and not what MS wants

Thanks sociopath. Not sure I'd feel competent enough to make hardware changes to extend product life, to be honest. It needs to be low maintenance and simple. Like me

[rednotdead]

Still Mulling said:

It needs to be low maintenance and simple. Like me

Then an M2 macbook air (the basic spec) will be perfect. Blindingly fast, will be low maintenance and will 'just work' all the time. My wife has just moved from a 2012 air to the new one. Look at John Lewis for a 2 year warranty. Yes they are pricey but you'll get 7yrs+ out of if and it will still be worh something at the end.

[bitchstewie]

An M1 Macbook Air is £800 from Amazon which seems pretty cheap to me for a premium product (typing on one now).

[The Road Crew]

JohnnyUK said:

Oh gosh, Apple every time if it's your own money.

The M1 / M2 MacBooks will last at least 5 to 7 years.

£2k+ laptop lasts for 5-7 years?! I should bloody well hope it does!
Windows laptops will also do this, for much less cash. I think mine is about 6yrs old now and runs just great.

[grumbledoak]

Still Mulling said:

I worry that a Windows laptop will come with a butt-load of bloatware from the manufacturer, be less intrinsically secure, and not be supported for as long on the software side. I'm also worried about a faster drop-off in performance over time.

None of those are true, really. The main difference between them is the application software you want to use. Of course comparing a £2k MacBook Pro with a £600 Windows laptop for longevity is only going to go one way.

Pick first based on the applications you want to use.

[JohnnyUK]

Still Mulling said:

JohnnyUK said:

Oh gosh, Apple every time if it's your own money.

If you buy into the Apple ecosystems i.e. phones, tablets etc, then it's a no-brainer...

Thanks Johnny. Can you expand on these two points for me, please? What makes it a no-brainer, given the high costs involved.

(Feel free to consider me brainless )

I think rednotdead answered it perfectly.

In terms of the Apple ecosystem, the devices will all work seamlessly with each other (iTunes on Windows is a nightmare), so sharing music, playlists, apps (in most cases), devices, monitors etc "just works"

I have a lovely looking high-spec Lenovo Carbon Thinkpad i7 (the top business-oriented Intel CPU) from my employer, and it's just so slow compared to my Mac Mini M1 and MacBook M1 Pro - it's in a drawer!

[DoubleSix]

bhstewie said:

An M1 Macbook Air is £800 from Amazon which seems pretty cheap to me for a premium product (typing on one now).

You’d have to be literally insane NOT to pick an M1
Air up at the moment… I can’t remember a better value laptop proposition in my lifetime.

Picked one up for the wife. Absolutely superb bit of kit.

[bitchstewie]

£880 on Amazon now.

I'm sure they were £820 a week back unless I was looking at a refurb or something and didn't realise it

To me that seems reasonable for what you get so I guess the question is whether it does what Still Mulling wants.

[JohnnyUK]

DoubleSix said:

bhstewie said:

An M1 Macbook Air is £800 from Amazon which seems pretty cheap to me for a premium product (typing on one now).

You’d have to be literally insane NOT to pick an M1
Air up at the moment… I can’t remember a better value laptop proposition in my lifetime.

Picked one up for the wife. Absolutely superb bit of kit.

This!!!

[OFORBES]

It took me some time to adjust to my first Macbook maybe 8 years ago, but I have never looked back once I got my head around it.

I'm currently working with a big US Tech company and the first question they asked was "Mac or Windows-based machine?"

Miles better build quality than any PC I have ever had from any hardware manufacturer, and battery life that genuinely lasts, (unlike their phones) super quick to turn on and off and with everything now being "as a service" and cloud-based, all applications work seamlessly across operating systems.

Just take a look at used prices of Macs vs Windows-based machines that are perhaps 3 years old.

[ColdoRS]

I’ve just done this.

Had iPhones and an iPad Pro for years, alongside a Dell Laptop on Windows. Laptop was showing its age and the iPad just didn’t quite do enough of what I wanted to be able to go totally laptop-less, so I went for an M2 MacBook Air with some RAM and storage upgrades.

For sure the windows machine I could have had for the same price would be top trumps but I don’t think it would fit in with my lifestyle as nicely as the MacBook has.

It’s perfect for my needs - it works seamlessly with my iOS devices, looks and feels great and is so fast.

I alluded to it earlier in the post but I really see this kind of thing as a lifestyle addition, like an expensive high end coffee machine, everytime you use it, it just works right and you feel better for it.

[Still Mulling]

Thank you, Everybody, an interesting read.

A fair point about the price comparison if it was performance/screen specs, but I would hope a £700 Windows laptop would last a long time too. From what I’ve seen they start around £350: that’s where I’d expect things not to last. At £1000 I’d be seriously questioning why Windows compared to Apple. (And I’m genuinely open to answers contrary to my thoughts!)

I’m also open to previous gen tech, if it is still good. How do M1 and M2 differ?

[DoubleSix]

Still Mulling said:

Thank you, Everybody, an interesting read.

A fair point about the price comparison if it was performance/screen specs, but I would hope a £700 Windows laptop would last a long time too. From what I’ve seen they start around £350: that’s where I’d expect things not to last. At £1000 I’d be seriously questioning why Windows compared to Apple. (And I’m genuinely open to answers contrary to my thoughts!)

I’m also open to previous gen tech, if it is still good. How do M1 and M2 differ?

For casual use you will notice zero difference in the M1 vs M2, in fact in certain use cases the M1 outperforms, but that's not really relevant as this is clearly casual use.

Seriously, take any notions you have of the windows machine being the right choice and just throw them in the bin (like your money if you buy one!). Unless you are into high end gaming laptops there really is no argument.

As stated, the M1 can be had for significantly less than £1,000. You will have no file compatibility issues with MS Office. The M1 is a step change in performance and battery life, the M2 is just a tiny uplift on that with a change in form factor for a fair bit more £££ (classic Apple).

Edited by DoubleSix on Friday 24th February 18:34

[dundarach]

sociopath said:

I'm still using a 14, year old laptop on win 10.
I've upgraded the ram and the drive to Ssd.

Cost loads less than a Mac, and I can do what I want with it and not what MS wants

Me too

A fool and his money and all that

[JohnnyUK]

dundarach said:

sociopath said:

I'm still using a 14, year old laptop on win 10.
I've upgraded the ram and the drive to Ssd.

Cost loads less than a Mac, and I can do what I want with it and not what MS wants

Me too

A fool and his money and all that

I have a 1959 Frogeye - but my Audi RS4 is a lot nicer to drive....

[Still Mulling]

Thanks Folks.

Please, let’s not have this descend into mud-slinging. I realise the topic can have strong opinions. Please keep it respectful and with facts/experience. I’ve started the topic to learn both sides of the coin, so teach me rather than widening a rift!