Breaking up with Apple....

Things I'd miss not running a bona fide Apple machine:
  • Messages (it's my main text message interface...could probably convince my wife to switch to Whisper or something...)
  • GarageBand (I use it far more than Logic X because it runs better on my old iMac)
  • LaunchBar (greatest productivity tool ever)
  • Photos (I wouldn't actually miss it, but I'd have to replace it with something...probably Google Photos...)
  • TweetBot
That's it. Everything else either has a 1:1 Windows equivalent (Chrome, iTunes, the Fractal tools) or a Windows alternative that's just as good (or sometimes better). I could ditch Homebrew for apt-get for package management for all the command line tools I use. I'd still suffer through iTunes, of course, because who wants to give up that masochistic experience, right?

Maybe Apple will surprise me today. The store is down already.
 
I do hope so.

Now, it's up to Magix to release a version of Samplitude for Mac again. I'd probably already have it if they did. I love that 10 years ago, when I was still pre-Apple (and swore I'd never go back after switching).
 
12-core MacPro 5,1 go for $1000-$1500 on eBay.

Apple has never competed on price and really never made a sub $1000 computer until recently (some of the small laptops).

If your budget is < $1000, you'd have to go earlier than a 5,1 or build a PC.

FWIW, I put my 2008 MacPro 8-core back into service for a test studio setup. Still works great and Logic works fine unless I have a lot of Alchemy instances (which I rarely do).

I see them on eBay for $300-$500.

I always put in SSD drives and a cheap nvidia GPU.
 
fractalz said:
12-core MacPro 5,1 go for $1000-$1500 on eBay.

Apple has never competed on price and really never made a sub $1000 computer until recently (some of the small laptops).

If your budget is < $1000, you'd have to go earlier than a 5,1 or build a PC.
Click to expand...
Well, if I'm saying the Surface is calling to me my budget is pretty high -- but I want value for my money. Multi-core is less important to me; raw core speed is better for what I use a computer for at home. I rarely use software that can take advantage of multi-core machines (most consumer software can't), so having a 3 GHz base clock is better for me than a 2 GHz base clock -- I'll notice that more than I notice 8 more cores.

There's also severe limits on the GPUs you can use in those boxes. And, of course, you're buying old Apple so Apple can decide to stop supporting the machine with OS upgrades based on motherboard-reported version information. So even if you keep swapping parts and it's fairly modern, you can get frozen out of OS updates before the machine's time has really come.

FWIW, I put my 2008 MacPro 8-core back into service for a test studio setup. Still works great and Logic works fine unless I have a lot of Alchemy instances (which I rarely do).

I see them on eBay for $300-$500.

I always put in SSD drives and a cheap nvidia GPU.
Click to expand...
All things I'm well aware can be done. None of it overly appealing to me though.

I've considered the Hackintosh route as well but given Messages is an app I use frequently in macOS, that doesn't really work. You can't use Messages on a Hackintosh. And, you're still in an arms race with Apple -- every macOS update is another adventure in the "Will it work on my Hackintosh this time?" game.
 
post-19715-Brent-Rambo-gif-thumbs-up-imgu-L3yP.gif
 
I much prefer the Mac OS to Windows (especially 8 and 10), but I can't bring myself to buy a computer I can't upgrade with cherry-picked components. Looks cool though.
 
levipeto said:
use windows10 a bit before you switch ...
Click to expand...
Yea, I've used it for a few months working with the gaming rig I built my wife this summer. It's alright. I don't hate it. Lipstick on a pig.

Though, I was reminded by a colleague today about the "good old days" running Windows when you'd do a fresh OS install just 'cause the darn thing had...something making it slow and you couldn't figure it out. I've done upgrade after upgrade on my iMac and never had to consider such a drastic scorched earth policy. I'd forgotten about that.

Probably just going to buy the mid-tier 27" 5k iMac at this point.

Breaking up is hard to do. :(
 
levipeto said:
Can't you just get a touchscreen for the mac?
Click to expand...
No.

New MacBook Pros have a "touch strip" on them now. iMacs have a force-touch trackpad (which I'll get with the one I order).

There are hacky things you can do with an iPad on the side to extend your display to it in some ways. Logic actually has an official remote app that puts DAW controls on your iPad. But it's not quite seamless. Or wonderful in that Apple way.
 
iaresee said:
I have no idea how I feel about the new MacBook Pro. :confused:
Click to expand...

Ok the touch bar is a good idea/feature as a convenient addition, but enough as a selling point ....i don't think so.
The double sized track pad would be a bigger plus for me!
As i mentioned before the big touch surface on the screen seems not that ergonomic for what i'm usually doing.
For presentations or image processing it could be advantageous imho, the surface hubs are even bigger ...

Maybe a list of pros and cons would help.
 
Hmm ok, I'd like to check this thingy out before buying.
One critical point for me would be, how smooth works the surface touchscreen with resource-hungry apps/software.
As i see in this video at 4min58sec the presenter has to touch several times before something happened, this would annoy me.
These are little things but with a huge impact on my workflow...
 
Last edited:
I'll just say one Thing.

Virus Software... which makes your computer slow...............................................
Why Windows makes you pay for a third party Tax and they don't address it once and for all is beyond me. I believe it should be on them. Build an OS with some security, will ya.

Ughhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

I'll save the money and get the Macbook pro next year. It will be expensive but I will also have it for seven to eight years.

I'm a Systems Engineer/Developer by Trade, I got my MCSE in '96 and have been working on Computers since '86. I am on windows everyday for work, and the best part of my day is knowing when work is done I can be on my Mac system. It just works with every other piece of Mac gear that I own. One ecosystem.

Yeah I know windows has come a long way. I work on it everyday, I know. So even though, I feel 3000 dollars for a Laptop is a bit much, it truly is. I have to go with what works for me. I'm typing on a Mac mini by the way.
 
scottburrow said:
Virus Software... which makes your computer slow...............................................
Click to expand...
So is this still a thing that's needed? I mean, we run AV software on our work Macs because investors demand it. It doesn't do much expect spin up the fans from time to time though. I figured Windows AV is in this realm now -- you do it because you're afraid to go without it, not because you have to. I thought Microsoft added privileges escalation ages ago so you can't run something that needs elevated privileges without clicking a box saying it's okay. Really, that's all a macOS machine does. What more do you need, right?
 
bradlake said:
I was just thinking all those things.
Click to expand...
Yea. They've forsaken the software developers too dropping Esc and F1 hard keys. It's a laptop with a "Pro" label, but not for any of the existing Professionals who use and love MacBook Pros. Crazy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom