My Apple Watch unlocks all of my Macs. When I join a new WiFi network on my iPhone, those credentials are immediately available to my iPad. When my iPhone rings, it pauses video playing on my Apple TV until I ignore the call. To send a link from my iPad to a friend on WhatsApp, I can copy the link on my iPad and paste it into WhatsApp on my iPhone - automatically. I can use my iPhone as a remote camera to insert a photo into a Notes document on my Mac with one action. The list goes on.
Yes, there are absolutely problems and Apple has made some dumb choices (I don't mind the butterfly keyboards but I hate the razor-sharp palmrests...), but overall it's incredibly cohesive in a way that I feel lots of people don't really grasp.
I get what you appreciate, but its not for everyone. I like my tools smart but still 100% predictive by me. Like one device erasing the clipboard of another device.
I know you didn't mean it this way, but for illustrative purposes this is precisely the kind of reasoning people use to downplay the value of an ecosystem, whether it's Apple or Google or (eventually, I assume) Samsung.
"I don't want this, therefore it's not a valuable thing."
Of course no product will be (or should be) the be-all, end-all solution for everyone in the world. The fact that it isn't shouldn't be a mark against it or against the people who choose it, though.
Come to think of it, this is applicable to a huge number of products and strategies in our industry.
1) SMS/iMessages synced across all devices and able to send from any of the devices e.g. Mac or non-4G iPad.
2) 2FA codes received on your iPhone are automatically populated in Safari text fields on your Mac.
3) Safari window opened on an iPhone will appear as an icon on the Mac so you can easily pick up where you left off. Works for a number of other apps as well. And in every direction.
4) AirDrop is really great for quick, adhoc file transfers.
It is a level of utter incompetence (especially from Google) that surely is unrivalled. I mean what Apple has implemented really isn't all that complex.
But Microsoft? Why the hell did they even buy Skype? Same story with LinkedIn - the entire product is garbage now.
It is the worst pile of shit I have ever used. I’ve used non-native apps like that before but this is the worst I’ve seen so far.
And of course, the app has the usual dark patterns around trying to get you to share your contacts, add a photo (there’s a persistent banner at the top of the feed asking you to add a photo and follow some “sources” - hashtags full of spam that is - even though I’ve had the account for 2 years now so they clearly should know I am not going to do any of those things no matter how many times they ask).
I don't use it anymore but I think this covers some of it.
It is probably the best purchase I’ve made the last few years, I’m so happy with it every single day and it just makes working with laptops such a joy.
Make sure to get an extra wide one, mine is something like 70cm wide and I can keep my mouse and laptop a good distance apart and have the silicone support under both my arms.
My desk isn’t really deep enough for both a laptop, a keyboard, and my arms to fit comfortably on it.
In any case, I suspect if you do a little discovery with that person - what specific problem are you trying to solve by staying with a Mac? - you'll find the answer. You might even be able to convince them to change their order if you find it's something that can be easily worked around in a way they hadn't thought of.
As someone who has been on the researcher's side of this conversation, I can tell you that I'm always happy to discuss my reasoning with someone in your position who's genuinely trying to help me. On the flip side, I get very annoyed when they're just being obstinate because they disagree with my choice on spec (and this is an endemic problem in corporate purchasing orgs.)
As the IT guy I also have to deal with when these macs break or they are misconfigured, which happens a lot more easily than the Windows machines because the latter are in a domain and managed. The Mac guys are way too “I know what I’m doing” until they can’t get the printer working.
If Mac didn’t involve huge increases in price and integration pains for the organization I would be less negative but that’s how it is.
If you use any system for years, there are many ingrained habits that are hard to unlearn. Then there are probably applications that they use that have no direct replacements on Windows or Linux (e.g. OmniGraffle). Sure, there may be applications within the same class (diagramming), but even if they are as polished, it takes time to become as productive in a replacement.
Most people who are not tech enthusiasts just want things to stay as they know them. For a normal user, switching to another OS and applications is like switching from QWERTY to Dvorak - a long, tedious process, that will reduce productivity for one or two years.
Somewhat ironically, using a unix-variant is the easiest way to stick to what you know. Windows and to some extend macOS has gone through some design fads. Apple ditches/replaces fully functional programs, such as Quicktime 7, Aperture, and iWork (it took many years to get linked text boxes back). Whereas on a unix, you can still work like it is 1979 if you want to.
I've been using all three major OS-es extensively for years, so for me switching wouldn't actually be that much of a problem. The simple fact of the matter is that I prefer macOS for almost anything, by far. No lock-in required.
Like someone above me already posted, I also fully agree Apple has seriously messed up with these keyboards, and in general appears to have a major problem with their design priorities (both in hardware and software). But that doesn't mean their platform isn't great (for me, even the best available) for many use-cases. If you forget about keyboard problems, high price, and for some (very narrow subset of) use cases insufficient specs.