Ask HN:Why do you all use macbooks | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN:Why do you all use macbooks

11 pointshardwaresofton51 comments

So I've been watching a lot of webcasts, talks, etc and I'm wondering why seemingly everyone uses Macbooks.

I've been ankle deep in linux for about 5 years. I phrase it that way mostly because I know I'm nowhere near a 'kernel guy', and I really haven't taken time to look at linux inside and out from even a software perspective. But, I'm fascinated with how many people use macbooks instead of laptops loaded with nix.

I'm guessing because it's been (up until recently) the only mass produced nix system commercially available? Or is it reliability? Or is it just people being trendy? Or is OSX the greatest operating system ever invented?

PS - My intent is not to start a flamewar here, just want to know why you use a Mac, if you do.

[EDIT] - Thanks for the responses everyone -- if you could also weigh in on Ultrabooks (I'm eyeing ASUS's Zenbook/Macbook) if you happen to have experience in both -- I'm toying with the idea of buying a new laptop)

Semi-Full Disclosure - I work for a company that has a stake in ultrabooks -- but I promise (if those are even worth anything on the internet), I'm asking for myself, not on behalf of any corporation/pr company/etc.

I have a Macbook Air and a Zenbook Prime. I also have an iPad Mini and a Nexus 7 and like to be familiar with all of the major OSes.

1) The Macbook Air's trackpad + keyboard just works for me. I've tried other ultrabooks, but always end up with accidental clicks and zooms or the keyboard is a little off. The Zenbook Prime is solid and looks nice, but I don't use it as much due to the trackpad and keyboard (and this is a newer Zenbook that supposedly addressed those issues). It's nice not needing a trackball or mouse.

2) The 1440x900 resolution of the Air is fine for me. The Zenbook has 1920x1080, but I don't find that resolution very usable on a 13 inch screen. And I dislike the other cheap laptops that have 1366 x 768 or 1200 x 800.

3) I like OS X, a nice terminal, Photoshop, and a simple editor. I like being able to work on native iPhone projects. I'm not going to buy a machine with Windows 8. I run Parallels and spin up a Windows or Linux VM when needed. Very easy to slide my fingers to the right and be in Windows or Linux.

Aaand there's the unicorn I was looking for. Thanks for the input.

1) You prefer the Air's trackpad+keyboard? Or is it more lack of use on the Zenbook's side?

2)I did notice this after sitting through some videos/spec sheets -- the increased resolution seems like it would be a plus when connecting to an external monitor especially, however.

3)How is gaming working out for you? Do you do that at all much?

The resolution spec on laptops is just for the built in screen. If you plug it into an external monitor you use the resolution of the external monitor.

So the resolution of the laptop does not limit external monitors.

what I meant was that if the hardware put together expecting to push that many pixels with good performance, it's more likely it won't skip a beat pushing to something bigger?

fwiw I use a macbook pro retina and push to a 30" dell monitor (2560x1600) and a 24" monitor (1920x1200) at the same time. it probably can't run games at max res but it does great for movies, Netflix, coding, etc.

as far as form factor, I'm eyeing an air, but that's reassuring to hear.

I switched to a Macbook Air a few months ago after using Linux for about a year. It's just a really nice computer. It's not some big ideological decision. I had some money saved up and I was tired of using Arch. It is a damn nice experience. Using it is really easy and enjoyable, and I still get the benefits of having a unix based system.

Oh ok, I get that (I also used Arch for a bit, I wanted to put that in original post, but it got too long).

So basically build quality, the general UI, and unix-based.

Yeah, it's really hard to find a better package than the macbook pro.

I own (and love) an 11" Macbook Air.

Best quality ultrabook hardware on the market (at least when bought my MBA, thing may have changed recently), everything works out of the box (compared to installing Linux), their trackpad is the only trackpad that actually works. These are the big points.

Two smaller points is that they have a more significant retail presence than any other laptop manufacturer, meaning that I can see and try all their laptops before buying it and the they are the only laptop manufacturer that are happy to sell me a laptop with a US keyboard layout outside of the US at no extra cost.

As for OS X, I'm honestly not a huge fan. Sure it works and gets the job done, but I bought the MBA despite rather than because of OS X.

I am using an Asus Ultrabook. I did not have any trackpad problems using the default windows 7 installation. Asus provides software that reduces the trackpad sensitivity when you are typing. However I switched over to using Gentoo. I have not configured the track pad and it is very sensitive at the moment. However I have not found that a big annoyance.

I used a mac once. But being an emacs user I do not like the change of the ctrl key. However I have to say the keyboard feels nice to type on. I do not get why people like the trackpad on it. I do not find it anything special, however after saying that I am a user who tries to use the trackpad as little as possible so my opinion is just my opinion.

http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/tech-fun/wp-cont...

Wanted to add this to the main post, but I guess a comment will do -

Does the lack of repairability/augmentation of Macs not bother you?

A friend of mine who I just remembered has a Zenbook said he literally took off the back plate (maybe 6-8 screws), and everything was right there for the upgrading/moving/modifying. Though I don't own one, I know enough about the macbook air to know that is not the case (unless something has drastically changed).

And I don't make this point for no reason -- the friend I mentioned doubled his RAM trivially, upgraded HDDs, etc, so this is a real thing that might be important

Upgrading my MacBook Pro's RAM and HDD was extremely easy. Apple even provides guides on how to do it.

You can upgrade the RAM and HDD on the standard MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro w/ Retina and MacBook Air is a different story though, the components are soldered in.

The flash disk on the MBP w/ Retina and MBA is not soldered in. It's a little gumstick module held in with one Torx 5 screw. (The RAM is soldered to the logic board.) They have changed the connector each for rev, though, so I wouldn't plan on upgrading it.

Wow, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the correction!

It's just an incredible laptop. After being a Dell user all my life, I recently upgraded to a Retina 15" and I couldn't be happier. It's just an incredible user experience all round and you can see the amount of effort and consideration is put into every part of it's design to suit you. The example I always go with is the lid. It's designed to lift seamlessly up without any friction or movement from the base and it does exactly that. It's the little things that really make this laptop perfect.

Coming from a family that is/was heavily subscribed to making purchases from Dell, I get "being a Dell user".

I see how little things like the lid would do it, that's something I've never thought about, but have definitely been annoyed with (lifting the lid and having the whole computer move)...

I have a Macbook Air. It's my first Apple laptop (I used PCs exclusively from 1993-2008).

It's been a wonderful machine. The battery life is phenomenal, it's fast, it's surprisingly powerful, and it's "air" light. The trackpad is second to none. Everything just works. I've never had to install a driver.

Given Apple's involvement in the recent spying scandals, though, this is also my last Apple product. I am selling my computer and buying something else for Debian or Arch.

Interesting -- I just came off a website that was calling them "paperweights" (This of course was a hardcore gaming website, so 700W power supplies everywhere).

And it's interesting to see how the recent spying scandals are actually affecting real people... I honestly have been kinda fed up with hearing about it in the news. I don't feel like government spying is anything new, I sort of almost take it as a cost of central government

Battery life, it's light, the trackpad is so good you won't need a mouse (though I do miss it sometimes). I also don't worry about viruses--although Macs can get infected if you're really careless about the sites you visit and things you download, but I am. Always been a Windows user, even Ubuntu for a brief period, switched just August last year and I'm never coming back. Ubuntu is the only other OS I'd like to use, but my Mac is pretty good already.

"trackpad is so good you won't need a mouse" - This is the most drastic claim made to date in this thread... It must really be something. I've had a love affair with Logitech for the last 10 years of my life at least.

As far as virus impregnability, I think it's just a market share thing, why write for less-used nix platforms (which often have more informed users on average)?

Every other laptop I've ever owned, I always carried a mouse. Not so with my Macbook Air.

I was a PC guy since 1985. I never considered switching to a Mac until they switched to Intel chips in 2006. At the time I was lugging around a heavy Acer laptop. The plastic latches had broken within 1 month of use.

I tried a friend's Macbook Pro. I couldn't believe how light it was, and the quality of the case + the display. I was sold. I bought one in 2007 and I've been using Macbooks ever since. Just a really well made machine.

If the company will give me a mac, I install a bunch of GNU stuff and use it. Anything else I wipe and put Ubuntu on it (for workstation OS).

If you find yourself in this position ever, do yourself a favor and try to avoid this immediate "jump to make it as close to Linux as possible". I know several people who've had this opinion (being hardcore Linux users) and of those, a few have moved over to OS X (one kicking and screaming, no less). The rush to "just make it look like Linux" is unneeded and probably counterproductive.

OS X is a terrible Linux machine, but it's an outstanding BSD machine. Rather than try to force it into what you know, give yourself a short time to get comfortable with the Linmux->BSD shift and you'll find very little need to beat OS X into submission.

Um no. It is a horribly out of date BSD machine. And I don't run X11r6 on it.

ah OK. I know a friend who recently switched jobs and was given the choice, and he's enjoying the mac. I think some part of me is still clinging to the Windows/Mac war farce.

Something deep down still makes me think that everyone running a Macbook is a smug hipster

upvoted for "wipe and put ubuntu on it"

Linus's reasons for using a Macbook: http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-with-millenium...

OS X plays really nicely with the largely Unix based scientific computing stuff I do (R, Python and the like) that exist alongside nicely polished commercial programs for everyday in-and-out stuff.

Mix that with excellent quality hardware, and you've got a loyal Macbook Pro user.

This sums it up well. Some other quick points:

1. Great power management and battery. 2. Nicely made Mac apps (TextWrangler/BBEdit/Transmit). 3. Tight integration of iCloud ecosystem. 4. Seamless backups. 5. Interest in Objective-C development.

I can't find the link but a well-known Linux developer switched to a MacBook because Linux didn't play well on his laptops. Poor power management, audio stops working, wifi doesn't work, etc.

If I had to get a PC laptop, it would be a Thinkpad T-series with Ubuntu, though I'm not sure how good driver support is.

Aside from great hardware engineering, their software ecosystem is their most secret weapon: Cocoa/Objective-C.

a well-known Linux developer switched to a MacBook because Linux didn't play well on his laptops

You mean well known linux inventor Linus Torvalds?

I only run ubuntu on my macbook. I see it as best of both worlds.

this.

I thought of this, and then thought... Is that ridiculous? If it's already running nix, is there a need?

Thou it wasn't my initial reason, this whole PRISM thing makes me happy I don't use OSX.

> how many people use macbooks instead of laptops loaded with nix.

Minor nitpick: OS X is certified as UNIX, and has been for many years.

Valid nitpick, I saw this on the wiki page, they are indeed up to spec

Because it's a nice piece of hardware?

I really enjoy it and they all last long. I use both Linux and OSX.

I develop ios apps. I need mac os.

There are many user experience issues in linux.

it has a unix terminal built-in

I use one because sometimes I need to do iOS development.

So this is one point I probably should have noted in the post, this is definitely one very compelling reason.

I've recently considered purchasing a NUC (Intel powered mini pc) and putting OSX on it for this very reason

Only for work. That's what everyone seems to use around Silly Valley now so I just go with the flow. I tried at Groupon to use Linux for a bit and gave it up.

"silly valley" - That's not a bad name.

I problem I have found with using linux at work is interactivity with various VPN software...

Oh man, that's definitely one thing Apple got right. The little "VPN" icon "just works" once you set it up.

I go with OS choices.

With a Macbook and bootcamp, you can run OSX and Windows 7.

If I can't run OSX, that's a big problem.

Why not run OSX on a Win7 computer(just curious)? Of course the official support bootcamp gives you is great.

Are you a really big fan of OSX? I'm assuming you prefer it so much that you prioritize it, and plus/minus windows

You can't do it (easily). I think there are also hardware compatibilities to watch out and the effort (of setting it up and maintaining the 'hackintosh') just isn't worth it.

[Edited for typo]

There are some apps that are Mac only. Also you get access to the App Store with great Mac software.

Also it's got a good shell, etc. As far as I know, OSX is only licensed to run on Macs.

Because it's a fad. It's stylish, trendy and cool ... minimalistic and such.

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