Hello Malstrom,
If you already have a desktop PC, I see no point in replacing it with any desktops Apple offers if you don’t need their OS specifically.
But it is a totally different story with their laptops in my opinion. Sure, you can get a more powerful laptop for less money from other manufactures, but you definitely won’t get the same build quality. And this is why I think Apple hardware is worth the money they ask for it. These are some beautifully engineered and manufactured machines, the level of craftsmanship is important to me in laptops, since you interact with them A LOT more than with desktops. Even the cheapest plastic one I’ve been using for a few years now doesn’t creak or make any other plastic noises, the lid doesn’t flex when I open it, the laptop doesn’t bend anywhere and still feels rock solid.
A week ago I went to a few stores to check out laptops from other brands, since I’m planing to upgrade, and all of them had these flaws. Even premium ones that costed as much as what Apple offers. And the ones with better build quality had sub-par parts in them. Also I admit, Apple option prices are ridiculous, the best bet is to go with the base model and just upgrade the ram and hdd yourself. It is easy and does’t void your warranty if you don’t damage anything. On mine I’ve tripled the amount of ram, installed an SSD and even replaced dvd-rom with a second hdd. Though one thing to consider, some of their newer models have ram soldered on motherboard, so here you’re forced to use their upgrade options unfortunately if you need more than 4 or 8 gigs.
Performance wise, all their current laptops come with good CPUs and latest intel graphics cards that will run old games without any problems. Their 15-inch MacBook Pro line though comes with a modern nVidia GPU and can run even the most demanding games at high frame rates with medium-to-high quality settings if you’re using laptop screen. For gaming I think it is still better to just install windows, Apple made it super easy with their bootcamp app.
Also their warranty is awesome. Last year I went to Asia for a few months, while there motherboard on my macbook died so I went to one of their authorized service providers, they replaced it within a day without any questions and at no-cost, I was surprised to be honest. I doubt most manufactures offer this level of service.
PS: Love your articles on gamedev business.
-A regular reader from Ukraine
If I did go Mac, I’d definitely go the laptop route or iMac mini with my own monitor display. The integrated monitor of the desktop Mac is worthless to me. Might as well just get the laptop.
I went on Apple Store and went yikes at the price. The regular Mac laptop doesn’t have the NVidia card (worthless). But the Macbook Pro does, and you get it at the cheap price of $1799. That is ridiculous.
I don’t understand why Apple has a different philosophy for their computers from their handheld products. You can buy OLD ipods new. You can even get the ones with the clickwheels for brand new. “No, you can’t, Malstrom!” I see it on the Apple store right now. Anyway, they don’t sell older versions of their computers. Maybe I don’t WANT the latest and greatest of their computers which overshoots my needs. Apple’s handheld line sells much better because the prices are below $1000 or even $500. I don’t understand why it is OK to sell old iPods but not old computers. I can’t justify spending nearly two grand on a laptop.
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