How durable are these Macbook? They certainly feel solid.

No. While they were one of the first to use fitted components and single billet casings. They are not the only ones to do so these days.

Yes, I am currently using a 2011 Macbook Air.  The Al case is still solid, the OS works like a champ, it is still a zippy little machine.  Most M$ machines I have had are totally POS in a couple of years.  

You tell me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBcW90ngh4g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRzGWNU77k



I'd love to know the issues you have had with the microsoft surface products?

Fpni

They have been surpassed much like many of their other legacy products.

Windows is garbage.  I use is every day at work.  

WRT Surface products I know NO ONE that even owns one.  I have checked them out on the shelf and I will say the quality is better than expected but because it runs a vs of Windows it won't ever go home with me.

My new Dell 15" XPS laptop seems to be on the same level as my 15" MacBook Pro construction wise.  

I haven't seen anything on par quality wise as my 12" MacBook though.

Virus


nuf said,  I have no longer concerned myself with computer maintenance tasks and being forced to purchase aftermarket applications to keep my machine in top running order.  My time is more valuable than M$ seems to realize.  I want to surf ARFCOM and not worry about catching crap in an email or from some stupid linked page.

In before the one button mouse comments.

Windows 10.



Fuck that.


Buy a MAC.


I have a MAC.

Never going BACK .

This. Burned too many times by the know-it-alls.

Multiple times I'd spent 3-4K for laptops approved by the peanut galler in GD. It's been 8 years or more now since I bought m first MacBook. I have two more; but the original still works. It's a weird feeling once you go Mac, you find yourself 3-4 years later buying a new computer merely because you want the new tech, instead of out of necessity because the old one has become so troublesome.

Spending 4k on a laptop?

I bought my last cheapo $4-500 Samsung laptop in 2012, it still runs great. I built my desktop in 2010 and it runs 24/7, no problems there either.  My sons macbook from 2013 is running like shit and he wants a new one.

I've had many MacBook and MacBook pros. I have never had any issues whatsoever.
I even ride my mountain bike to work quite often with my MacBook Pro in the pannier. Never had a problem at all.

He said "premium", not "bottom of the barrel".

I've got a laptop that's as old as yours, and still used daily, with the original installation of Windows and all, but it wasn't a $700 bargain model.  Spend as much on a decent laptop as you spend on a decent macbook, and you can have one that's just as nice and long-lasting, or probably even better.

Try an XPS 15 with a 4K display (with 100% adobe RGB color space reproduction) with edge-to-edge gorilla glass, an i7, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB NVME SSD, metal chassis, carbon fiber hand rest.  Higher-res display, faster CPU, more RAM, more and faster disk than a macbook, and absolutely solid build quality to boot.  It's slightly more than the top-of-the-line Mac Book, but is much better equipped.  Oh, yeah, and Thunderbolt 3, so if you dock, not only can you run dual 4K monitors in addition to the built-in display, the dock will charge the laptop through the Thunderbolt port at the same time.

It's one thing when an otherwise intelligent person decides to drink Apple Corp Kool-Aid, but the being in denial that Apples can't get viruses is Everclear-infused Kool-Aid stupid.  Laughingly stupid.
Researcher cracks Mac in 10 seconds

That "Macs don't/can't get viruses" thing pisses me off to no end. Is there less malware "in the wild" for Macs vs. PC's? Sure.

Are Mac inherently more resistant to malware? For a while they were, since OS X has better privilege management then, say, Windows XP -- but modern Windows is just as robust.
Should you buy a Mac for security purposes? Absolutely fucking not. They're just as hackable and insecure out of the box as every other consumer OS.

M$+Virus

Apple /= Virus

It has come down to this for me, and the OSX is rock solid.  Unlike Windows.  I use Windows every day at work so I go back and forth daily.  

I have personally NEVER known a user with an infected Mac,  I have know plenty with Windows.  

Just wait till you have a perfectly good Windows
computer that is turned into a paperweight that is no
longer supported.


Or you get updated to Windows 10 with a bunch of spy apps.

Your PERSONAL experience has a statistical data point of ONE. That does not signify.
That "Macs don't/can't get viruses" thing pisses me off to no end. Is there less malware "in the wild" for Macs vs. PC's? Sure. It is more profitable to write viruses for the many more millions of Windows PCs than the fewer Apple users.
Are Mac inherently more resistant to malware? For a while they were, since OS X has better privilege management then, say, Windows XP -- but modern Windows is just as robust.
Should you buy a Mac for security purposes? Absolutely fucking not.  Security professionals know that the Mac is just as hackable and insecure out of the box as every other consumer OS.

Considering MS is selling the fuck out of the Surface devices, I'd say your anecdote is pointless.  



And how many Mac models became unsupported when Sierra dropped?  Apple basically pioneered planned obsolescence in the PC market. I could run Win95 on this i7 machine if I felt like it.

Your choice.  And actually, I graduated from college in 2014 (old dude who went back), guess what sat in front of most students, Macs, and old ones at that.  Most of my extended family long ago migrated to Apple products.  Only my father is hold out.  Guess what, he is a photographer and his "work" machine is now a Mac.  He plays on his Windows computer.  

I just bought a used 2013 Macbook Pro Retina and trying it out. I've been using your typical Windows laptops before for years - Dell Latitudes, Lenovo Thinkpads, and HP Elitebooks. I am still getting used to the new OS but overall I like this older Macbook. Love the touchpad - it's not buggy and the glass surface feels very nice. I know the Elitebook has a glass touchpad but it seems like a pale imitation. The Retina screen is beautiful. I'm kind of a screen/pixel density snob and for any laptop, no less than 1080p IPS will do. This Retina screen has such rich, vibrant colors. And the higher resolution also makes everything so clear.

Overall, the Macbook experience is impressive and noticeably more refined. I hate Windows updates and all the little quirks and problems that pop up from time to time. For reference, I'm comparing this Macbook Pro with the newer Dell Inspiron 13-7352 and the Lenovo Yoga 2, both 13"-14" laptops with higher end specs. I like them too, but the Macbook feels more solid, and better thought-out. The Macbook doesn't have loud fan noises and keyboard flex the Lenovo Yoga 2 has. The Dell is pretty solid and would give the Macbook a run for its money in terms of build-quality. Its weakness lies in the Windows 10 OS.

Lenovo/IBM used to be the shit for premium durable laptops, but the markets changed. I still use a T400 that works great (not daily) and while the T450s and T460s are still good, they definitely aren't the tanks they used to be. The business/xps Dells are good and the high end HPs are supposed to be good although I don't have experience with them.

My next laptop may be a Dell, in not sure, I've been a Lenovo Thinkpad guy for so many years. I'm biased toward Windows, although 8-10 grind my gears. I can't stand the Mac keyboards and I had a MBP for work at an old job for a year and still hated it. That and the fact they tried to convince users a single button mouse was a good idea pretty much sums up my impression of Apple, imho that company clearly doesn't understand ergo or usability in any meaningful way. Never personally bought an Apple product and thats probably not changing any time soon.

Actually Windows 95 probably wouldn't run on your i7.   But that's not equivalent.  Try running Windows 10 on a core 2 duo and get back to me, because that's what you're complaining Apple doesn't allow.

Apple dropped machines that were 8+ years old as I recall.  They don't allow it to install  if it's not going to provide a good user experience, because that's what they're all about.

Macs are very nice, unfortunately they haven't had a real update in several years and are running old tech w/o a discrete graphics option for most of them.  It is what it is.  Razer has some interesting options available right now.

You do know their mouse has right and left click without having moving buttons.

The smart mouse is the greatest invention known to mankind!!!

I hate having to go back to a regular mouse.

OSX has supported two button mice since its inception.

Anybody talking about single button mice hasn't seen a Mac in twenty years or more.

What will people do when they learn about the magic third mouse click....



Everyday in my backpack I carry a MBP and SP4 both have a use. I don't use the surface nearly as much as the mac but that is because what I got it for isn't needed as much, however when I do need it then it fits its niche very well.

Our director just got a surface book and the fit and finish on it is very nice. The only thing I would like on it is if there were at least one USB on the display part instead of only the keyboard.

I prefer to use macOS vs windows because I like having a bash terminal at the ready and how well all the apps work with my other i devices.

Coincidentally, the last time I visited my family, I installed W10 and an SSD in an ancient Toshiba laptop with a Core Duo T2050 and a failing hard drive.

Unfortunately, it outperformed all their newer laptops by enough that they all had SSDs by the time I left.

Lenovo T or W series > MacBook Pro. The W series were built to military standards...The MacX was built to look good and appease people who don't need a powerful machine, just like the iPhones they're dumbed down and have limited capability.

The only think that the Macbooks have going for them is magnetic chargers IMO.

LOL

Does your Lenovo "military standards" include the malware in firmware they ship with?

And the rest of your post is just utterly uninformed in every way.

There are legitimate issues to discuss with macbooks, but what you made up aren't those concerns.

Sure the P series are more powerful, but the T or W series are no where as thin or have anywhere as good of a display.

apples to oranges

OSX is better written than Windows, it only has to work on Apple machines so it much trimmer.

Don't compare computer specs like processor speed compare performance benchmarks.

Apple gets a lot more out of hardware than WIndows does and Ubuntu gets more than both of them.  This is why old computers shine on Ubuntu.

There are Windows laptops out there with equivalent build quality, but you will spend the same or more to get it.  

Durability depends on your perspective and definition.  They are generally pretty durable/reliable, and I have gotten far longer useful lifespans out of Macbooks than PC laptops overall.  You can physically abuse and break them though, same as any other non-ruggedized laptop.

Windows vs. OSX is subjective preference, too.  Both work well, and have pros and cons about them.  Examine your software needs and choose the one that best suits your specific requirements.

Big trash day in our neighborhood last week and my 11 year old dug a 27" imac out of the trash from around the corner...looks intact. Now hes trying to get it to boot up

Bet it needs a drive.  Many of them had bad hard drives.

I just got through replacing the hard drive one one of them the other day.

This.  Figure out the exact model, and check iFixit for instructions to disassemble and replace.

i used to be a die-hard windows guy, who hated everything apple.  got a macbook a few years ago, and it's probably the best (most reliable/durable) computer i've ever owned.  

i haven't looked at windows since; things may have changed in the last few years.

I'm well aware they don't have them anymore, because they were retarded. And I'm aware you didn't have to use them. It's just an example of how stubborn and obnoxious that company can be imho.

Take your reason and logic elsewhere damnit!



I'd second this.   I was reluctant to get another laptop after ordering a couple from the big makers.   They always started out great but physically fell apart in a couple of years.  Screen flop being a common issue as well as worn out plastic at the hand rest and garbage trackpads that seemed to always do what I didn't want or wore out quickly requiring the use of an external mouse.  Then there was the creaky plastic case.

I was handed (under protest) a MacBook at work, because we really needed to get up to speed on getting our security software working with them and I could no longer avoid it.   After 2 or 3 months using the 15" MacBook Pro for work I was rather hooked.   It simply felt nicer, looked nicer, and the damn Retina screen took other common work laptops and curb stomped them on visual appeal of the graphics.   After a year of heavy use I noticed that: Keys were not fading out; The screen was tight and stayed in exactly the position it was placed;  No loss of color / surface finish where my hands rested.   The trackpad remained a pleasure to work with and I could leave gestures on because it was not constantly mis-interpreting them.  

I liked them enough to switch at home as well.  I now use a 13" 2013 MBP for my personal system (and this I think is the ideal size too).  I use an iMac now for my personal desktop system and a couple of HP DL380s running VMWare ESXi for Windows File Servers and Workstation needs.   I also have VMWare Fusion to run Windows on the iMac if needed.   I rarely need it anymore.

Honestly I think there are some pretty good Windows systems copying their model now that they set that bar.   Also they are getting long in the tooth technology-wise as they have not been updated in the past couple of years.   So they are not as good a value as they once were.  Still, my 2012 and 2013 laptops are running like new today and feel like new as well.  They run all the applications I need them to run and all my other Windows laptops have been relegated to desk or docking station by this time in their lives so I'm impressed.   Feels like something designed to give you the years of service that goes with the price-tag.

Apple had the one button mouse more than a decade before anything else of consequence even had a mouse, and the second button features were easily accessed with a key stroke - it really was never the big deal GD has made it out to be.

Wasn't the 27" the one that had really bad video/mainboard problems?

The fanaticism out there is ridiculous and, unfortunately, many times repugnant.  Use what works for you and you're most comfortable with for your situation.  It's similar to the "best gun" arguments.

I work in security field and do most of my work in an Linux-necessary environment.  I can get that functionality (mostly) on OS X while not trading off extensibility and/or interoperability that you often run into with Linux-only installs.  That said, I use Windows daily.  The differentiators for me as to why I prefer Apple equipment over typical PC-based machines are 1) I can run OS X virtually without having to cobble together a hackintosh for research, 2) the feature formerly known as "Spaces", 3) the keyboard, and 4) the touchpad.

Do not buy a Mac with the misconception that it is impervious to malware or is more stable than Windows.

No idea..never used one before...

Model A1419
EMC 2546
serial C02KW01rF29N

I have the specs on it but I don't know about any problems

That model number puts it in the right range for the REP covered here.  Just something for him to be aware of if the video is wonky.