

Ask HN:Why do you all use macbooks - hardwaresofton

So I&#x27;ve been watching a lot of webcasts, talks, etc and I&#x27;m wondering why seemingly everyone uses Macbooks.<p>I&#x27;ve been ankle deep in linux for about 5 years. I phrase it that way mostly because I know I&#x27;m nowhere near a &#x27;kernel guy&#x27;, and I really haven&#x27;t taken time to look at linux inside and out from even a software perspective. But, I&#x27;m fascinated with how many people use macbooks instead of laptops loaded with <i>nix.<p>I&#x27;m guessing because it&#x27;s been (up until recently) the only mass produced </i>nix system commercially available? Or is it reliability? Or is it just people being trendy? Or is OSX the greatest operating system ever invented?<p>PS - My intent is not to start a flamewar here, just want to know why you use a Mac, if you do.<p>[EDIT] - Thanks for the responses everyone -- if you could also weigh in on Ultrabooks (I&#x27;m eyeing ASUS&#x27;s Zenbook&#x2F;Macbook) if you happen to have experience in both -- I&#x27;m toying with the idea of buying a new laptop)<p>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&#x27;m asking for myself, not on behalf of any corporation&#x2F;pr company&#x2F;etc.
======
larrykubin
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
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?

~~~
ChrisClark
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
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?

~~~
joncalhoun
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.

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

------
rpicard
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
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.

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

------
dagw
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.

------
ubaniak
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.

------
eip
[http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/tech-fun/wp-
cont...](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/tech-fun/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/applestore.gif?54b313)

------
hardwaresofton
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

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

~~~
hhandoko
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.

~~~
abrowne
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.

------
adriancooney
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
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)...

------
hellcow
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
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

------
mattquiros
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
"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)?

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

------
mijustin
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.

------
lifeguard
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).

~~~
jgeorge
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.

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

------
garysweaver
Linus's reasons for using a Macbook: [http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-
interview-with-millenium...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-
with-millenium-technology-prize-finalist-linus-torvalds/)

------
Fomite
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.

~~~
milhous
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.

~~~
rdouble
_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?

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

~~~
hardwaresofton
this.

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

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

------
lobster_johnson
> _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.

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

------
meerita
Because it's a nice piece of hardware?

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

------
stewie2
I develop ios apps. I need mac os.

There are many user experience issues in linux.

------
bra-ket
it has a unix terminal built-in

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

~~~
hardwaresofton
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

------
trimbo
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.

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

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

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

------
CyberDroiD
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.

~~~
hardwaresofton
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

~~~
hhandoko
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]

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

