The great thing about the 16-inch MacBook Pro is that both the physical design and the hardware are ... [+]
Attacking Apple is a popular pastime. And the MacBook Pro is one of the most popular targets.
The critiques that I stumble across are typically written by hacks — who don’t actually use a MacBook. They have a boilerplate (repeated over and over) that they use to lament the death of the MacBook and/or crow about how much better their Windows hardware is.
The latest Windows 10 laptops have impressive hardware but....
I use MacBooks and the latest Windows laptops interchangeably. So I know that some of the criticism I read is bunk.
In addition to a mid-2019 13-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, I use/test a stable of new (2019 and 2020) Windows 10 laptops. While many of those Windows laptops have hardware that is more cutting edge* compared to the MacBook Pro 13, the problem is that hardware alone doesn’t define a laptop.
To state the obvious, when buying a laptop, you have to consider the entire package: the importance of hardware-software compatibility versus having the latest and greatest specs.
Windows will be Windows
It’s an old argument but Windows isn’t as stable as the Mac OS. And then there’s the hardware quality control problem on Windows laptops. About a third of the dozen or so Windows 10 laptops I’m testing now have serious hardware-software compatibility issues and/or hardware quality control issues.
In my long experience with MacBooks, the Mac OS is better behaved. And Apple has better quality control compared to most of the Windows laptops I test.
Just as importantly, my MacBook is an extension of my iPhone (and the iPad if you have one). That is hard to put a price on and is a must for me.
The 2020 MacBook Pro
And MacBook bashing is getting a little more challenging.
The MacBook Pro 16 that I’m writing this post on is the best large-screen laptop I’ve ever used. If Apple can replicate that on an update and/or redesign of the MacBook Pro 13, MacBook detractors will have to work a lot harder.
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Notes:
I’m referring to gratuitous criticism of Apple. I have criticized the Retina MacBook Air for example. But that criticism came after six months of using a late-2018 Retina MacBook Air day in and day out. So, yes, when necessary, I will take Apple to task. But not gratuitously.
*For example, some of the newest 2020 Windows laptops use Intel’s latest 10th Generation 10-nanometer processors (current MacBooks don’t) and boast physical designs with ultra-thin display bezels and 4K touch displays (current MacBooks have neither).
