Ask HN: Why does everyone use a MacBook Pro despite saying they suck?

I have no desire to get a MacBook Pro. They are overpriced, you have to carry around dongles for everything and I would rather have real function keys than the touch bar. I actually like both my work and home Dell 2n1s better.

On the other hand, I'm slowly moving away from being a "windows developer". I'm still using .Net but it's .Net Core. As I start seeing how great the "Windows Tax" is as far as system resources and cost when it comes to running hosted servers, Docker, serverless functions, etc. it makes no sense to stay on Windows, but I really don't feel like mucking with Linux on my personal computer. I've owned Macs in the past and having both commercial software, and a real Unix operating system would be ideal and of course I could do iOS development.

So the question is, do you need a laptop? For $100 more you can get a 27 inch 5K iMac with 32GB of RAM a 2TB fusion drive. You get a faster computer, twice as much RAM. A better keyboard, a more performant GPU and USB 3 ports.

SO I am typing this on my Personal Surface pro, and I have a Macbook Pro (2012) for work. I also have developed a distaste for Macs and am not afraid to voice my view.

Simply Mac OS has become shitty in comparison. The Windows XP of the modern era. It's got some cool tricks, but the OS is stale, and almost has to be. Windows and Linux can be innovative because they have more too lose (Like Macs in 2001).

Mac OS's deepest flaw (in my view) is simply terrible window management even compared to earlier versions I have used. If you are a mac head I'm sure it all makes perfect sense, but as someone who aims to switch comfortably between OSs (to the point that I favor OS neutral apps as much as possible) the radical difference in philosophy for Macs is simply Jarring.

But that personal issue aside, the system over relies on security through obscurity. This means that because Mac OS is only used for at most 10% of laptop/desktops, and not servers (Linux) or 90% of laptop/desktops (Windows) they are an incredibly small target for hackers, and are thusly "Secure" despite regularly ranking at the bottom of security reviews. You can see this in the basic security flaws in every new OS release.

Lastly the biggest issue is exposure. The more people there are using something, the more problems there will be. every new person is another chance to find a flaw. Dell, HP, and every computer manufacturer has experienced this.

Now all that said why did I pick a Macbook Pro, and why would I recommend anyone buy one? Simply support, unix, and build quality. Macs get a lot of developer support, meaning that you have access to really great tools. This is the same reason to choose windows for the best MS Office support or what not. My Co-Worker has a hackintosh just so he can run music editing software when he is not gaming (which of course he runs windows for).

Unix is also a killer feature. You get the great native Posix shell (which LSS on Windows, and just Linux also provides), which makes it easy to develop on and for the Linux/unix systems I rely on at work.

The build Quality is also great. Windows PCs are finally rivaling Macs, but Macs just are well made and hold up well to age.

I have a 2017 13" touch-bar at home and a 2016 15" touch-bar at work.

The work machine works fine and is mostly docked so I don't care about the ports either.

My personal macbook however was a totally different story:

- While usb-c only ports were annoying, it was much improved by the usb-c to usb-a converter included with my Samsung S8 (oh, the irony).

- The keyboard, however, was a totally different experience. I've had two replacements - one where some keys started failing (as in they'd either get stuck down or up randomly) and another one where the touchbar started acting really weird (no wakeups, hangs etc..) which was just as bad because they moved escape key to "touch" bar. Go figure.

But the problem with the Mac is that the OS has become actively worse in recent years. They could have literally not updated it at all in the last decade or so and the system would be better than it is today.

The same is true for the hardware. A Macbook of 5 years ago is a better machine than the current ones (except for things like CPU speed etc, of course).

Note that this is of course not limited to Apple. Windows 8 was also quantifiably a worse operating system than Windows 7. GNOME has gone through the same quality degradation on multiple occasions as well.

I specifically talked about the difference between Windows 7 and 8, because that's one case where I don't think anyone could disagree.

I personally feel that 7 is still a better system than 10, but I acknowledge that other people could make a valid argument for the opposite.

My 2011 Macbook Air is still on 10.8. Partially because it has a 64 GB SSD with not enough free space to upgrade, but also because there is absolutely nothing in newer versions that would make it better, and plenty of things that makes it worse.