The debate between Macs and PCs has been raging with consumers for decades. What people know and think they know about the respective brands has created intense tribes of thought that devotedly espouse one over the other. On internet forums, these debates can get downright ugly.
For your needs, choosing between them comes down to understanding what each respective brand offers and how that compares to your specific requirements. Though they are similar in many ways, comparing these key differences will help you make this crucial decision for your personal or business technology needs.
Price
This is the first thing that people consider when looking for a new laptop. It’s also the first thing that drives people away from Macs because they consistently, across the board, cost more than PCs.
However, the base price of the model is not the only consideration when stacking these up financially. PCs may have a cheaper overhead but a mid-range PC comes with much less memory and hard drive space than the same range Mac. If you need that space for your computing, gaming, or graphic design needs, you should consider that the PC that fits your needs may be even pricier.
Maintenance
This is another aspect that affects the price. PCs generally require more regular maintenance than Macs. Additionally, they don’t have a dedicated service support team handling all hardware and software issues as Apple does. This goes along with Apple’s consumer-focused business model.
Instead, PCs have diverse manufacturer’s guidelines and a more complicated process for troubleshooting and getting repairs.
Variety
One of the ways that Macs can offer an experience that requires comparatively little maintenance is that the options to consider when buying a Mac are significantly fewer than with PCs.
PCs are varied between vendors and models and can be much more easily customized depending on your specific needs. Whereas most Macs are computers that pretty much just come as they are (RAM and hard drive space can be upgraded and that’s about it), PCs can have swapped, customizable hardware components and tons of diverse options.
Stability
This is an issue that used to be a much larger sticking point in the debate between PCs and Macs, with PCs experiencing much more frequent crashes, errors, viruses, and bugs. However, the Windows operating system has gotten its act together on these issues.
Risks for malware invasion and hacking are still worse on PCs but the divide has definitely shrunk. This is probably not the fault of the machine but of the fact that so many more computers are PCs as opposed to Macs, so hackers devote more resources to learning how to invade them.
Regardless of the reasons, though, if you’re looking to buy this computer to process or store sensitive employee or client information, it may be safer to go with a Mac.
Video gaming
With the customizable hardware options on PC, gaming computers are completely dominated by Microsoft. PCs offer streaming to major game consoles and all the upgradable hardware and software additions that any gamer could want.
If this is the reason you’re buying a computer, PC leaves Mac in the dust.
Your software requirements
This used to be another sticking point in this debate. Those who favored the Office Suite needed Windows so computers bought for a business space were always PCs. Meanwhile, as the originator of many editing and photo manipulation programs like Photoshop, the Mac remained king of individual creative ventures.
However, this is no longer true. Software exists on both operating systems to accomplish similar tasks. With the advent of internet-based and cloud-based storage systems and websites that host a ton of services that used to be accomplished through software, this is no longer really an issue in the choice between the two companies.
Trending tech
If you’re intro trending interaction technologies like touch and voice sensitive operations, PC has you covered. They’ve been much more willing than Mac to embrace voice commands (such as with Cortana in Windows 10) and their computers have many more touch-activated tool options for those that want them.
The Takeaway
This age-old debate has no clear answer without knowing the purpose of your purchase. By comparing the aptitudes of Mac and PC against your goals, you can figure out which is right for you, since in a general sense they both have a lot to offer.
Though Mac has closed the gap in terms of PC’s domination of office-related computing, PC still rules the market in terms of gaming. Macs may be far more expensive on average, but they are also sturdier, less prone to viruses, and have a stronger tech support system.
Look for Mac rentals in the UK if you want to test them out for yourself or your business without a huge financial commitment.
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