@PurpCat@mischievoustomato@Purp1Lady I'd like a Mac Pro like the original one I had where I could add components (HDDs, SSDs, RAM, video card) as I could afford them.
Personally, I agree. Apple should offer MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers with the ability to install your own SSD and own SO-DIMM RAM via little removable plates on the bottom of them. I had that ability with my old MacBook Pro (mid-2012). I installed a SATA 2.5" SSD to replace the hard drive and maxed out the RAM.
@mischievoustomato@gray@Purp1Lady@Sui The guy who works for Apple has an M2 MacBook Pro. He told me the M4 just blows that processor out of the water. Anything M1, M2, M3, M4 is good. With the M4 though they hit major performance improvements though.
macOS is and always was free from the first version of Mac OS X. Mac OS Classic was a whole other story. Microsoft is the one that charges an arm and a leg for version upgrades.
My MacBook Air 13" (2017) lasted me eight years until I was forced to upgrade because it's too damned slow for photo software coming out now. The new MacBook Air 15" (M4, 2025) runs circles around it, too.
On my older MacBook Air it took 30+ minutes to process a RAW photo file. On my newer one it takes less than 30 seconds or less. To me, this made the purchase absolutely worth it.
On my older MacBook Air I upgraded the SSD to 2TB from 512GB. Also, in October 2024 I replaced the battery, because after five years you normally have to do that with any laptop.
I've generally had a lot of good luck with Apple products. They also made my new MacBook Air in Vietnam not China which is a bonus. I'd prefer "Made in the USA" but no computer company is there yet.
My favorite Mac was the MacBook Pro 13" (mid-2012). Could do so many things with that laptop.
Years ago, I used to build Linux computers with Linspire and sell them to businesses. One Florida business bought 40 of them off me. Not one of them came back defective either, because I used quality components not crappy ones.
@mischievoustomato@Purp1Lady@Sui@rees Our Official Photographer Team Leader works for Apple. He used his Friends & Family Employee Purchase Plan to save some money for me. Much appreciated because that allowed me to buy the Anker Thunderbolt 5 doc I was able to get.
I was shocked when I saw the tracking information. Left Hanoi, Vietnam instead of China. Apple is finally getting its production out of China. The Magic Trackpad I ordered for my desktop setup is also made in Vietnam.
I gave up that idiocy years ago - always chasing the faster specs, etc. It's not worth it. Just buy what you want to use and to hell with everyone else.
@Purp1Lady This is when you need government and regulate their asses. Forcing people to download updates when they don't want to is wrong and the business ethics of it is up for a lengthy discussion.
Say what you will about Apple, but this is why I prefer macOS. Apple doesn't force you to update, so I can update when I choose to do so after bugs have been ironed out.
@Sui@Purp1Lady That's nice. I'm not a fairy gay faggot and I don't drink Charbucks. I don't pretend Apple is not more expensive, because I just felt it in my pocketbook getting my new MacBook Air out of necessity for my photography. Especially when I'm going through and processing over 7000+ photos like I did last year with Balloon Fiesta 2024. Not going through that shit again.
I'll tell you something right now. Apple has hit a home run with the M4 series of Apple Silicon. When what took 30+ minutes to process last year, now takes 30 seconds or less. That is how impressive these new processors/GPU's are.
I'm putting on my Computer Analyst/Programmer hat here, and yes I have a degree that gave me the ability to program in six different programming languages.
macOS is a vastly superior OS over Windows and even Linux. I've used more Linux distributions than I care to count. Apple does some boneheaded shit sometimes, but that happens with every OS. Windows has had its share of it over the years.
Linux still sucks shit after all these years, because you still don't have companies making products I use every single day. Windows sucks shit all the time to this day since Windows 3.
e.g. DxO PhotoLab, DxO FilmPack, DxO PureRaw, DxO ViewPoint, Topaz Photo AI 4, Tag Editor, To Audio Converter, Mac DVD Ripper Pro, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher, Visual Watermark, etc.
If these companies offered these software applications I'd probably be using Linux. But, it is what it is.
In my world, if you make the software they will come. Linux doesn't make software that even approaches the functionality that I need in my computing life. I've been using computers since my first AMIGA 500 back in the late 1980s, so I think I know what I'm talking about here. Oh... I was even a Commodore AMIGA Authorized Dealer with my own computer store back in Canada.
In 1997, I was faced with going with the Mac or a Windows computer, because Commodore went bankrupt back in 1992. My AMIGA was getting too slow online, etc. I chose the Mac with the Power Macintosh 5400/180 while I was still in the Canadian Forces. Then I got the first iMac (Bondi Blue) and sold my Power Mac to a friend of mine.
🌹 Call me PIP🌹 Jesus Christ is my Lord & Savior🌹 Christian - Roman Catholic🌹 Photographer - Fujifilm X-mount (APS-C)🌹 Artist (oil and acrylic paintings)🌹 Poet🌹 Last known Renaissance Man