Should I still buy a Windows laptop?

Laptops are selling better and better and, especially in times of the pandemic, many have been looking for a new computer. While desktop PCs used to dominate the office and home world, more and more people are switching to laptops. With USB-C, more energy-efficient processors and better hardware, the reasons to buy a desktop PC are disappearing and instead to switch to a “hybrid setup”.

So you are flexibly set up on the go with a built-in keyboard and touchpad, as well as at home with a mouse, keyboard and screen. The setup at home is simply connected to the laptop with a USB-C cable, saving you a lot of adapters.

An essential question when looking for the right laptop is: macOS or Windows. In the past, this question was relatively easy to answer. If you have an iPhone and like to work in the Apple system, you should buy a MacBook. Because the notebook itself was not really different from a Windows laptop from Dell or Lenovo.

Apple is changing the MacBook and with it the market

But that has changed over time. Apple has started to build more and more of its own parts into their laptops and thus play their greatest advantage over other manufacturers.

They are the only company that build their own operating system and hardware. The processor can be adapted directly to the software, which leads to faster speeds and longer battery life. In addition, updates can be delivered longer and security gaps closed faster.

Apple’s move to use their own CPU instead of Intel, which was announced in 2020, caused a sensation. How will Apple’s first SoC perform?

The answer came with the first M1 Macs. The processor impressed the press and users with its performance and energy efficiency. The coordination of hardware and software was something new in the computer segment that Windows laptops did not offer before. Although they cost less, the hardware could not use its full potential because Windows slowed it down.

Windows simply has to run on a wide variety of hardware, Apple made use of this. They were also silent because they no longer needed a fan. This attracted a lot of Windows customers to Apple, even if they weren’t exactly Apple customers.

New processors: has the last hurdle been overcome?

So far, Intel still had one big advantage: high-end chips for professionals. Because complex programs such as Cinema 4D or Premiere Pro could not yet be fully used with the M1. Apple has now solved this with two new processors. The Apple M1 Pro and the Apple M1 Max.

The names sounded strange to me at first, but they make sense. While Intel names their CPUs relatively complicated (difficult for a normal customer to classify) Apple specifies three levels.

With more choices, customers are usually not sure in the end whether they have made the right decision. When there are only three to choose from, it is easier to choose.

Why even a Windows laptop at all?

With the new MacBook Pros, Apple now also has devices and processors for professionals. So should you still buy Windows devices at all?

For many professionals who work with Photoshop, music programs or video editing, there is no longer any reason to buy a Windows laptop. The new Mac books offer an incredible amount of power and are very energy efficient. Only users who are dependent on incompatible software are still too difficult to switch. A lot can be handled with the ARM version of Windows on the Mac, but by no means everything. Even gamers will miss almost all games with MacOS and a 2-in-1 MacBook does not yet exist.

MacBooks are still not cheap and you have to dig deep into your pockets for more memory. Although this “pays off” over a longer period of time (MacBooks last longer from personal experience), not everyone can afford it. With the new SoCs, Apple has put the Windows market under massive pressure, now Microsoft and co. Have to deliver.