so, the deal with macs

There's never any good ones.

EDIT: Aw, I was responding to when the topic was title only.

Overpriced. End of the story.

Just really overpriced for what you're actually getting. They're not terrible computers, but they're not worth the ridiculous price.

overpriced is it.

What I dont like about it? Maybe the fact that I can get a PC to perform just as good for 1/4 of the price. Oh, and because Id rather game on a Nokia 3310 than on OS X.

overpriced, proprietary everything, interface feels slow (and ugly) to me, and a very minor gripe about how iPods came long after other excellent portable mp3 players and killed them off due to a larger marketing budget (and, admittedly, a more widely-accepted design than most others of the time since, although just as small, others usually looked kinda tacky in the same way "gamer" PC cases do)

if a mac works for you though, cool. i've recommended macs before to non-tech people because although I have a personal dislike for them, sometimes they are the better tool for a different person. for myself, I used one for a few years at work and never liked it except for the sort of visual Alt-Tab-type thing it has that I bound to a mouse button (but Win has add-ons that do the same thing)

Also, in prior years, incompatible with most games. Still that way, but getting a lot better.

I have reasons for not liking Windows too, but I much prefer it to using a Mac. I can move through Windows much faster than with a Mac too, but that might just be due to growing up with Win.
I haven't really tried Linux for any decent length of time.

Used it, broke just after the day warranty ended.

OP are you implying even though the hardware is the same and you both are running windows that the mac is better because reasons?

Buying 2 computers that can run for example Battlefield 4 on ultra is possible for the price of one mac that can't.

My 2007 15" MacBook Pro serves as my main (actually only) gaming and non-gaming computer device. I used to triple boot into Win/Linux but now I just manage with Mac OS X (productivity, photo and film things) and Windows 7 (games). I still like the thing very much, it plays most of my preferred games reasonably well (actually amazingly well considering its age) though an upgrade is admittedly long overdue. That next upgrade will probably not be a Mac for me, however. And I'd love to tell you why but typing on my pitiful jabscreen is sad business, so expect more rambling when I get home in an hour!

EDIT : As promised, my reasoning for not choosing to buy a Mac as my next PC mostly revolve around the arguments of (1) Expandability / Repairability, (2) Performance, especially in regards to (3) Price.

Considering (1): I've seen enough insides of Macs to last a lifetime, this counts for both desktops and laptops. Talking about laptops, the fine folks at iFixit took apart the recent 15" Retina Pro, and guess what, the thing received the lowest repairability score they have. This is the same iFixit that I consulted when opening my 2007 MacBook Pro and replacing the optical drive and harddrive with faster (and bigger) models, all without a hitch. I know the new Pro is worlds apart in terms of performance, berth and weight (or lack of, in the latter cases) but non-user replaceable RAM and battery when it comes to laptops are cardinal sins in my book.

The desktops tell a similar tale, unfortunately. The earlier generation iMacs were tricky enough to service with the glass that had to be removed with mini suction cups (I've done this several times before on my friends' machines) before being able to dig into the internals, but you got to replace almost everything in there to your heart's content, even the GPU. With the latest models, even something as basic as replacing the RAM has become next to impossible, and thanks to gluing everything in place, user serviceability of the latest 21" iMac is barely better than the 15" Retina at 2/10, compare this with 2011's solid 7/10 rating - sad.

This leaves us with the Mac Pros, which in their previous iterations came in standard (albeit beautiful and massive) cases that housed your familiar mobos and all the regular hardware bells and whistles from PC-land, although sometimes in various Mac-only flavours (like the woefully underspecced Mac Radeons of yesteryear). There were solutions to these limitations, you could easily install a meaty Nvidia card to do the graphics heavy lifting, just flash it with an Apple-friendly custom BIOS and you were set. Of course all of this has changed with the latest generation of Apple's flagship pro machine, with even more custom (propriety) solutions that will hopefully offer blazing performance (PCI-E SSDs!) in a small form factor, but you can see where this is headed. Which one of these is going to be easier to upgrade and repair?

As mentioned, it's time to talk about (2) performance. Macs then and now offer plenty, especially the higher tier models (laptops and desktops alike) but performance as a concept never exists in a vacuum, per se. Your performance can vary wildly depending on the situation and task at hand. You mentioned yourself that your Retina handily beats a similarly specced laptop in games, and I have no problem at all believing that. It's interesting though that because the Retina has received Apple's "Pro" product designation, it comes with pro driver support for professional software suites that would otherwise require expensive "pro" graphics hardware, like the pricey Nvidia Quadros or AMD FirePros. Programs optimised to work with pro hardware will work with the Kepler chip in the Retina because of the driver support it receives - the same cannot be said of non-Apple laptops with the same chip, as they do not count as "pro" hardware in the same sense (source). This means increased performance in the software that is written to take advantage of the pro features those drivers provide. This is quite a big deal for professionals. (Not to mention that gorgeous super hi-res screen).

As mentioned earlier, the Mac Pros with their custom PCI-E SSDs and Thunderbolt 2 support won't be a slouch in the performance department either, although this remains to be seen of course. Whether this can be said of the more consumer oriented iMacs is a matter of debate, but as always, depends on your specific needs and wants. All of this comes at a cost though...

And we arrive at the final point, (3) price. I would love to get my hands on a Retina MacBook Pro, that screen and the all metal build and finish just about kill everything else out there, but with the prices as they are right now, that's going to be hard to justify. Even less so with the upcoming Mac Pro. Would I like to own one? Of course I would! But at a starting price of 3K and probably twice that for a satisfyingly meatier spec, I just don't see that happening. So what I will probably end up doing is build myself a Hackintosh. The list of supported hardware components grows longer every day, and although I lose the fine design (and possibly build quality), I can reach similar performance at a price I can afford, while remaining flexible, user serviceable and open to future developments.

And I gain the biggest advantage of all, the ability to use Mac OS X along with any other OS I care to throw at my machine. There are some things I actually like better in Windows (some basic file management tasks, for example) but for everything else from design to stability, security, user friendliness and overall user experience, Mac OS X wins - every time, all the time. I should probably mention that I say this is as someone who has grown up with and been using Windows since version 3.1 and has been a heavy user of every major consumer and pro version of that OS since. Personally I also think that Apple has the best video editing software in the business in the form of Final Cut Pro X (and possibly also audio in Logic), but I realise that not everyone would share that appraisal.

Well that's about it for now. Cheers if you've made it this far!

I will say, their hard drives have a penchant for an abnormally long lifespan.

I don't hate macs. On the other hand, as usual with Apple products, I love the design and the OS.
Well, I don't actually own one myself. My dad does and he's using it well. The laptop itself is kind of old I guess, but thanks to the recent free Mavericks update it's still working great.
It's be great to have a mac of my own, if only Mac was the dominant OS instead of Windows. (And also I don't really need a laptop yet)

I have the newest MBP Retina with discreet graphics.
The nvidia card isn't really sufficient for the games I'd like to play, but for simple stuff (Portal?) it'd be perfectly fine.

I didn't pay a cent for this machine, though. Work paid for it (I'm a programmer). ~$3.2k I didn't have to part with.

EDIT: I should actually answer your question. I dislike Macs because they're touted by idiots who have no idea what they're doing with such a machine apart from using it as a $2k FB machine. For those who know exactly what they want to do with them, they're great at what they do. They are still expensive, though.

I've grown up with Windows.
I've never actually seen a Mac, ever, and I've worked at several PC shops and stores through the years.

Some people probably just don't like change. Like me, they've grown up with Windows, don't want to try anything different and just stay with what they are comfortable with.

Hay guys give me reasons why mac is better pls circlejerk.

They are too overpriced for the hardware you get. Laptops don't have number pads. Lack of games (but is getting better), and specific software (SolidWorks). Other than that I see no problem.

I used Windows all my life til university where being an arts student, I was kinda forced to use OSX. At first I hated it just because it wasn't what I was used to, but I ended up getting a 15" MBP so I could take my uni work home with me (we use a lot of mac-only software) and I LOVE IT. I also dual boot Win7 (I could never give up Windows entirely, largely because of game compatibility) and I could never go back, I think I will always need a Mac in my life now. Call me silly, but the way OSX is laid out and the inclusion of easy to use and aesthetically pleasing apps like Mail and iCal make me feel so much more productive..even when I'm not. I bought an iPad at the start of the year and syncing everything between it and my mac is flawless (and for someone as forgetful as me, super, super handy for keeping calendars and notes and lists together).

I can also attest to great performance. Interestingly, I have found some programs and games run better under OSX than Windows on this same computer. I'm not sure if this is exactly correct but I was taught in high school that the architecture of macs is more efficient, so they perform better than PCs with identical specs.

I don't think I could go back to using a Windows based laptop again. My MBP is pretty heavy because I have one of those plastic hardshell cases on it, but it's sturdy as all hell, does everything I want it to do, the battery life is great, and if I ever need a replacement battery or anything I can just go down to the shop and pick one up. It looks nice too, except MBPs being that flush aluminium means they show dirt real easily. I've also never found any trackpad that comes close to being as smooth and responsive as that of the macbook/standalone apple trackpad. The only real gripes I have with this laptop are small ones (it gets warmer than others, only 2 USB ports, would like more flexibility with upgrades) so I don't worry too much about those things, it does everything I want it to so it's fine for me.

tl;dr I hated macs til I bought one and now I couldn't live without it

I like Mac, but I will never buy one because of the cost. I use a MBP pro for work, but I don't do anything personal on it, so no gaming.

What I don't like is the arrogance that many Mac owners seem to have. I my opinion, Mac owners are like Harley owners. They just look down on anyone that doesn't use their brand.

...and my favorite Mac joke: How do you know if someone uses a Mac? They'll tell you.

You say you have double the RAM your friend have, that´s kind of a big deal performance wise. And you have to bootcamp windows 7 to run the games that don´t have OSX support, that´s a point against the system.

That said, the closed nature of the hardware could make the system perform slightly better. To the point of justify the overprice and the issues of a closed platform? Nope, not even close.

Good quality, good OS, bad price. I just couldn't justify the amount of money they want for such inexpensive hardware, so I passed and never bought any. I grabbed my frend's mac a few times tho, it seemed nice and performed well.

I don't have a problem. If one has the money and a slightly sheepish mentality he can go ahead and purchase whatever he/she wants.

It's not a problem - Macintoshs are extremely good laptops.

They just cost way too much for their components. A Mac costs at least twice the sum of its parts.

And I don't like the operating system because all the animations make me naseous, and it's hard to do anything/customize/hack/generally get things the way I want them. I feel like Mac OS is designed for children.

Mac is the best for art. Meaning graphic design, 3d animation, film editing, audio editing, etc. Sure, you can do that stuff on PC but it's higher quality on Mac which is why the movie industry uses them. For the idiots, I'm not saying you can't do that stuff on PC. Not sure how good Macs are for gaming but the price alone makes PC better to build a gaming machine. I'm still gonna say PC is better for gaming anyway, but again for the idiots that doesn't mean you cannot play games on a Mac. They each have their purpose in my opinion.

Gaming = PC
Art = Mac

"I do own a macbook pro retina 15, which I use for gaming BUT it's not the thing I primarily bought it for."

Anyone who does buy a macbook primarily for gaming should be slapped so hard that they cease to have ever existed.