Backstory/Context: My wife is an aspiring writer and wants to self-publish a novel that she’s been writing. Currently she’s typing on my old Asus ROG gaming laptop that I no longer use. It’s (barely) running Windows Vista, it was built with Crysis in mind (really shows you how old it is), it’s bulky & heavy, and the battery is completely dead (no longer charges)
Originally, I wanted to get her a MacBook because she can switch between MacOS and Windows (via Boot Camp) to get the best of both worlds, that’s until I found out Boot Camp no longer works/exists. I also felt sticking with the Apple ecosystem might be better in the long run, allowing her to sync her iPhone, use iMessage/FaceTime/iCloud etc… when she’s not near her phone, better laptop design & portability.
I’ve been using MacBooks since Leopard-era and have experience with Apple computers before (candy colored iMac and 5200LC) so I know my way around an Apple keyboard & the shortcuts.
She, on the other hand, has only used Windows.
Definitely looking for laptop recommendations in general. Sure, it might be bias to post this in an Apple community but as an Apple user, I’d like to hear other opinions. Maybe there’s a Windows laptop with a similar feel/design of a MacBook? Perhaps the MacBook is the better choice?
Might be worth mentioning that I’ve heard horror stories about people finding spyware on Windows laptops (I think Dell/Alienware was the big one) and I’m totally out of the laptop game.
A Mac is never going to be the greatest gaming machine, but an M-series MacBook is still preferable to an Intel one. For instance, Civ VI via Rosetta runs better on my M1 MacBook Pro than it did on my previous i7.
I do not consider a Mac for a gaming machine since it’s library is extremely limited compared to a pc.
With that said, a steam dec+Mac would be a good combo.
Sure, but the gaming situation is no worse than before the Apple silicon switch. You mentioned a reduced software library, but Rosetta 2 can run pretty much any Intel-only app at speeds comparable (or faster) to the last-gen of Intel Macs. This isn’t like the transition in 2005!
Besides, we’re three years into the switch, almost all non-game apps are Universal now.