Sometime in the next 6-10 months I will be without a laptop computer. I’ve always had some form of a home computer laptop or a work computer laptop. I think I’ll probably be retiring from my part time work and have been thinking…do I still want a laptop in my life?? And if so, which way do I go - PC or Apple?
I’ve had Apple laptops and have loved it - but I didn’t do much “work” on it. I’m more comfortable on a PC programs like Word, Excel - that type of thing. But after being fully retired, I imagine I’ll have infrequent need for those “work based” programs.
I have an iPad - honestly, it’s probably going to need to be replaced soon as well - it’s got to be 5+ years old and is constantly out of space.
I can’t imagine not having an iPad - I love an iPad. Do I need both - iPad and laptop? I love the look and feel of an apple computer - the graphics to me just look so much better. But I can troubleshoot a PC more? But I also hardly EVER had to troubleshoot Apple computer issues?
The right answer is to replace the iPad, retire and then see if I miss a laptop in my life.
But just curious….fully retired what tech do you prefer/have - and what have you lived without? (Maybe nothing!)
DH and I are both retired from tech-heavy careers. We are all Apple for phones and iPads and DH also has an Apple laptop. I have a Windows desktop at home and a Windows laptop at the cabin because I am tied to the Windows version of Excel which I’ve integrated with Quicken (I do all our personal accounting), and I use Word a lot. I’m just more comfortable in a Windows environment for personal applications though I spent my entire career on Unix platforms.
Overall, though, the iPad is my main daily device and the one I’d choose over all the others if it could do everything I need.
I have more or less lived without anything but an IPAD (and phone) for at least the last 10 years.
My husband does use an Apple computer to do our taxes, and I technically own half of that computer, but besides taxes, I pretty much only use it maybe once or twice a year.
And technically an Apple laptop is a PC (Personal Computer). However, in the context, I expect the meaning is clear – Windows OS laptop vs Mac OS laptop, like it is for laptop vs mobile device.
Which one to choose depends on what particular user prioritizes. I consider most Apple products, including Mac laptops, to be a waste of money. The Windows products I favor are usually much better value. It’s also easier to find the particular features that I prioritize in Windows laptops, although things like laptops with physical buttons are becoming increasingly challenging. Windows products also support a greater variety of the software/programs I want to use and allow more flexible configuration/setups to support what I want to do.
However, Apple products may be the best option for a large portion of others, even though they aren’t for me. Some prioritize more consistent quality/reliability without having to choose among as many models to find the one that meets your needs, more seamless integration in to their existing Apple product/devices household, and greater familiarity or positive feelings with product line… over differences in cost.
This 100%. I like the seamless integration and less tech troubles (historically) even though I might pay more. Over the course of several years I’m likely to have it, and being selective when I buy (either the holidays or start of school when there are some deals) I’m not mad about paying a little more.
Asked this question a couple years ago when I got a new computer. My die-hard apple kid said the pc. The learning curve would be a lot less and for the things I used my computer for the pc would be better. She uses apple because it’s better for graphics and art but for straight day to day usage and the programs I use that a pc is the better choice.
As downloads…right? We ran into that and also needed to update to Windows 11…
I don’t think you could download these onto a tablet, but we didn’t try.
I also have a bunch of WORD templates saved on my Dell. I haven’t figured out how to do that on my tablet. And I think it’s way easier to attach documents I need to send doing so from my Dell.
I’m not sure about that. Perhaps someone else can answer. With all the security measures around financial accounts/medicare/health care accounts it seems better to have a pc rather than rely on a iPad to do the heavy lifting.
I agree with this. Macbook Air has received excellent reviews for light work (which is what I use since I retired.). Logging into insurance and doctor’s websites is just so much easier than on a phone. BIL uses his iPad mostly, but grumbles that some of his investment brokerages’ sites are not (yet?) optimized for iPad.
iMail is close to Outlook in look and feel. I’ve dabbled in using Apple’s Numbers & Pages, and the learning curve is not too difficult. That said, I spring for a MS Office license for iOS – not subscription – when it goes on sale at a big box store. That way, get the best of both worlds: stable iOS in the Apple ecosystem & key MS sw.
Sold practice so I guess retired. Bought 2 Lenovo X1 Carbons for each of us. Extremely light weight. Business machine. Great specs. Our last one is still working 8 year’s later. Great security. Reliable. I don’t need a base box pc anymore. You can make a media machine out of one if you have one. Lol. I don’t do Apple anything.