Cocoa Pepsi, McDonald's or Burger King, Subway or Starvation?
Classic debates such as these are not just the domain of the food industry as today,
we're going to cover the age-old question right here on TechWiki PC or Mac.
It can be difficult to get an objective answer to this question given how much passion
diehards on each side of the equation have and how quick some of them can be to attack the other
as a clearly inferior platform. So let's look at how these two options actually differ.
It turns out that once you get past the differing operating systems, much of the underlying hardware is more or less the same between PCs and Macs.
At least for now, most Macs in the wild use x86-based CPUs, just as most PCs do.
And there's typically nothing too special or Mac-specific about other parts like RAM or
storage either. Indeed, some enthusiasts have even built their own computers and found a way to run
macOS on them. Although Apple discourages people building these hackintoshes, which you can learn
more about here, the fact that many folks have gotten macOS to run on off-the-shelf hardware
punctuates how similar the platforms are from a hardware perspective.
So why all the fighting between PC and Mac in here in Santa? A main point of contention is the
significantly different ecosystems that you're buying into. PC fans think of their side as
inherently more free and open and American. And to be fair, there is some truth to that
from both a hardware and software perspective. A standard PC, especially a home-built one,
is compatible with nearly any piece of expansion hardware out there, provided you have the correct
slots, headers, and ports. On the other hand, Macs are notorious for being very restrictive with
what you can upgrade. Many attempted hackintosh configurations, for example, simply don't work
well because macOS is quite finicky about hardware. As far as software goes, it's more of a mixed bag.
But recent developments have swung the pendulum in favor of PC as well, if we're talking about
being able to install what you want when you want. Although Microsoft does have the Microsoft Store
that tries to get you to use vetted apps with Windows 10, it's still a non-issue to simply
download whatever program you want and run it to your heart's content. And of course,
there's nothing stopping you from using an alternative operating system like Linux either.
Macs have more of an uncertain future on this front. Although they don't have the same restrictions
on what you can install as iOS devices, the elf into the room is what's going to happen with the
new Apple Silicon lineup, including the recent M1 chip. We have more details on it up here,
but it's a non-x86 ARM-based chip going into the newest model MacBooks and Mac Minis, and Apple
appears to have plans to put them into desktop iMacs as well. Because most desktop computer programs
are written for x86, many developers may not want to bother trying to write for the M1,
except for those that have large install bases on Macs already, and don't even get me started on
how hard it is to game on a Mac already. So while Apple may not actively restrict non-app store
programs, the company may have shrank a software universe that was already quite a bit smaller
than what's available on the PC even further. It looks like you might not even be able to run boot
camp on an M1 system, which allows you to dual boot macOS and Windows on a single Mac, for example.
But that doesn't mean going with PC is a no-brainer. Apple has a large following for a reason,
and while yes, part of that is because Apple's marketing has successfully positioned it as a
lifestyle brand, their ecosystem has a reputation for simplicity and functionality and design. And
again, there's some truth to all this as well. Although you can only get a bonafide Mac in a
very limited set of hardware configurations, the positive is that macOS is tightly integrated with
the hardware that Apple offers, with the result being that Macs tend to be a little more stable.
And if you do run into a problem, it's often easier for the end user or Apple to troubleshoot it,
rather than trying to work through the bazillion possible hardware combos in a PC,
isolate which component is causing the problem, and then try random solutions that may or may not
work. Imagine we didn't have stack overflow. And Apple's tight control over its own ecosystem
means Macs also have a reputation for being more secure, although the cynical take is that
that's simply because not as many people use Macs and not as much malware is written for them.
In reality, both are true. But we want to be clear about something. Macs can and do crash,
and they do get malware infections. Your overall odds are just a little lower than they are
on a Windows based PC. But that extra bump in security and stability is enough to convince
many people to pay a premium for Apple products. Although part of the added cost is a brand tax,
it still makes the Mac an attractive option for folks that want a machine for simpler tasks and
that just plain work, or for creative types like photographers, musicians or video editors,
that Apple actively targets by the way, that need the extra processing power in a package they feel
is less likely to crash during the middle of an important project. So our answer for which one
you should go for depends completely on what you want to use your machine for, how much you prioritize
customizability over a one size fits all ecosystem, and whether you want the supposed sex appeal of
an Apple product. Plus if you have enough money to even buy the cheapest Apple product. Though I
wouldn't count on your mad final cut skills scoring you any extra dates. So thanks for watching
guys, if you liked this video, hit like, hit subscribe, and hit us up in the comments section
with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future. Not sure why it took us so long
to do this one. Crazy.