I'm Done with Mac After 30 Years. Here's Why I Switched to PC

I've used Macs since 1992. I finally had to say goodbye and go full PC. Let me tell you why.

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[BrawndoQC]

In one month: Why I'm switching back to Mac.

[danvillegas]

I’ve been using Macs for 12 years then moved back to Windows. You hit the nail on the head with the Goldilocks theory.

[corrado]

I'm going through that RIGHT NOW... always been a pc guy but 10 years ago I bit the bullet and got a great Mac Pro with all sorts of pro apps (final cut of the time, the entire Adobe Suite, soundtrack pro) all the best possible software for video editing and sound design... (and I really enoyed the stability of mac, I became a huge fan) BUT in that decade I've learned that apples little trick of upgrading their OS like every 2-3 years and rendering any apple product more sluggish with each update (just a little bit at a time) was starting to get annoying. I can upgrade my gear with each OS to be in tip top shape but it's annoying how they basically force you to dish out money just a couple of years after upgrading... There's no flexibility you either do what they say or end up with a useless brick... I'm tempted to jump back to PC since most of my peers are happy with it and are not as stressed out.

[doctorkj]

I can feel you completely. I switched from PC to Mac in 2010 and used Mac Pro 5.1 until the summer of last year. I loved the mac for the first couple of years. Then I started to see some deficiencies since I work as an VFX artist/3D modeler/animator. 

As you said when you get to a certain level of complexity macs no longer cut it. As simple as that. And as the time passes Macs are more and more closed and non upgradable and PCs are more and more robust and reliable. So last summer I switch to a custom built PC.
All quality components with 3 year warranty, easily replaceable, available everywhere.
What a relief it was. All of a sudden I didn’t have to worry about what 3D renderer to use since the vast majority of them work with Apple’s greatest enemy Nvidia, you can get as much RAM as you can afford or MBO accepts, any number or brand of SSDs, anything of everything so to speak…

And last but not the least… Windows. What can I say… it’s been great this 14 months or so, I switched to Windows 11 and is super rock solid stable, not one BSOD, not even a glitch and in my line of work with the software I use I certainly do not pamper my PC. It works like 16 hrs a day and crunches numbers like a champ.

So… just like you and everyone else out there I make my living with my computer. And being 52 years old I think I gathered enough wisdom over the years to make a conclusion:
These are just machines that make money (and art) for us. It does not matter what you use as long as you get the work done. As I see it now OS is just an application launcher and storage manager. You get your work done in a software you use for a particular task.

Enjoy your new PC, it will be great, don’t worry abut it. Just don’t install any antivirus. Stick with built in Microsoft Defender. It’s part of the system, unobtrusive and level of protection is no worse than any third party AV.

[TexpatOTG]

It's smart to utilize the equipment that supports your business mode and needs. Choosing infrastructure based on brand, is usually not the best idea. If your move to the PC platform fits your business -- go for it. Cheers.

[AutodidactAnimotions]

I was a Professional Graphic Designer for print, for 19 years, on Macs.

When I transitioned to 3D/CG( particularly animated filmaking),
I stubbornly clung to the Mac OS in denial .

Then a certain realtime, windows only, Character animation program came along and I switched to PC’s without hesitation.

I still keep and “old” 2017 Imac for internet and some 2D print graphics work but you have to go to where you can get your real work done and, for me that is on windows machines.

[jodalry]

I’m going through this dilemma myself right now and totally understand where you’re coming from. I’m a Mac guy through and through since they first hit the market and have bought and supported Apple through my many design studio purchases over the years. However, I am on the point of upgrading from an iMac setup to the Mac Studio and just found out about the inability to perform reasonably basic upgrades like memory or hard disk improvements. Sorry Apple, but I’m now looking at building my own PC to suit my needs.

[cri]

I'll tell you when I bought my last mac. I bought a top of the line loaded iMac 27", and exactly the 1 year mark I got an upgrade from Catalina to Monterey. The Fusion drives (most of them) the SSD portion is too small to hold the newer OS and so it causes huge slowdowns. I worked with Apple over a month. My warantee expired and they said they wouldn't help me. Their tier 1 engineer confirmed this was a problem as I pointed out and he said I should send email to xyz at and they would do something for me. Well, they never did. I've never felt so gipped. I've been using Macs for over 25 years. Now I'm using a PC and love it. I've upgraded it several times, and it reminds me of the old days of building my PC's however I want. If it breaks I fix it. Simple.

[JoeNokers]

I think this is a great insight into the benefits of both Mac and PC. It's not about which system is "the best" it's about which is right for your particular needs and you highlighted that really well.

[philliphenderson]

Simply put, PC can do almost everything Mac can for a fraction of the cost.

1) File syncing across devices. Apple does it using iCloud. But the same effect can be achieved with other cloud storages across devices from different platforms. I edit files on my iPhone, Samsung Note 10+, Windows laptop, and Windows PC, which are all synced through OneDrive. A change to or an addition of a file on any one of those devices syncs to all of the others.

2) Video editing. Final Cut Pro and iMovie are fine, but Adobe Premier Pro and Davinci Resolve also can do pretty much everything the average video editor/YouTuber/content creator needs. And Resolve is free.

3) Gaming. If you game on a desktop, you need a PC. Simple as that.

4) Power. PCs can be just as powerful as Macs, if not more so, since your dollar goes further when specing out PCs. Mine, which I bought three months ago, has two SSDs and one HDD for a total of 14TB of storage. I can upgrade any of them at any time for more storage or better performance, without having to buy a new computer. Plus the case has room for 4 more drives. There are 64GB of DDR4 RAM (upgradable to 128GB), an Intel i9 processor, and a 12GB graphics card. This whole setup costed $2500, including the labor I paid a computer technician to build it and install Windows. It also has 8 USB ports, three of which are 3.0, and two USB-C ports. And it can support up to 6 displays. Anything comparable from Apple would cost 4 to 5 times as much, if not more, for the same overall functionality. True, Windows and Windows-based programs freeze or crash from time to time, but the frequency of that isn’t enough to justify (at least for me) spending literally thousands of dollars more for a different OS or every time I want to upgrade only one or two components of my computer and not the whole thing. And anyway Apple products and software are not immune from bugs and glitches either.

There are extra features Apple has that Windows doesn’t, or, if it does, doesn’t do as well, like AirDrop, iMessage, FaceTime, voice calls on all devices, similar UI no matter what device you’re on, etc. But, for me at least, such features are not at the core of what using a desktop computer is about, and they certainly wouldn’t be worth the thousands of dollars more I’d have to pay to have them. To be sure, I like Apple products and services. I use iPhone, iCloud, and HomeKit extensively, and have spent a fair bit of money on all of them, but for desktop computing, PC simply makes more sense from a practical and financial perspective.

[aimanb]

You're 100% correct. Been a Mac user for 30 + years and they can be frustrating. They don't listen to customer feedback.

[steven_porter]

Welcome to the club! I run a video studio with 7 editing/streaming PCs, a 20-drive Windows server, and 1 MacBook Pro that's used for zoom calls. If you want any recommendations or tips I'd be very happy to share with you what I learned in the 5 years since I switched

[Kevint]

Hey Jason.
I'm doing the exact opposite. I started making the switch to Apple with the M1 Mac Mini when it was released. I now have the 11" M1 iPad Pro, and will be switching to iPhone from Android (OnePlus 7 Pro) this September with the 14 Pro Max, (My 1st iPhone. I've been an Android user since the Samsung Galaxy SII) and a little bit later the Apple watch.
I'm not a heavy user, so I won't have the issues you did with Apple. Good luck with your new PC setup, and I look forward to more great content. Cheers!

[juans]

Interesting. I've made the switch from Windows to Mac for the first time in 2020. I started with the m1 mac mini then recently got the m1 macbook air.

I never thought i'd do that but here I am. Not a fan of Windows 11.

[mannkeithc]

I've arrived at a similar point with Apple, but my frustration is with their operating systems. Apple's warped marketing driven computing device philosophy is if you want a touch display with pen support computing device it's iPad / iPad Pro. I have a 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro with magic keyboard and Apple Pencil. Performance is exceptional for a tablet with great touch and pen UI, but iPad OS is so screwed you can't do anything useful on it, such as format and repair external SSDs / memory cards, run a full-blown IDE and compile code, run virtual machines or emulators. It has the technical capability, especially if you have a 2 TB model with 16 GB RAM like me, but Apple won't let you. There is no touch display / pen support for Mac OS unless you buy and expensive iPad accessory for your Mac, aka sidecar and universal control. I refuse to buy another MacBook Pro because for me a mobile device should have a touch display / pen support option, and I don't see the point of having to carry around both a MacBook and iPad when I can have a similar UI feature / functionality set on a single Windows laptop / higher performance Chromebook. I have grown up with CPM, DOS, UNIX, VMS, Linux, Windows, and Mac OS, and like you I prefer Mac OS, but Apples marketing philosophy and operating system restrictions with its focus on shifting more boxes, is starting to get in the way of how I want to use my computing devices. The crunch point for me will be late 2022. If Apple releases a M2 Pro Mac Mini desktop, it will become my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro 13 replacement and my iPad Pro will continue to be my mobile device with limitations. My key iPad Pro accessory is a headless 8GB Raspberry Pi USB-C gadget that can do everything my iPad Pro can't do for less than $100. Otherwise, I will be extracting myself from the Apple ecosystem and going down the Windows route. Apple silicon is fantastic but totally wasted on Apple!

[revgregory]

My history with Apple goes back to my first home computer, a //+, back in 1981. I resisted switching to the Mac until the mid-90s preferring to stick with a hot rodded Apple IIgs until Apple decided Macs would actually support color. I was close to switching in the late 90s but the switch to OS X and then to Intel kept me around a bit longer but in 2020 I finally had enough and switched.

The hardware had always been expensive but was became seemingly more expensive, often to support what for me were not really relevant options...what few options there were. Included memory was far too little and upgrading was absurdly expensive, many machines were not even upgradable after purchase. The signs were on the wall that the OS was going to become more and more like iOS and OS features seemed to more and more be positioning the machines as iPhone support systems. Being that I loathe iOS and don't use iPhones none of that was appealing to me. So in 2020 I made the leap, setting up my new Windows laptop with a clone of my Mac in a virtual machine which I, at first, thought I would be using as much if not more than Windows...but I ended up freeing up that storage space within a few months as I didn't find any need to revert to using MacOS.

Currently I hope for Apple users that the M1 path away from Intel doesn't follow the PowerPC path with initially stellar performance followed by stagnation as time went by. If they follow the same long upgrade iteration cycle times they have been with hardware for years the current raves about processor performance turn to the cries of despair Apple users went through in the mid to late 90s when other processor manufacturers simply blew by the PowerPC and left it in the dust.

Not regretting the switch for a second.

[Zactivist]

I've always used both. For years, (2006-2019) I was a Hackintosh person. At the time, for me it was the best of both worlds, and the hacks I built were the most solid and reliable machines I'd ever owned. It was great being able to spec my own Mac with PC hardware and not have to put up with Apple's hardware limitations and stinginess. The M Macs pretty much ended the Hackintosh era for me. I have an M1 Mac Mini that does most of what I need it to. When it's lifting heavier than the Mini can handle, back to the PC. Also, after years with a MacBook (2015) I switched to a high-spec'd PC laptop and haven't looked back. These days, PC hardware isn't so much of an advantage in the era of unaffordable graphics cards, so the M-Macs have been an acceptable trade off.

[egsystems]

I moved from Mac to PC about 15 years ago when I realised Macs were becoming a "Walled Garden" not just in terms of software, but also becasue they were becoming more and more difficult to upgrade, or even dismantle (to get the hard disk out of an iMac you need to remove the screen, THE SCREEN!). That and the fact that there were again so many little problems just made me give up, and I have never regretted it. PC is so much more flexible AND cost-effective.

[FlockofAngels]

Great video Jason, thanks for sharing, I've always been a PC guy. My PC has 50TB of internal storage. My RME Fireface UCX II and Rodecaster Pro II help me so I can start my live stream without so much of the prep work. I guess that is why I have nice peripherals. I stream video from my Samsung S22 phone via USB. The Elgato 4k card handles my game stream. Windows and my TV remote can switch and duplicate video outputs.

[Tom_Brennan]

A powerful PC desktop for streaming is a must. But for laptops, I'd say go with Apple.