PC or MacBook??

Holly Manning

New Member
Hello!

I'm starting my second year at University in September studying Graphic Communication, and work part time in design within a web design company.

I have an HP laptop, and I am one of very few people in a class of about 35 that has a PC instead of a MacBook. I'm starting to wonder if I should invest in a Mac myself, but struggling to see realistically what it could do that my PC doesn't? I use a Mac Mini at work but it crashes on a daily basis due to its age so doesn't give me a good idea of how they work.

I have managed to do everything that my classmates have done for our projects on their MacBooks with the Adobe creative cloud, with the only obvious difference I can tell is the performance speed.

I'd like to get opinions from people who have had both PC and Mac's to tell me whether there is any point in spending the money or if MacBooks are simply about having the brand name.

Thanks!
 
I have managed to do everything that my classmates have done for our projects on their MacBooks with the Adobe creative cloud,
Honestly, there's your answer.. there is no real difference between a mac and a windows based pc other than the OS and the way that OS works when it comes to working with Adobe software, it gets a little different when you take into account other areas of design such as 3D (pc much better here) for example.

with the only obvious difference I can tell is the performance speed.
Without knowing the specs of the HP it's likely down to the actual hardware in the laptop rather than anything else.
 
This has been asked repeatedly in the past and the answer is pretty much always just buy what you want or can afford.

Mac's have good performance and from my experience seem to last longer than Windows laptops (depending on what you buy though). I also enjoy using the Mac operating system over Windows. Apple like to force you down certain routes though. Some free OS upgrades can cripple older hardware, essentially forcing you to either roll-back to a time machine back-up, soldier on with terrible performance or buy a new Mac.

PCs are much cheaper, especially if you build one yourself, but laptops can be hit and miss in quality and performance so you need to know what you're looking for in terms of specs.

Mac = good quality, performance and sex appeal

Windows = cheaper, requires more knowledge of computer specs and hardware, potentially less sexy
 
Hello!

I'm starting my second year at University in September studying Graphic Communication, and work part time in design within a web design company.

I have an HP laptop, and I am one of very few people in a class of about 35 that has a PC instead of a MacBook. I'm starting to wonder if I should invest in a Mac myself, but struggling to see realistically what it could do that my PC doesn't? I use a Mac Mini at work but it crashes on a daily basis due to its age so doesn't give me a good idea of how they work.

I have managed to do everything that my classmates have done for our projects on their MacBooks with the Adobe creative cloud, with the only obvious difference I can tell is the performance speed.

I'd like to get opinions from people who have had both PC and Mac's to tell me whether there is any point in spending the money or if MacBooks are simply about having the brand name.

Thanks!


Hi Holly,

when I was in Uni I was in the same dilemma, back then I decided to make the jump to a Macbook Pro, since I had access to fonts and software for OSX and not for PC.

These days I work on both, I work full time on a PC as part of a development team and all my freelance work is on my Mac.

I would suggest that if you already have your software, fonts, etc. for you PC, stick with it. When it comes to writing code there is not much difference between a Mac and a PC, although I prefer Notpad++ for the PC (Wrangler on the Mac can not keep up :( ) I also hate that there is no simple text editor on a Mac and all the styles are carried over (this can work also in your favour).

When it comes to printing I would say the Mac is pretty unbeatable, since the monitor is well calibrated and it comes with some high end fonts :)

I personally prefer my mac, it feels more naturally to me, it is faster and handles your files more steady (this is on the newer models, my MacBook Pro is from before 2007/ now a vintage model, but is still very reliable and runs Adobe CS6 fairly smoothly) and most design studios will have Macs, while businesses working more web based tend to have more PCs (at least that's the experience I made over the last years). Also I find that with a Mac I don't need to update my hardware as frequently as with PCs. (Mac 6-10 years, PC 2-3 years) <-- this is a completely personal though, I have no idea how other designers update/upgrade their hardware.

It is based on personal preference, choice of software and, I guess industry o_O

One thing I did notice though is that the new OS X El Capitan seems to corrupt CS6 Illustrator, but is seamless with Adobe cloud.
 
Well, what's your budget? What software are you using in the Creative Cloud?

I use PC and Macs on a daily basis.
 
I don't have much experience of PC's but I guess as long as it's a decent machine, there's little difference and not enough to fuel the whole Mac v PC thing.

My experience of Mac's is that they are pretty reliable and the ones I've owned have been retired due to the age of the operating system rather than being worn out.
My 17" MacBook Pro must be kicking on for 10 years old now.

It's a bit of a gamble but to get a Mac with all the software you can always pick one up from Ebay with CS6 pre-installed.
 
You want to make sure that the CS6 has the license transfer form from Adobe and both parties sign the license to be transferred.
 
Macbook is a good choice for designers. I don't recommend it for officers or game players.
It's more than a brand name, high quality (y)
 
Also now looking at purchasing a Macbook, only really using Indesign, Photoshop & illustrator for print. Will an entry level Macbook be good enough for this work. Specification below,

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.2GHz quad-core Intel i7 with Retina display

Originally released May 2015
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880x1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L onboard memory
256GB PCIe-based flash storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
 
...on initial inspection you get a lot more. Still drawn to appeal of the Macbook tho. Will the spec be enough on the top end lap from the refurbished section of Apple, as i look to get more value for money?

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display

Originally released July 2014
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880x1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM

1TB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
Intel Iris Pro Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
 
The spec is fine.

Spend half of £2.2k (1.1k) on a PC and you'll get even more.

What's the appeal of the Macbook? It's not the computer or the software that makes you a great designer - that's you. The software on Creative Cloud is the exact same on Mac and PC.

I can't ever really tell how good a Mac Book is as they never share the information regarding the Processor model no. Why they try to hide it and keep it a secret when it's the most important aspect is beyond me.

With a bit of research it's the i7-4980HQ that's in that Laptop.

That's high end processor - albeit a bit old being 4th generation and we're moving to the 7th gen in the new year.
 
For what it's worth - if you want to spend 2.2k on a Macbook then go for it.

However, I think it's a waste of money and better spent on other things.
 
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