Part of the thing you'll see on forums like this towards apple is the fact that there is a disproportionate number of developers who for one reason or another need to use MacOS professionally, such as developing iOS apps. A lot of us use Macs because we have to in order to target Apple platforms with our products.

They may not have a monopoly, but they do control ~40-50% of the smartphone market in the West and force developers to use MacOS to target their phones. In other markets like pro media production, they absolutely have a monopoly on machines.

A lot of us are frustrated by the fact that with each generation, Apple has made an inferior product that costs more money at every tier of their Mac catalog. Even if we're not paying for the machines, we have to go through the rigamarole of repair delays and thermal throttling under load even on the "pro" machines.

>there is a disproportionate number of developers who for one reason or another need to use MacOS professionally, such as developing iOS apps. A lot of us use Macs because we have to in order to target Apple platforms with our products.

Then you need to stop whining and use the tool you have to use to do your job.

I don't like Windows, but there aren't many jobs out there where I don't have to use it in some capacity. Luckily, I get to do my development in Linux, but I still have to use Windows for Office applications, Outlook email, running Linux VMs, etc., so I can't get away from it entirely. It's one of the things I put up with so I can make a living, just like I also have to put up with a commute, getting up in the morning, etc.

If you don't like developing iOS apps, then move into another line of work. I don't have any interest in developing Windows apps in C#, so I don't go into that field, and stick with work which lets me do at least some of my work in Linux. But to be fair, if I was forced to choose between writing C# .NET Windows 10 apps and cleaning toilets for a living, I'd take the Windows job.

>A lot of us are frustrated by the fact that with each generation, Apple has made an inferior product that costs more money at every tier of their Mac catalog.

That's their entire business model: sell fancy-looking stuff at inflated prices to non-technical people that they're able to operate, and who also are willing to spend a lot of money on that image and that brand name. It's like getting a job as a Bentley mechanic and complaining that Bentleys aren't as practical as a Toyota or F150.

I'd like to add to the above, about using Outlook: I truly despise using Outlook for my email. It's truly horrible. It's so incredibly slow and buggy and I have to frequently kill it and restart it so it'll show me my emails and there's even a very noticeable lag between my typing and the characters showing up on the screen. I can't believe people pay for this turd.

But it's just one of the things I have to put up with for the job, like many other annoyances, and overall things are pretty good which is why I'm still here. Thankfully my job doesn't entail a large amount of email. So I don't understand why people complain so much about Macs; if you don't like it, don't buy it, but if you're being given it for work, that's why it's called "work": it's not supposed to be fun. If Outlook started causing me so much trouble that it was impairing my work performance, I'd bring it up with my management and let them deal with it. If they didn't, I'd just continually remind them of how much of my time is being wasted by it so they don't think I'm slacking off.

Yeah, sorry for the grumpy rant..

It is a bit hypocritical (or masochistic) for me to complain about Apple products while still using them, albeit older models.

One reason why I'm frustrated is that I fondly remember the era of Apple ][. To quote, "Wozniak's open-architecture design and the Apple II's multiple expansion slots permitted a wide variety of third-party devices, including peripheral cards such as serial controllers, display controllers, memory boards, hard disks, networking components, and realtime clocks."

Recent trends seem to be an affront to the spirit of personal computing, and that's what I'm lamenting essentially.

The GP is literally throwing out the reasons s/he won't buy a MacBook... in the same way that you did. What don't you understand?

do you use Linux and don’t need access to let’s say Adobe software? Or do you use windows and don’t mind being actively spied on?

MacOS and Apples seemingly honest dedication to privacy are the only reason I use Apple hardware.

Apart from hackintosh type solutions I don’t see a way to have both.

I use Windows, and I'm not actively spied on (at least by MS, my employer is another matter). Enterprise editions of Windows don't have spyware (nor would it work behind corporate firewalls, or on closed networks).

At home, I use Linux. No, I don't "need" access to Adobe software. I do my work at work, using the tools they provide me.

>MacOS and Apples seemingly honest dedication to privacy

Seemingly. You can get real privacy if you use Linux, and you can use it on all kinds of hardware.

I love my 2012 Mac Book Pro (okay, my employer's). They OK'd buying a new one, but honestly, I still haven't found a good reason to switch out for a new one, except the weight (I bike in to work, and those extra pounds are a drag)

That's where I will end but it makes me sad because my 2013 Macbook Air is without a doubt the best machine I've owned in my 20 years as a software developer. Everything about the hardware is pleasant and I mostly like the OS. I would love to just carry on but as it is currently, I find myself researching alternatives. That is time I would rather spend being productive.

For me, MS Office is the only reason I use Mac OS. If it were available on Linux, I would move tomorrow.