genuinely curious as to why people choose that brand, are alternatives really that bad?

As I see it:

  • you pay for the hardware and software, which is fine, but
  • if you want to upgrade the OS, you have to pay once again, but this doesn’t work if your hardware model stops being supported. Why pay for something with a limited life expectancy?
  • you cannot get rid of bloatware, only hide it
  • software is made specifically to be only compatible within their ecosystem. If you want to build up on existing software and hardware, you either stay in their system and keep paying them or start anew with a freer alternative.
  • I find it ridiculous they use fancy names to name even their support staff instead of just calling it support staff. Why make things complicated?
  • I don’t understand why they use pentalobe screws instead or regular ones (with a line or a cross section)

Feel free to correct me, I may be misguided.

  • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    1·
    8 months ago

    I use an Apple phone and laptop along with a Debian server and distro hopping laptop.

    The first benefit I get is social integration—I’m not looking for FOSS alternatives to some things because the mainstream source definitely runs on it (Adobe products primarily). Never underestimate the social utility of those blue bubbles—it tells a certain brand of person that you are part of their herd, and my family heavily falls into that group. Nobody ever bats an eye at my MacBook Air in public—people don’t see me for the 1337 hackerman that I am inside, and I like it that way sometimes.

    The second benefit is hardware support. Say what you will about the price of Apple Care, but knowing I can walk in to an Apple Store and walk out with a replacement is extremely useful in a pinch.

    Finally, I like the feel and look of their products, and there is a convenience in their ecosystem. You know what you’re getting with Apple, and it all works together out of the box. I could recreate their built in features with FOSS alternatives, but I simply don’t have to because it is already designed to work.

    With Apple you pay a lot up front and then nothing for the software over time—that is an easy budgeting calculation for me. I don’t have to worry about what card I choose or niche incompatibility, Apple already took care of that.

    I’ve flirted with fully transitioning to Linux many times, but I have always found a reason to keep one mainstream OS around, and Windows sucks. MacOS is a happy medium for power users who are comfortable with it and enjoy the UNIX family.