There’s no denying that Apple has become something of a cult brand. Here we are in 2016, and Apple is the second largest company in the world, just behind the almighty Google. Of course, it’s not market share that makes Apple such a big shot: it’s profitability. The company has managed to convince its relatively wealthy clientele that it, and it alone can provide for their computing needs. The result? A seemingly endless stream of profitability that’s driven back into new and interesting products.
But what about the other side of the aisle? The PC is something that many Apple fans forgot about a long time ago. It’s not sexy, and it’s fairly unwieldy and ugly. And complicated. Perhaps the PC isn’t ideal for the consumer market. But is it any good for business? That’s what we’re about to find out.
Macs Are Seriously Costly
Everybody already knows that Apple Macs are among the most expensive computers in the world. Most reviewers like to say that Apple platforms aren’t “budget-friendly.” But this is something of a euphemism. The problem here is that Apples if stripped down to their component parts, carry an enormous premium over PC. An Apple Mac can often cost 40 percent more than a PC with the same spec.
Apple supporters and defenders say that this extra cost is worth it, because of higher reliability. But that’s not necessarily the case. Apple has been a company that has regularly been embroiled in planned obsolescence scandals. Getting an Apple iMac repair is a more frequent occurrence than most would think.
PCs, on the other hand, are cheaper, even if they’re replaced regularly. The average PC is expected to last around five years before needing to be upgraded. You can bag a decent work PC for around $500. You can also swap out aging components, like hard drives, and put new components in relatively easily.
PCs Are Networking Champs
Then there’s the fact that Microsoft has business customers the center of its design philosophy. The whole point of Microsoft’s network functionality is to make doing business easier for small businesses. Macs just aren’t built with the same compatibility in mind. It’s a compromise. Macs are more rigid when it comes to networking because being more flexible would introduce new issues. The whole idea is to be able to plug-and-play. So Mac has decided to limit options to make this process easier.
If you’re a solopreneur, then perhaps you can make a Mac work. But if you’re a larger business, it doesn’t seem like the sensible solution.
The other customization problem that Apple has pertains to its cloud services. As a consumer-facing company, Apple wants to make life as simple for its users as possible. Apple is good when it comes to cloud storage, and it’s own proprietary software. But if businesses want to implement custom solutions, it’s hard on a Mac platform. Specialization just isn’t a Mac’s strong suit.
Macs Have Better Security
Security is a problem for businesses. Inadequate security creates two major issues. The first is that apps and other software start to run slower. A buildup of malware and other viruses can soon bring your machines to their knees. The other problem is data breaches and loss of confidential information. Both can be catastrophic, especially if you run a knowledge business.
In the realm of security, Macs are widely regarded to have an advantage over PCs. The Apple platform is less ubiquitous. And as a result, hackers don’t bother concentrating their efforts on the platform to the same extent. Windows PCs, on the other hand, are the jungle and pretty much anything goes. Businesses can expect more malware and intrusion attempts on Windows-based devices.
Macs May Be More Compatible In Certain Industries
One of the justifications for Macs being more expensive is that they “just work.” A lot of that “just working” comes down to the quality of software. Go back a decade, and Macs certainly seemed to have an advantage here. But over the years, the usability of Windows has improved substantially. Now programs like Photoshop, once the preserve of creatives on the Mac, is now very intuitive on the PC.
The central question businesses need to ask themselves when it comes to software is; what is the rest of my industry using? If you’re in a creative industry, it’s very likely that your colleagues will be using Macs. It’s the defacto choice. If you’re in a non-creative industry, like finance, you’ll probably be using Windows. Choosing the same platform as your colleagues and customers helps to cut down on compatibility issues.
