Mac (potentially) for Engineers/Developers who use Windows.. Recommended or not? What issues did you encounter?

I run a Mac and have done so for around 24 years.  Simultaneously, for 18 of those years, I used a Windows laptop for work.  I mention that just to say that I have familiarity with both as native machines.

I have had ZERO issues with hardware attached to MacOS.  I also run a Windows VM via Parallels and I have had ZERO problems with connecting hardware to that either.  Clearly, I haven't tried everything but what I have, has been no problem.  Parallels will work with the new M3 chips Apple uses by the way, but it may not be possible to create an image of an existing Windows installation to use - you would need to research that if it was something you wanted.  If I switched to an Mx-based Apple laptop I couldn't transfer the VM I'd have to reinstall and setup from scratch.  Some software is still Windows only but it may not affect you - one example is Workshop4 by 4D Systems which is required if you want to program any of their boards.  Other things I run under the VM just for convenience of keeping them distinct to my MacOS install, but that is just a personal choice, not a technical one.  Essentially, there is no reason to not use an Apple device if you want.  It's worth bearing in mind that some software works better in Windows than MacOS (more features for example) just because that's a choice the developer has made: check out LTSpice for MacOS!!

Don't believe the mantra "they just work": they're no better (or worse) than anything from Microsoft - maybe in the past they were: I originally swapped from Windows hardware to Apple hardware back in the day because I bought a new Blu-Ray drive and a graphics card and to install the drive I had to remove the motherboard to get to screws to open up the drive bay (so I didn't bother and when the graphics card didn't work I just threw the towel in.)  In fact, in the last 14-15 years I have had more problems with MacOS than I ever had with Windows OS.  Most of them were resolvable but Apple seem to focus their efforts on the yearly new OS release rather than fixing bugs, in my opinion.  Some of the problems are just annoyances that they just can't be bothered to fix.  The other thing to bear in mind is nothing on the Laptop is user serviceable: new battery?  Apple need it for up to 10 days to replace, along with the bottom shell, keyboard and trackpad.  Effing outrageous, although the price is no more than you would pay to replace just the battery if you could do it yourself (£195 IIRC, and in that case only 7 days.)  

So here's a statement: unless you're really wedded to the idea of Apple hardware I don't think you'll find it "better" than a Windows laptop.  You'd have to be doing some serious hardcore CPU/GPU intensive work to see it and I daresay you could spec a Windows laptop accordingly.  I think this is a mistake people - not you as I know you're aware - often make.  Some of the peripheral hardware you can buy for Apple is usually good but is nearly always available to Windows as well - Apple branded hardware is ridiculously priced by the way (look at the price for speccing a MacBook with an extra 8GB of Ram or an extra 512GB of SSD.)  

And here's another statement: After 24 years I've been thinking of switching away from Apple to Windows IF I can find a reasonably priced laptop that has a properly user-serviceable battery, can support 2x5K monitors (or 1x5K and 1x4k), and has support for Thunderbolt 4 (and maybe 5 but that's probably too new.)  This is a pricing based decision, not a technical one; at the moment I haven't really looked and like you it would require some work to set up properly although I don't think I'd have the same OS switch problems.

As for switching OS and getting to grips with it.  I suspect it will be a little frustrating at first but you will get to grips with it quickly.  As usual Google and YouTube will be your friend (or here of course, I'm always happy to help.)  I can switch between MacOS and Windows without issue.

The reasons to switch to Apple/MacOS:

1. You fancy a change and like the idea of learning something new.  I think this is a perfectly valid reason by the way.
2. Errr....I don't know any more.

I am totally agnostic to hardware and OS (except I can't be bothered with Linux) and I'm not inclined one way or the other.  I just want a tool that doesn't get in the way.If you have any specific questions, fire away.  

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for the information, it's very interesting hearing about your experiences.

To be honest, I had not initially considered Mac, but a friend threw the idea out there, so I figured I would get some second opinions.

I'm going to visit an Apple store sometime this week and try to get some time exploring the Mac options in person since I'm at the point where the reviews are not helping anymore; none of them contain the important points in your response, such as that they are no better or worse, what software works, the battery costs you mention and so on.

If I can't find a compelling reason, I may end up buying a Windows machine. There doesm't seem to be anything interesting in the Windows PC world, I think manufacturers have been conservative in the past few years, maybe because of supply chain issues. Through my browsing, I have seen an HP laptop with Thunderbolt 4 that I shortlisted, but it's not cheap. Hopefully, I've got a bit of time to see if any new machines appear and also to think up some more questions before I need to decide.. before my current machine permanently dies (I've backed it up).

Look at gamers laptops.

TB4 is good for high-res external monitors, e.g. 5k, 6k, 8k and multiple monitors.  It's also good for high-bandwidth devices, e.g. external drives that you might use to host a VM, stream movies from etc.  Other than that, I've found no reason why USB 3.1 isn't good enough and in my experience most electronics devices use USB2.0, e.g. DMMs, PSUs, AWGs, dev boards etc.  Pretty much all Mac laptops use TB4 the main difference being how many: it could be as little as 2 ports!  That would mean adding a hub and TB4 hubs are really expensive but do tend to come with multiple different types of ports and the ability to support multiple monitors, provide power (so you don't need two power bricks plugged in)  It's a consideration because an extra £200+ is a fair bit of money to spend.

How do you back up a Windows machine these days?  Back in the day it was a pain because Windows locked files.  In MacOS there is Time Machine: plug in an external drive, point TM at it and it auto backs up any changes in the last hour and any file can be retrieved from any date as long as it hasn't been overwritten (TM will fill the drive and then make space by deleting oldest history.)  Works brilliantly for back up and setting up a new machine.

I've been looking, I'm impressed at their specs, particularly the GPUs. I currently know very little about gaming laptops (most of the people I know only have brand experience for typical work laptop manufacturers, so gaming machines are a complete unknown for me).

But I will definitely examine them closer. I saw some online recommendations for certain machines by Asus and MSI. 

My monitor is TB3, but definitely good to get a TB4-capable laptop as you say. I spent £200 or so on a Surface Book dock (because it didn't support TB), but maybe I can sell that and recover a bit of money.

How do you back up a Windows machine these days?

I don't know either! : ) I have this uncivilized approach! Drag-and-drop all folders except the Windows ones onto USB storage : ) There's a bit of redundancy in there too. All the important stuff is on the larger SSDs not the Flash keys.

I have a Synology drive but I only use that as a network drive that I don't back up everything to. Also some stuff is on OneDrive, but not a lot.

My monitor is TB3, but definitely good to get a TB4-capable laptop as you say. I spent £200 or so on a Surface Book dock (because it didn't support TB), but maybe I can sell that and recover a bit of money.

How do you back up a Windows machine these days?

I don't know either! : ) I have this uncivilized approach! Drag-and-drop all folders except the Windows ones onto USB storage : ) There's a bit of redundancy in there too. All the important stuff is on the larger SSDs not the Flash keys.

I have a Synology drive but I only use that as a network drive that I don't back up everything to. Also some stuff is on OneDrive, but not a lot.

For backing up windows folders to an external drive (or several), I came across a utility called "Bvckup2" some years ago and been using it since then. Once you set it up, it's just a click every time you want to backup. It's a paid software but you can also still download the "last beta" version from 2014 which is free to use and which is good enough (that's what I have been using to this day!). Simple software, and works VERY well!

What does it backup and what can’t it backup?  Historically, I seem to remember that system files such as the registry was a pain because these files seemed to be locked.  During a restore it becomes problematic because applications would be out of sync with the system files.  Can you still only back up user files?  A full restore/switch to a new machine then being a wipe, install Windows, install applications, restore user files?

I find Windows backup/restore confusing to read about.  In this respect TM is fantastic: new machine? Just power it on, it asks if you want to restore from TM, all done.

I’m not clear yet on the requirements for virus scanning and other security software.  Some seems built into Windows these days and I’ve not had a problem with my VM so maybe there’s no specific requirement these days?

I personally only backup my own "user" files since that keeps the size of backup reasonable. So that's all I have experience with. I don't prefer a full restore/switch because if I am switching to a new machine I want a clean windows installation and not carry over the bloat from my previous installation. For this, the Bvckup2 utility works very well! I think for a full mirror image of the drive this might not be very suitable...some other tools do that but I have no experience with those. Bvckup is a simple utility but does what it does very well, which is what I like about it.