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Finished with Apple - Need help choosing a PC

4 years ago from , Freelance

I never thought the day would come. But after dealing with my 2nd hard system reset today and the 10th-12th this month, I am finished with Apple. It's been 16 years.

What I'm running now: 2017 5k iMac, 27-inch (with a 24-inch Asus secondary) 3.8 i5 24GB (2400MHz) 8GB Radeon Pro 580 3TB Fusion

What I'm experiencing: Idiotically slow speeds (I know. Fusion. But literally nothing seems to benefit from the flash partition. Restarts take 5 minutes.) App crashes at least once a day Finder crashes at least once a day, sometimes more (and impossible to relaunch. must restart computer by holding down power button) System becomes unresponsive at random times when left alone (can't remote in over the weekend because LOL-it-crashed) External drives unmount randomly with no notification

I don't have the time or the energy to deal with Apple on this. If they want $2,300+ for a computer, it should work.

What I need to run: Adobe CC (PS, AI, XD mostly, some Premiere but not much) Webflow

I'd prefer something where I can install memory and upgrade storage myself, but if it comes with a decent SSD, I can stay external for the rest of my storage. I'd like a 4k screen and the power to run a secondary 4k screen besides.

Can anyone suggest something, and could someone with experience making the Dreaded Switch give me a rundown of what I'm in for? I haven't worked on MS consistently for well over a decade so I honestly don't know what the situation is there anymore. I figure it can't be worse than what I'm paying a premium for on the Apple side.

Thanks in advance. I know this isn't really the specific purpose of this board, but I figure designers are going to be able to give more accurate advice than some general tech forum.

61 comments

  • Chris KeithChris Keith, 4 years ago

    Sounds like you’re having severe issues with this particular machine, and out of frustration you are ascribing your experience to all Apple products.

    Apple and Microsoft both have their issues. I would make a decision based on the platform which best suits your needs, not a negative experience with a particular device.

    40 points
    • Mauricio Paim, 4 years ago

      most valuable advice for that matter.

      4 points
    • Pedro MC FernandesPedro MC Fernandes, 4 years ago

      Well, in my experience, the latest products are really bad in terms of performance. I use a 2011 iMac that was running faster than a "similar" 2015 iMac. When facing that kind of situation, one becomes a bit sceptical to invest another 2k on a third machine. There is a pattern and we all know it, it's not just "hate". My boss and i went MS now. Yeah, it's a bad OS but good in performance and you can turn it accurate enough for web design...

      3 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      You're right about the frustration part. But it isn't solely due to this machine. I am also frustrated with the purposeful decision making on Apple's end to lock things down to the point that these machines are disposable.

      Can you think of any logical reason why I would not be able to easily open up basically any computer and swap out the hard drive? I used to be able to just grab the handle on my G4 and do whatever I wanted. Memory, HD upgrades, optical drive swaps, graphics card... You could even upgrade the CPU with minimal difficulty. AND the machine was freaking beautiful.

      Now... everything is soldered and glued... and here comes the T2 chip as the final nail in the coffin for ever doing ANYTHING yourself. Why? So I can have a featureless slab of aluminum that's a little bit thinner (at the edges)? I'm not buying it. I think this stuff is being intentionally done so that when something goes wrong with this computer I simply have to throw it out and buy a new one.

      Combine all of that with manufacturing and software development quality assurance processes that seem to be devolving at an exponential rate, and you're paying a premium for something that is so prone to catastrophic failure that it seems like it is purposefully so.

      15 points
      • J. C.J. C., 4 years ago

        As one who is trying to replace the battery of my top-spec's mid 2012 MacBook Pro, I can totally relate. The battery is literally glued to the inside, and Youtube is full of videos of people cutting them loose with strings and whatnot. Thing is, the battery is bulging, and I don't want to risk puncturing it. Apple technicians in my country are charging about $570 for it, so I guess I'll be shopping for some string...

        3 points
        • Vivek GaniVivek Gani, 4 years ago

          The ifixit battery kit comes with a solvent to remove the battery. There’s an interesting wired article about how it took them supposedly years to figure out

          0 points
      • Lucian .esLucian .es, 4 years ago

        I share the same frustrations. I've been using a 2017 macbook pro (fully specced) and I'm not noticing a lot of improvements from my previous workstation (2013 macbook pro full)..

        Although it's my main workstation for Product Design (Sketch / Figma), I'm using it for small video / photo editing for Social media and it can barerly handle 4k with a dgpu. It can barerly handle a 4k video output to an external monitor without fans starting to launch the laptop into orbit.

        Thanks to the eGPUs you can fix some performance issues, but Apple is not collaborating with NVIDIA to release drivers for Mojave, trying to block you in their AMD ecosystem.

        Having that said, and being a looooong apple fan boy, I can say I really dislike how Tim Cook is running the company and having ONLY a business focus. Apple used to be synonym to premium, but now it's just overpriced for what you get.

        I hate windows but have to go on the same route.

        1 point
  • Alf SalibAlf Salib, 4 years ago

    I'd highly recommend building your own PC. It's honestly not as hard as people think, incredibly rewarding when you're done, and really affordable. Shoot me a message if you're interested. I'd be happy to point you in the right direction. I can also recommend some monitors that are just as good as the 5K iMac. There's heaps of resources out there and you can learn everything you need to in about a day.

    I use Sketch 90% of the time so I don't have much of a choice but to use apple, but instead of paying the premium, I build my own PC and install Mac OS on it (it's called a "hackintosh" and I get the best of both worlds. My PC has better specs than the top of the range Mac for about half the price, and lasts twice as long before requiring an upgrade. Oh, and you can upgrade it piece by piece, rather than purchasing an entirely new machine.

    11 points
    • T. F., 4 years ago

      I was thinking of doing the same. Could you elaborate a bit on your experiences for all of us in the design community? Like: - How long did it take you to setup ? - Was it complicated to get this running ? - How stable is the system? - What features are you able to use / not use? - What's about automatic updates & backups ? Also, I'd be interested in the recommendations of monitors you mentioned.

      3 points
      • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

        This.

        2 points
      • louie solomonlouie solomon, 4 years ago

        Not OP but I can tell you about my experiences building/running a Hackintosh.

        How long did it take you to setup? I've built a few PCs so getting it assembled was relatively painless. There are specific parts you have to buy that are Hackintosh compatible. Software setup took a few hours to get up and running, and a few days to work out some of the bugs.

        Was it complicated to get this running ? Parts of the process are complicated, and in some cases it really just comes down to luck. There were parts of the process that took 5-6 times of trying for it to work, even though no variables on my part had changed.

        How stable is the system? Once it was up and running, everything was, for the most part, stable. There were some bugs that I just never got worked out. Getting the machine to sleep properly was a big issue. I also had reoccurring issues with audio that I never was able to resolve.

        What features are you able to use / not use? This will completely depend on how well you get it setup. If successful, everything should work properly, but as stated above, there will almost certainly be bugs to work out.

        *What's about automatic updates & backups? * This was the part that eventually caused me to give up. I never had any issues, but knowing that any future update could brick the machine was too stressful for me. Apple also introduced background updates that were impossible to disable, making it impossible to avoid updates even if I wanted to.

        My Recommendation If you're someone who likes to tinker, is willing to spend the time to search through forums, try out different drivers and combinations of settings, and reformat and start over if things aren't working properly, then building a Hackintosh can be totally worth it. You can save a ton of money, and build a machine that is specific to your needs.

        If you want a machine that works out of the box and will be (mostly) guaranteed to work in the future, then buy a mac or windows machine.

        Note: the last Hackintosh I built was in about 4 years ago. Some things may have changed since then.

        *Also, check out tonymacx86.com. It's a great resource if you're interested in learning more building a Hackintosh.

        1 point
        • T. F., 4 years ago

          Big Thanks for the detailed answer & resources, Louie ! Forced updates are definitely something I need to research further before building a hackintosh. Thx also for clarifying that your last build was 4 years ago, since I think I heard that the process became much easier & (hopefully) more stable recently. SnazzyLab on youtube even has some step by step howtos. Since I never actually build a haskintosh, I can't judge though how accurate they are. Hey, maybe we should start a new topic on DN for everything Hackintosh, maybe even were a few people could start together building their machines. :P

          0 points
        • T. F., 4 years ago

          Re: background updates: As far as I can tell, in the system preferences on 10.12, there is an option to deactivate automatic Security & System updates; or are you referring to maybe even some other mechanism ?

          0 points
      • John PJohn P, 4 years ago

        I built a workstation PC machine for UI design, motion graphics and 3D so I'll chime in too.

        How long did it take you to setup?

        First time I've done it so it took me 2-4 hours because I was being very careful and quadruple checking everything. I've built a few more machines since and they take like 30-45 minutes when you know what you're doing.

        Was it complicated to get this running?

        Nope, worked out of the box and windows installs in like 10 minutes, very fast.

        How stable is the system?

        I initially had some problems under heavy GPU load but it turned out it was a faulty GPU and it's been insanely solid since I have a dual GPU machine and run it full pelt for CUDA based 3D rendering for hours. It's really awesome that even though a hugely important part of the machine was broken I could replace it within 24 hours myself.

        I've also upgraded my storage twice since I switched and bumped my ram to 64GB, again another thing impossible on macs.

        What features are you able to use / not use?

        Things that just don't exist on a Mac, using GPUs for insanely fast 3D rendering (I mean Cinema4D 3D rendering, not talking realtime 3D), got into VR 3D sculpting too since that's something you can only do on PC. Rest of the time it's just Adobe XD, Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects. I also use the GPUs for some machine learning experiments, again something very painful to do on Macs.

        What's about automatic updates & backups?

        I use Backblaze, but I think Windows has built in automatic backups. Updates are about as forceful as Macs, people always act like that doesn't happen on Macs but if you don't update a mac these days it'll ask you EVERY.SINGLE.DAY and you have to dismiss it.

        0 points
        • T. F., 4 years ago

          Hey John, thanks for your answer! Though, I think you misread the question, as the subject was a Hackintosh setup I was asking about. Yet, it's a valid comparison win vs mac.

          0 points
      • Alf SalibAlf Salib, 4 years ago

        My bad, didn't notice your comment, but Louie basically nailed it. tonymacx86 is the go-to place for everything you need to get started, from parts lists to build guides to a very active forum of people happy to help should you run into any issues (which you probably will lol)

        As far as monitors go, I've found that LG and Dell ere are the best manufacturers for design-friendly monitor. Not going to include the LG Ultrafine 5K here because it's expensive as shit.

        4K Dell U2718Q Dell P2715Q LG 27UD59P-B LG 27UD58(or 68, P or W)

        1440p Dell U2715H Dell U2717D

        I personally own a Dell U2718Q. Hope this helps! :)

        1 point
    • Pedro MC FernandesPedro MC Fernandes, 4 years ago

      I'm always afraid of OS hacks, but this solution is working well for a lot of people! I might give it a go as soon as i get a restock in the bank.

      0 points
    • Tom Green, 4 years ago

      I’ve tried installing hackintosh once by following one of their install tutorials and was up within two hours, running Mac OS. Hovever, this was just for testing purposes for a week.

      I’m interested in privacy side of things when running a hackintosh. Is it safe? Can someone install some script with backdoor to you system? Because you need original Mac OS installation image to be modified with additional files and scripts....?

      1 point
  • Mattan IngramMattan Ingram, 4 years ago

    If you're gonna go PC from Apple hardware I recommend going with the fancier stuff like the Microsoft Surface. Speaking from both mine and friends/family experience going with the cheaper but still high-specced laptops or desktop all-in-ones, the lack of build quality and attention to detail can get annoying (having to return laptops due to broken hinges, non-working ports, etc). I ended up back in the Apple ecosystem after not long.

    The Surface is a great bit of hardware, and touchscreen is nice (except for fingerprints), but personally I still get frustrated with the PC trackpads (I only use regular mouse for gaming).

    If you use a lot of MacOS automation (Alfred, Automator, AppleScript, Folder Services, etc) I haven't found any good equivalents on PC, but I notice a lot of people don't take advantage of that side of Mac so that may not matter to you.

    Otherwise Windows 10 is pretty decent compared to past iterations of Windows. It will take some getting used to some of the weird Windows ways of doing things, but for the majority of basic tasks there are equivalents for most Mac stuff. 3rd party software and tools for Windows just aren't as good as Mac equivalents in my opinion, but I have noticed an improvement in design and implementation of Windows software in recent years.

    All that being said, I have a really hard time giving up the clean integration I have between my Apple devices. I use shared copy/paste, texting from my Mac, localhost named device addresses, etc. multiple times a day. None of those exist on Windows without clunky 3rd party software as far as I have found. So if you use any of those be warned it's not the same.

    Best of luck and let us know how the switch goes! I have a number of designer friends who are getting frustrated with Apple for good reason and are beginning to think about switching. Maybe we can make the Windows design software and tooling ecosystem as healthy as the Mac one!

    7 points
    • John PJohn P, 4 years ago

      If you don't need raw power then seconding the Surface, they're beautifully made devices and I guarantee Apple will clone the stand within the next 3 years because it's so damn useful.

      Also the Surface keyboard is heaven for your fingers if you're coming from a Mac butterfly switch.

      0 points
  • Cenk ÖzbakırCenk Özbakır, 4 years ago

    Sounds like your RAM is going bad

    5 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      I ran every diagnostic they have and there are zero hardware issues detected.

      0 points
      • Darrell HanleyDarrell Hanley, 4 years ago

        My fiancé ended up having similar issues . The RAM was the culprit, despite not failing any of the checks I did in the debug. We ended up needing to reinstall the stock Apple RAM and had to do a warranty call for the RAM we got from Corsair. Haven't had an issue since replacing the RAM with the new units from Corsair.

        1 point
  • Shea LewisShea Lewis, 4 years ago

    Slowly converting to PC myself. Switched over to Figma and rarely use my mac now. Unless its for Principle app. Once I find a solution to Principle good bye Mac..

    4 points
    • Darrell MooreDarrell Moore, 4 years ago

      Basically my same ordeal, haven't picked up my macbook in several weeks.

      0 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      What machine are you using? I was checking out the HP Envy 34 AIO.

      0 points
      • Brian HintonBrian Hinton, 4 years ago

        If you are interested in the HP Envy 34 AIO I'd suggest you consider the Surface Studio 2 too. The Studio gets you a much better screen, and design. The keyboard and mouse for the HP are garbage compared to what Microsoft provides. Plus the Studio will get you pen input that is significantly more useful than you might think. Do NOT get the original Studio. It runs a Fusion style drive that is very slow. The only negative with the Studio 2 is no TB3 USB-C ports.

        The grass isn't greener on the other side, and you will run into annoyances on a Windows devices. If you are deep in the Apple ecosystem I'd suggest trying to solve the problems (as it looks like you are doing.)

        I have a Surface Book 1.5 (which has a decent GPU performance base), and it's excellent hardware. I really enjoy it, but it isn't all roses. I go back and forth between it and my MacBook Pro.

        1 point
      • Darrell MooreDarrell Moore, 4 years ago

        Sorry for the late reply—I'm actually running a custom build. I was originally building just for a powerhouse to do video, but it ended up becoming a primary machine for me whenever I officially moved to Figma.

        Ended up going with an AMD Ryzen build, powerful & the price for parts were fair.

        0 points
  • Mitch WarrenMitch Warren, 4 years ago

    My wife was having the same trouble with her 2017 iMac base model. Over the course of a year, it just slowed to an absolute crawl - basically unusable. We skimped on the harddrive at purchase and got a spinning one (huge mistake I know), Apple shouldn't even be selling them honestly.

    The good news is I was able to fix this quite cheaply buying the Samsung T5 Portable SSD Drive (250GB) - it's less than $200 here in Aus. But you'll need a usb-c thunderbolt output to use it.

    I installed Mohave on the SSD, then wiped the spinning drive and set it up as a timemachine backup. Since then, it's been running like new. I was close to buying a new computer too, as it was out of warranty and the constant crashing was driving us both mad.

    3 points
    • Milan HawkinsMilan Hawkins, 4 years ago

      I had the same problem. I now run Mojave off an external Patriot Evlvr Thunderbolt 3 drive, which is insanely fast. I split the internal Fusion drive, using the 128GB SSD for Premiere/After Effects cache, with the remainder for Time Machine backups. It's made a massive difference!

      3 points
      • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

        Splitting the internal fusion is a heck of an idea. The SSD portion is 256GB on this so that would make for a great scratch disk. Thanks for the input.

        0 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      This is what I'm going to be trying. I just ordered the 1TB option of that drive (like $219 on Amazon). I'm really hoping this solves the issue.

      I didn't even realize you could boot externally again. I used to boot exclusively via FW and when they took that away I forgot it was possible.

      1 point
  • Alex JohnsonAlex Johnson, 4 years ago

    I have 3 separate Mac systems and 2 windows systems for personal and work.

    I haven't experienced anything like what you are experiencing with your Macs. Sounds super frustrating and I wish I could give you advice on how to fix it but there is probably some faulty component there (ram most likely, maybe logic board).

    I will say that IMO windows is 100000000000x more frustrating and annoying. Random shut downs for restarts, touch on the surface pros just goes completely wonky after updates, the surfaces very frequently just wakes itself up and drains the battery in your bag (and decides to cook itself by turning on in the bag and somehow using a ton of processing power), surface randomly turns on and off throughout the night and loses connections to peripherals. On top of thousands of just little things that come up here and there.

    New Windows hardware is super nice (Dell XPS 13, MS Surface Laptop etc) but my god, Win 10 is so buggy and wonky IMO (and bloated).

    Elementary OS is great and clean for a linux option but anything Adobe does not work on linux (or its super mega buggy for the hax to make it run...and its a ton of work). Linux is great if you get more into the browser based design tools out there today like Figma.

    Good luck. Hope that helps.

    2 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      Why can't someone design and build something that just works. :-(

      0 points
      • Job SonnentagJob Sonnentag, 4 years ago

        Totally understand your frustration. Though even with the seeming decline in overall polish with Apple software recently, it is still the closest to that end by a mile.

        0 points
    • Job SonnentagJob Sonnentag, 4 years ago

      I will say that IMO windows is 100000000000x more frustrating and annoying.

      Can corroborate this 100%! I've been a long time Mac user, but recently have had no choice, but to set up and maintain a Windows PC. As there aren't currently any other viable options for running a VR gaming system. It is the bane of my existence. I spend almost as much time fiddling with crap as I do actually playing games.

      I don't have experience trying to use design apps Windows, mostly because my experience has been so bad, I just don't want to spend any more time on the OS than I have to.

      Elementary OS is great and clean for a linux option

      Actually, having been so fed up with Windows, I recently tried Elementary OS. I would not recommend this either. I wanted so badly to love it. It just isn't there yet. I had constant issues with Bluetooth and other system features. It also just isn't as polished as macOS or even Windows. For example, the login screen doesn't auto-focus on the password field. I literally had to mouse over to the left hand edge of the screen every time I logged in to select it. There are things like that all over EOS.

      That being said, the latest version of Ubuntu (18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish) is absolutely great! It is by no means a replacement for macOS (in my opinion), but if I could I would gladly switch to it from Windows for my gaming needs. Also, almost all of the issues I experienced with EOS were not a problem with Ubuntu.

      0 points
    • John PJohn P, 4 years ago

      Windows 10 issues are massively overstated, I hadn't used windows since 2000 and found it a vast improvement.

      Sure it falls short in a few places but modern OS X has just enough bad things these days, like how in Mojave the low disk space message will pop up every 8 minutes on occasion.

      0 points
  • alif tan, 4 years ago

    i am using macbook pro 13 8gb ram and never get issue. i think your imac should bring to service center. maybe hardware problem bro.

    2 points
  • J. Terrell, 4 years ago

    Suggest building your own. Switched to PC over a year ago. Similar reasons you've mentioned. I use my macbook maybe once or twice a QTR. Decided against building a Hackintosh and just built a solid gaming/work pc. Great for 3D and motion work.

    1 point
    • John PJohn P, 4 years ago

      I switched for 3D work too, you'd have to be absolutely insane not to go to PC for 3D these days.

      0 points
  • Brooks Rogers, 4 years ago

    You have 20-25%freespace on your startup drive?

    1 point
  • Norm Sheeran, 4 years ago

    Are you sure you’re not running a system wide app that’s causing issues for you? I’ve never heard of such an unreliable (modern) iMac. It could be software related.

    Good luck with Windows (sorry I have no advice), but maybe a hackintosh may be an option for you.

    1 point
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      No system wide apps out of the usual. And oddly enough it's Finder that gives most of the issues. It just locks up and is 100% impossible to get running again without restarting the machine.

      I did an OS reinstall, and that seems to have helped for the moment. Going to be taking some advice and switching to an external SSD for my boot disk. Hopefully that will help. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there are issues going on with the new disk format and the fusion drive.

      Out of all the machines I've had (g3 iBook, dual 1.42 MDD G4, g4 iBook, g4 Powerbook, 2.5 g5, 2008 MB, 2012 MBP, this), this has been the least reliable and most headache-inducing. I used to boot my g4 from an iPod hooked up via firewire and had zero issues.

      0 points
      • Spencer HaizelSpencer Haizel, 4 years ago

        So you reinstalled the OS and everything is fine.. shock.

        Should have probably given that a go before calling it quits with Apple.

        0 points
  • Ashu M, 4 years ago

    H

    0 points
  • Michael Kalus, 4 years ago

    The biggest problem is their Fusion Drive. It the biggest cr*p they have invented and lead to a lot of problems to my previous iMac 5k. If you have enough experience build a Hackintosh, serves me with joy every day.

    0 points
  • Aaron Wears Many HatsAaron Wears Many Hats, 4 years ago

    So I'm usually a laptop user with needs for performance with a limited amount of portability.

    Went from using macbook pros for years and years, to getting a Dell G3 i7 8750H/geforce 1080Ti with the intention of a cheaper yet more performant graphics and development rig.

    The machine is great. BUT I need to point out some things that will shit you up the wall.

    1. No 'space bar to preview' in windows. You don't realise how much you use this in your workflow until it's gone.
    2. No universal 'drop this file into this apps icon to open it'. Far out this is terrible when wanting to open PS files here and there.
    3. Windows takes forever to move and delete folders with large amounts of files. node_modules is a nightmare.
    4. Random and unexpected background app behavior often interrupts you, with magical hidden dialogues that sometimes don't appear, and you get stuck waiting for an action that never happens.
    5. If you're a developer, moving from bash to windows shell is equal parts nostalgia as frustration.
    6. Window stacking has always been handled better on osx than windows
    7. All the adobe suite works better on OSX. This is my real-world +15yr of use opinion, not a lab benchmark score. When you're working on a huge workflow of large vectors and video files, windows versions of adobe struggles.

    All of these issues are niggles, but just be aware that as a tool of the trade, the macs do tend to 'work' better. I know people may disagree on some of these points, but just be prepared for some transitional time and possibly a downturn in productivity as you work out the quirks.

    0 points
    • Brian HintonBrian Hinton, 4 years ago
      1. Install Quicklook from the Windows Store. It's just as good (and even better) in many cases than the Mac equivalent. The code, and markdown preview is better.
      2. I've personally never liked drag-and-drop. I'm more of an Open With...but I get why this might be an annoyance. I kinda like the pin capability. It is technically possible to drag-and-drop, but each app must implement it.
      3. I suspect this might be your drive. My NVME SSD is super fast, and I haven't noticed a difference when compared to my MacBook Pro.
      4. This can be killed by disabling some of the more annoying Windows options. I compare this to the odd random swiping in Mac OS that opens the useless Notifications Center. Or Mac OS telling me this isn't an approved app requiring me to unlock to install.
      5. I'm curious about your frustrations.
      6. This is simply not true. For awhile now Windows has more elegantly handled Window management, Window snapping, etc. There are a number of built-in shortcuts that mimic Spectacle on Mac OS. Not to mention I don't have to do a weird click + drag on the green traffic light to snap fullscreen apps.
      7. Again not true. Windows allows you to properly utilize the GPU across every Adobe app. Not to mention have any GPU you could possibly want. Do you have the GPU acceleration enabled in your Adobe applications?
      2 points
  • Mariz Melo, 4 years ago

    I started looking for a replacement for Mac a while back, but keep coming back to it. A few reasons: - stability - trackpad multi-touch precision - design apps (sketch)

    My second option is the following: Xiaomi Laptop MI air with Elementary OS, here is why: - Electron apps - App store like interface (don't have to go to command line all the time) - Figma (replacement for Sketch)

    But I miss the precision of the multi-touch trackpad (xiaomi trackpad is awesome, but the multi-touch gestures help me a lot daily). I miss Principle App a lot, no replacement there. Overall happy with my secondary option/setup.

    0 points
  • Surjith S MSurjith S M, 4 years ago

    Use same config as Apple and Assemble your PC yourself. or upgrade the config for half the price of Apple.

    0 points
  • Jrtorrents Dorman , 4 years ago

    It’s better to build your own rig, and get a decent Dell 4K display! You can do all this for half the price of a Mac.

    If you’re looking for something fancy, you can also get one of the new Surface Studios (if you can afford and and you don’t need a lot of horse power)

    If you’re into Sketch you might be out of luck though but that’s just about it. Figma works on and all Adobe applications work ok windows !

    0 points
  • Marek LMarek L, 4 years ago

    Build your own PC. It is quite easy. I would look for something like this https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CnFZdX

    0 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      I haven't built a machine in almost 20 years. I'm sure it isn't terribly different now, but it's just not the kind of thing I have time for anymore. Even losing a few days to researching/ordering/building/installing would be really bad.

      0 points
      • Marek LMarek L, 4 years ago

        I am sure most e-stores offer building the PC for you. Or you can just pick ready-made PC like DigitalStorm, Origin PC, etc. Or just go with Dell (XPS tower for example or if you do no plan to game a Precision)

        0 points
      • Job SonnentagJob Sonnentag, 4 years ago

        Just a warning, if even losing a few days to research/build time is an issue for you, this is absolutely not the way to go. I'm not saying it's not a good or viable option, but it is literally impossible not to spend at least a couple days researching a build. You will probably spend that much time just looking for a case that you are satisfied with, that is also compatible with the motherboard (and other parts) you choose.

        Though there are a lot of websites and resources that aggregate peoples builds and whatnot that help. Can't remember them off the top of my head though. Sorry.

        0 points
  • Paul GasparPaul Gaspar, 4 years ago

    You obviously have some strange type of hardware or software failure.

    What you are doing is throwing away a brand new Mercedes, because you have a flat tyre.

    0 points
    • Andrew Hersh, 4 years ago

      I hear you. There was a lot of built-up frustration in the OP. I'm trying the external SSD route and hopefully that helps. The more I think about it, the more I think this has to do with the new format being optimized for SSD but being used on a fusion drive.

      Either way, at the moment, the only thing keeping me in the ecosystem is MacOS itself. The hardware looks nice, but with a buggy OS the performance just isn't there to justify the premium.

      0 points
    • John PJohn P, 4 years ago

      Heres the thing though, with a Windows machine you don't have to throw away the whole car when a part goes bad.

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