# Apple Mac 453 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple Mac and 292 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 15 years (59 owners). **Verdict:** Recommended for excellent build quality and tight hardware-software integration that makes it reliable and easy to use, though critics dislike macOS UI changes and pricey upgrades. ## Why people recommend it - Tight hardware-software integration (5 comments): "it's much less likely to randomly break, mainly due to the fact that the hardware the software runs on is extremely predictable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48445894)) "I switched to Mac 20 years ago out of sheer frustration over the total lack of coordination between hardware and software" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45919819)) "Userspace tools and UI is terrible and have no control over but the hardware and the software integration is top notch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801459)) - Excellent build quality (5 comments): "All (well, most. all of what I care about) of the flexibility and ease-of-use and efficiency of linux, stuffed into a gorgeous, well engineered product." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967117)) "Turns out they just kept making more and more high quality devices and not one organization has figured out how to compete with them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46395330)) "Their hardware is excellent, but when I've tried using a Mac as my main machine, my productivity suffered." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48326321)) - Easy for non-technical people (3 comments): "I recommend Mac's to the people in my life because when they have a problem they can take the machine to the Apple Store in the mall." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47063608)) "the out of the box experience is still super simple and easy for people who do not have a comfortable relationship with computing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462820)) "Apple has better build quality, long support periods, simplified updates, and for the most part just works" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47518220)) - Silent, fast, long battery (3 comments): "completely silent (and trust me, I'm quite sensitive to that), lasts on battery long enough, as fast as possible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49040799)) "No driver problems (well, first party ones at least), good performance and I can still run any software I like." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49765903)) "you cannot choose an affordable laptop with great build quality and speed and battery unless you buy a Mac" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48391446)) ## What people warn about - Frustrating macOS software and UI (5 comments): "Userspace tools and UI is terrible and have no control over but the hardware and the software integration is top notch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801459)) "The final straw with Mac for me was when I accidentally hit “No” when asked if I wanted to give my terminal access to the file system." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939750)) "Mac randomly autocorrects dashes to em-dashes (caused me a world of pain once when it did that in a GUID in a config file)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47153519)) - Disruptive OS updates (2 comments): "The most annoying thing about Apple is when the OS updates and suddenly you have a different experience like liquid glass." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46796881)) "it seems like I have to install a restart-required update for my Macs at least every two weeks nowadays" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49481525)) - Overpriced upgrades and RAM (2 comments): "If you're happy with the base model, then Apple has a great value/price ratio, but there's nothing below it and any upgrade is really bad value for the money." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48686850)) "When I bought my Mac a few years back, their ram prices were 2-3x market price. If anything, they are competitive today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939372)) - Losing trust in Apple's direction (2 comments): "I use their products more than Google's or Meta's. But I don't like the trajectory they've been going down for the past decade or so" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46026840)) "I for one have lost all hope and trust that Apple can steer the Mac platform in a direction that still intersects with my interests." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47232101)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple Mac Studio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mac-studio.md): 319 recommend - [Apple M1 Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-m1-mac.md): 48 recommend - [Apple II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-ii.md): 46 recommend - [Apple Macintosh](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macintosh.md): 34 recommend - [Apple M-series Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-m-series-mac.md): 34 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+Mac+laptop&tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.apple.com/mac/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple Mac", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-mac/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).