# Apple Macintosh Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macintosh/ 21 people recommended Apple Macintosh in Hacker News comments, 12 had mixed feelings and 15 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 21 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended for its graphical interface, attention to detail, and strength in visual and creative work. Critics say it started out costly and limited, with weak multitasking and slow performance for demanding tasks. Summary written by Claude from 43 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 42 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Fond early memories and first impressions (4 comments in the sample): "I will never forget when the Mac first came out, my friend and I went to see one at a computer store." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48109469)) "This was a wonderful experience as a kid and still warm my heart today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47464521)) "Apple clicked with me when our middle school computer lab" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47607213)) - Pioneering graphical user interface (2 comments in the sample): "The mandatory graphic GUI - and MacPaint - made the point that the Mac was primarily a visual design tool that happened to handle text." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48344648)) "made huge functional improvements over the Smalltalk GUI, improvements still used today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50250997)) - Careful attention to detail (2 comments in the sample): "none of them were as carefully crafted as a Macintosh with a tiny memory and a floppy disk" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49788115)) "The care and attention to detail on every level of the machine was special." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49939824)) - Strong for visual and creative work (1 comment in the sample): "Mac users got their money's worth especially if they were creatives" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49521902)) ## What people warn about - Slow for demanding work (3 comments in the sample): "Still great at UI heavy stuff but not hitting the higher performance of top end machines" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48916646)) "they were seen as very slow (compared to "contemporary" home computers of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49019631)) "Those decisions prevented the Mac from becoming a performant gaming system" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48479171)) - Seen as media-only, not office (2 comments in the sample): "The Macs where for media people, not for the common worker on a boring office, where MS dominated." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46884768)) "The Mac was just an expensive toy for people working on different media." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873098)) - Expensive and limited at launch (1 comment in the sample): "a good product but started off weak in terms of capability and costly on price" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49868029)) ## Other personal computers people recommend - [Apple Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-mac/): 304 recommend, 116 mixed, 263 criticize - [Apple Mac Studio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mac-studio/): 234 recommend, 64 mixed, 129 criticize - [Apple M1 Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-m1-mac/): 41 recommend, 7 mixed, 10 criticize - [Apple II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-ii/): 35 recommend, 7 mixed, 10 criticize ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/mac/) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple Macintosh", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macintosh/ (21 recommend, 12 mixed, 15 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.