[Eric in the Ozarks]

I ditched a Dell for an iMac in 2011.
No problems since.

[Swordmaker]

Why are Apple MacBooks more reliable than the competitions, often even in the same price range? ZDNet looks at what Consumer Reports found out. One of the conclusions is that "Apple insists on quality (from its supply chain) and - this is key - they get it." -- PING!

Apple Reliabiity reported real by Consumer Reports
Ping!

The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me

[ctdonath2]

Start by recognizing that the end user is the customer - NOT some bulk-buyer, nor someone paying big bucks to pre-load crapware. Build the best machine & software you can for the end users to use.

“You get what you pay for.” Why then are people surprised that a $500 computer sucks compared to a $1200 computer when both are built for the same usage?

[butlerweave]

Apple makes 95% profit on each Macbook ,they cost more

[Albion Wilde]

bump

[roadcat]

How would YOU advise Windows vendors to improve quality?

For me, Windows is the problem, and that's why I moved to Macs. As for the hardware, low quality hard drives on Windows machines have always been a problem. Experienced many hard drive failures on Windows boxes. On my Macs, none other than a sector failure here or there that got taken care of by the OS, keeping the Mac running. I got tired of swapping out failed hard drives on PC machines. Also had problems with failing power supplies on PCs, not only mine but in those of my friends and family. The only power supply failure I saw on a Mac was a neighbor's, which I fixed and it was because he broke the jack insert inside and pushed in another cord thereby shorting it out. Hardware on a Mac is rock solid for the most part.

[The KG9 Kid]

This article, favorable to the MacBooks, still somehow keeps pushing the notion there's an 'Apple Tax' built into the price supplementing a surcharge for reliability. People still think that Apple hardware costs more than comparative PC hardware.

Not the case when it comes to notebooks: Spec out a Dell or HP premium notebook (or even a Microsoft-manufactured SurfaceBook) that has comparatively similar specs as a MacBook Pro Retina and you may find that those machines are actually higher in price than the Apple product.

In the cases where the Apple is in fact more expensive, you're talking maybe $125 or so. Piddly.

Now that you're done with that, THEN look at reliability figures. That's only fair. Hmm... Seems a lot of people were really disappointed to tear a $5,000 bill in half to buy Microsoft's new premium SurfaceBook only to learn that it was a crash-tastic combobulation of parts. I did read that there've been some recent fixes to the SurfaceBook lately which have resolved some things... except for battery life which is in true practice about 15-20% less than the MacBook Pro Retina if not more.

To be fair, this is Microsoft's first real venture into taking on the mantle of being a hardware company and supporting a genuine market product that isn't software based. That's a long uphill climb they've begun. Best wishes for them on this endeavor. The SurfaceBook is a good machine, but anyone buying into one of them ought to understand that they're an early adopter and are bound for a little heartache.

My own advice to a PC user looking for a premium notebook to run Windows 10 is that they just get a rMBP and run Windows in a BootCamp partition. Make it the default startup disk and leave it that way so Windows always boots. If you ever get into a jam where Windows won't load, simply load the OSX partition and rescue yourself. I'd do that before I bought a high end Dell/HP/MSFT product. But that's just me.

[Irish Eyes]

Love my Mac (17”) but it still has Snow Leopard as the browser. Is it possible to upgrade to current Safari browser?

[Drew68]

Typing this reply on an '09 MacBook Pro running El Capitan. This thing was built like a tank. None of the keys have even broken off yet. Every pixel on the screen illuminates. All the ports work. Heck, the battery still holds a charge.

Apple screwed up when they built this machine. They forget planned obsolescence.

[tacticalogic]

There are plenty of $500 Windows notebooks, but that is a price point where Apple doesn't compete.

MS is only supplying the software, but their OEMs are killing the MS brand with reliability that is half of what Apple achieves.

Comments welcome, of course. How would YOU advise Windows vendors to improve quality?

Windows dominates the OS landscape because those $500 notebooks put owning one within financial reach of a lot more people. What they're asking Microsoft to do is help Apple by pricing those people out of the market.

[CodeToad]

Only your paid social media troll bias could possible claim Apple is more reliable.

Apple isn’t any more reliable than any other device.

You really should stop with the Apple propaganda. It makes FR look ridiculous.

[CodeToad]

Apple is obviously having serious issues with their poor reputation for reliability when they resort to paying you to post this type of propaganda on social media sites like FR.

[jamesmgg]

I’ve been using Macbook Pro for 2 and a half years. I’ve mid-2012 model. Recently, I upgraded to SSD, and it’s performance is superb. Yes, it’s reliable and very user friendly. I love using it as a web designer and a blogger.

However, there are some controversies like this: http://www.tufitech.com/apple/reasons-you-dont-need-new-macbook-2015/

I’m not sure about the new MacBook models, but the older versions has been great!

[CodeToad]

Just more Apple paid social media trolling by you.

Seriously, Apple should be funding FR entirely for the amount of social media trolling you do here.