For my entire career, I’ve been using Windows laptops in a professional context. This makes a lot of sense, given I am heavily embedded in the Microsoft Dynamics partner industry.
I was due for a new work laptop earlier this year, and I opted for an Apple laptop. Whilst I’ve got an iMac at home I use for casual personal tasks (paying bills, writing my emails, and other such chores) it’s not an environment I’ve “worked” in.
The new laptop is a 15” M4 MacBook Air. After two weeks of use I’ve only got positive things to say about this little chunk of aluminium.
- The battery life is incredible. More than a full working day including (too) many hours of Teams video calls with noise cancelling and video backgrounds. Not thinking about power is life changing.
- It’s sooooo light. I’ve bought myself a newer smaller laptop bag for most daily commutes, since I no longer need a power supply with me.
- The 15” screen is just beautiful. The lack of proper high-res / “Retina” screens in the Windows ecosystem is underestimated.
- MacOS is fantastic for office workers. Much of my life is spent in the MS Office apps, but the better controls over keyboard shortcuts, application automation (with AppleScript and Shortcuts), strong productivity app ecosystem, and better cross-device sharing just make life better.
The only downsides so far are that my Bluetooth headset needs Micro-USB to charge (🤢) but I didn’t have a USB-C to Micro-USB cable, and my desktop keyboard with a Windows layout caused me headaches with muscle memory when I moved between laptop-only and desktop use. Both problems quickly and cheaply fixed with a trip to eBay.