Laptops

[flugs]

Hey all,

My old & faithful DEL died yesterday. I had been thinking about replacing it recently, but it felt like a good kick in the right direction. I've currently got my sights set on MAC, more specifically a 1TB SSD MacBook Pro. Right now, it suits my need of office apps and adobe software. In the coming years, I may also want to use it for gaming too - hence why I am opting for a more powerful laptop.

My question (for any laptop/mac users) is do you have any recommendations before I go ahead and buy it? Pretty certain about this purchase, but it'd be great to get some general thoughts from current users before I do. Also, any laptop gamers, would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

 

[curak]

Hey all,

My old & faithful DEL died yesterday. I had been thinking about replacing it recently, but it felt like a good kick in the right direction. I've currently got my sights set on MAC, more specifically a 1TB SSD MacBook Pro. Right now, it suits my need of office apps and adobe software. In the coming years, I may also want to use it for gaming too - hence why I am opting for a more powerful laptop.

My question (for any laptop/mac users) is do you have any recommendations before I go ahead and buy it? Pretty certain about this purchase, but it'd be great to get some general thoughts from current users before I do. Also, any laptop gamers, would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

MAC and gaming? Don't

 

[curak]

Elaborate! Everything I’ve read online commends this MAC for its gaming capabilities.

MacOS has a limited amount of games that can be run without having to add a thirdparty to play Windows-only games. Mac is software-oriented, it's optimised for software; eg coding, photoshop.... It's not made to game. Hardware-wise it isn't that great, for sure not for the amount of money you have to spend on one. I suggest getting a macbook for schoolstuff or work-related stuff, but for gaming just get a desktop.

for real though it's possible this has changed with the latest generation, i'm not up-to-date on that matter.

 

[Hayden]

If you're mainly picking it for things like work stuff such as office, adobe, creative software or software development then one of the new M1 macbooks (don't buy an intel mac) is a very good buy. Gaming will be okay, but there will be limitations, as a lot of games won't work natively on ARM (which is M1) without extra steps required. You can always use GeForce Now if you really want to game. Battery life on the new M1 macbooks is amazing too.

 

[Clarky]

I’m not too keen on Mac software but I’ve heard that people use Wine to run Windows applications, for gaming im not too sure you’d have to do some extra research and see if there’s a better VM since you don’t tend to find Mac support in a lot of games afaik

WineHQ - Run Windows applications on Linux, BSD, Solaris and macOS

Open Source Software for running Windows applications on other operating systems.

www.winehq.org

 

[curak]

I’m not too keen on Mac software but I’ve heard that people use Wine to run Windows applications, for gaming im not too sure you’d have to do some extra research and see if there’s a better VM since you don’t tend to find Mac support in a lot of games afaik

WineHQ - Run Windows applications on Linux, BSD, Solaris and macOS

Open Source Software for running Windows applications on other operating systems.

www.winehq.org

it's worth checking this: https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/M1_compatible_games_master_list, taking a quick glance at this list, you'll prob need Rosetta 2

 

[Bnjemann]

We only run templeOS Here buddy…

Nah forreal, whilst Mac has good software that’s exclusive that I’d like to use, the vast majority of gaming software is windows based.

 

[Atomic]

Gaming on the new Macbook pros from what iv heard is okay but obviously, it's a MAC so it's going to be limited on that front and will come with some issues that you wouldn't get on a windows machine. As for Adobe, you won't get anything better than Macbook to run these apps from a laptop, MacBooks beat windows laptops by far on this front especially the newer MacBook pros that you are looking at I have got many friends (Software engineers, graphic designers, video editors) who use Macbooks as their primary machine's when they cannot use desktops.

I have had the same thought about getting rid of my desktop and completely swapping to a Macbook but in my eye's I felt if I was going to completely swap to MAC I may as well not bother gaming as it will be too difficult and obviously not run as good.

Also, Mac's quite honestly FAR outlive Windows devices. If you went and bought the Macbook pro for 2k RN I would honestly say assuming you don't damage it drop it etc that thing will last you a good 8-10 years. I had a friend in college in 2019 who bought a 2011 Macbook pro and although it was 8 years old at the time that thing worked fine he could run CSGO at like 40-60 fps no problem and as for college work, it worked a dream had a slow start-up but other than that it was smooth. whereas windows laptops (especially 'gaming' ones) would not last that long without something hardware breaking.

Another plus for MAC is their design is immaculate it's incredibly slim considering how much power it holds. The battery life is great around about 14 hours obviously dependant on what you are doing, compared to most windows gaming laptops like this one which advertises 8.

In all honesty, I would definitely suggest a mac for your work needs. I would do some research into what games it is you may want to play and see how they work on MAC. but from reading

In the coming years, I may also want to use it for gaming too

it seems like you have given up on gaming for now so why not buy a MAC focus on working on school/college/uni or whatever it is you are currently doing and then possibly look at buying a desktop/gaming laptop in the future to play games again.

I have added you on steam so if you wanna speak further then LMK. I would be happy to answer more questions/give a better opinion based on what it is you are currently doing.

 

[BullyHunter]

Don't get a Macbook pro for gaming,

MacOS is barely compatible with anything.
I recommend a windows os laptop.


Going off a quick skim of I can see in your steam library you can't play the following games

• Arma 3
• Amongus
• Beatsaber
• Black Squad
• Far Cry 4
• Payday 2
• Pavlov
• PUBG
• Ring of Elysium

 

[flugs]

I have had the same thought about getting rid of my desktop and completely swapping to a Macbook but in my eye's I felt if I was going to completely swap to MAC I may as well not bother gaming as it will be too difficult and obviously not run as good.

Also, Mac's quite honestly FAR outlive Windows devices. If you went and bought the Macbook pro for 2k RN I would honestly say assuming you don't damage it drop it etc that thing will last you a good 8-10 years. I had a friend in college in 2019 who bought a 2011 Macbook pro and although it was 8 years old at the time that thing worked fine he could run CSGO at like 40-60 fps no problem and as for college work, it worked a dream had a slow start-up but other than that it was smooth. whereas windows laptops (especially 'gaming' ones) would not last that long without something hardware breaking.

Another plus for MAC is their design is immaculate it's incredibly slim considering how much power it holds. The battery life is great around about 14 hours obviously dependant on what you are doing, compared to most windows gaming laptops like this one which advertises 8.

In all honesty, I would definitely suggest a mac for your work needs. I would do some research into what games it is you may want to play and see how they work on MAC. but from reading

it seems like you have given up on gaming for now so why not buy a MAC focus on working on school/college/uni or whatever it is you are currently doing and then possibly look at buying a desktop/gaming laptop in the future to play games again.

I have added you on steam so if you wanna speak further then LMK. I would be happy to answer more questions/give a better opinion based on what it is you are currently doing.

Fanatically informative reply, I appreciate yours thoughts. I do own a desktop PC and actively play games, but I would like my MAC to have gaming capability so as to allow me to play in times such as uni. I will leave a better reply tomorrow!

 

[Tinky]

get pc

 

[Tinky]

i hav pc bitch

better pc handle work and game. better than laptop

 

[Creepis]

If everything you need is on MacOS then I won't really stop you from getting an Apple laptop but just be aware that gaming isn't the best experience unless you use Wine/ProtonDB or something like game streaming.

Laptops with iGPU's are pretty good for what they can do and they're getting better, at least on AMD's part. They already have pretty powerful APU's, 6000 series will be even better on some leaks

https://twitter.com/x/status/1481803623084576771

. It's important that you check if the APU powered laptop you buy has dual channel memory (or upgradable, non-soldered RAM sticks). These of course come with better battery life, less weight, thinness and depending on the model a less gamer-y look if all you do is Office work but you still want to do some occasional gaming.

If you want more gaming performance however you need a dGPU like a RTX 3060 or similar, don't think many laptops come with an AMD CPU configuration so it's okay if you get an Intel CPU as some AMD laptops for some reason have shit design compared to their Intel counterpart and it's probably hard to get any kind of hardware at the moment anyway so get what you can as long as it's decent.

 

[teby]

mac supports proton (a wine fork that valve has been working on for a while), which is what will be used on the steam deck to run non native linux games. it works wonders for me on loonix but might take a bit for u to set up

 

[Dimitris Kowalski]

@flugs whats the budget you are putting ? for example i spent 750 euros on te pc and runs perfectly even the gta and many more games that were out of my radar

 

[Smeris]

Elaborate! Everything I’ve read online commends this MAC for its gaming capabilities.

Some new macs run on the Apple M1 chip which is ARM based. Games compiled to run on traditional X64-86 architectures(aka, normal intel/amd processors) wont run on this. You cannot bootcamp or run windows or ANY other emulation tool on it either, like proton or wine unless it is specifically compiled for ARM/Apple M1. This chip is the one that is praised for it's power and battery life, but these are its downfalls.

Anything that is 'Apple supported' a year ago is not apple supported now unless explicitely mentioned by the software, or you have a model Macbook that has an Intel or AMD chip, be aware of this!

A mac is great if you're all into the Apple ecosystem, and if you have an Iphone for example. But as soon as you want to do special stuff and especially game on it you will run into issues and incompatibilities like never before. if you're willing on paying the Apple tax, then why not get an ultrabook with a good graphics card instead?
There's plenty of non-gaming, gaming laptops. Most gaming laptops have dumb features and are so heavy that the HSE will fine you for even wanting to carry one. If you want a normal laptop that can last for hours for normal office work and productivity, but can also game when you want to Laptops like the Lenovo legion & the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 lines are good examples.

These laptops often are optimus enabled, meaning that the dedicated graphics card only kicks in when you want to. The iGPU (Intel/AMD Graphics) is used for the desktop and stuff, and when you want to game the dedicated GPU kicks in. Because of technical limiations this sacrefices a tiny bit of performance(This is why if you connect the laptop over HDMI, and disable the laptop screen you can notice a small FPS improvement) but it is still more than capable of running games

I'd be happy to recommend you some brands/lines if you can tell me:

- what battery life you expect from it
- If you want a high refresh rate display
- if you want your display to be really color accurate for creative work
- 15 /17 inch

 

[Smeris]

Another great reply. Focussing specifically on this:

1. I want really as good battery life as I can.
2. Yes.
3. Definitely. A large part of why I'm buying this laptop is for my photography.
4. 16"

MSI GS66 Stealth 15.6" Gaming Laptop - Intel® Core™ i7, RTX 3060, 512 GB SSD

Intel® Core™ i7-11800H Processor; RAM: 16 GB / Storage: 512 GB SSD; Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB; 228 FPS when playing Fortnite at 1080p; Quad HD screen / 165 Hz; Battery life: Up to 10 hours

www.currys.co.uk

This might be a great candidate