Quality of Macs vs PCs

Has any studies been done regarding the quality of Macs vs PCs? I have heard that Mac hardware is much better? Just curious. Thanks!

Traditionally Mac Hardware has been of a higher quality than its PC counterparts, but with the recent switch to Intel there seem to be more problems....

More problems? Haven't seen any evidence of that.

PC parts are made by thousands of companies, so it's impossible to say whether a single PC is of better quality than any other machine.

I've seen Macs last with no problems for years and years, yet others go kaput or suffer from niggles like keyboard problems.

Alexis said:

More problems? Haven't seen any evidence of that.

PC parts are made by thousands of companies, so it's impossible to say whether a single PC is of better quality than any other machine.

I've seen Macs last with no problems for years and years, yet others go kaput or suffer from niggles like keyboard problems.

Click to expand...

The amount of reported problems with MacBooks and MacBook Pros alone has been significant. There have been problems with the early iMacs, though not as many as the MBs and MBPs, there have also been issues with the Minis. I have not ready anything on the new MacPros though....

I purchased a first gen MBP (bought it after the first week it was out). I've had little to no problems with it -- the heat and whine complaints people had I've seen none of. The only minor problem I had was just last week the lid wasn't closing properly, I played around a bit and now it closes just fine. The latch was getting stuck or something.

I think the quality difference is in how they are made. Macs are generally all one vendor, buy something and it works with your system. PCs on the other hand you can buy different parts and piece a Frankenmachine together - sometimes this works, sometimes there are compatibility issues.

You are dealing with electronics either way, electronics fail for many reasons. First generation equipment will fail more than second gen etc. So it depends where you go.

As any informed consumer though you should always research what you are going to purchase and get multiple views -- plus a lot of the horror stories you hear online are the loud vocal minority -- who is going to run around the Internet posting on multiple forums that their computer works?

I think they switched too soon. I forsaw this like many others mainly because you are dealing with 1st Gen of this line of hardware. I will crossover in a year or two but for now I am content. I think both Macs and whatever PC equivalent are both well-made. But I think the eMac is the only garbage as far as Mac's go. I am only speaking from what I have used (every line in the G4 & G5 families). My parents have a really old Mac at their home but can't remember what version. But I love the quality of that too...it still runs. Haven't used the Intel Macs so couldn't really comment.

Alexis said:

PC parts are made by thousands of companies,

Click to expand...

Good point, the question needs to be narrowed down to a specific hardware manufacturer before anything worthwhile can be said on the subject.

PapaNoHair said:

Has any studies been done regarding the quality of Macs vs PCs? I have heard that Mac hardware is much better? Just curious. Thanks!

Click to expand...

To say that "Mac" hardware is better than "Windows PC" hardware is simply not fact, but rather opinion.
Ever since the switch from a primarily SCSI interface to an IDE one back in 1997, Macs and Windows PC's have used pretty much the same internal hardware types. Since they are the same, how can one be "better" than the other?
The only real difference between a Mac and a Windows machine is the OS. Even then, it is a subjective matter of personal opinion as to which is "better" than the other.
:black:

Cujo said:

I think the quality difference is in how they are made. Macs are generally all one vendor, buy something and it works with your system. PCs on the other hand you can buy different parts and piece a Frankenmachine together - sometimes this works, sometimes there are compatibility issues.

Click to expand...

I hate to break it to you, but Apple outsources as much as Dell or HP or Gateway for hardware. Most of it is done in China or elsewhere in Asia. Comparing a Brand named PC to a hand built is like comparing...well...Apples to Oranges in many cases....

It's impossible to say really, just like you can buy a washing machine and have it working for 25 years without a problem, you can buy one that seems to be made 'on a monday' and fails almost right away. The same goes for computers. I've assembled my machine myself and never had a problem (so far ;-), while some brand-machines at work are failing for no apparent reason.
It helps if you're born lucky I suppose...

I use a PC with 3 different OS's on it, and of course my beautiful mac mini

baggss said:

I hate to break it to you, but Apple outsources as much as Dell or HP or Gateway for hardware. Most of it is done in China or elsewhere in Asia. Comparing a Brand named PC to a hand built is like comparing...well...Apples to Oranges in many cases....

Click to expand...

What I meant by my comment was that if it's labeled as an Apple part it will work with Apple systems. Where-as going to PCs you run into separate problems with the compatibility issues. You would need more knowledge on your purchasing requirements etc. This line is also thinning away now though as well.

As D3v1L80Y stated though with the changes in architecture all around the main difference now is the OS. And then make the choice on quality from there.

D3v1L80Y said:

To say that "Mac" hardware is better than "Windows PC" hardware is simply not fact, but rather opinion.
Ever since the switch from a primarily SCSI interface to an IDE one back in 1997, Macs and Windows PC's have used pretty much the same internal hardware types. Since they are the same, how can one be "better" than the other?
The only real difference between a Mac and a Windows machine is the OS. Even then, it is a subjective matter of personal opinion as to which is "better" than the other.
:black:

Click to expand...

All the comments have been fasinating and I appreciate the input. Reason for the original question was that I had always been "taught" by a couple of Mac lovers that I know was that the reason for the high price of Macs compared to PCs was because the hardware quality was better (in addition to the obvious OS being better). A recent article I read by a person who generally leans towards Microsoft stated that 4 of the top 5 computer companies would switch to Mac in a heartbeat if Mac would let them put the Mac OS on their computers with the top company saying it would throw Microsoft out the window (pun intended) immediately to replace it with Mac but Apple would probably not do it (even though their market share would jump drastically) because they could not control the hardware it was placed on. Based upon these two I have always assumed Macs hardware was just better.

Again, in the past that was true. Apple used to build nearly everything in house, including printers, and for a brief period monitors. It nearly drove them out of business.

To be fair, Dell can call something as a "Dell part" and charge you more for it, but no one is going to buy it. Apple is still viewed that way because many folks have not figured out that lots of the same parts you pay more for in a Mac are the same parts that go in a PC for a cheaper price.. As an example, you can buy almost any USB PCI expansion card at a computer store and have it work with your Mac, but most folks will only buy one that says Mac compatible on the package, thus they pay more.

Apple is not likely to license the OS anytime soon, so those businesses can opt to stay locked into the mandatory MS upgrade cycle, or buy all new hardware that can run both systems. Most are opting to stay locked into the MS cycle.

There has been quite a lot made recently about Apple's apparent fall from grace when it comes to quality. I read an article in the Independent (a UK newspaper) titled "Is Apple rotten?" citing the long queues at their stores at the genius bars and the high number of returns of iPODS and the new Macbooks (mainly because of the colouring issues, i.e. nothing to do with Intel chips).

The fact is, Apple has had a massive resurgence in the last 2 or 3 years, most of which is down to iPOD and its massive popularity, so it stands to reason that Apple will get more complaints and see more problems, simply due to volumes.

The fact is, many consumer devices these days are extremely complex. Look at the Xbox360 - loads of problems around over heating, discs being scratched and games crashing... Dell had to recall thousands of laptops because of the Sony battery issue and thousands of iPOD nanos were apparently distributed with cracked screens. Mass producing millions of sensitive consumer devices is not easy.

I'd say Apple are certainly above average when it comes to laptops. Dell are well made to stand up to careless business users, but they're ugly and over designed - Sony make good machines, but they're often over priced and under specced. Others such as Toshiba and IBM are ugly, but seem reliable - but again, you pay a premium for IBM. As for the the budget makes, like Acer, the build quality reflects the price - although they do seem reliable.

I think what should be remembered is that the actual components, such as HDD, Motherboards and CPUs are all made by a handful of companies anway and so reliability is going to be the same, whoever ships the final product. It's more a case of build quality and design... and of course in the case of the Mac, OS X!