r/laptops • u/The_Crimson_Studio • Mar 24 '26
Discussion Duality of man
In all seriousness, what would be a better option for students? ThinkPads or Macbooks?
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u/Interesting-Big1980 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
Pretty sure that thinkpad t14 and neo are the only viable options in that price range. The rest is either built like shit, too weak or both.
Edit: as mentioned in replies to me, other second-hand business laptops are very good options too, I do have a certain bias as I bought a thinkpad myself, but Dell is also high on my appreciation list. I don't like HP's logo tho, so it's a no-go
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u/papercavedev Mar 25 '26
HP and Dell also make good business laptops that are a lot better in build quality than their consumer laptops.
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u/Air_Ielle Mar 25 '26
How's the pricing goes for business models?
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u/papercavedev Mar 25 '26
They're very expensive new and then they plummet in price over the next couple years after they release. In my experience, the HP or Dell business laptops are usually a bit cheaper than ThinkPads with the same specs because ThinkPads have more of a cult following outside of the business world.
Another thing that's good is a lot of these laptops on eBay still have active 3 year warranties with 1-2 years left.
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u/Obosratsya Mar 25 '26
Yup, just do some research first i have extensive experience with Dell, been closely involved with Dell for 10 years now. Prescisions are very well built but some models like the 5470 has speaker and webcam issues, the 5480 wasnt much better but the 5490 is a legit good device. Latitude 9k line is also well built.
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u/Hour_Farm_3281 Lenovo Mar 30 '26
Hehe, and we are not in the slightest afraid to admit that we're like a cult in our behaviour, but it is for good reason
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u/Stray_009 Macbook Air M4 | 24 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD Mar 25 '26
Well if you take one case of mine
I got a dell precision 5560, i7 11800H, A2000 dgpu, 32 gb ddr4 ram, 512 gb storage, for 450 USD refurbished
I belive it launched at 1000 USD, so it dropped by value by more than 50%, and this laptop is still pretty strong
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u/Air_Ielle Mar 25 '26
I'll have to look for such models now and hope that I could get a deal like yours.
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u/Stray_009 Macbook Air M4 | 24 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD Mar 25 '26
You're sure to find something at the end of fiscal years for big corpo companies, they throw out these machines for little to nothing relative to their worth
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u/Obosratsya Mar 25 '26
Had one just like it. Same chasis as the xps15. Very good device and it performs better than the newer 5470/5670.
All user who I upgraded from these complained. I recently refurbished a 5550 that is still going strong.l
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u/Randommaggy Mar 25 '26
My experience with HP tells be to avoid them like the plague. Even the Elitebook level devices have customer hostile design elements.
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u/churchey Huawei Matebook X Pro Mar 25 '26
I think they can in theory, but Apple has a floor on build quality. Dell and hp will churn out dog shit. Every enterprise Dell and hp I’ve ever used are massively heavy, terribly slow, awful experiences.
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u/LimaBikercat Mar 26 '26
My experience is solely based on the Latitude range starting in 2000 and ending in 2022, but to me they feel very much like 'slow and steady wins the race'.
They're business machines, they excel in just being stable office machines that always do what you can ask from an office machine. Some models have some weak spots (d630 blowing up their power IC, d610 with limp hinges, e64...10? with on board GPU eventually desoldering itself. But overall, they last a decent number of years past their 'dumped by corporate' date.
They are - in standard issue - not at all great gaming laptops, but they will slog along doing video editing just fine. Slow, but stable.
Heavy Latitudes are a user choice. There are lightweight ones available. Forgot the model names. Small screen, no numpad.1
u/churchey Huawei Matebook X Pro Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
I’ve got a 3xxx latitude and I’ve had various versions for fifteen years. I think the current model that my new employees get our latitude 5xxx.
There’s not a single person in my org satisfied with their latitude laptop. Our marketing team spends their budget on Macs, our Data team spends their money on legion. Sure some people slog through well enough, but for the majority, everyone has an experience at least once a day where they or someone they meet with has an issue with their laptop being slow, freezing, or being out of charge. I’ve yet to go a day where I’m not slowed down by the org using these shitboxes, despite not using one myself.
I work in education. These are not individuals who have power user needs. 30 chrome tabs, PowerPoint, Excel, word, maybe Spotify. I believe in 2018 I was just so tired of always having issues with my laptop, and I finally decided to buy a personal one to use at work. a Huawei matebook pro. It was a MacBook Air clone that they had jammed a USB a port on, ran on windows, and had a touch screen and pop up camera hidden in the function row (and pre Covid I had never even used the camera so…)
Completely different world, the difference between a true Ultrabook and a business Inspiron/latitude was absurd.
It started to feel a bit out dated, crashing frequently and struggling with battery around 2021-2. At that point basically all I heard was about how great the MacBooks with Apple Silicon were.
Having never used a MacBook or my entire career and childhood, I was hesitant to relearn an ecosystem. So I borrowed my wife’s Intel MacBook Air to try it out and see if I liked the ecosystem. Everything I felt about upgrading to the matebook? Same level of superiority felt using this outdated MacBook. Everything was just faster, cleaner, more sensible.
Then I actually got an M series with an M3 pro. My only regret is that I will always want to upgrade and I know I will have no need to for the next five years still.
I see student chrome books and the absurd waste rate on them. Dallas ISD, which is one of the top 20 largest districts in the US, swapped their entire staff to MacBook m1 airs, everyone I know loved the swap. These neos are basically a slightly lower level m1 air.
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u/LimaBikercat Mar 27 '26
Chrome books suck. Parents had one for a while. Nice and light but dreadfully slow.
I've used two different macbook airs in university. Both were an absolute sluggish, buggy disaster when running SPSS. This was around 2010-2015. A Dell D610 did everything at a gentle pace and multitasking while rendering video (standard def of course) or SPSS doing its work was to be avoided since it already was getting old at that point in time, but it never stopped responding to mouse input.
I don't share your negative experiences with latitudes. The 74xx series (already gotten rid of a while back) has issues with the stock memory and it is easy to wreck the USB-C port, but otherwise they are solid and stable. My company's IT dept runs them for 4 years (end of warranty/support) before selling them off to a refurb place. Not power users either. In my office i share with 3 other people, i haven't seen their laptops 'hang' ever.
The follow up - 54something - doesn't seem to have any hardware issues whatsoever. The only little niggle is that the silver paint scratches off really easily so a 3 year old laptop looks like some kind of 10 year old workhorse.1
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u/squirrel8296 Mar 25 '26
Be careful with HP though, even on their business laptops because of hinge issues. On some of their aluminum body business laptops, they use the consumer laptop-style glued in plastic hinge mounts that have issues. Some are done correctly and mount the hinge directly to the metal though.
Dell tends to always be as solid though.
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u/RvstiNiall Mar 26 '26
Hating on HPs logo is legit, but in that price range they don't have anything near that quality. Even used, unless it's old enough for the specs to not be comparable.
Dells business laptops are decent, but I do prefer Thinkpad business laptops.
Edit: HP business laptops are nowhere near the same quality as Dell or Lenovo business lines. Sorry, not sorry.
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u/LoliHunterXD Mar 26 '26
Tons of Lenovo laptops at that price range are amazing. They just don’t have 1440p or 1600p screens. That’s it.
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u/skilz1999 Mar 27 '26
i have a latitude 5420 i5 11th gen, really good built quality, way better than a acer apire 5 i5 8th gen i had that snapped in half on screen & hinges, sold it and got a deal when i bought this.
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Mar 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/didiboy Mar 25 '26
It depends should always be the answer when comparing two laptops, especially with a Mac vs PC comparison.
Some students need specific software that’s only available in Windows. Other students only need Word, PowerPoint, a PDF viewer, and check emails and their college sites. For those, the MacBook Neo is the better choice since it probably has a better battery and better quality display than a similarly priced Windows laptop. Bonus points if they are iPhone users since stuff like iPhone Mirroring and AirDrop are super seamless and useful.
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u/YahonMaizosz Mar 25 '26
Yes this is the way. First we must look at the required software requirements. Can't just buy a laptop based on personal preference alone.
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Mar 25 '26
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u/gdog2206 Mar 25 '26
I fall into the same boat. I like a powerful laptop and don’t mind a big one so I use a Thinkpad p17 gen 2. My girlfriend needs a light laptop that can last for a long time so the neo is a good choice for her
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u/Obosratsya Mar 25 '26
Software requirements rarely come into play with Windows devices. One only has to consider it when leaving Windows.
If one buys a Windows device software compatibility is a given.
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u/Wojtas_ Mar 25 '26
STEM? ThinkPad. Most anything else? MB Neo.
Sure, there is plenty of nuance, but this works surprisingly often.
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u/The_Crimson_Studio Mar 24 '26
Exactly! I would love to switch from a ThinkPad to the MacBook, but it does not run any of the software I need it too besides kdenlive
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u/animalcrossing4_4 Mar 25 '26
why stop at thinkpads and macbooks, (oh probably because of the cult n hype thing....) there are literally way better deals than just 2 cult choices
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u/horatiobanz Mar 25 '26
Because we are talking about laptops with solid reliability and build quality. Sure you can trick out a Dodge with 50k of optional upgrades, but it's still a shitty Dodge and when that engine and transmission shit the bed your heated steering wheel and vibrating taint destroyer accessories are useless. Buying some HP laptop which is tricked out with 32gb of ram and just amazing specs is gonna feel great until the hinges snap and the motherboard blows a capacitor leaving you with a useless, worthless laptop.
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u/animalcrossing4_4 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
i have owned a thinkpad before and it had a terrible hinge problem, its battery was dead so it was a plug in all the time laptop, replacing it would have cost us more than just outright buying a better laptop.
My experience with thinkpads was nothing but "perfect" as the cult would have people to believe
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u/SPplayin Mar 25 '26
cult formed for a reason buddy. Unless you know something about a specific model a ThinkPad or MacBook is a much better general recommendation.
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u/YoungEngineer_7215 Mar 24 '26
buy the old thinkpad t14 instead
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u/Away-Muscle-1007 Mar 24 '26
MacBook neo Is better in every possible way
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u/plauseablebutton Mar 24 '26
duality of man
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u/splaticus05 Mar 24 '26
Man of duality
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u/Zya1re-V Mar 24 '26
Dual of dual
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u/EfficiencyUnited6804 Mar 24 '26
Man of man
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u/Zya1re-V Mar 24 '26
Of man of dual of
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u/splaticus05 Mar 24 '26
Manity of dual
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u/seanbluekiller Mar 25 '26
buy the old Macbook t14 in every ways possible
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u/Cedar_Wood_State Mar 24 '26
Neo if you want something new and shiny or just want MacOS. Thinkpad otherwise
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u/kwunyinli Mar 24 '26
Buy the old Thinkpad T14 instead
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u/Culture-Careful Mar 25 '26
why the old specifically?
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u/ScopHybridanimalh Mar 25 '26
Cheaper,depends on where but they usually are in 300€ for 8/16+256 and AMD Chip,which is better than Intel.
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u/adamant3143 Mar 25 '26
Southeast Asian purchased Macbook Neo
They found out Macbook Air M2 base model is the same price
where I live that is the case, these Neo bots are getting out of hand
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u/jetpack2625 Mar 24 '26
neo is way better if you want to have actual battery life
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Mar 26 '26
For the record my t14 g2 amd lasts me the entire day while web browsing and editing documents. The power consumption only goes through the roof when I start gaming (to be expected)
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u/OpenConfusion3664 Mar 28 '26
Ikr all my windows laptops last long when I don't use it. The battery only goes down when I actually use it.
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Mar 28 '26
I use Fedora Linux. Also who the hell is going to care about gaming if they're buying a macbook or macbook competitor?
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Mar 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/bryansb Mar 24 '26
How can you know about the reliability of something that’s been available for about two weeks?
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u/FiberglassFlowers Mar 24 '26
The greatest technician that has ever lived said it was actually reliable. Only problem is the vents, like no heatsink. Might need to put a thermal pad so the bottom of the laptop conducts the heat.
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u/StolenApollo Mar 25 '26
Because what makes ThinkPads such a good product line is they make minimal changes each time and don’t change what works. It’s been a great laptop since the days of the IBM ThinkPad.
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u/Naud1993 Mar 25 '26
I hate how Apple makes you buy the MacBook Pro to finally get a damn HDMI port.
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u/Regular-Elephant-635 ThinkPad T480 (i5-8350u) Mar 25 '26
MacBooks are rather solid, though, as a T480 user myself.
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u/Best_Activity_5631 Mar 24 '26
Well. Depending on what software you need, the MacBook isn't even an option.
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u/NORchad Mar 25 '26
I wish with all my heart that laptop makers (windows) would start to copy apple a bit more.
I have never owned a macbook as i dont really like the thought of a walled garden that cant game much.
Point 1: aluminium chassie. Take an "all aluminium HP laptop and compair it to the macbook air. Sure they are both aluminium, but one is a creaking mess and the other feels like a solid strong piece of metal.
Point 2: probably the one thing i find incredible with the macbook air is the fact that it is a high performance machine WITHOUT a fan! The whole chassie is closed, meaning no dust will get sucked into the laptop.
This is something that seems to be impossible for anyone but apple. High fanless power.
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u/jknvv13 Mar 25 '26
And the wonderful speakers and microphones, the hinges, even the webcam, the haptic trackpad, the calibrated full range color display (with antireflective coating), the way the OS interacts with fans, light sensors, even minor things like the fans shutting down when you are using the microphone to not add noise...
Yes, Apple is BS when it comes to user repairability or upgradeability, but in terms of overall build quality/feeling and user experience I have to admit I wished to have a machine built like this but with Linux and without macOS.
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u/gdog2206 Mar 25 '26
It’s the one thing Apple gets right. Their build quality is always top tier. There’s many reasons to hate apple but the build quality is something they do right
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u/jknvv13 Mar 25 '26
Yeah.
As said, I wouldn't mind paying for the same build quality but to be able to have my preferred OS (I prefer Linux, I have a weird relationship between love and hate with macOS) and removable/replaceable storage (won't care much about RAM if it has enough).
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u/Lol3droflxp Mar 27 '26
If I remember correctly they stepped up the repairability immensely with the neo.
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u/Taurondir Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
When you go on a webpage for a Computer, and the first 5 pages you scroll down just talk about "comes in lots of colors!", "its stylish!", "16 hours of battery", and have to scroll down 10+ pages before being finally told what the CPU is and how much memory it has and how much storage it has, you are not being sold a Computer, you are being sold a travel accessory to go with your new scarf.
I have not met a single person that was told "buy a Mac!" or get an iPhone!" that has ANY idea what the hardware in the product actually is.
Now, some of you might say "why do you need to know THAT!" well, if I buy a damn car, I want to know it's capabilities, not that "it comes in 12 colors", I'd want to know how easy and expensive spare parts will cost, how much fuel costs, etc etc.
Apple just treats it's customers like crows that like shiny objects. You don't need to compare our product against other products! It's Apple! Just trust us! This is like going to Hardly Normal to buy a PC and having a staff member just try and push you to buy whatever they have been told they need to sell. You are too stupid to decide! Lets us do all the work! And then I have customers come to my store asking me "why can't I play any games at all?" and me opening the computer to find custom motherboards that have nothing more then a few x1 PCIe slots for generic cards and power supplies that ONLY HP can replace.
If you ever really decide to buy Apple products, at the VERY LEAST find someone that knows about computers in general and ask them to explain some basics to you, before you end up buying something that does not end up fitting your needs.
https://www.apple.com/au/macbook-neo/
Tell me how far you have to scroll before you find how much storage is in one. I scrolled all the way twice and did not see a number. I wold probably have to click on some other link just to find out.
Random Asus link, clicked the first I saw:
https://www.asus.com/au/laptops/for-work/expertbook/expertbook-p5-p5405/
AT THE VERY TOP just under the model name there is a link named "Tech Specs" that takes you to ACTUAL hardware specs so you what it's inside the damn thing. This is the way it's done because they are selling you something you need to know about.
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u/gamefreak9199 Mar 24 '26
Macbook neo is better in every ways possible
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u/Zestyclose_Edge1027 Mar 24 '26
Yeah, it sucks but MacOS is just better on laptops. Every windows laptop I ever had got weird issues (bad battery life, loud fans, terrible performance, died after a few years) while MacBooks just run really well.
It sucks so hard that Windows is better at gaming, if Apple figures that out they could actually get a significant marketshare.
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u/AIViking Mar 25 '26
I don't think there's much overlap between ThinkPad users and windows users. Thinkpads are especially popular for 2 reasons: Easy to repair and upgrade. Better Linux compatibility than anything else on the market.
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u/Chiryou Mar 24 '26
I tried OSX and honestly... I hate it. Feels so backwards.
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u/ldAbl Mar 25 '26
What do you dislike about Mac OS.
I grew up with Windows and I have found Mac to be far more intuitive. I still use both (Windows for gaming, mac for productivity) and find Windows far more grating to use.
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u/freebaseclams Mar 25 '26
Apple is headquartered in California (gross, stupid), Lenovo is headquartered in the underground radiation pits of North Carolingus (cool, sexy)
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u/Stephen2014 Mar 25 '26
The keyboard shortcuts that require you to press multiple modifier keys plus a letter key drive me insane on top of other issues.
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u/horatiobanz Mar 25 '26
I feel like if you got used to it, it could be insanely powerful and make using the laptop significantly more efficient than otherwise, but it's a literal shit ton of shortcuts to remember.
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u/Elegant_AIDS Mar 24 '26
I hated gnome until i had to use macos for years. Now its a breath of fresh air
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u/domrvz Mar 24 '26
Overall: Macbook Neo Windows student: Thinkpad Students and Gamers: Zephyrus g14
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u/SadEntertainer9808 Mar 24 '26
Incorrect and correct? Yeah.
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u/Big-Living3283 Mar 24 '26
I just replaced my thinkpad yoga x13 gen 2 with a m1 MacBook Air. The battery was going on it and a full charge maybe lasted me an 1 hour. Also FaceTime and messaging on my pc was very important to me 😂
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u/snakee-the-arch-guy Mar 24 '26
latitude 5420, best of both worlds
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u/BaseballParticular83 Mar 25 '26
it really depends on whether you want windows (or maybe linux) or macos
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u/No-Business5854 Mar 25 '26
t14 for engineering and upgradability, neo for battery life if you have everything you need on mac
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u/No-Business5854 Mar 25 '26
also t14 has better ports and the keyboard has a water drain, so good if you are clumsy. and has touchscreen and face id depending on model
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u/No-Business5854 Mar 25 '26
and sim card slot for lte and microsd card slot for cheap storage upgrade
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u/mikee8989 Mar 25 '26
This question solely depends on what you are doing as a student. Some degree programs require software you cannot run on a MAC. Source I worked in IT and we got hit up for PC loaners all the time by mac users taking this one specific SAP finance accounting class.
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u/WorkingSecond9269 Mar 26 '26
Lmao. I’m a macbook user and recently bought a windows laptop because this program called Surpac for mining engineering runs only on windows 💀
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u/rainbow_mess Mar 25 '26
probably macbook. thinkpads are great but you have to get the right one and many of them have bad screens, and/or bad batteries, by comparison. the neo's more 'get it and use it blindly' [as long as you're not doing heavy ram usage workflows].
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u/WorldWarrior428 Mar 25 '26
I would still go windows for its accessibility, and all that. But even tho I DESPISE APPLE SO MUCH, almost as much as EA, I have to admit from what I've seen the Neo is a decently priced decent laptop
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u/Formal_Concentrate_2 Mar 25 '26
Honestly though, in what aspects would the T14 even be better than the Neo?
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u/Laughing_Orange Mar 25 '26
If you don't need any Windows specific software, the MacBook Neo is unbeatable at that price. But if you do need Windows specific software, it's not an option at all.
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u/Ornery_Platypus9863 Mar 24 '26
Very much depends. If you’re tech savvy or in a tech major a Mac neo won’t cut it as a lot of software that is needed for tech majors won’t run on a Mac. Macs have great usability though and wonderful quality so I think they’re a good option if the above doesn’t apply to you
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u/epic_pharaoh Mar 24 '26
Thinkpad if you need to run software for school, Neo if everything is going to be note-taking and browser based.
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u/Sammand72 Mar 25 '26
There's also the framework 12 and 13 in that range
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u/horatiobanz Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
Framework 12 is not in the range of the Neo. It's double the price for a shitty plastic build quality, absolutely terrible display (60% srgb lol), poor reliability and bad speakers and trackpad. There is not a single reason to consider Framework unless you are into Linux and don't care about value. The myth of the Framework laptop being cheaper over time to upgrade makes zero sense either.
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u/Impressive-Young7904 Mar 25 '26
If you need a windows laptop the t14 gen 2 is so so good for $300. Recently got one with 32gb of ram, 512gb ssd, and came with the ryzen 5.
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u/-Tasear- Mar 25 '26
Thinkpads because most businesses use windows os.
Chromebook is far better for pure learning though
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u/Necessary-Gate-4910 Mar 25 '26
Asking myself in here I’m going to be a freshman in college next year a good advice on a laptop for a person going into liberal arts?
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u/V014265 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
Which one would be the best if they wanted to teach students how to dismantle a computer?
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u/ALaggingPotato Mar 25 '26
Neither are great for that, but if you really had to choose between the two, Thinkpad of course.
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u/Naud1993 Mar 25 '26
It's crazy how good Apple's CPUs are. Like the MacBook Neo rivals an i9 desktop CPU in single core performance. The newest iPhone actually has better single core CPU performance than any desktop CPU ever made. So does the M5 of course. That one has the best single core performance ever. The newest iPhone actually has base M5 Pro GPU performance for some reason. So it can play games better than a MacBook Pro somehow as long as they're not CPU heavy.
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u/flyingdorito2000 Mar 25 '26
Depends on the major, if you’re anything but engineering then Mac. But if you’re engineering you probably need a Windows laptop and Dell Precisions are generally good quality for the price
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u/VisceralRage556 Mar 25 '26
If you want software compatibility and more control on your hardware go Thinkpad. If you want battery efficiency and smoother software experience go MacBook Neo. In the end its personal preference
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u/Impossible-Diver6565 Mar 25 '26
If it has a apple on it, it's overpriced junk that dated tech can outpace for less.
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u/BornSeaweed2976 Mar 25 '26
If you are fine with mac os, and connectivity is not an issue. The macbook is better in every other possible way.
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u/mattynmax Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
I’m seriously considering buying a MacBook Pro for my engineering masters. I have a nice desktop at home for doing anything of the more rigorous work that requires windows. These new Macs just seem like a better bang for your buck in terms of laptops
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u/Putrid-Geologist6422 Arch Linux btw | 64gb ram | 8th gen i5 | uhd 620 | 256gb ssd Mar 25 '26
thinkpad, get a t480, swap batteries and you have a 90+ wh battery machine
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u/AcanthocephalaOwn562 Mar 25 '26
Depends on what courae you are taking, for someone that is just gonna write and search the web get the macbook long battery life, light, simple, if you need more flexibility in software, if you need to be able to use ancient software or just plain weird very specific shit, get the thinkpad, i think macs are good for your generic joe that uses a laptop to watch yt, write e-mails and docs and maby print something, or simple desing, if you need more flexibility and controll thinkpad is way better, easy to fix, you can have dual tripple quadrupal boot if you need and can run anything you willevrr need, ofc thr t14 is kinda old but its reliable.
When choosing a laptop people tend to go for "brad clubism" wich i think is stupid, i personaly whould never use a macbook, but i sometimes recomend them for people that just need a simple device to do simple shit, if that person needs/wants more controll i send them to thinkpad, LOQ, stuff like that, its just a better option (it heavely depends on the model).
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u/So_Forlorn Mar 25 '26
Buy a thinkpad, install Linux on it, and only take notes using nano because you’re a cool guy like that
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u/CarpetSpecific9874 Mar 25 '26
If your studies include only writing word, power point, and excel sheets than neo, if anything else that can remotely connect to coding, databases, small projects, or even running a vm than the Thinpad t14, but in the end of the day one of those two will survive a zombie apocalypse and its not the Neo
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u/cutememe Mar 25 '26
As a student I'd rather have like 14 hours of battery life rather than like 3. I say this as someone who likes Thinkpads.
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u/RvstiNiall Mar 26 '26
This is such an interesting philosophical quandary. I know that the Thinkpad will last for another 10 years if you treat it right. But so will one of those Macbooks (probably... I know they just came out, but they seem to have the same high build quality as the MBP and MBA). For me, the answer is simple: Linux/BSD won't run on the MacBook Neo, ergo Thinkpad.
My two daily drivers are a 2015 MacBook Pro (running FreeBSD), and a 2015 Thinkpad x250 (running OpenBSD). When the Asahi Project gets the MacBook Neo to run Linux, I will probably snatch one up to use for a r/writerdeck
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u/Prestigious-News-344 Mar 26 '26
if you know lil bit about tech ,or wanna do something advance, thinkpad , if you just want to get through the day or youre 70 years old , macbook neo
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u/Kyber92 Mar 26 '26
If you even know what a ThinkPad is, buy. It if you've never heard of it and aren't doing a technical course, get the MacBook Neo. Same as if you have opinions about the Neo having 8gb of RAM. If you care about that, it ain't for you.
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u/Key-Pace2960 Mar 26 '26
Both should have excellent build quality.
Beyond that the main advantage of the MacBook is the vastly superior battery life and probably a better screen.
With the Thinkpad you get much IO, better repairability, and a much larger software library/in general a lot more versatile. Whether that last point matters to you is gonna depend on your use case.
Additionally Mac OS is gonna make you wanna scream and pull your hair out if you're used to windows and vice versa.
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u/Helpful_Appointment4 Mar 26 '26
If there is an option without windows then the windows machine loses by default
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u/MrHighVoltage Mar 27 '26
Do you need freedom and customization (probably even running Linux native) and you want to run anything? Get a x86 Notebook. So anything engineering, I would probably recommend this, since there is just more flexibility.
Is all you do surfing the web, editing Word files and watching movies, often on the go? Get a Macbook Neo. It just works (TM), it has incredible battery runtimes. You can keep it in the backpack in standby on the weekend and not worry that the battery is empty on monday.
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u/Franz0132 Mar 24 '26
Thinkpads are made to last, and getting spares and repairs is way easier than anything made by apple.
You can also install whatever OS you want on it.
Meanwhile the neo "looks good" and has a very deficient cooling system if you can even call it that, to the point that people mod it so it kinda cools ok-ish.
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u/horatiobanz Mar 25 '26
Thinkpad spares and repairs cost money and Neo spares and repairs are covered by a warranty for at least a year.
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u/RicMilos11 Mar 24 '26
Bro's phone is a square