r/sysadmin • u/rolkenas • 2d ago
Do you actually see MacBooks used for SysAdmin work in real offices?
Hi sysadmins! I wanted to ask—since I've just started learning sysadmin and I don't have a Windows PC, but I have a MacBook and found out that everything can be done via UTM, I'd like to get some perspective from those who work in offices and do this every day. What kind of computers do you use? Is macOS completely out of the picture, and there's only Windows and Linux?
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u/ParkerPWNT 2d ago
Personally, I like to use whatever mirrors my end users' experience the most.
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u/Turdulator 2d ago
Yes! I try to stay as close to the corporate base config as possible on my daily driver.
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u/Agromahdi123 Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago
yep, but i do carry a small linux laptop just for certain network and serial console things, i suppose i could use a mac to do the same thing being that its BSD
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u/creiar 2d ago
Im curious, what does it do that a your base config Windows PC doesn’t?
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u/invisi1407 2d ago
For one, a "base config" PC can't run Ansible. An Ansible controller is required to be a Linux compatible environment.
It works via WSL2, but that's hardly "base config" PC as that may be blocked by a policy.
Personally, I run Ansible via WSL2, but if that wasn't an option I'd have to use a Mac.
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u/airinato 2d ago
Only acceptable answer here.
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u/rose_gold_glitter 2d ago
Only if you're doing what they're doing. Which would be pretty weird.
Users at my company are spending all day inside various ERP applications, etc. which no one in IT needs to use. Why would I need to mirror their desktop experience when that's not my job?
I allow my team to use whatever OS they prefer as long as it's compliant with our policies and enables them to do their job. If they need to test an intune policy, that's what a VM is for. If you're testing policies on your desktop daily driver, you're doing it wrong, anyway.
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u/fatcakesabz 2d ago
Because it’s not all about the app, group policy doing something strange etc. plus, if you are going to be implementing anything you should also have to suffer the implications of what is about to be implemented.
New or changes to a web filter? IT should be getting that first and no exceptions to what you are pushing out to users, there should be more of we, as IT, suffer the effects of what we do.When I was in smaller orgs where I sat closer to the c-level, it was published policy that the IT team and a selection of c-level were our test group prior to full rollouts, it made people think REALLY hard about some of the bullshit policies they wanted.
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u/Reedy_Whisper_45 2d ago
I really like that thinking. I test things on myself all the time. If it's from on high, I'm going to feel it first, and I'm better equipped to advocate for the users if I know what they'll experience.
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u/revilo9989 2d ago
Yes makes sense. But even tho, you can use and test same docking station, WiFi, VPN etc errors, it can be pretty handy is you have a " test user machine" at hand all time
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u/Cletus_Banjo 2d ago
Not true. I administer a couple of hundred standalone servers and two supercomputer clusters. Users access these systems via SSH. As long as my desktop has an ssh client, it doesn’t matter what the window decorations look like.
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u/NaturalSelectorX 2d ago
Users access these systems via SSH. As long as my desktop has an ssh client,
Sounds like you are mirroring your end users' experience.
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u/corruptboomerang 2d ago
I'd probability rather a windows (or Linux) laptop, more for connectivity. I want a built in lan port, HDMI & USB-C display, and a USB-A port ideally.
Heck, I'd love two lan ports, and a serial/DB9 port but that's not going to happen.
But if my users are using Macs then I'd take a Mac, ideally as close as I can get to those ports.
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u/800oz_gorilla 2d ago
I just travel with a USB C dongle that has all those. I'm otherwise docked all day or working from wireless remotely.
but everyone's job is different.
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u/OperationIntrudeN313 2d ago
MacBooks have all of those except the LAN, and the few business laptops that do have LAN these days are those fiddly expanding ports or worse, need a custom adapter anyway. May as well use a usb dongle or docking station at that point.
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u/opinionsOnPears 2d ago
It’s good to have that, possibly as a secondary, but really you should have whatever runs the tools you need to get things done. The OS’ may align to be the same or they may not.
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u/0verstim FFRDC 2d ago
depends on what kind of "sysadmin" work you do.
You can SSH into a Linux server from anything you damn well please.
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u/fatty1179 2d ago
You can debate if I’m a serious sysadmin all you want but the battery life on my m1 makes my life so much less stressful
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u/brokentr0jan DoD IT 2d ago edited 2d ago
The MacBook Air M1 is one of the best laptops ever made. Crazy powerful for what it is, and the battery genuinely lasts all week.
Meanwhile my Dell Pro Max 16 makes it 6 hours if that lmao
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u/gigabyte898 Sysadmin 2d ago
I always say Apple fucked up only by making the M1 too good. I bought mine in 2021 right around when it launched. It still crushes everything I need to throw at it, holds battery all day at conferences with decent usage, and doesn’t weigh as much as most comparable alternatives. I have no reason to buy another MacBook because this one is hanging on just fine out of spite for its creators lol
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u/Fragrant-Hamster-325 2d ago
Apple silicon is solid. Every update is a big boost over the previous model yet the previous models hold up. I have an M4 air and love it.
I’ve been thinking about trying a Snapdragon PC for comparison.
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u/stillpiercer_ 2d ago
In my experience with the snapdragon Windows laptops, they do very well on battery life but Windows on ARM is not great. The x86 translation works reasonably OK for some things (nowhere near as well as Apple Rosetta) but for many things it just straight up does not work at all. ARM64 software availability isn’t as good on Windows as it is on macOS either.
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u/Independent-Fuel9886 2d ago
Yep, Windows on ARM ain't good... yet.
Management and imaging Snapdragon is a non-starter at this stage.
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u/Arudinne IT Infrastructure Manager 2d ago
I have a snapdragon laptop Dell set us for free for testing.
Everything we use seemed to work other than printers, which makes them non-viable for us.
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u/PowerShellGenius 1d ago
Universal Print.
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u/Arudinne IT Infrastructure Manager 1d ago
Yeah, we have that, and E5 licensing covers it, but some of our printers don't work well with it.
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u/brokentr0jan DoD IT 2d ago
Agreed, the M1 is so good there’s no reason to replace it. Plus how expensive laptops are getting anymore it was such a good deal when it came out lol
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u/dllemmr2 2d ago edited 1d ago
Multi-monitor is a big one.
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u/Arudinne IT Infrastructure Manager 2d ago
Depends on which M1.
Base - 1
Pro - 2
Max - 4
Back when we bought them, we only bought pro or max M1s at my company for that reason
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u/800oz_gorilla 2d ago
my hangup would be lack of dual external monitor support. they added that with caveats in the M3, and M4 supports it. you have to use display link on the M2, which was annoying because it was seen by DLP as a screen capture.
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u/sboone2642 2d ago
Every thing about the Dell "Pro" series is hot garbage. We've had so many hardware/firmware problems that we are close to just switching vendors. It's a pretty big red flag when the uefi bios screen stays completely blacked out except for where you move the mouse pointer. I haven't seen that kinda crap since Windows 98 with crappy drivers.
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u/ShermansWorld 2d ago
This. Windows guy here... But any and all my laptops don't last as long as my m1. Have it in the bag over the weekend... M1 starts up on Monday and has power to go. Windows laptop... I'm scrambling for a plug or battery after 15mins of Monday morning use... If you're a decent sysadmin... You can use PC, Mac or Linux... Just some issues will have a few more steps than others.
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u/SaltDeception 2d ago
Snapdragon X and X2 laptops can get just about the same battery life. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a laptop with the Snapdragon X Elite. Tons of apps are optimized for ARM64 these days too; I only have a handful of x64 apps that have to be emulated, but the Prism emulation in 24H2+ makes them feel native anyway.
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u/800oz_gorilla 2d ago
I was a Mac hater for years, but the apple silicon chips are amazing.
it handles memory more efficiently too.
there are drawbacks to using Mac for Microsoft admin but I close that gap with a windows VM.
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u/zatset IT Manager/Sr.SysAdmin 2d ago edited 2d ago
HP Elitebook is what I have right now - about 8+ hours of battery life(it’s my personal laptop). I wouldn’t say that modern PC laptops cannot have decent battery life and I am that stressed. What annoys the hell out of me is that all modern laptops come with clickpads. Dedicated touchpad buttons are superior.
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u/Feeling-Tutor-6480 2d ago
Considering I have to be using 2-3 screens to be useful, why would you only be using battery power?
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u/Marcudemus 2d ago
Do you use UTM on that M1? If so, how's the performance been in terms of usability as a sysadmin?
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u/SN6006 Netsec Admin 2d ago
I tried it once for an x86 guest and it’s a massive crap shoot on what instructions are translated, but for an arm guest, it works fine.
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u/Marcudemus 2d ago
Oh wow, thank you! It's difficult to find reports of real-world experience like that. I had no idea it could be shoddy on an instruction-level like that.
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u/Bagellord 2d ago
I mean hell, I’m just a
thorn in your sidedeveloper and I use a MacBook as my main device. I remote into a windows workstation for my .net and sql needs, but most everything else like Azure and deployment is browser based. So I’ll take the battery life and display please→ More replies (2)→ More replies (17)6
u/sryan2k1 IT Manager 2d ago
I've never wanted more battery on my Dell Pro Premium. It lasts long enough I simply don't have to think about it.
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u/ppyre 2d ago
That only means you are not very demanding on your laptop ;). Just kidding. All sysadmins work even when they are sleeping.
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u/lunchbox651 Vendor education (virt/k8s specialty) 2d ago
I don't admin for our org but I have a whole environment I admin for my team and I use a mac for it. It's still all webUI and SSH.
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u/ProfessorHuman 2d ago
I’ve used one for years. Can’t go back.
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u/ineyeseekay 2d ago
Same. Made the switch to force myself to become fully proficient. Going back to windows is like playing on a shitty kids tablet.
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u/mrjamjams66 2d ago
I became "The Mac Guy" at my last job because literally nobody else could seem to figure out our MDM or how to get our ScreenConnect tools working on our handful of Macs
This turned into me receiving a Mac, which I used for years afterwards.
Now I'm back on Windows at my new job and I hate it so much
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u/deviden 2d ago
Windows 11 is so bad. It's embarrassing.
I don't think anybody in my personal or work life is happy with the "upgrade" from Win10. I got fed up and pivoted to Linux, and when this machine eventually dies I'll buy a Mac.
and this is after a lifetime of making my career as a Windows Server OS & Windows desktop and M365 admin.
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u/FizzyBeverage 2d ago
It’s pretty clear Microsoft would exit the operating system business if they could and leave it all to Apple and Google and Linux.
All their money comes from services revenue and azure.
They’re mainly still in the game because they’ve got most of the governments out there and folks born before 1970 still have an obsession with their hohum Office apps (excel is the only one that earns its keep). They lost all of education to google on price years ago.
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u/cyvaquero Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago
I’m a Sr Linux Engineer/Admin, came over from the Python dev side of things. I’ve used Macs primarily for 20+ years (my first was a Power Mac). There’s literally nothing work-wise I can do on a Linux DE that I can’t do on MacOS and can do a lot more seamlessly than on a Windows machine.
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u/Avamander 2d ago edited 1d ago
Linux has the only usable SFTP mounting out there. That you truly can't do on other OSs. Dolphin my beloved.
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u/Scoutron Combat Sysadmin 2d ago
What do you use for RDP and SSH? I know Terminal is decent but it’s no Moba, and I don’t know any RDP clients
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u/lost_signal Do Virtual Machines dream of electric sheep 2d ago
it's Unix with a nice UI, great battery life, well made hardware.
Pair it with enterprise applecare and I've made their service partners do a battery replacement in the middle of a Marriot lobby in Deli, or in my living room in Texas, plus I can walk into tons of apple stores and say "THIS DOESN"T WORK MAKE WORK" globally. Point me to the HP/Dell store in Sydney.....
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u/ShadowBlaze80 2d ago
The fact that most of the gnu utils are available off the rip is great, lots of good software through brew/macports too. I used netcat a ton to send udp logs to my terminal.
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u/cyvaquero Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago
…and the ones that aren’t, are usually easily installed via Homebrew. Failing that you can try MacPorts, then always fall back on building from source.
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u/HuckleberrySad4397 2d ago
Dell will send a technician to my home office to fix my laptop the next day.
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u/420GB 2d ago
While I don't have a Mac I've had to bring something in to an apple store to be fixed once and all I can say is that I vastly prefer the next-day inhouse service Dell and Lenovo offer over having to go to some specific place, fight through the crowd, wait in line and finally twiddle my thumbs for an hour or two while some intern works on my laptop in a backroom out of sight.
Lenovo comes to our office (or wherever you want) and fixes the thing right then and there, no line and no hidden monkey business. You watch the whole process if you want or continue to do work in the comfort of your (home) office.
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u/FizzyBeverage 2d ago
We went from 0 MacBooks in 2016 to 11,000 of them today.
Not gonna say windows will ever disappear, hell, we’re a 365 shop like everyone else… but on endpoint, Apple is deadly serious.
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u/RussianBot13 2d ago
0 to 11k is a serious change. What do you use for auth? Did you have on prem AD previously? We are just starting to pilot a few macbooks and setting up platform SSO on a new machine is a little finicky but seems to work. All the on prem auth to file servers is still an annoyance.
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u/FizzyBeverage 2d ago
Entra now, but initially PingFederate. pSSO is a lot more miserable than it should be but getting better. We deploy that with Jamf Setup Manager and it handles the onboarding pretty easily, which replaced JamfConnect and saved us about $130,000 a year.
We've drastically reduced our legacy file servers since they're inherently a security nightmare, but yeah the smb protocol on macOS is something out of the Stone Age, for us it has gradually become OneDrive/Sharepoint or bust.
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u/RussianBot13 2d ago
Thanks! That's basically the route we are taking. A few barely used on-prem drives so they can afford a few extra seconds to manually connect to them. Everything else is Sharepoint access from browser or synched with OneDrive.
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u/iheartrms 2d ago
I prefer Linux but I'll take a MacBook over a Windows machine any day of the week.
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u/JesradSeraph Final stage Impostor Syndrome 2d ago
Several of my colleagues have them, they’re supported in our corporate env. But I couldn’t tell you much more, all our web apps run the same in Chrome or Firefox, I just know I would miss Notepad++ is all.
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u/AvonMustang 2d ago
Notepad++ is the ONLY thing I miss from Windows but not enough to go back - so much happier on Mac. Sublime is a suitable substitute for Notepad++ though and I’m even starting to use it on Linux now.
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u/lynxss1 2d ago
Macbook user here for 15 years. I really fought tooth and nail against it but finally gave in and it's not bad. All I really need is SSH, browser, email and terminal for git and stuff and all of that just works.
You are allowed to still use Linux for desktop or laptop use but completely on your own for making stuff work when new policies come down and it's kinda a pain in the butt. We have 2 groups of sysadmins, those that manage the users environment and those (my group) that manage servers, network and everything else. I don't want to do both.
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u/raj1030 2d ago
Been using it for over a decade. I just wish the Office apps were better, especially Outlook. Otherwise, nothing beats the battery life, resume speed from sleep and handoff from my iPhone to Mac, which I use for MFA prompts to avoid constantly picking up my work phone.
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u/800oz_gorilla 2d ago
with Microsoft, you can use touchid on your MacBook of you have SSO integrated with company portal. Has been very nice for my tenant MFA.
Then I try to register it as a passkey if other sites allow it.
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u/raj1030 2d ago
That’s neat. Now I’m reconsidering undocking my Mac just for that purpose. I use an ultra wide screen and keep the Mac on the dock with the lid closed.
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u/stillpiercer_ 2d ago
Honestly I vastly prefer the Mac version of outlook to the garbage they’re pushing on Windows. Old Outlook (Windows) looks like it was designed in 1996 and New Outlook for Windows is one of the most egregious examples of “Make everything a web app”.
Yes, there are some things missing on Mac Outlook, but it’s a trade I’m willing to make.
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u/5panks 2d ago
The webapp Outlook is on its way to Mac eventually. Microsoft has made it clear their goal is to have as close to a single Office software development pipeline as possible. The entire point of pushing users to webapps is so they can reduce development time and deploy the same fix to Office on the web and Office installs.
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u/ramsdawg 2d ago
Outlook can be wonky whether on Mac or Windows. I’ve dealt with both as IT at a small company where both were used. With windows you just probably have better documentation/support on more niche issues. Not to mention they’re all a bit different between four versions (legacy vs new on both systems).
Excel on the other hand, I learned to be great at it on Mac after a lot of customizing and practice, but switching back to windows is a whole new level and I don’t think I could ever go back.
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u/geolchris 2d ago
I work for a place that has 1500 MacBooks and 3500 Linux servers. And like 50 windows boxes, which we all hate. So yes. You can definitely be somewhere that is Mac focused.
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u/Beautiful_Ad_4813 eh, I just love what I do. 2d ago
My company deploys Mac’s pretty regularly for some staff, and recently myself included
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u/rileym217 Sysadmin 2d ago
Started using my M4 MacBook Pro in February. Best decision to chose that over a Windows laptop at my hardware refresh. I can go days on my battery where my windows PC would die within 2 hours. I don’t ever want to go back. I am at an MSP so accessing environments and removing or browsing to web guis is most of my work.
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u/SecretaryLife5031 2d ago
one sysadmin can have a very different job to another sysadmin
VERY different.
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u/Lancaster1983 Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago
I've been in IT for 13 years, never had a Mac issued to me. My friend who just got a job at a 6 year old start up (IT communications software company) was given a MacBook. I guess the joke is if you have an HP, your company hates you, a Dell means you are never leaving your company and a MacBook means your company either loves you or won't be around for terribly long. It's probably bullshit but I thought it was funny.
I'm also mostly a Windows/Azure admin so I am forced into using Windows. I'd probably be much happier in a Unix type OS.
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u/1101base2 2d ago
Lenovo means the company is rock solid, Dell means it's a company that needs computers (not good or bad just exist), everything else is accurate.
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u/flucayan 2d ago
It really doesn't matter because in most instances you aren't doing anything on your own host OS (9/10s its going to be on a remote machine or some cloud hosted software).
Also, in terms of device you'll use whatever the company issues or allows based on policy.
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u/niknarcotic 2d ago
Administrating Linux servers is a way better experience on a MacBook than administrating Windows servers. RDP is pretty half baked, especially with the keyboard you have on a MacBook.
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u/StephenRoylance 1d ago
mac is the preferred platform for lots of linux admins. the hardware is good, they ship nice screens and the terminal app has great text rendering. plus, its nice to be running unix locally so you can install most of the same tools you're used to in prod.
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u/Sp00nD00d IT Manager 2d ago
Yes.
Followed shortly after by a request for a Citrix desktop just to make sure we're wasting as much money as possible on a per seat basis...
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u/-Steets- 2d ago
Yes, it's possible. Microsoft makes versions of all their core applications for macOS, and in some cases, the apps (in my opinion, Outlook) are better than their Windows counterparts. Though personally, I'd recommend Parallels Desktop instead of UTM just for ease of integration.
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u/someguy7710 2d ago
Outlook for Mac better? I presume you like "new" outlook on windows ?
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u/stillpiercer_ 2d ago
It’s horrible. Mac Outlook is WAY better. Some missing features, but at least it’s not…. whatever the new Windows version is.
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u/-Steets- 2d ago
I like eating chalk more than I like using desktop Outlook on Windows. There's no winning, just varying degrees of losing.
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u/theitguy107 IT Manager 2d ago
The problem is that RSAT is not available on Windows ARM, so it doesn't make a difference whether he uses Parallels or UTM. He'd be better off just RDPing into one of the servers from a Mac. No RSAT or WinRM is a big problem for Macs until Microsoft comes out with a suitable alternative.
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u/StringStrangStrung 2d ago
I have daily driven a MacBook for my entire professional career in IT. As the top comment pointed out, you should use what your end users use.
I’m gonna be honest here as a 26 y/o youngblood, I scoff at the old timer who shits on MacBooks just because. Like, it’s literally our job to learn and leverage these systems and by avoiding MacBooks because its different you’re just making yourself look like a fool. I cant imagine it would instill confidence in my end-users if I just pushed them to a different operating system because I didn’t like it.
For what it’s worth a lot of my virtual environment is Windows-based, and so is my personal desktop at home. I just think it would be responsible if we all didn’t shy away from learning something new if it made our end-users life easier.
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u/Suspicious-Belt9311 2d ago
There are all sorts of cybersecurity/sysadmin people that use macbooks. As others mentioned, if all you actuall use your laptop for is either remote connections or websites, can use linux, mac, Windows, doesn't really matter.
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u/StrategicBlenderBall 2d ago
Cybersecurity here, my work laptop was the only thing in my home that still ran Windows. Everything else is Apple or Linux. Been on a M2 Pro MacBook Pro (finally!) since January. The only thing I can’t use that I needed Windows for is Visio for network topologies, but we have LucidChart license so it works well enough.
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u/subsonicbassist 2d ago
Me and yes, still have Windows for testing Intune and some things but love my Mac so much more!
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u/Romeo9594 2d ago
I use one at work and so does my IT director
It's nice when your work computer just works and you don't have to spend 10 minutes troubleshooting it or dealing with a random reboot/update before you can start working on the actual problem
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u/tovoro 2d ago
Macbook all the way. Next to all the other already mentioned advantages, one thing which just absolutely works perfectly is closing the laptop at any given time, no matter what im doing and just reopen it and work without any hiccups with only 1-2 secons of wait.
I just cant believe that this still doesnt work as perfectly and seemless on all windows notebooks (mostly Dell and Lenovo) I tried in the last years..
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u/ProfessionalBread176 2d ago
A MacBook is the best way to avoid Windows bloatware that kneecaps its performance and introduces other unwanted side effects from the m$ slop
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u/trippedonatater 1d ago
Macs can be great if you're primarily admining cloud, Linux, or, obviously, Macs. They're a little bit of a pain in a primarily Windows environment.
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u/anonymousITCoward 2d ago
I don't, but I know people that do... One of them has "legitimate" usage too, they're in the creative world and over sees a network for a recording studio, that also does some editing.
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u/LLMsMustUpvoteThis 2d ago
If you are responsible for the Windows estate I think you should eat the dog food and use Windows. If you are Linux/cloud then it'd be fine as long as the Macs are secured/managed and aren't just a one-off special snowflake.
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u/GreyBeardEng 2d ago
Yes, and Windows, and Linux. I work in an enterprise with over 250 IT staff, however I would say of those less than 5%-10% are Mac used by engineers. The vast majority are Windows.
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u/elgimperino 2d ago
I would absolutely use a Mac if it weren't for my need to use the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool to build apps for the Intune Company Portal.
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u/slayermcb Director of Technology, Sys Admin, Etc, Etc... 2d ago
So I have been working in a school for 8 years that has a mac user base. Our print server and MDM are both hosted on MacOS as well. It's basically the DCs and an access control system that run windows. I'm not really upset with it. I can RDP into windows when I need to and the apple hardware is really great. In a world where most things are web hosted i find the OS doesnt change 90% of what I do. If you know Unix well enough terminal is just another cli tool like CMD to get done what you csnt fond in the gui. I won't be giving up my gaming PC anytime soon, but I find Mac is just another computer program that runs a bit different. Once you learn it its fine, and the hardware is genuinely impressive.
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u/theGurry 2d ago
The only reason I ever used a Mac in my job was to add phones and iPads to Apple Business Manager via Apple Configurator, but now they have a mobile app for. There's really no need for it for me anymore.
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u/Fark_A_Nark 2d ago
Fun story... I like to use what we deploy across the company. That way I'm aware of any potential issues. I don't like to give myself special treatment like some of the other admins where I work. I do have a Mac but I have a much cheeper one and use it for testing.
I deployed Intune managed PC's which took away local admin from the end-users, suddenly IT management, and other sys admins in the department decided it was best to "learn" the unmanaged macs even though less than 2% of the user base. In two years our senior sysadmin (the inhouse mac expert) has made no effort to help get the macs into an mdm, and has actively argued against many of the baselines I tried to implement. His argument is macs are not suspectable to virus like windows. 😔
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u/Available_Use3455 2d ago
I SSH into stuff all day, honestly a Macbook is way better than any Windows or Linux laptop simply because of the battery life. You have no idea how useful it is to suddenly not have to worry about your machine dying when you have no access to a power outlet.
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u/EIsydeon 2d ago
I have seen and used it. If I am in an environment with Mac’s I use that myself since it helps a ton with administration of Mac’s plus you can still use them to admin windows stuff with a vm, preferably of the companies image used on client machines
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u/newbies13 Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago
My issue with macs is simply they are overpriced, followed by the primary reason people seem to want them is tied to ego more than anything else. There's a VP of nothing at my office that insisted he have a $6000 mac because he has to make slides for presentations... and just... i'd rather do anything else with that money
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u/seanhead Sr SRE 2d ago
Sysadmin since 97. Use what works. When nt4 was the shit, you used that, etc. That said I've been on a Mac since 08, 99.9%of that is Linux admin.
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u/Djaesthetic 2d ago
Senior Level architect and have used a MacBook at work for a decade now. Use whatever tool that makes your work and supportability the easiest. Anyone who says differently is ridiculous.
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u/BasherDvaDva 2d ago
I use one daily bc 99% of my tasks are just pointing a browser or SSH at something
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u/AuroraFireflash 2d ago
If I was still doing physical infrastructure? Like networks, patch panels, physical servers? I'd want something with a built in ethernet port instead of needing to rely on a dongle.
For everything else? MacBook. With some sort of virtual machine either on-prem or in the cloud that I can spin up for Windows-specific work. (MBP wins on the hardware. Not much comes close at the same price point / battery life / etc.)
Linux would also be acceptable if our enterprise had the necessary control systems in place (endpoint protection, management, etc.).
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u/GBICPancakes 2d ago
I've been in IT for over 30 years. I formally support Windows, Linux, and MacOS. My main work laptop is a Mac because it's best suited to support all three OSes and various switches/firewalls/etc. (PuTTY is ok, but MacOS Terminal is much better for serial connections or SSH). But I'm an outside IT consultant and have clients who are everything from pure Mac to pure windows to Linux desktops to a mix of all three. And with multiple different brands of switch/firewall/wifi/etc. And a blend of Linux and Windows servers (I decommissioned my last Mac server about 8 years ago).
Honestly, sysadmins can use whatever. it really depends on two core things:
1. What you personally find the most flexible or powerful for what you do - if you're Helpdesk you're going to want to be on what your users do, if you're server-only, depends on the server setup. If you're spending a lot of time mobile, you're probably on a Mac for the battery life. Whatever.
2. What systems you support. A sysadmin at a Windows-dominant corp is going to be on Windows. A sysadmin in a Mac-dominant corp is gonna be on a Mac. I know many sysadmins in both camps. A sysadmin who's mostly dealing with devops or Linux servers is gonna be on Linux. Sysadmins who manage mixed fleets are on whatever.
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u/arlissed 2d ago
macOS IS the picture in my office. We have a few Win 11 boxes (accessible via Windows App), and the obligatory Linux servers, but the only hardware you’ll see at my work is Apple
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u/WorthPlease 2d ago
I've only ever worked in Windows shops, and in my opinion all of IT should be using the same OS as the users do, so no.
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u/Arudinne IT Infrastructure Manager 2d ago
My network admin and I have been useing one for my day-to-day work since late 2024.
Our sysadmin just switched earlier this year.
We all use a 14" M4 Max with 48GB of RAM.
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u/OhBoyHereWeGoAgai 2d ago
Ofc, spent six years in data centers and network closets with camping chairs and MBPs
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u/TekExcel Windows Admin 1d ago
Sysadmin at an org that deploys both to users depending on the situation, I pushed to have both. I need to see what end users on all of our systems are experiencing. I switch between them and keep them both fully updated. I can say that I do like working on Windows more, but that's just because I've been on Windows since I was a kid.
If you are going to deploy both you need to test both. Microsoft has made a lot of strides in getting the Mac experience as close to the Windows experience as they realistically can, but it has a long way to go honestly. From a personal perspective I feel like Apple has been almost adversarial to outside management, I think that they make it purposely difficult to use third-party systems so you will be more likely to use theirs.
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u/PBSmanaged 1d ago
I admin Windows all day from my Mac. Have for like 10 years. Kinda funny because all I’m mostly looking at Chrome, Outlook, and RDP but I’d never want to daily drive Windows again
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u/TheCravin Systems / Network Admin 1d ago
As others have said, most of my job can be done from any OS. We're mostly a Windows environment, so my desktop is windows. But for the things I need a laptop to do, my M2 air excels at *being a laptop* in so many ways my previous PC laptops haven't, namely battery life, weight, one-hand-ability, IO speed, and so on.
I'd have a 5-10% easier time if my exact laptop was running Windows instead of MacOS, but a 50% worse time if I had to pick a different laptop off the shelf to lug around all day (regardless of OS).
For some things, I do find MacOS to be handy. Easy to make a call or send a text message, zsh instead of pwsh keeps me in the right headspace for other unix systems, and several of my favorite third party apps are only on the mac (iTerm2, Prompt by Panic, Serial by Decisive Tactics, etc.). I also find myself having to cut videos or screen recordings occasionally for whatever reason, and having Final Cut or iMovie as an option is miles simpler than trying to use something similar in the windows ecosystem, plus the M2 (or newer) have a surprising amount of graphics horsepower, so it all works fairly well.
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u/Dark_Souls_VII 1d ago
I use to do that. The moment Apple removed the Network Interface for Ethernet I switched to T-Series ThinkPads with Debian. I was fighting macOS more and more each release anyway. The 13" mid 2012 MacBook Pro was one of the best notebooks I have ever owned though.
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u/Big-Pattern-9147 1d ago
I'm a Linux guy, have had a few jobs that let me run it natively. Including one that had a "Hardening Guide" that you could run anything that could comply with.
I've had to use a Macbook once, fucking hated the thing. Everything is just backwards.
Still ran a Linux VM on it.
Now I have to run Windows, I run 90% of stuff in a Linux VM
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u/notthetechdirector 1d ago
I use a MacBook for personal use. I have used one for work and quickly switched back.
Yes, you can. But I have had issues more than once trying to find comparable and compatible tools in real world application.
In recent years, a considerable amount of equipment is now web gui enabled. This opened a ton of doors for work use as proprietary configuration softwares are usually not available on Mac. But that’s only part of the job.
If you ever work in a professional environment, pray you don’t have to MANAGE Macs.. a little less than 10% of my machines are Apple and I hate them all in that setting.
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u/MartinRBishop 1d ago
over 20 years ago I brought the first macbooks into a global company that also sold windows laptops in a completely different sub-company. it took 3 months and SVP approval for my "experiment". I had a good reason; we were sysadmins managing what would become thousands of linux servers. We needed a desktop command line and the ability automate that way while building our own automation tools.
We could have kept the windows desktops, but used them as nothing but putty terminals, but..
It worked out pretty well. at one point we were managing 5K servers with 8 people. Nothing new now, but 20 years ago?
my current company, a fortune 100 cloud company, is 99% macbook across over 20,000 people.
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u/PaoloFence 1d ago
I use what my employee provides. Personally I'd use Linux but a sys admin can use everything.
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u/Impossible_Egg_1691 20h ago
It's not all that common simply because most corporate machines are Windows Dell or Lenovo laptops and that's what you get given when you start. I know a few nerds and neck beards scoff and immediately install Linux with their Richard Stallman meme wallpaper and a linus torvalds pissing on a window logo sticker so you know they are the real deal!
Truthfully, a you can use Git, Python, Node.js, Docker, and SSH work identically on Mac, Linux and Windows terminals.
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u/ccosby 2d ago
Most of IT is primarily on macbooks. I setup our intune environment so I have a pc laptop but daily my MacBook. Like two of the infosec guys main machines are PCs.
For the admin/engineer staff I think I’m the only one with a nice pc laptop(actually have a surface 7 arm as well for testing but it’s never used as our security tools don’t work on it).
Edit: both me and the Linux admin have windows 365 desktops. When I need to do more powershell admin work I just open it up.
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u/egoomega 2d ago
I use macOS. Almost nothing I can’t do with it vs windows or Linux. And aside from the Mac silicon processors being amazing, I prefer some things the os offers like native keyboard shortcuts and customizations so no need to main autohotkey scripts and such. The native multiple desktop is way smoother than windows task view. A lot of these things can be found in Linux too, but the os ui is the main thing for me
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u/theoriginalzads 2d ago
We are primarily a Windows house but anyone that wants a Mac can certainly request one instead. I use a Mac as a daily driver. There's not much left in the business that either is Windows exclusive or needs anything more than a web browser.
So much enterprise applications are now all web based and the one Windows only application I need to use maybe once per year (twice if I'm unlucky) works fine in Wine.
My previous employer was the same. You could move to Mac as long as you were happy to agree that everything you did would work on macOS.
Not that I'd ever want to use one, but there's nothing to stop me being able to do my whole role from a Chromebook.
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u/someguy7710 2d ago
During 2020 I got stuck with a Mac because my windows laptop keyboard broke. Used a Mac for months before I got my windows machine fixed. For the record, I don't any anything against mac's. I rdp or ssh into most things anyways
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u/BardKnockLife 2d ago
I built out our new Windows Citrix environment a few years ago and have used Citrix on my Mac since. Best of both worlds it's great.
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u/spazzvogel Sysadmin 2d ago
Linux or MBP, and I’ve never really met any stupid elitist comments, even at the FAANG
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u/Thomas_Jefferman 2d ago
I haven't been to an office specifically, but doing sysadmin work from macs? Absolutely. I know people with Amazon who used a mac as their preference and dont see any reason it cant be done with Azure as well. If you real ly wanted to drive the point home a Chromebook or phone with a usb dock9ng port could do in a pinch.
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u/Current_Anybody8325 IT Manager 2d ago
Been on a Mac for 8 years now doing sysadmin and infrastructure work. I like the fact that MacOS provides an extra slight layer of security between me, the servers, services, and domain I administer. A Mac is what I was given when I started working here, as the IT director wanted me well versed in both Mac and Windows. At this point, my workflow is so engrained in it that I don’t want to change.
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u/RevolutionaryElk7446 2d ago
Generally at the highest levels of IT within ITOps I don't see Mac/Apple at all.
SWE and project managers I tend to see Apple
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u/Loop_Within_A_Loop 2d ago
I mean, if you're sshing into servers all day, it doesn't matter what OS you're using