Why does everyone say Macs are better for graphic design?

8 thoughts on “Why does everyone say Macs are better for graphic design?”

1. just "JR" says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   Funny! No-one seems to point out your initial query: the graphics!
   In the early days, MACs graphics were far superior to any PC graphics, and that is why most liberal professions used them, especially in the PRINTING industry. Colours were unreliable on PCs, while they were pretty close to the real thing on MACs.
   And THAT is the only reason why MAC were sooo good.

   Since then, graphic processor have VASTLY improved, and you cannot see any difference between PCs or MACs anymore. (I would even risk to say that PC graphics have become sligthly superior).

   But, as always… You started your computing with MAC? MAC is the best! You started with a green IBM, in DOS? PCs are the best. You are USED to your machine, and, like a child loving his Teddy, it is hard to be objective.
   I change my machine every 3 years (always a PC, of course!), but I always dread the moment! New system, New software, Re-installs that won’t work on the new OS etc…
   Think about that one!

2. gandhi_2 says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   The truth they aren’t going to say:

   Artists, teachers, intellectuals, gays, democrats, those along the "liberal" end of the spectrum usually chose products that they see as conforming to their ideals. This isn’t a dig, it’s just the truth. Nothing wrong with it.

   Apple from the start painted itself as the hippie, good guy, hacky-sack playing, grass-roots, peace-loving, fight-the-power people. "Think different" was basically "think different from IBM, because those old white people are greedy corporate suits"…and later became "think different from MS, because…. same reason". This was a carefully crafted and brilliant advertising campaign.

   Look at all the old Apple ads… the "1984" commercial, the "Think Different" posters with environemntalist superstars (Jane Goodall) and labor union socialists (Caesar Chavez), apple always endeared itself to the left. Never-mind that Apple has ALWAYS been every bit as corporate and ruthless as IBM and in many cases worse than MS.

   So now you have the preponderant majority of liberal-arts college kids, artists, etc preaching the mac fanboyism like it was the Holy Khran as written by Steve Jobs (PBUH). Of course most of these people forgot all about Woz.

   Are they better? No, almost all mac and PC hardware is identical. I routinely swap parts between them. Software? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

   Personal Preference FTW.

   BTW: The same reasoning explains why the corporate suits love MS so much.

3. TaZ says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   Apple and Mac are more of hardware than software.

   A computer system is more of software than hardware. And software is the thing that makes a computer and distinguishes it from, say, a television or cassette recorder.

   Compatible software, many of them free, is the greatest advantage of a Windows PC.

   .

4. milaia_ia says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   I do not think it is better for design, it is better for security though

5. lansingstudent09101 says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   Macs are maybe a bit overpriced, but until recently CS5 was a lot more stable on the MAC than on Windows. Pirated or not.

   The hardware for macs is also better than the average windows computer, because you only have what the mac uses, which tends to mean better performance.

   The support for multiple screens is *still* better on the mac, but if you’re choosing between laptops, you probably won’t use 2 screens very often.

   There is something to be said for the MAC commandline over the DOS one, but most people never use either.

6. ? says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   Nice question! LOL

   I think you can use your PC to do your work if you think that is comfortable with you.. ^_^

7. Oogoo says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   Well said. PC all the way.

8. Vomit says:

   November 30, 2010 at 3:52 am

   1. Much of the graphics design affinity comes from the days of PowerPC Macs when they excelled due to a different CPU architecture. Not so now. However, much has carried over, and there is still plenty of excellent graphic design software for OS X as well as excellent calibration utilities. OS X does a great job of handling color profiles, calibration, etc.
   2. It isn’t hard to find pirated software for any platform. If you can’t find CS5 for OS X then you REALLY aren’t looking very hard.
   3. If you’re trying to export to .avi, you’re doing it wrong. Nobody in the pro A/V realm uses .avi. It’s old and inefficient compared to modern formats like h.264. If you want to go to .avi, use third party tools. There are plenty out there. Also, I’d hardly call .avi "standard". Maybe to some consumer PMPs and pirates, but outside of that, few people really touch it. It’s old and busted.
   4. I suppose it depends on the plugins you’re using. I’ll wager you could find something that does largely the same thing that does indeed work. Plugins are supposed to be cross-platform compatible anyway.
   5. That’s why you don’t buy a Mac to play games. If you want to, partition your drive and install Windows.

   As for your build, I’d say that not all are true:

   Cheaper – sure.
   Compatible – Right, because there aren’t multiple ways to run Windows or Windows software on a Mac.
   Easier to upgrade – largely, yes.
   Proprietary hardware – There isn’t nearly as much as you might think. Hell, Apple laptops don’t have more proprietary hardware than anyone else. Commodity RAM, hard drives, the LCD panels are standard OEM fare, etc. The motherboard, charger, and other minor bits and pieces are proprietary, just like any other laptop. Desktops are a different story, but much of it is still commodity parts.
   Easier to repair – That depends on what you’re fixing. I’ve found that software repairs on OS X are vastly easier than Windows, largely due to a lack of malware, no DLL hell, and that labyrinthine hell known as the registry. Hardware repairs are easier on a commodity tower, of course.
   Compatible software – See above.
   Lots of plugins and tutorials – You’re doing it wrong. Plugins should be cross platform, and when they’re not, you can likely find something quite similar. No tutorials? You haven’t been looking very hard for them.

   If you want a commodity tower, build a Hackintosh. And expose hasn’t been "ported". Someone just built a mod for Windows that does the same thing.

   Now, with all that being said, work on the platform that works best for you. A computer is just a tool, after all. However, it’s best if you remain familiar with both platforms if you want to do graphic design.

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