PCs

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on PCs:

Today in Apple history: Apple’s war with IBM commences

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IBM PC 5150: The IBM Personal Computer
This unassuming IBM Personal Computer started the Apple-versus-PC feud.
Photo: Boffy B/Wikipedia CC

August 12: Today in Apple history: Apple's war with IBM commences with IBM Personal Computer launch August 12, 1981: The launch of the IBM Personal Computer ignites a long-running Apple-versus-PC rivalry.

Secure in the Apple II’s technical superiority over the new PC, Apple welcomes International Business Machines to the personal computing party in a full-page ad in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Things won’t stay positive for long.

Ridiculous Intel ad makes Apple fans look like complete morons

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Intel vs. Apple ad
What?! This laptop that runs Windows wasn't made by Apple? No way!
Photo: Intel

Butthurt Intel just squeezed out another of its desperate taking-a-stab-at-Apple ads, and it might just be the worst one yet. It paints Apple fans as complete morons.

“Is this real life right now?” one user asks when shown a colorfully lit room filled with Windows machines.

The “real people” brought in for Intel’s “Social Experiment,” despite being apparent Mac users, all appear flabbergasted when told the Windows-powered laptops they’ve been shown aren’t made by Apple. Ugh.

The best alternatives to Apple’s disastrous MacBooks

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Macbook alternatives: The Surface Book comes with a 100%-working keyboard.
Unlike MacBooks, the Surface Book comes with a 100%-working keyboard.
Photo: Clint Patterson/Unsplash

Apple’s current line of MacBooks is probably its worst laptop lineup in years. The keyboards are so broken that even the newest MacBook Air is covered under Apple’s keyboard repair program. There are too few ports, and too much heat. And if you want to upgrade any internal parts? You’ll have to buy a new MacBook. But what are the best MacBook alternatives?

If you want to ditch the MacBook, you will find plenty of options. However, none of them offer one essential element: macOS. Switching to another operating system is like moving house and having to leave everything but your clothes behind. But there are workarounds even for that. Let’s check out the best alternatives to the MacBook in 2019.

Mac lover’s funny video throws serious shade at Apple

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Roberto Hoyos is singing out of desperation.
Roberto Hoyos is singing out of desperation.
Photo: Roberto Hoyos/YouTube

Roberto Hoyos has a message for Apple that is made in fun but is deadly serious and is said – well, sung – on behalf of many frustrated Mac users.

The founder and CEO of Throwboy, the maker of emoji pillows and other plush toys inspired by digital culture, has made a music video that parodies Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, but warns Apple that Mac users will soon turn to PCs if they don’t get a major update on iMacs and MacBook Pros soon.

While Apple goes thin, Windows PCs go fat at CES 2017

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Need extra ports? Have fun lugging this beast around.
Need extra ports? Have fun lugging this beast around.
Photo: Acer

CES2017 Apple got some serious flak from fans when it unveiled its new MacBook Pro at the end of 2016, but if CES 2017 is any indicator, Apple’s not in danger of being out innovated by PCs anytime soon.

The MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar may not be a phenomenal innovation. And its four USB-C ports mean you’ll need some dongles. But when looking at the competition, the MacBook Pro is hands-down the sleekest, most useful and most beautiful laptop you can get in the world right now.

Look at these embarrassing Windows laptops:

10 biggest tech shopping myths, busted

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10 Tech Shopping Myths
It's time to debunk these 10 common myths about buying tech gear.
Photo: Jarmoluk/Pixabay

One of the best things about living in the digital age is the ease with which you can compare prices. It’s never been easier to find great deals, especially on technology. But even though finding discounted gadgets is pretty easy, some people still end up overpaying for tech because they’ve put their faith in misguided shopping myths.

If you’re looking to save money and get the most value for your dollar, make sure you don’t fall victim to one of these common misconceptions about buying electronics. Read on to learn more about the biggest tech shopping myths out there, why we believe them, and why those myths are just dead wrong. Our guide busts some Apple-specific myths, as well as some more general misconceptions about how to save money when shopping for gadgets.

Steve Jobs Took This Picture Of The First Shipment Of Apple 1s Back In 1976

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article-2462931-18C5CBC000000578-776_634x452

Here’s something pretty incredible. This newly surfaced photo shows the original batch of Apple I computers as they are about to be sent out to customers. The photo is believed to have been taken by Steve Jobs himself, in his bedroom.

There’s a couple of things I really love about this photo. For one, note how similar the packaging on the original Apple I is to the white box packaging of, say, a MacBook Air. Things haven’t changed much, have they? Second, with Apple I’s now going for over $676,000 at auction, that’s quite the nest egg Steve is sitting on back in 1976, isn’t it?

Via: Daily Mail

Intel’s Game-Changer: Let’s Make All PCs Like iPads, Guys [CES 2013]

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INTEL

CES 2013 bug LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Everything you need to know about how Intel wants you to see them was summed up in a bizarre Ken Burns-style documentary that aired at the beginning of their CES presser, in which Intel compared their new ultrabook and tablet initiatives to Notre Dame’s use of the forward pass back in 1913 to utterly dominate the Army Cadets, a team considered much superior. The odd, old-timey documentary ended with a virtual CGI football hurtling at the screen, only to explode in a nuclear fireball just before it hit the camera. “WELCOME TO THE NEXT GAME CHANGER,” Intel blared.

If you know anything about the game in question, though, you know that Notre Dame didn’t actually invent the forward pass, though. They just swiped it from another team and popularized it.

So according to this analogy, who is Intel? They’re clearly Notre Dame, stealing another team’s moves. And that team is obviously Apple. Some game changer.

While Apple Tops Global PC Sales, Microsoft Will Need To Subsidize Windows 8 Devices

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Microsoft will need to spend some serious cash if it wants to make Windows 8 and RT true iPad competitors.
Microsoft will need to spend some serious cash if it wants to make Windows 8 and RT true iPad competitors.

Apple continues to top PC sales thanks to the iPad. Meanwhile, according to research firm Canalys, Microsoft  will likely need to heavily subsidize the price of touch-first PCs and tablets if it wants Windows 8 to be anything like a success.

Echoing Tim Cook’s about Microsoft’s Windows 8 strategy being like converging a toaster and a refrigerator, the research firm notes that Microsoft’s approach could jeopardize the Windows 8 launch. Canalys notes that the big issue is that most Windows 8 features are designed for touchscreen use. That means that existing PC owners won’t get the full value or experience that Windows 8 offers unless they upgrade their hardware to a tablet, touchscreen notebook, or a hybrid device that functions as both.

Quo’s Unveils Liquid and Copper Plate Cooled System That Simply Begs To Be Hackintoshed

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Those unconventional iconoclasts at Psystar might have been ground down to a gelatin paste by Apple’s legal team, but that’s not to say you can’t have a business selling Mac clones… as long as you don’t sell them with OS X pre-installed.

Just ask the guys at Quo Computers, “Apple enthusiasts who breathe and bleed Mac OS X” who have just announced their latest hackintosh: a truly ghastly tower called the maxQ2 with beefy hardware placing it somewhere between the performance of a high-end iMac and the Mac Pro.

Inside the chassis, the Q2 features an Intel Core i7 3.6GHz CPU, 12GB of RAM, a 240GB SSD, a 1TB hard drive and an NVIDIA 285 GTX GPU. The real appeal here, though, is the addition of Aestek’s liquid / copper cold plate cooling system, which will keep the innards frosty regardless of what you throw at it.

The maxQ2 will run Windows, OS X or Linux through EFI support… although Quo isn’t stupid enough to install OS X on it for you themselves. The Quo maxG2 starts at $3,675, and if you’re willing to trade aesthetic for horsepower while breaking OS X’s EULA in the process, it seems like an option worth considering.