01 logo

Switching from PC to Apple

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

By Eric C. JacksonPublished 2 years ago 9 min read
Like

While I am not an expert in the electronics department, I know enough about computers to understand what I need for my business. Because I capture a lot of Fine Art Photography and want to create more Composites (photo manipulations), a drastic upgrade is necessary.

Currently, I use a Dell Inspiron purchased in December 2016. It's a dual-core Intel i7 processor. I upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 8GB a few years ago. It does not have a dedicated graphics card (GPU). Typically, PCs work well for the first three years after purchase. However, around year four, my laptops begin to decline in performance. By year five, I am shopping for a new laptop and the same is true for this Inspiron. Ultimately, I realized how expensive it would be to purchase new laptop every four to five years.

In 2021, my sister started an old conversation of convincing me to switch from my Android phone to the iPhone. I complained about how expensive the iPhone would be if I wanted to keep the same screen size as my Samsung A20.

As I continued to invest in my business, I realized that certain Apps for Creatives are only available in the Apple Store. Eventually, I felt backed into a corner. The Samsung A20 has a 6.4-inch screen for around $250. The screen resolution quality was pretty good. It was a nice phone for business and I saw no other reason to change it. Still, I felt like it was time.

After several visits to Best Buy and watching reviews on YouTube, I knew I wanted a bigger screen size on my next phone. The problem was that meant I needed to choose the most expensive model Apple had to offer at the time: the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It has a 6.7-inch screen with an OLED display. The price tag: $1199.99 before taxes. ..Ouch.

Fortunately, I was able to Open an account with Verizon, setup a payment plan, and pick up the phone from the local Verizon Store. I drove home excited and terrified at the same time.

When I got home, I began to unbox the iPhone, impressed by the shiny goodness of Pacific Blue color. ...except something was missing. Where was the adapter to charge the phone? On the box, in the smallest fine print known to man, I read that the charger was sold separately. Who? I ask. Who sells a mobile phone without a charger included? Apple. At that moment, I thought: I've just created an alliance with the Empire. Went to WalMart, purchased a charger, accessories, etc. shaking my head along the way.

Fast forward several months, the verdict: the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the best phone that I've ever had. This, from an Android/PC Lifer. Why did I share this story? Because as my PC laptop continued its predictable decline, I knew this was going to be much more of an expensive transition from PC to Apple. Android to Apple was bad. This is worse. ..and confusing.

Back to the beginning: How much power do I need to create massive composites and manipulations in PhotoShop without lagging and software crashes? At least a quad-core processor with 16GBs of RAM. 4-cores of dedicated Graphics Processing (GPU) would be nice. Yes? Good. 4-core CPU, 4-core GPU, and 16GBs of RAM is the target.

The other major issue: Can my old Corel Bryce software work on Apple? After doing some digging: No. Not on an Apple OS after Version 10. We're approaching Version 16 right now. Am I going to have to re-purchase other programs specifically for Apple? Yes, unless I have the Product Key Code to transfer the software and I can't find (or have lost) some of the Codes. Is this getting expensive before I even price the laptop?

A MacBook Pro with the new M1 chip seems like the obvious choice. Yes, there is a MacBook Pro with the newer M2 chip, but the screen size is 13.6-inches compared to the 15.6-inch PC laptop I have now. Of course, I don't want to lose screen size. Anything else?

Yes, the 14.2-inch MacBook Pro featuring the M1 chip, M1 Pro Chip, or M1 Max chip. Super-powerful CPU. Good. Smaller monitor. Not good. Which led me to the final option: the 16.2-inch MacBook Pro with the M-Series of chips. Finally, something closer to 15.6-inches. The base model price tag: $2,499. Double Ouch.

Maybe the 13.6-inch M2 model isn't that bad after all. Price tag: $1,199. ..okay, I can swallow that. But there's a catch: the M2 13.6-inch model does not have the new Liquid Retina XDR display. It has the old Liquid Retina display, which makes a massive difference in Monitor quality when you compare the two. Massive. (Remember, read the Fine Print).

As I struggled with keeping my eyes from rolling, I thought: Okay. I want the best display Apple has to offer paired with the M1 chip. Options. The 14.2 and 16.2-inch MacBook Pros have the XDR display and M1 starting at $1,999 and $2,499 respectively. Keep in mind, I paid around $700 for my current Dell laptop the day before Christmas Eve in 2016. Breathe.

There is financing available from the Apple Store with the Apple Card. 12-month payment terms at around $167/month for the 14.2-inch MacBook Pro and $208/month for the 16.2-inch. Can I fit this in my budget? Not at the moment. :(

My heart sank as I continued to have trouble waking up my PC laptop from Sleep Mode, simply opening up the web browser, working in PhotoShop on even small files, etc.

Suddenly, I received another text message from Verizon. By upgrading to the 5G Get More plan, my Apple Music Subscription would be included for about the same price I pay each month, but I'd add unlimited premium network access along with a few other nice perks. I finally gave in, this being the third time I've upgraded my phone plan.

Point being, I started looking through the Verizon Store and noticed they have iPads available. Come to find out, they have the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros available with the M1 chip. Of course, these are not the less expensive WiFi Only versions. They cost $200-$300 more for the Cellular capability. In other words, I could add a Line to my current phone bill and get a discount on both the iPad Pro and the 2nd phone Line cost.

Which led me to watching a whole slew of reviews on the differences between the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. No surprise, the massive difference in display showed up again (fine print). The 11-inch iPad Pro does not have the new XDR display while the 12.9-inch model does. Which led me to ask: When Apple comes out with better technology, why don't they just include that on all the new models? Why do some new models have XDR while other new models do not? Just upgrade everything at one time. Do the hiccups in the supply chain have something to do with this? Perhaps.

Pricing: The base model for the 11-inch iPad Pro with 128GB through Verizon is $999.99 after a $100 Discount. The base model for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 128GB of storage is $1,299.99 (again) after a $100 Discount.

Both base iPad models include an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU with at least 8GBs of RAM on all models. Of course, you can upgrade the 128GB of storage to 256GB up to 2TBs. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 1TB and 2TB storage models come with double the RAM at 16GBs and cost $1,999.99 and $2,399.99. Of course, these upgraded models on the 11-inch version will be cost less, but keep in mind, the 11-inch iPad Pro does not have the XDR display.

I had never considering buying a Cellular version of a tablet to use as my new laptop. Yes, the 12.9-inch screen is smaller, but when I'm on the go, I won't have to find WiFi or use my iPhone as a HotSpot connection for my laptop. It's actually a great idea. Even at home, WiFi can be spotty, at times. Being able to connect the tablet to 5G or LTE at the very least can't hurt during times when there's less Bandwidth in the area.

Full disclosure, I added the 12.9-inch iPad Pro to my current Verizon phone plan. I upgraded to 512GB of storage space, though this model still has 8GBs instead of 16GBs of RAM on the 1TB and 2TB models. I received an $150 discount on the iPad Pro and a 50% discount on the 2nd phone Line. There is a $35 Activation fee along with expected local and state taxes. The real treat is the 0% Finance Charge from Verizon for 36 months, which makes this purchase very affordable opposed to purchasing this directly from Apple with a 12-month payment plan. Whether you buy the Cellular version from Apple or Verizon, the Listed Price is the same.

I was concerned about not having 16GBs of RAM until I saw a performance test review recently. While using rendering software, both the 8GB and 16GB model of RAM render the image in exactly the same timeframe, which was around 2 minutes, 8 seconds. Which tells me that this type of intense processing is not using the RAM at all. The 8-core GPU and CPU found in both models is doing all the work in terms of rendering a 3D image. I'll do my best to confirm this while working on my own Projects.

I do anticipate that this tablet and 2nd Line will add about $50-$60 to my current monthly Verizon bill. Considering this same iPad Pro model would add around $135/month to my overall budget if Ordered through the Apple Store, it's a good deal.

In conclusion, I was hoping to have the iPad Pro in-hand before writing this article to share my first impressions. Yet, it is delayed in Shipping. I ordered it on August 8th and paid the extra fee for Overnight Shipping for an August 9th Delivery date. It is August 10th and UPS moved the Delivery Date for a third time to August 11th, which is the Delivery Date Option I could have chosen under Free Shipping.

This is a recurring problem I've been having this year with UPS (and FedEx was worse). The Shipping companies do not offer a discount in cost because of late arrivals. I only had 500 Characters of space to offer a simply complaint/suggestion to both UPS and Verizon. How many of us, as customers, are paying for faster Shipping while ultimately getting Standard Shipping. I didn't offer a harsh critique because I understand that the shipping companies are probably overwhelmed and understaffed. Plus, it's not Verizon's fault. However, if customers are ultimately spending extra money and not getting the service they paid for with no refund or discounted option after the fact, it is completely unfair to us.

While I have not gotten a reply from UPS, yet, a Verizon Rep. did look at my Account and provided a discounted rate for a Protection Plan for my iPad Pro, which I completely forgot to add-on. Very nice, but again, I do understand it's not Verizon's fault. I simply wanted to make them aware of the problem. If Shipping companies are struggling to Delivery packages Overnight, they should not make this Option available to the customers while delivering the package days late, and not even acknowledging the delivery is late let alone give people a discount or refund. We should not pay extra for free standard shipping.

I apologize. That is my tangent for the day. If possible, avoid having devices shipped to you, especially if you're running into this problem. Find a local Verizon Store to pick up your device(s), which worked extremely well when I purchased my iPhone online.

Thank you for reading; I hope my experience helps someone. ecj

gadgets
Like

About the Creator

Eric C. Jackson

Sharing my passion for an eclectic group of Subjects including Fiction, Photography, and Gaming.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.