The REAL Truth On Macs vs PCs for Graphic Design. Are You on the Wrong Side?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The REAL Truth On Macs vs PCs for Graphic Design. Are You on the Wrong Side?

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Angry Designer - Graphic Design, Branding, Marketing, & Creative Business Operations to Get Paid What Your Worth and Avoid Burnout
• Host/Authors: Massimo and Sean
• Episode: The REAL Truth On Macs vs PCs for Graphic Design. Are You on the Wrong Side?
• Release Date: November 19, 2024

---

1. Introduction to the Mac vs PC Debate

Massimo kicks off the episode by highlighting the long-standing rivalry between Macs and PCs in the graphic design industry. He emphasizes that while both platforms have their merits, Macs have historically been favored by creatives for various reasons.

Massimo [00:00]: "Every time I buy a Mac, my Mac lasts me six, eight years. When we had a programmer using a PC, every two years, he needed a new PC."

---

2. The Tradition: Macs as the Creative Standard

Massimo delves into how Macs established themselves as the go-to choice for graphic designers, musicians, and video editors. This section covers the cultural and historical aspects that contributed to Macs becoming synonymous with creativity.

• Desktop Publishing Revolution: Macs revolutionized desktop publishing with partnerships with Adobe, supporting essential design software like Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign early on. This integration provided designers with powerful tools that were user-friendly.

  Massimo [10:22]: "Mac really, really became the creative standard for this industry. It took what we did from being a hobby and turned it into something professional."

• Aesthetic and Build Quality: The sleek design and durable build of Macs appealed to creatives who valued both functionality and aesthetics. Macs were more than just tools; they were statements of professionalism and creativity.

  Massimo [16:02]: "When you held it and picked it up, you knew it was a quality piece of material. You're holding something chunky and great, and it was just something you wanted to hug and hold."

• Cultural Alignment: Apple's marketing campaigns, such as the iconic "1984" commercial and "Think Different" slogan, resonated with creatives by positioning Macs as tools for rebels and innovators.

  Sean [20:16]: "The Macintosh 1984 commercial was massive. It made such an incredible impact."

---

3. Technological Advantages of Macs

The conversation shifts to the technical aspects that make Macs stand out. Massimo compares Macs with high-end PCs like the Dell XPS and Microsoft Surface, focusing on performance, battery life, ecosystem integration, and user experience.

• Performance and Longevity: Macs are praised for their stable hardware-software integration, resulting in fewer crashes and a longer lifespan compared to PCs.

  Massimo [34:18]: "Every time I buy a Mac, my Mac lasts me six, eight years."

• Battery Life: Macs boast impressive battery life, often lasting between 18 to 20 hours, which is advantageous for designers working on the go.

  Massimo [28:09]: "The MacBook Pro battery life is somewhere between 18 and 20 hours. It's pretty massive."

• Ecosystem Integration: Apple's seamless ecosystem allows devices like iPhones, iPads, and AirPods to work effortlessly together, enhancing productivity and user convenience.

  Massimo [30:17]: "Your Mac laptop can connect to your Mac phone, which can connect to your AirPods if you have them seamlessly."

• Operating System (OS) Superiority: The Mac OS offers a smooth, intuitive user interface with quick boot times and minimal system lag, providing a superior user experience compared to Windows.

  Sean [46:35]: "Why is that? It was so confusing with PCs."

---

4. Counterpoints: Advantages of PCs

While Macs have their strengths, PCs offer unique benefits that cater to different user preferences.

• Customization and Flexibility: PCs, especially models like the Dell XPS, allow for extensive customization of hardware components, appealing to users who enjoy tinkering and upgrading their machines.

  Massimo [32:30]: "Dell, of course, customization is a big thing."

• Cost Considerations: PCs often present a broader price range, providing more affordable options for those who may not want to invest heavily upfront.

  Massimo [31:07]: "The Dell XPS on the low end is 1500 bucks, only 500 bucks less to start than a MacBook Pro."

• Diverse Hardware Options: PCs come in various forms, including touch-screen hybrids like the Microsoft Surface, offering versatility that may suit different workflows.

---

5. Personal Experiences and Reliability

Massimo shares his personal experiences with Macs and PCs, emphasizing the reliability and durability of Macs over PCs.

• Mac Longevity: Macs tend to last longer without needing frequent upgrades, reducing ongoing expenses and downtime.

  Massimo [34:57]: "I never understood that with PCs needing constant upgrades."

• PC Maintenance: PCs often require more maintenance, such as driver updates and hardware replacements, which can be time-consuming and costly.

  Massimo [35:16]: "With PCs, you were constantly needing to upgrade this and that, driving ongoing expenses."

• Build Quality: Macs are constructed with high-quality materials, offering a tactile sense of durability and professionalism.

  Massimo [35:54]: "The MacBook Pro is built with quality materials. It feels sturdy and premium."

---

6. The Future of Design Tools and Ecosystems

Massimo and Sean discuss the evolving landscape of design tools, particularly the shift towards web-based applications and cloud services.

• Web-Based Tools: Platforms like Figma, Canva, and Wix Studio are reducing reliance on local hardware, making the choice of computer less critical for some tasks.

  Massimo [48:36]: "With Adobe Cloud and web-based tools, the physical hardware requirements are becoming less important."

• Ecosystem Lock-In: While Macs offer a seamless ecosystem, this can be seen as both a strength and a limitation, depending on user needs.

  Massimo [37:07]: "The ecosystem is a beautiful thing, making everything work together seamlessly."

---

7. Conclusion: Choosing the Right Tool for You

Massimo concludes that while Macs offer numerous advantages for graphic designers, they are not a necessity. The choice between Mac and PC ultimately depends on individual preferences, workflows, and priorities.

Massimo [52:55]: "Do you need a Mac to be a graphic designer? No, you really don’t. It’s not the tool; it’s the artist."

• Macs for Seamless Experience: Ideal for designers who prioritize a stable, integrated system and are willing to invest in quality hardware.

• PCs for Customization and Flexibility: Suitable for those who enjoy customizing their hardware and prefer a more budget-friendly approach.

Massimo reaffirms his allegiance to Macs, sharing that his deep connection and consistent positive experiences have cemented his loyalty to the platform.

Massimo [63:15]: "It's the designer, 100%. And if you had to be a graphic designer in a PC world, you could do it on PC. But there’s something special about Macs that keeps me aligned."

---

Notable Quotes:

• Massimo [07:01]: "Does owning a Mac actually make you a better graphic designer? No, it really doesn't. It's not the tool; it's the artist."

• Massimo [16:02]: "When you held it and picked it up, you knew it was a quality piece of material. You're holding something chunky and great, and it was just something you wanted to hug and hold."

• Sean [46:35]: "Why is that? It was so confusing with PCs."

• Massimo [52:55]: "Do you need a Mac to be a graphic designer? No, you really don’t. It’s not the tool; it’s the artist."

---

Final Thoughts:

The episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the Mac vs PC debate within the graphic design community. Massimo and Sean balance historical context, technical comparisons, personal anecdotes, and future trends to offer listeners a nuanced perspective. While Macs hold a revered place in the creative industry, the speakers acknowledge that PCs remain a viable option depending on the user's needs and preferences.

For graphic designers grappling with this decision, the episode underscores the importance of aligning your tools with your workflow and creative aspirations rather than succumbing to industry norms or price pressures.

---

Stay Connected:

Don't forget to subscribe to Anger Management for Designers, the podcast's no-nonsense newsletter packed with insights, strategies, and stories to help you build a rewarding creative career. Follow Massimo and Sean on Instagram, YouTube, and their website to stay updated.

---

End of Summary

Transcript

[Massimo]

You can't say that one is years light years ahead of any of the other brands, technically speaking. Now, from experience, what I can say, of course, is that every time I buy a Mac, okay, my Mac lasts me six, eight years. When we had a programmer using a PC, every two years, he needed a new PC. You're listening to the Angry Designer podcast, where we help frustrated graphic design designers crush the industry bulb and share what it takes to charge what you're worth and build badass, rewarding careers. Throughout history, there have been some legendary rivals. Muhammad Ali versus Joe Fraser, Louisiana versus New York, Coke versus Pepsi. But none have been quite as relevant to graphic designers as Mac versus PC. In this episode, we're diving headfirst into one of the oldest and hottest debates in the design world. Mac versus PC. Do you really need a Mac to be a graphic designer or are we all just drinking the Apple Kool Aid? By the end of this episode, you'll discover how Mac earned its legendary status among graphic designers. The real technical differences between the MacBook Pro, the Dell XPS, and the Microsoft Surface, and finally, the secret sauce that Mac has that actually takes it to a whole new level. By the way, if you like what you're hearing, you'll love our newsletter, Anger Management for Designers. It's a motivational, no BS newsletter, packed with insights like our crazy stories, strategies, and we always try to leave you with the next step to building your badass graphic design career in our no nonsense kind of way of doing things. So subscribe now through Instagram, YouTube or on our website. Because, you know, in my opinion, of course, this is the kind of newsletter you don't want to miss. With that being said, grab yourself a drink and relax or hang on tight to that steering wheel or get ready to buckle down, because this debate might just change how you. You see your tools forever.

[Sean]

Oh, yeah.

[Massimo]

Yeah. Dude, you sound like hell.

[Sean]

Yes, I feel like hell.

[Massimo]

Geez. Well, I think it's good to have you back, so cheers. Medicine on something unique here.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

What did you bring us?

[Sean]

Sean brought us some tealing whiskey.

[Massimo]

Tealing.

[Sean]

And what is Ireland? Oh, yes. It's an Irish whiskey, single malt.

[Massimo]

Look at this.

[Sean]

Now the Irish feel they do whiskey better than the Scots.

[Massimo]

They do, do they?

[Sean]

Apparently, yes.

[Massimo]

And why is that?

[Sean]

I don't know. Because they. They have more attention to details. They think the Scots are lazy.

[Massimo]

Oh. So I was like, little bit of tension there.

[Sean]

Yeah, it was a little tense, but at the taste test of this stuff, I was completely blown away.

[Massimo]

Enamored, all Right. All right, well, let's.

[Sean]

So good. Touring the facilities. They're. They're kind of a smaller shop. They actually do all the distilling and the brewing and everything all on. On site.

[Massimo]

Very nice.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Okay, well, I'm excited. I'm excited. This is. This is all the way from your trip to Scotland and Ireland.

[Sean]

Scotland and Ireland.

[Massimo]

All right, let's just. Cheese.

[Sean]

There's not much of a nice smell to it, is there?

[Massimo]

Oh, I can smell that.

[Sean]

Oh, you can? Oh, I am. I'm all up.

[Massimo]

He's a little sick. He also brought something else back with him.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

All right, let's try this.

[Sean]

Okay. Here we go.

[Massimo]

Wow. That's. That's totally not what I thought that would taste like.

[Sean]

Wow, that's heavy.

[Massimo]

That's. That's pretty strong.

[Sean]

That's very strong.

[Massimo]

I mean, that's not. That's not for the faint of heart anyway. And that really does burn on the way down.

[Sean]

There's a bit of a burn on.

[Massimo]

I'm pissing a little bit of Pete. Geez. Just before this, we were talking about House of Pain and why a lot of the people you saw in Ireland look like they would kick your ass.

[Sean]

They look tough. Yeah.

[Massimo]

And you know what? You have to be to drink something like this. Let me just tell you. I. This. This is interesting. This is. This is something like.

[Sean]

Wow, that. Yeah, that's crazy.

[Massimo]

It's. I could. I do taste some nice peat in here.

[Sean]

Yeah, there is a little bit in there, but.

[Massimo]

But it's definitely strong going down. Not. Not crazy in the mouth. Like, not crazy flavor. It doesn't blow me away. Flavor wise. It's nice, it's mild.

[Sean]

It's almost like. It's just the. The flavor is the burn.

[Massimo]

You know what? It's kind of like, you know, a Conor McGregor type thing where it looks small and deceiving, and then when you get too close, it's like. It packs a punch. So good on this.

[Sean]

Well, let's hope with a couple more sips, it'll taste a little better. I think it will.

[Massimo]

Oh, it's delicious. It is. It's got a nice flavor, but it definitely isn't for the faint of heart.

[Sean]

It certainly is not.

[Massimo]

So they got a rivalry there, right? So they've got, you know, whiskey. And again, another thing I found that was interesting is they spell whiskey with an ey Y.

[Sean]

And the Scots with no e with.

[Massimo]

No e. So they dropped the E. I know. Intense, right? This is like something else.

[Sean]

And it's so funny, too, because it's like. It's not Scotch in Scotland.

[Massimo]

It's what.

[Sean]

It's whiskey. We call it Scotch.

[Massimo]

No way.

[Sean]

Yeah. Which is really weird.

[Massimo]

So. Okay. But then. Okay, I guess there is. The whiskey in Ireland is either distilled once or twice. No, no, no. Scotch.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Is distilled twice.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Which is what gives it a little bit more of an earthier, peatier flavor. And whiskey from Ireland is three times.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Right. Which is where they get. Start. Start getting, you know what they claim it kind of smooths it out. That's not this one in particular, but.

[Sean]

Maybe some of these might have been only passed through once. I don't know.

[Massimo]

But it's. It's interesting. Right. And they. And they. They. It is legitimate rivalry between these two. Right?

[Sean]

That's true. Yeah, that's. That's right. The more distillation is the smoother it's supposed to be. And the guy told me on the tour, he's like, if you. If. If it burns.

[Massimo]

Yes.

[Sean]

Breathe through your nose. Exhale through your nose when you sip.

[Massimo]

Oh.

[Sean]

And then that'll lighten up the burn. I don't know. It's a pretty tricky thing to do.

[Massimo]

Yeah. Try to take a sip and blow and then blow your nose. So cool. Well, this is good. This was good.

[Sean]

I do.

[Massimo]

I do appreciate this, but thank you for thinking about us on this one.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So speaking of interesting rivalries, you like that? Was that not a good steak? You didn't see that one.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

There's another interesting rival. There's a huge rivalry. That's a big one. You know, it's like, I'm surprised we've never had a podcast topic on this. But this is a legitimate question. We get asked all the time.

[Sean]

People ask about this.

[Massimo]

They actually ask about this question. And it's just like, I'm just. I never think of it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And I think this would be a fun topic to actually talk about because there is so much history to this. There is technology component to this. There's a user experience component to this. And it's just like. And there is an age component to this. Okay. Which I think affects things. Okay. Right.

[Sean]

I'm thinking of the commercial.

[Massimo]

No. Right. So anyway, so the rivalry we are talking about is Mac versus PC.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. And does owning a Mac actually make you a better graphic designer? Okay, so that's a big one because we get that. You know, does it? Or are we just all part of this cult of Mac and drinking the Mac Kool Aid? Okay. As some of my programmer friends would like to say. Right, so that's what we're going to discuss today. Because, because I think this is actually a fun, interesting topic. Yes. You know, it's shocking that we're going to actually talk about this, but it's legit. This is, I have distilled this, okay. This cult of Mac three times or twice. Only twice.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

I've distilled it twice. But now the more I think about it, maybe three times. But I have broken it down, okay, this whole cult experience thing into tradition versus technology. So we're first going to just talk about the tradition of Mac. Okay. And, and then we're going to focus on that a little bit. And then we're going to talk about the technology component. Okay. Mac versus PC.

[Sean]

Okay. That's the hardware.

[Massimo]

The hardware. Right. We'll get to the actual specifications because a lot of people can't get past the, they look at specifications and that's all they want to know. Okay. So we're going to cover both of that in this episode.

[Sean]

Nice.

[Massimo]

And, and, and, and then, and then we'll let you know our opinions. But I mean, I, I, I think you've probably already heard our opinions in the past. I mean, I'm gonna try to be as, as critical thinker as possible. I am going of everything. But I mean, I can't lie. I'm a Mac guy.

[Sean]

Yep.

[Massimo]

That's all I've ever known. That's all I am. And that is what I will be until I die.

[Sean]

Until you die.

[Massimo]

You know, I will probably have a Mac sticker on my coffee. Okay.

[Sean]

Among many others.

[Massimo]

I'm sure they'll be, I'm sure it'll look like a skateboard. Okay. It'll look like my, my laptop deck at my funeral. I'm gonna have a stack of stickers that people are going to walk by, peel and smack it on the board.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

But it's true, you know, and, and again, for me, it was a pure love affair. And it really did help define who I was, which sounds totally corny. Okay. It sounds really weird actually. But it really did help define who I was at a young age. And with that I've tried a PC here and there. Like when I've had to help my kids with this or help some and, you know, magic. Everybody assumes if you work on a computer, you're a IT guy. And they, and they never asked me to help them with their Mac problems. It's always their PC problems. Surprise, surprise. So, you know, but again, I think, you know, the tradition part of this, okay, really does all come down to the fact that Mac really, really became the creative standard, okay, for this industry. Okay. Started as graphic design, but then became the standard for graphics, came for music, came the standard for video. Right. And really what it did is it took what we did from being a hobby and turned it into something professional.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Legit.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right. Because prior to this, okay, prior to, you know, the Mac being released, everything was done by hand and it was, you know, you had to admit that was a craft on its own. When we talk about, you know, craft and mockups and stuff they were doing with, you know, like, with X acto knives and stuff, I just missed that generation, right?

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

They tried teaching that in college and I was like, you guys, like, where? I'm already working on a Mac? This is the future, baby.

[Sean]

I had a course in rubylith, and I was just like, this is stupid, stupidest thing ever. I've never used it ever.

[Massimo]

I think our college locally still teaches that course. To be honest, based on the portfolios I see coming through here, that's another podcast altogether. But really, it did help elevate graphic design from a hobby to a profession.

[Sean]

Totally.

[Massimo]

Okay. And it did that through a few different ways. Okay. So, you know, when it started, of course, you know, desktop publishing literally was a very manual process. Okay. And it really changed that. Okay. The first Mac computer, as crude, adventure, as crude as it was, you know, took this whole desktop publishing to a new level. Yes.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

It gave you font options. Okay. And I think it started out with like eight or nine fonts. Basic.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But that was fucking mind blowing considering that the rest of the world was on DOS at this point. Okay. The rest of the world was only used to one font. Okay. Basically. Which, you know, it was crazy, right? So, you know, they had an early Adobe partnership. Okay. Really early on, they had partnered with Adobe and they helped support the software, the Illustrator. Right. Photoshop, all these early. All the early Creative software, Right. That was, you know, even InDesign. Okay. Because prior to, you know, Adobe creating InDesign, there was QuarkXPress, which I think was also available on the other platform. But then Mac started making these partnerships with Adobe to support Adobe software on their platforms, Right. Which really gave them an edge. So now all of a sudden, you have this WYSIWYG editor. What you see is what you get editor, okay? That. That, you know, you don't have to be a computer genius and programmer to figure out. It's just with the. With the mouse, you could drag and Drop and create boxes and create shapes and move images. Right. Like there was early Andy Warhol stuff on the computer. Right. Which again was because of just how easy it was they were focusing in on this market. Yeah, right, Absolutely. At an early age.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You know, apparently the, you know, they, they also, you know, had really good color profile settings and their laser writer back took things to a whole new level. And then there's some technical stuff like their postscript and how they handled their fonts and how they. This stuff was even over my head. But the reality is they were really. Even though they weren't the first computer out. Okay. They were the first creative computer out there that really kind of revolutionized the desktop publishing age. And that's kind of the birth of where a lot of our mockups and layout software and everything's kind of started was at that part. Right. So it was huge. And I mean with the partnerships with Adobe and everything, that really kind of gave this industry a big head start.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Okay. Because that just wasn't even an option in the PC world. Okay.

[Sean]

No. What would they have? Like CorelDraw and that kind of stuff?

[Massimo]

I don't even think Corella Draw was an option at that point. Right. No, because again, even in my early, early days in high school, okay. We were using, you know, Mac software and it was like Super Paint and it was, it was even prior to actually getting hands on Adobe software. Right. But there was drawing software. I mean, I still have like rasterized, like raster based images I used to create in this Super Paint program. But it was already a head start because it was, again, you knew that this Mac was helping me with layouts and stuff. And this was at high school, even before, you know, whether or not they had that partnership at that point. It was just an interesting time and an interesting type of computer because prior to me touching a Mac at school, I had, you know, touched PCs, but it was all DOS.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

And it was horrible. And you'd have to remember to type this for it to do this.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

It wasn't a creative tool.

[Sean]

No, it was not.

[Massimo]

And I was a creative soul right from the start.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

It just, it just my world never connected with the PC world, but boy, did it connect instantly with the Mac world. Absolutely. Right. So obviously the role in helping graphic design, you know, become what it is, they were, you know, they, they basically helped with the birth of desktop publishing. Okay. Number two, the reliability, aesthetics and the build quality of Mac early on is very, very different than the PCs at the time. Right. So, number one, most importantly, it was very stable hardware, software integration. Reason being is because they owned both sides. See, PCs were all made from multiple parts, multiple companies. They had one company building this. They had Bill Gates supplying the software separately. The software would never work nice with the hardware. Right. Which is why. Still kind of feels like it today. There's always issues, right? Always issues where. Because Mac owned both sides. Okay. Whether people would say it was, you know, inferior or it was superior, they own both sides. So they controlled and were able to control, you know, how those two worlds work together.

[Sean]

Right.

[Massimo]

Flawlessly. And they did. They crashed fewer times. You know, it was. It was always a nice, easy experience, and it was just like, yeah, this is how it should be. Right?

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

You know, so, you know, so obviously that helped a huge difference because they owned both sides. They were always very, very minimal and very slick designs.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Always Right. Aesthetically, they were always beautiful. Right. And this appealed to creatives. Right? Because now it's like we didn't have this clunky box that, you know, like, looked like a, you know, a little refrigerator on your desk with a big junky monitor. They were always well designed, and they looked like it was something that you're not just working on, but you were proud to look at.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Which is really cool. Right. So, I mean, there was something huge there because, again, their minimalist, sleek look and feel appealed to designers at a young age. Right. They were durable as fuck. Okay. Because they didn't skimp on the quality.

[Sean]

That's right.

[Massimo]

Unfortunately, it was more expensive. Okay. But the thing is, it really did result in a better, more robust computer that people were proud of. And when you held it and picked it up, you knew it was a quality piece of material. You're holding something chunky and great, and it was just something you wanted to hug and hold. And you fucking love this thing. Right.

[Sean]

Even the classics. The classics had beautiful, like a. Just a great aesthetic to it.

[Massimo]

Absolutely.

[Sean]

Tiny little screen, but it just looked, you know, it was. It was nice and it was rugged as hell.

[Massimo]

It was absolutely rugged.

[Sean]

Right?

[Massimo]

Absolutely. It was. And then again, because, you know, they're the way the architecture was, you didn't have to constantly get drivers. You didn't have driver issues. You didn't, like, have to get a printer and have to upload a driver, and then you want to get this, and you have to upload a driver and then upload. Even now, it drives me nuts when I hear driver. I get ptsd. And I'm not even a PC guy for Sakes. Okay. But it was just. You knew that when you were getting into a Mac, it was an all in one system that you took pride and you love. My first Mac computer ever was an LC575. Okay. And it was an all in one computer. It was, you know, a 15 inch monitor, which is massive for back in the day. Whole 15 inches, 8 megabytes of RAM. And I was like, wow, I'm never going to use that. And it had a 256 megabyte hard drive, which again, I would never. You never needed to use that much space. And it had the built in, built in, you know, floppy disk drive.

[Sean]

Oh, yes.

[Massimo]

And it also had a built in driver or CD ROM that would slide out and it had speakers. This thing was pimping. Okay. And I remember, you know, I was, I was 15 at the time. And this. When I knew what I wanted to do, dad took me to the store, right? And we're like, okay, well, we need to buy him a computer. You know, my dad was hardcore, you know, hardworking Italian guy, didn't understand this world as much as, you know, as I would have wanted him to or whatever. But he still supported everything. And I just remember him looking at it, right? Because it was fifteen hundred dollars at the time. It was fifteen hundred, which is insane because this, the eighties, thirty, thirty years ago. Okay, fifteen hundred bucks. And now, I mean, there's still fifteen hundred, but so you can just imagine. Yeah, that was like. That was like almost the price of a small car back. Totally. Right?

[Sean]

It was.

[Massimo]

And he was looking at that and he was looking at these PCs that were only like, what's wrong with you, boy? 600. And I'm like, you have to believe me. This is the computer. We need this. I can't use that one. This has to be the computer. And he did, he invested. And I kept that thing for like 10 years. I started my business. I started. It went with me every. Because, I mean, it was, it was a little big to be portable, like a laptop, but it was the computer.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And I knew it. And it's just when I had that computer, it was just such a sense of accomplishment because I knew what that computer meant. It was built for designers by designers, you know, and it worked. And it was just, it was out of this world, right? So. So that's the third part to their whole tradition. What they did really well, okay? They really, really defined the culture, you know, and the designer brand, okay? And I think that's PCs. They, they never had that.

[Sean]

They Never had.

[Massimo]

They never had even to. You could argue today, they still struggle.

[Sean]

I think they do. Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay.

[Sean]

They're trying hard.

[Massimo]

Sure. Right. Exactly right. But what Apple did is it really aligned itself with creatives at an early age. Because back then, creatives were misunderstood. We were rebels, we were skaters, we were vagrants, spray painters, punks. Just people didn't understand us. And they really appealed to that market. Right. And it was like, with deep reason, they would compare us, they would have beautiful campaigns comparing us to people like Gandhi, if you remember that. People who would change the world. Right. I think they had like a Amelia Earnhardt, like, you know, images and. And it was just like these. These are the change makers in the world. And, you know, this is the people who. So their whole campaign was always, think different, think different. And they would up. They would. They would just applaud unique thinking and. And where. You know, the PCs at the time were just like kind of like a herd mentality. Yeah, right. It was just like blind lead. And that was why they had the 1984 commercial. Yeah, right, right.

[Sean]

With the throwing the hammer through the.

[Massimo]

Everybody has seen this commercial. It was massive. Right.

[Sean]

You're like looking at, going, what the hell is this? And literally, it was a revolution.

[Massimo]

It was. It was. What was it? A two minute commercial.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. And they aired it once.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

At the Super Bowl. And it was based on 1984, the book. Right, right. By George Orwell. George Orwell, right. And it was. It was just. Everybody just mindless following the. Right.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Massimo]

The PC people. And then out comes this, you know, and she was like, what is like an ath. An Olympian, I guess. The hammer throws. She broke it. Break free. It was a whole new world. And it was like, now you have. And again, it's. From that moment on, it was. That was just. It made such an incredible impact. Yeah, okay. It just. It blew everybody away. Okay.

[Sean]

Totally.

[Massimo]

Highly recommend you guys look for this. The Macintosh 1984 commercial. If you haven't seen it, it's really. This was what started this whole trend. And now a word from our sponsor. All right, designers, let's cut the bowl. How many times have you had a killer website design only to watch it fall apart because of code or developer telling you, no, no, no. Or maybe you've held back from web design altogether, thinking it's just too complicated and too technical or totally out of your wheelhouse? Either way, it's time for a change. WIX Studio is designed for designers removing the base barriers that limits your designs. Whether you're tired of developers watering down your ideas or too intimidated by the technical side of web. Wix Studio puts the creative power back in your hands. No code required. With a drag and drop interface that feels designer intuitive, plus no code, animations and even AI powered tools, you can create fully custom websites that match your vision. Every pixel, every detail. And if you're worried about the learning curve, don't be. Wix Studio is designed to feel as intuitive as your favorite design tools. Some designers here even say more. So that means you can jump right in and focus on what you do best. Designing badass, brand aligned websites that'll take your business to the next level. So whether you've had enough of developers holding you back or you're ready to finally step into web design, check out wix studio.com and take control. That's wix studio.com go and take back web design for graphic designers. But again, it's, it's like they really, really, you know, helped create this brand and helped create this whole culture that it was okay to be different. I, I remember Mac ads, Apple ads as a young kid and I remember seeing this one and it was this guy and he looked like a, I guess at the time a graphic designer, Wall street graphic designer. He had a big, cool, funky suit, he had cool hair, no tie, he had jeans on, he had shoes. He was holding a Mac, you know, laptop. And I was like, that's it, that's it. That's who I want to be like. And I totally, you know, like just that's it. I, I related and I was like, me, that's what I want to be. Right. And it was clear as it was, it was huge.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And then they also, you know, really supported, not just graphic designers, but then they started expanding, you know, into multidisciplinary creative fields.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Right. Because then came like their movie editing software. Right. Then came their music software, then came their education software and again they really, really pushed, you know, that whole, whole, you know, creative scene. Right. And that's kind of what at an early age they started and they held on to, and even to this day they still did. Right. So again, you know, and then, not to mention that then that then they did the whole Mac World Expo and then they did Mac Attic magazines. There was a huge community behind the Mac product.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So it was still, is it? Absolutely. It still is.

[Sean]

Dude.

[Massimo]

I remember I would, I would put, you know, the early, early Mac logo symbol, you know the, the rainbow one.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Massimo]

On my car.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And it's like you'd get the nod whenever you'd pass somebody else and they had this. And they would do every club.

[Sean]

You were in a club.

[Massimo]

You were in a club. And it was always the same quirky club too.

[Sean]

Right? Yeah.

[Massimo]

I had like a, A little wagon at the time. Volvo wagon would pull up beside me and he'd give me the nod. Right. You'd always have these funny little quirk. And it's just like you knew it was another creative. So it was like it was. So that. That's the whole tradition part.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

That, you know, I think if you've, you know, raised in this, grew up through this and kind of identified who you were through this whole scene, I think that is a hard thing to shake.

[Sean]

Totally.

[Massimo]

Okay. No matter what technical challenges people would put, you know, or technical advantages, they might even say, okay, which we'll talk about next.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

That's where that whole loyalty to the brand really, really does come from.

[Sean]

It's. It's huge. But there's, there's a reason for that.

[Massimo]

Absolutely.

[Sean]

This is, and these are exactly what you're saying. This is, it's user friendly. It's just, it's got cool cash to it. You know what I mean?

[Massimo]

Like, it's just dude, everything. Like. And, you know, and then it really became that point that if you're growing through the ranks with this. Right. It became more than just the computer that, you know, you carried. It became a gold standard for, you know, it was like, you know, you arrived.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

When you had a Mac. Right. Because it was, it was more expensive and if you had one, you knew you meant business.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

It really was a. So. And, and again, the price point wasn't exactly the friendliest. Like, it's not like everybody would buy them for their homes and just around with them and.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You know, so the kid can play games. That's not what it was.

[Sean]

It's not that.

[Massimo]

That was a Commodore 64. Yeah, that's right.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

That's not what this was. This was a series.

[Sean]

This is a business.

[Massimo]

Yeah. Choice.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Sean]

You're gonna get serious if you're going to buy a Mac.

[Massimo]

Right, right, right.

[Sean]

So.

[Massimo]

So again, so thinking that, you know, like, designers are there, there is that whole connection and who we were raised with and, and, and I mean, I can never shake that. I will never be able to shake that.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Because like I said, you know, for me, being a designer isn't. Isn't a job. It's who I am.

[Sean]

It's.

[Massimo]

It's in my blood. It's who I've been raised to be. And it was, you know, products like this, you know, as, as, as cliches as it might sound, that has helped, helped take that. Okay. And that's why I'm always on that side. So, of course, if anybody asks me, you know, are you a Mac guy, Mac or PC? I'm always going to say Mac, but I'm leaning heavily towards the traditional side.

[Sean]

Right.

[Massimo]

Okay. So now let's talk about the technology side.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

Okay. Somebody like, you know, so again, guys, I told you I'm going to try to be as by the book on this as possible. I talked to you about the whole, the soft skills, I guess, version of this, if you want. Right. The whole, the empathetic connection. Connection that we have. Right.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

But let's talk about, you know, the technically speaking. Okay. Because a lot of people ask, especially, you know, when they're starting off in the space, do I really need to splurge and buy a Mac? Okay. So, you know, when we're talking about technology, there's a lot of things to consider when you're getting a computer. Okay. Especially, you know, obviously in, in our space, it's, it's going to be. We'll talk about graphic design, but, you know, horsepower, battery life and such. So what I've done is I have. Have printed out a table here comparing three computers. Okay. Three computers. Okay. And this is the MacBook Pro, the Dell XPS, and the Microsoft Surface. Okay. So these seem like three legitimate type of, you know, competitors.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. From the technical standpoint. Okay. So obviously, you know, performance wise. Right. You know, they're all equal performance. They all have, you know, their own incredible chips. Okay. So again, you know, you could like.

[Sean]

So they're all pretty fast.

[Massimo]

They're all extremely fast for things like renders, and we're talking seconds difference between the two. Okay. So, you know, you don't want to say I'm a big fan of obviously, the M2, the M3 chips.

[Sean]

Yep.

[Massimo]

Okay. But I'm sure that intel has kept up and AMD has kept up, and it seems like that they're doing a pretty decent job there. Okay. Yep. Battery life. Life. Okay. I'm. I often use my laptop out of the office.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

And it's very convenient when I'm, you know, I'm working somewhere for hours. So battery life makes a big difference.

[Sean]

That's huge. And this is huge.

[Massimo]

So the MacBook Pro battery life is somewhere between 18 and 20 hours. It's pretty massive. And my new MacBook Pro. I can legitimately say this is pretty accurate. I can work for two full days. Two full work days and then I have to charge. Okay. So it's pretty good. Obviously, if I'm rendering video. No. Okay. If I'm rendering videos all day.

[Sean]

Oh, yeah.

[Massimo]

But if I'm like, you know, doing graphics all day, if I'm creating, you know, podcast newsletters, blah, blah, blah. Right. Easily 18, 20 hours. The Dell somewhere between 12 and 15. So not bad.

[Sean]

That's good.

[Massimo]

That's a full day. And then the Surface as Well is about 12 to 16. Okay. So that's not too bad weight wise. You know, the Mac and the Dell are on the, the little over three and a half pounds mark where the Surface is just under three. Okay. But it can get up to four depending on the model you want. So again, there's a range. Okay. The software ecosystem. Okay, well, Mac has a huge software ecosystem. And what I mean by that is your Mac, you know, laptop can connect to your Mac phone, which can connect to your, your AirPods if you have them seamlessly. You can easily connect, you know, your iPad if you. There's an ecosystem system here that Mac really, really owns.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

And you know, I, even though you guys think, oh, well, that's dumb, I can do the same with Google. You could.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. You could. You absolutely could. You would sign into yet another system and this and that. Right?

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You know how many times on my notepad, on my phone in the middle of the night, I'll be like, idea, and I will type it into my notepad on my phone. Well then when I turn on my computer the next morning, it's there in my notepad and I don't have to log into Google version of Notepad and I don't have to do anything. It's just, just part of the Apple ecosystem. Right. So it's been. That's a huge, huge thing.

[Sean]

That's a big deal.

[Massimo]

You know, and it's not that you can't do that with Dell and Microsoft. If you utilize things like Google and, you know, third party or if you're part of the Microsoft cloud, I'm sure, you know, you have a Windows phone and you might be able to sign in your window. It's just a different kind of ecosystem.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Massimo]

Where Mac really, really shines with theirs. Yes. You know, of course, course. Price. Everybody always says price, price, price, price, price, price. Okay. Which is massive. So the MacBook Pro price range. On the low end, two grand. On the high end, four grand. Okay. The Dell XP on the low end, 1500 bucks. So it's only 500 bucks less to start. And on the high end, 3500 bucks. So you're right in there in the max zone. Okay. If you get to the mid level computers and then as for the Microsoft server Surface. Okay. You can get in a little cheaper at 1300 bucks. Don't expect anything great, but you can get in really, really low. But their high end is 3, 500 plus. Okay. So again they're high ends top in at the exact. So if you want a high end machine that is going to do your work and you know, do the work that you want on, on a regular basis, you know you're at the exact same price point between all of these.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So price isn't necessarily an option.

[Sean]

Okay, that's, that's crazy because I had no idea that they were like, I always thought, I was always under the impression that, you know, PC was like light years cheaper than when a Mac was.

[Massimo]

But, and while that might have been the case years ago, like years, years.

[Sean]

Years with the junkie boxes that they have. Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right now when we're talking about like you know, really high end laptops that are what you're going to do work on a daily basis for.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right. You're spending money to get something at a professional grade.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And when you are, you're at that same level.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Which is crazy. Okay. So you know, wow. Strengths of course for the MacBook Pro is performance, battery life and the ecosystem. Massive. Okay. Where you know, Dell and Microsoft. Okay, the. Okay, Dell, of course customization is a big thing and apparent. I know because again, this, this whole PC world, you can customize everything. You can be like, I want this kind of chip, I want this kind of hard drive. I want it. It's like you almost can custom build it and keep custom building it.

[Sean]

Is this a DIY thing? Like you do it yourself or.

[Massimo]

I think you can definitely. Well, no, I think that's the whole, that's the whole PC thing is you can, you can continually do this on your own. Right. The Surface of course is a little different because it is a touch screen on it. Right. So it's kind of like two in one capabilities.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Disadvantage of course, Mac does have, you know, limited ports. Okay. Mind you, I got a shit ton of ports.

[Sean]

But see, this is the thing, this is the, this is what I've, I've my problem. And there was a, there was a time when there was a time that really like this, this computer that I have now Is, has not been kind to me.

[Massimo]

Yeah, I know you had 20, 18 to 21 stretch that they were computers.

[Sean]

Now they've kind of come around. And what do you have now? You've got.

[Massimo]

I've got an HDMI port. I've got like a. Two different, you know, HDMI USB ports. Micro USB ports.

[Sean]

There you go.

[Massimo]

So right now I know I'm set.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Okay. I can. And they've gone back to, you know, shaking their head, right?

[Sean]

Yeah, exactly. Now if they can get that fucking mouse fixed.

[Massimo]

Yeah, I know, right. But I mean, they've come around when it comes to this. Right, but when it comes to the Dell, I mean, again, shorter battery life, you know, like the surface and the exterior of the machine is cheaper materials. And then the surface is not as powerful as the other ones in their class. So the reality is, you know, you can't say that one is years, light years ahead of any of the other brands, technically speaking. Now, from experience, what I can say, of course, is that every time I buy a Mac, okay, my Mac lasts me six, eight years. Okay.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You know, the way, you know, I, I kind of, you get into a rhythm. You kind of like you, you build something the way you want. You, you get the settings right. You get your background pictures right. You get your files right.

[Sean]

It's your computer. You get your stickers.

[Massimo]

Right, right. You get your stickers right. And, and that thing is yours for years.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

Okay. It's like horrible to have to switch to another computer.

[Sean]

It's terrible. But, but having said that, with that ecosystem built in with Mac.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Sean]

It has a lot easier to do nowadays.

[Massimo]

Gotten easier.

[Sean]

It has gotten easier, which is really good.

[Massimo]

But where I'm going with this though is, is my max. Traditionally I get a good solid five, six, if not eight years out of my max. Okay. Eight is pushing it. There is somebody here who's got an eight year old computer and he's due.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But again, again, he, it does what he wants. He's happy with what he has. And you know, he's got all the ports and everything worked out, so it's hard to get him to switch.

[Sean]

Totally. Yeah. Why would you?

[Massimo]

When we had a programmer using a PC, every two years he needed a new PC and every year he needed an upgrade. This needed to upgrade, that needed to buy. And it was just this ongoing thing that really fucking I, I couldn't understand. I mean, that would drive me nuts.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

If that's the case.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Where mine was out of the box, perfect, dependable, did what I wanted to. It was built nice, the quality was nice. Where a lot of these PCs that I would touch, they were really cheap plastics. They didn't invest in the same beauty and the materials. Because don't forget, you know, you're holding this laptop every single day. You're opening and picking it up. That feeling that you get on a nice aluminum constructed MacBook Pro. There's something to be said about that. It does. It's like shutting the car door on a heavy car door versus that tinny light door is just like, ooh, it cringes. That's the way it is with this thing. I tell you.

[Sean]

That's true.

[Massimo]

So, so you know what? It's, it's, you know, so again, performance wise, fine. You know, you could argue that they're all exactly the same, but I just, from experience, it seems that the closed architecture of the Mac seems to. For me anyway, it's, it lasted longer. And in our same environment, in our same company, we had PC people who just, it's just every year it was like an ongoing experience expense. Ongoing. Constantly upgrade this, upgrade that.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So I never understood that.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But I kind of attributed to, you know, how I sum this up later on between the two computers. But yeah, it was just a different kind of experience. Yeah.

[Sean]

I was just gonna say like a lower price point on something like that. You know, you're gonna be upgrading it more and you're gonna be throwing it. So you're, you're spending what you would spend on a Mac anyway.

[Massimo]

Oh, yeah.

[Sean]

More. Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Sean]

Because.

[Massimo]

Because of all the. That you'd have to go around.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

And there's a good chance you're not doing it yourself. You're paying someone else to do those.

[Sean]

This is true. This is true.

[Massimo]

There is something about this ecosystem trap. Okay. That I think some people might not like. Okay. So, you know, you know, they're calling it. Is it convenience or is it confinement? Okay. Because again, it's like to me, it's beautiful. Okay. And it really is. Because I don't, I don't want to fight with my hardware and my technology. I just want it to work.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So when my iPad, like mindlessly connects to my laptop, you know, and my phone does. To my laptop, my watch, if I get the Mac, connects to it. Right. Even my, the AirPods.

[Sean]

AirPods.

[Massimo]

You don't have to do anything.

[Sean]

I know.

[Massimo]

Open it. And it's like, hey, yeah, connect it. And it's just, it's instant. This ecosystem to me is a beautiful thing. And it's beautiful. Because in all fairness, it's all very good quality stuff.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

You're not dealing with shitty headphones.

[Sean]

No.

[Massimo]

You're not dealing with a shitty tablet.

[Sean]

No.

[Massimo]

Okay. On the phone, obviously you're not dealing with a shitty phone. It all works. So to me, the ecosystem is a beautiful thing. Okay. You know, some people, they think that they, they want their own choice. They want to be able to choose their own phone, their own laptop, their own this and that. But, you know, for the record, we had somebody here, Mac, who, oddly, her name is Mac. She was a PC girl forever with a K. Yeah, she was a PC girl forever. And she was. I think she had a Samsung, so she was Android girl.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

But she finally walked over to the dark side. Yes. And again, she is one of those people who gets in there and gets into all the little nooks and crannies and this and that, and she is now Mac queen. Okay. Like, she's figured out on her phone that can do that. I can't even. She's even using it as a little monitor, for God's sake. Really, dude, she's you want, you want. She's the new pro in the office. Okay. When it comes to this kind of stuff. But again, and she agrees, she can't go back. And it's not that the ecosystem is confining her. It's, if anything, it's liberating.

[Sean]

Yeah, totally.

[Massimo]

Now you don't have two separate devices working apart.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

You have them working together.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Which now in essence creates a bigger device. And, you know, if, if you want a smart watch. Okay, well, they make a pretty damn good one. And it fits into that ecosystem. Great. If you want a set of headphones, well, guess what? They make really good ones, you know, and yeah, sure, one of the selling features is that. Oh, well, it's part of an ecosystem, but that's a good selling feature, I think.

[Sean]

I think a lot of people are big on integration with their, with their material, whatever it is.

[Massimo]

Exactly.

[Sean]

Right. Like you're, you know, you want your house, everything to work together, you know, you don't want to have the struggle with getting, you know.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Sean]

Why is this not looking at, you know.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Sean]

It's. Yeah, it's just.

[Massimo]

So this is, this is the whole person perfect thing. Yeah, it is. It to me, it's a good thing.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And it's what I want.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Might not be what everybody wants, but for me, I'm happy to it and it makes my life easier because I don't, to be honest, I don't get off on around with my computer.

[Sean]

No.

[Massimo]

I don't want to tweak out my phone. I just want the. To work. Yeah, Let me customize it. Let me. Let me get my own, you know, backdrop wallpaper on there. So I feel like it's my own. Let me. If I want to go dark mode. Good. You can customize it for me.

[Sean]

Yeah, totally.

[Massimo]

These are things I want to do and they're purely maybe vanity, maybe, just because the way it feels personal to me. You know, when I was younger, I used to like souping up my cars that way. Right. Because it felt like it was mine. Right. But I didn't change them from a, you know, a Honda Civic to a Ferrari. It was still a Civic, but it was my Civic.

[Sean]

But it was yours.

[Massimo]

Right. So again, it wasn't trying to do anything stupid. So to me, you know, the ecosystem is a plus. But to some people, fine. It could feel like you're being confined by that them.

[Sean]

When you go to, like, what your story you were before, but you typed in something on your notepad. Yeah. And then it goes right straight to your computer. If you didn't have that, you would have to look on your. On your computer, on your phone, type it into your computer. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's.

[Massimo]

It was just. It's.

[Sean]

There's not that. Seamless.

[Massimo]

Yes.

[Sean]

Yeah, exactly.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Sean]

Just doesn't make any sense to have these.

[Massimo]

It's crazy how these two. This world works together. Right? So. So to me, that's a mad thing. So then, you know, when it comes to performance customization, you go, okay, so, right, Performance, you know, how much horsepower do you need? Well, I think potentially speaking, yes. They all have the same kind of horsepower. And they could all probably render images the same. They could probably all render video the same, you know, more or less. Like, we're not talking ones at one minute, one's at 12 minutes. Okay. So. So performance wise, I can't say that, you know, one is a clear leader than the other. Okay. You know, obviously, customization, it depends if you care or not. Fine. An ecosystem. Fine. Some like it, some don't. Okay.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

There is one big, big, big thing, though, that Mac has that PCs don't. Okay. And this is. This, to me, is the biggest differentiator cool factor, you know? Ooh, yeah, yeah, that's. That's kind of cool, but no, for real. Okay. The one thing they have that the other computers just don't and will never have. And I don't think that they ever can is there is a Mac operating system advantage. Okay. The Mac OS is more than just the software that it's operating on. Okay. It's, you know, your user interface is smooth, it's fast. When you're working on a Mac. Right. It's not like it has to stop and think. You're not constantly getting all this. You click on a button, you have to wait half a second or even a split second for it to open. It opens, yeah, instantly. You know, when you're dragging things, it drags in real time. There's no delay, there's no snags. You know, you're, you're, you know, it's like the quick boot times. Okay. I know this is something you don't. You. You don't even think about until you regularly work on these. Okay. And then you switch over. Right. They've got smooth little animations. Right. You know, there's no system lag even on the old machines. There's. I've got a 30 year old Mac in my office. There's no, there's no delay on dragging on that computer still.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. You know, like, because I guess what happens is there's fewer background processes going on, which means you don't have to keep shutting down. Okay. So the way it's done, you know, it's intuitive.

[Sean]

Y.

[Massimo]

Okay. It's very easy to use. Things just make sense. You don't have to install drivers to make things work. They just work in the ecosystem. Even if you're trying to connect to something that's not a Mac. Like our printer here is a Ricoh.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Okay. Oddly, I like Ricoh, you know, laser printers, but it works perfectly with the Mac. And I didn't have to install a driver. Yeah, right. I just had to find it on the network and it's like, oh, hey, is this the printer you're talking about? Let me add that IP address for you, Moss, and boom, it's in there and it works.

[Sean]

Yeah. The focus, right. That we use for the podcast here. It was, was a brilliant.

[Massimo]

Right.

[Sean]

It was a little more involved, but there's. It came with the PC disk, of.

[Massimo]

Course, and then the Mac.

[Sean]

Here's the instructions.

[Massimo]

Mac, go into your settings, look for the focus, right?

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And find it, Turn it on like it is. Right. So it's like, you know, there's something to be said about just how amazing the operating system is in that sense. Now we joke about like the spinning beach ball of death.

[Sean]

Of course it happens.

[Massimo]

That's process driven. If you're rendering a big file and after effects, you know, it does it. I might have my. Okay, in all fairness, the last time my computer has frozen me that I had to restart was three weeks ago. Once. That's the last time I had it. So it's not like it happens often.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. And that was just a stupid thing. I think it was because I had a Chrome update that it just, it didn't work and it just, it froze up Chrome so I had to restart it. Something silly like that. It was ridiculous. But I remember, you know, hearing stories of people even when they worked for us here and they had PCs and they were like restarting them daily.

[Sean]

Constantly.

[Massimo]

Constantly. Right. It's part of the culture of the fucking PC. So it's like. It's ridiculous in that sense.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

There's a consistent design language across all their platforms. So if you are a fan of the ecosystem, okay. The computer, the phone. Right. The language all works together. Right. The iPad works together. It all works the same. The same words, the same. This they are not. They don't have different brands.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Trying to rename the. The same over and over and over. Which is confusing as hell.

[Sean]

Totally.

[Massimo]

Okay. You know, the visual appeal matters. Right. It all looks beautiful on a Mac. Right. You know, it, it's. UX is kind of, kind of designed that whole world, you know, ui, UX kind of. You can almost arguably say that totally. That they created that whole seam and made it what it is today. Right. So there's huge, huge advantages. And to me, I think it's. That operating system is key is the differentiating factor.

[Sean]

Totally.

[Massimo]

That would. In my case, you know, and here's the funny thing. They tried. They. Early on they tried doing what, you know, PC did. Right. And used their operating system on third party softwares or. No, sorry, sorry. Their operating system on third party hardware. So there was three different types of computers and I believe one might have been an Epson. The other two, you know, I think I forgot what the other two boxes were, but they tried. Didn't work.

[Sean]

It didn't work.

[Massimo]

It didn't work. Okay. So again, there was something to be said. And it's not that they didn't run the operating systems. They did, but then they ran into the same that PCs did, PCs do because again, it's not integrated, it wasn't a closed architecture. They didn't have control of both sides. So because Mac owns both the software and the hardware side of the same product, they can make those two worlds work perfectly.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. So again, that operating System, in my opinion, is the differentiating factor. What would give Mac an advantage?

[Sean]

Hardware.

[Massimo]

If it's. If performance is the same and tech specs, it's fine. But that operating system, when people are like, oh, it's pretty much the same, it really, really isn't.

[Sean]

No.

[Massimo]

They might try to emulate or fake that whole Mac, you know, UI ux, but man, there's something to be said about that.

[Sean]

I never understood the C drives and the D drives and the like that.

[Massimo]

Why is that?

[Sean]

What is the point? Why are you telling me where everything has to go?

[Massimo]

I know.

[Sean]

Whereas in a Mac, you can create your own folder.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Name it what you want and save your.

[Massimo]

And save it there. Okay. Come on, you've got your one drive, your hard drive.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

That's it.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

That's all you need.

[Sean]

That's all you need. Need three drives.

[Massimo]

Stick in a USB drive into the side because you have to take a little. A little sticks with you. Guess what? It pops up on the desk drive.

[Sean]

As its own thing.

[Massimo]

Sand disc, USB drive. Instantly you see it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You don't have to hunt it.

[Sean]

Yeah. You don't have to drive d. What the.

[Massimo]

That really does drive me nuts. Yeah.

[Sean]

It is crazy. Like, I never understood why, like, it's so confusing.

[Massimo]

It is, it is, it is. It's confusing. It's ridiculous. And it's just, just.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But again, I think that kind of goes back to why at a really, really early, early time, Mac really focused in on, you know, you know, creative experience. Right. Well, and they did. And they focused in on the experience because they were designers and it was designers building something for designers.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

And that's. And they really, really, really did embrace that. Right. I mean, I get, you know, this Steve Jobs cliche thing is maybe overused way too much these days, but the reality is they built this company, this platform for creatives and it shows from how it looks to how it works to the naming conventions. Right. You don't realize how much goes into this. Right. And again, they've done a really good job in this.

[Sean]

Yeah. Big time.

[Massimo]

You know, the argument can be, of course. Right. You know, is this, do either one of these really matter in the future? And that's, that's the interesting part. Okay.

[Sean]

This kind of blew my mind a little bit, I must admit.

[Massimo]

Well, you think about it, right? Like my kids at school right now, that they don't ask them for, you know, laptops, they ask them for Chromebooks.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

And Chromebooks, they're basically just, just web enabled computers. They Only have a browser. They only have Google Chrome basically in there and that's it. And you know, at first you're like, what the fuck would I want to do that? But you know, Adobe Creative, Adobe Cloud, you, you can completely, you know, use a 100% online version of Adobe.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You can save it to your Adobe cloud. You can work it on there. Mac has got that option where you can now save in Mac, in the cloud. Right. We use Google here. So again, we don't even need desktop space anymore. So it's like the physical hardware requirements of a computer is becoming less and less important for a lot of people. Because really for a lot of applications you just got to log in on like look at software like figma.

[Sean]

Right.

[Massimo]

I mean again, I don't even think you can download probably. You know, again, I think it is just a web based version.

[Sean]

I think you're right.

[Massimo]

You know, not that I'm promoting it, but canva is strictly web based. Right. Like again, a lot of people just go on there and just do it from most websites on that.

[Sean]

Yeah, most.

[Massimo]

Oh God, not even mentioned. The web apps that we talk about. Right. On a regular basis. Right. Like WIX Studio and like that's all online.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. So you know, the reality is, do you need, you know, to have a computer, have a hard drive, you know, and in the future, what's max option going to be? What's their solution to this? Okay. Because the reality is then you're dealing with a whole other. Then it's not really about your own performance because a lot of what you do is going to be dictated by the speeds you're getting on the other end. So that's kind of a, it's interesting.

[Sean]

It is interesting.

[Massimo]

Right?

[Sean]

That's a really kind of heavy concept because. Yeah. And, and I, I don't know whether this is something. I don't know whether I could adopt that.

[Massimo]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

You know, I like, I like the physical. I like that. I don't like working, you know, on the, on the online versions.

[Massimo]

Absolutely.

[Sean]

I mean I can, you know, with, with, with certain programs. But I like the, I like the, I like having my Adobe Illustrator 100, you know, on my computer.

[Massimo]

And, and maybe we're old school this.

[Sean]

Way and that could very well be, I don't know, what are your kids into Mac?

[Massimo]

Oh yeah, well that's, that's again, sadly that's all we have in our house.

[Sean]

And again, just by proxy.

[Massimo]

It is by proxy. And you know, and again, it's like my little guy he wants a gaming computer.

[Sean]

Okay. So why didn't Mac ever do that?

[Massimo]

What was the deal there? I mean I've tried. Tried playing Fortnite on like on my. On your laptop and. Okay. On the current one it worked fine.

[Sean]

Oh, okay.

[Massimo]

Killed it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But on my older versions, not so much. No, it didn't handle the graphic that, that processing the same. And I'm going, when I say my older one, I'm talking about like my six year old, you know, one previous day. My new MacBook is the bomb. Wow.

[Sean]

Dude.

[Massimo]

It's just, it makes my heart race.

[Sean]

I know.

[Massimo]

It's so weird. And it's like I got my stickers, right. I've got, you know, I got my, my dual. My big ass monitor, my laptop monitor. Now my phone connects to it. I got a third one. It's crazy fast.

[Sean]

As, I mean. Yeah. Like come on.

[Massimo]

Holy shit.

[Sean]

Now. And that's the thing that kind of made me like they write, they righted the ship, right?

[Massimo]

Yep.

[Sean]

They corrected their course.

[Massimo]

Yep.

[Sean]

And. And kind of went back to what people I think wanted or needed because yeah. It just seems like with these four ports that didn't work very well.

[Massimo]

Right? Yeah, yeah. With that generation and there was, there was a couple years they had. We were, hey, so if there's one recommendation, if you are going to buy it back, you know, spend extra money and get the Apple Care. Yeah, get on. Get the Apple Care. Get the Apple Care. Trust me. Because again that, because every one of our computers here, when they had that bad generation a few years, all the ports had to get replaced.

[Sean]

Yes.

[Massimo]

Then they did and then it was fine. That really, that was ultimately the only issue. But it was a. But this new one I have, dude, this laptop, and I'm not proud to say it, but it's fallen out of my bag twice. The last time was when I was in Kansas. It dropped on concrete toppled, head over on rocks. I was like, oh my God, this thing is broken.

[Sean]

It's broken.

[Massimo]

It's broken. I go to a coffee shop, I'm panicking. I open it up, it's fine. Now the side is all gouged and scratched, so it's got some battle wounds.

[Sean]

Okay, well that's kind of cool.

[Massimo]

It's a testament that that thing is.

[Sean]

Just plus built their tanks.

[Massimo]

I'm not recommending you guys do that.

[Sean]

Don't do that. But you can, you can tell that they're designed for accidental drops.

[Massimo]

Yeah. Stupidity things. But you know what? Ultimately you don't. Okay. In all fairness though, the Big question is, do you need a Mac to be a graphic designer? And the reality is no. Oh, you really, really don't. Because again, it's not. It's not the tool, it's the artist.

[Sean]

Right? Right.

[Massimo]

Okay. And, you know, like, I've said this many times before, you know, a good graphic designer could make a masterpiece in Canva. Really? You could use a web tool, you know, like any of these platforms, and build beautiful websites. Like, you grab onto wix Studio and create beautiful websites. Right?

[Sean]

Totally.

[Massimo]

You don't. You don't need a Mac, per se. But it's not the hardware that you're buying with the Mac. It's everything else. And in. In my personal opinion, it's just I have bought into the everything else.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

I grew up, I supported it. They supported, you know, me and who I was. And there's something to be said about, you know, when you open up, it's kind of like, I've arrived. Okay? So that's my reasoning why, you know, I would recommend to go with it, with the Mac product, personally speaking. Okay? And that's me. So, no, you don't need it. But there is something about that oh, so awesome operating system. Okay? The apps, you know, that logo, the sense of pride and fuck, you know, again, the thing lasts forever, so, you know, you're saving money on the other side. Okay. But to be, you know, completely, you know, unbiased. Okay, I've broken this down into what is the right fit? Mac versus PC. Okay? And this is ultimately what you need to think about when you're deciding one versus the other. Okay? A PC is great if you want to have total autonomy over customizing it. Okay. Over, you know, tinkering, getting things controlled, getting your own processor to a certain rate, getting your own graphics card like this. You know, if you want that control. Right. You know, that's great. Okay? If you. If you get off on tailoring your, you know, your hardware settings and upgrades and this and that, and you're okay to, you know, handle, like, know drivers because there might be a better driver coming in the future. And you. This is your thing.

[Sean]

Upgrades or go for it.

[Massimo]

PC is your world. If that is the world you want to be in, if that is.

[Sean]

That's like a computer tinker kind of person.

[Massimo]

I love that.

[Sean]

Some people.

[Massimo]

I've got a nephew and he loves that. And that's why he prefers, you know, Android phone. He prefers a PC for. For that. Because he said, plain and simple, he likes the tinker with that.

[Sean]

Okay, Me? Yeah.

[Massimo]

I don't care about my hardware enough to tinker with it. I want something to just work. Okay. I want to open it up and know, and know I can rely on that thing. Okay. Because that computer is going to help me do work and make me money. Okay? I, it's, it's not the computer. It's what I'm going to create with that computer.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

I don't want to spend time tinkering. I don't want to around with drivers and spending an hour, why can't I make this thing print? That would drive me nuts. So if you want something to just work out of the box, okay. You want, you know, a smooth, sexy interface that you know you can work on and, and you can concentrate on the creative portion, not the configuring portion.

[Sean]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Massimo]

Then Mac is your world 100%. Okay? It's closed architecture limits what you can do, and that's by choice. Okay. So you pick the one you want and you just don't look back.

[Sean]

Yep.

[Massimo]

So for me, it's been great for me personally. Right. And again, it's not for everybody, but I think breaking it down in that, that way is, is the easiest, you know, kind of sum up for this whole thing. Yeah, I'm definitely, you know, drinking the Mac Kool Aid. I'm definitely cult of Mac, you know, but you know, I, I can see why people might want a PC. But that's definitely, that's not my boat. That's, that's not my, my, my game.

[Sean]

Yeah. I had a friend who had a. He called it a hackintosh. Have you heard of that? Where they, where they'd soup it up, like with PC. Absolutely.

[Massimo]

You can. Right?

[Sean]

And with a Mac operating system.

[Massimo]

Yeah. That's pretty sad, right?

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Oh, that just feels so wrong. But you know, you know what it is? It's an Apple that identifies as a PC or a PC that identifies as an Apple. I don't. Yeah, something like that. Right.

[Sean]

It's its own thing.

[Massimo]

It's its own thing. But it's true. And you know what? There are people that can soup up mags and they do it as hobby stuff and stuff, but on the most part, that's that 99.9. They don't even want you touching their computer.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Massimo]

And it's not because they want to make money off you, because, you know, the one cool thing about the Apple Store is, is the guy told me this and you know, lo and behold, this has happened time and time again. Right. Again, I've got four kids, We've all got apples, we all got Macs. There's a lot of Mac in my world, and I've been using for 30 years. But the guy told me, straight up, he goes, we don't do what's best for us, right? We do what's best for you. And to have that. And. And I mean, we've tested that time and time again, unfortunately. Whether it's through the agency, whether it's at home. Dude, my kid, she lied. She flat out lied to me and told me that, you know, it just. Something happened and, you know, like, it just stopped working. And I'm like, are you sure? When I took it in and they opened it up, they're like, there's a.

[Sean]

Peanut butter sandwich in here.

[Massimo]

No, not quite. But it was chocolate milk. Okay. He's like, yeah, there was something spilled on here. It was chocolate milk. Your daughter didn't tell you this? And I'm like, He could tell. I'm like, and you know what?

[Sean]

Grounded.

[Massimo]

And he's like, you know what? He goes, it shouldn't be covered under Apple Care.

[Sean]

Perfect.

[Massimo]

But no, he said it shouldn't be.

[Sean]

Oh, it shouldn't be.

[Massimo]

And that one wasn't.

[Sean]

Oh, really? But.

[Massimo]

But he found something technically wrong with the computer. He's like, at the same time we found. While we were in there, we found something else wrong. And because that takes precedence over this, we just fixed it all for free. And I mean, I was just like, wow, are you kidding me? And he's like, yeah, as long as you're good, you're good with that. We're good with that. How do you say no to this?

[Sean]

Have you ever had a shitty experience at Apple Care?

[Massimo]

I. I can't say I have. I have. The only experienced shit city is that it's. It's so good. This oftentimes a lineup you're. Because that's the problem. That store is always busy.

[Sean]

That's. Yes.

[Massimo]

But you know what?

[Sean]

I had to wait for an hour.

[Massimo]

Well, but then you know what? You go online, you make an appointment, and you walk right in.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So it is possible. Again, I have never had a. They're all so damn, man. I don't know what they do there. They're drinking the Mac Koolaid over there.

[Sean]

Those guys are incredible. And like, if you're covered. If you're covered, you are a God.

[Massimo]

Yes. Yes, that's right. And they will treat you, and they will deny and talk to you, and.

[Sean]

They will fix your machine. This thing works. Works great. The motherboard was replaced, and it's just like. Yeah, yeah, it is great. It was a great experience.

[Massimo]

So. So again, the one thing that you know. Well, no, they do a lot of things right but you know a big thing is again they really understand the experience. And that experience, whether it's, there's phone support, whether it's their in, in person support, whether it's the experience of using their operating system, they really do own that whole chain. And again they, they kind of set, you know, they really set the bar. They raise that bar big time. And you know, everybody always uses Apple as you know that, that, that case study, there's a reason for it. So.

[Sean]

Totally. Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't know. I can't speak for to what, you know, what the PC care is or anything like that. But yeah, Apple for sure.

[Massimo]

Apple for sure.

[Sean]

Yeah, you're, you're, you're in good hands. Good hands with Apple for sure.

[Massimo]

So there you go, everybody. Yeah, you don't need an Apple, you don't need a Mac to be a graphic designer. And it doesn't make you better. However, if you don't like fucking around with your computer, if you want to take a sense of pride, if you want a smooth, sexy operating system and something that just works so you can concentrate on creative, it might be worth a little extra money, you know. And again, just based on the fact that they seem to last for many years, many, many years longer, probably a good investment over all. So again, I am team Mac. I have been part of the whole cult of Mac and I can't see me ever leaving to be honest. I think that company would have to go belly up and even with. So I could see one of those people keeping one forever.

[Sean]

Yeah, totally. How do you, you like your tablet? You have a big one of those.

[Massimo]

I do have. The tablet is fun. You know, I got the tablet because I love the drawing apps on right. And I'm using the Apple pencil. And again it's really cool, you know, because again it's pressure sensitive and again I tried the Wacom. Right. Which again really cool tablet.

[Sean]

Yeah, that's like standard, right?

[Massimo]

It is. Right. But you know, it wasn't it, it just, it because it was big and, and that was really professional and I just wanted something to around with.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Massimo]

So which is why, you know, the Mac one made more sense for me. It was just something small like whip up and when I'm not using the kids can use it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

So there's where if I had the Wacom, nobody's Ever touching that. Right. It's expensive, so. Yeah.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Right. And, and again. And it's not portable, so I do, I do like the tablet. You know, some people use it more than I would. I like the apps on it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

But yeah, I am definitely, you know, I'm still the laptop guy with my big ass monitor. And then whenever I go work out, you know, whether it's coffee shop or, you know, at the hospital or whatever.

[Sean]

Take that.

[Massimo]

It's there, right? I mean just, you know, it's there and it works. Nonsense. So yeah.

[Sean]

Yeah. Man.

[Massimo]

Does it work? Those battery hours? I can work on the thing all day.

[Sean]

That's crazy. 20 hours.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Sean]

20 hours.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Sean]

That's impressive.

[Massimo]

It's amazing. Yes, it's amazing. So let us know your experiences with this. You know, I hope we gave you some insight into this world. You know, and I hope we were trying to be as non biased as possible here. You know, we're definitely lifelong Mac guys. You know, we, we've tried PCs, we've touched PCs, we keep going back to the Mac world. And, and it's not just because of the price. And I have to stress that. Don't make your decision solely based on price. Okay. That's the biggest thing from this.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

You know, drop us a note, let us know what you want. And please, please, you know, don't forget we have a kick ass newsletter out called now, you know, Anger Management for Designers. Okay. You can sign up for us on YouTube, you can sign up, you know, in our profile, on Instagram or on our website, you know, and, and we're going to help level your game up there every week in a newsletter format, you know, and you know, drop us a line online.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

On our social feeds. We're everywhere. Everywhere that you guys can find us, we're going to be there.

[Sean]

Yeah. Tell us if your PC or Mac.

[Massimo]

Oh, let's hope.

[Sean]

I'm curious to see how many people will actually work on PC. Like that is kind of fascinating.

[Massimo]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Sean]

You're absolutely right. It's, it's, it's not the, it's not the tool, it's the designer.

[Massimo]

It is the designer, 100%. And if you had to be a graphic designer in a PC world, you could do it on PC. Yeah, begrudgingly, but you could absolutely do it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Okay. And like I said, it's, it's just there's so many other reasons why we're choosing the Mac world. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

And I often wonder like, like it's just, oh, do we do this because this is all we know.

[Massimo]

Yeah. Yeah. No, no.

[Sean]

And then. Yeah. And then I come to that realization. It's like, I could never switch.

[Massimo]

I absolutely could.

[Sean]

I couldn't.

[Massimo]

Dude, when. When we were. When. When there was paperwork here and, you know, our company was being acquired. Okay. One of the stipulations was we are going to stay a Mac shop or this, this is not going to happen. And it was. It was non negotiable. I'm like, we are a Mac shop. We have to stay a Mac shop. And there's. There's no extension, but otherwise this deal's done.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Massimo]

And that's how, you know, again with everything in the table with, you know, joining up with a billion dollar company and having everybody, I was just like, no, this is one thing I can't budge on. I'm sorry. This is the podcast. So.

[Sean]

Yeah, that's. Yeah. Wow. That's. That's.

[Massimo]

Yeah.

[Sean]

That is a serious commitment.

[Massimo]

Serious commitment. Right? Damn it. All right, everybody.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Massimo]

Don't hate, love. All right.

[Sean]

Love.

[Massimo]

My name is Massimo.

[Sean]

My name is Sean.

[Massimo]

Stay creative and stay angry side. I want to be the greatest everybody on the fake I look around I feel like everybody is the fakest I make this every day and I'm impatient hoping one day I blow up from the basement statement the top is so vacant I don't need that I think is amazing waiting for my day when I'm playing sold out shows were a thousand faces hey, give me that crown get in my way and you'll be put down hitting your place all this my town if I want that then I'll get it right now I'm losing it the juicy fit some loosey a stupid myth you choose to live or choose to dip you choose to fight or lose your grip and lose a gift I feel like I'm losing my mind everybody in the world d please lord, give me a sign a sign.