When Microsoft released its much maligned Windows 8, I abandoned Windows and switched to MacOS. I have come to like MacOS better and for the most part I like Apple's hardware. The problem, of course, is that if you want the OS, then you're also married to the hardware. And if Apple does something to the hardware, your only choice is to either accept it or switch back to Windows. Linux is just too limited for me in terms of applications.
In the desktop realm, this conundrum has been softened a bit by the hackintosh community. I can choose my hardware and run MacOS, too. But the days of the hackintosh are now numbered. And for those of us who are not able to justify $6000 desktops with $600 casters and $1000 display stands, where are we to turn? The non-upgradable all-in-one solution that is the iMac doesn't appeal to me. And the Mac mini doesn't really cut it. I thought my Herman Miller chair was expensive. But it's a bargain compared to Apple's Mac Pro.
Will Apple give us an affordable Mac Pro? That would go a long way toward solving the problem. The reason for joining the Hackintosh community is that you can build yourself an affordable computer with a name-brand motherboard and a quality power-supply, that is also user-serviceable and user-upgradable. What a concept! But that kind of common-sense thinking just doesn't seem to be part of Apple's philosophy. Everything is proprietary. Nothing us upgradable. And nothing is user-serviceable.
The writing, for me, is on the wall. If it's time for Apple to break with Intel, it's probably time for me to break with Apple. The problem is that I like the OS. And I like the integration with my iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Maybe when the time comes I'll be making so much money that it won't matter. But even so, there's still something wrong with Apple's hardware philosophy. That's what made hackintosh building so appealing. And that's what I'm going to miss.
