Why are Macs better for the art community?

=MaskedGuardian Aug 3, 2012

My college at the moment is heavily Mac-based, especially in the art department, and I keep hearing about how Macs are the computer of choice for most artists. Is there a reason for that? Is there something that Macs can do that PC's can't? I'm searching around, but so far, I can't see a good reason why they prevail over the other. They both seem about equal to me. Am I missing something? Why do most artists prefer Macs?

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~Tokipinku Aug 8, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Well, pcs are very vulnerable to viruses and it's a shame when you're working on something and them your pc crashes and you just spent 8 hours on a project and to fix it you need to pay a whole lot of money to get a virus preventing software that needs to be updated every so often. Macs, on the other hand, aren't very vulnerable to viruses and I think the color, quality, and display is great. Even though they might be on the expensive side, you definetely get what you paid for.

*MeganMissfit Aug 8, 2012 Student Digital Artist

I like my Macbook. Compared to all the Windows laptops that I've owned in the past, my Mac has lasted the longest. I've had it for two years now and it still runs like brand spankin' new

~ChikaChikaChan Aug 8, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Idk. I have a PC and it can handle photoshop cs3 with no lag.

*RockyGemsCarly Aug 8, 2012 Student General Artist

I think it's the big screens.

~Uraal Aug 6, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

On hardware side with Mac you are only paying for design product and brand. If you take mac's price and invest into PC instead you get better computer (if you only care about pure calculating power and build up the computer yourself). Naturally operating system is different and we could spend eons arguing windows vs mac operating system but in the end it's up to what you prefer.

However what I believe to be appealing for most artists is the design/brand part. Using computer that's also pretty must appeal to visually oriented people. Hey we gather up all kind of visually motivating material around us, why couldn't computer be one of those things too?

*electrifried Aug 6, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Macs are pushed towards artists because art colleges get educational discounts from Apple. But tbh I've used both systems and Adobe runs perfectly fine on both.

In fact you can run a far better system on PC if you get decent hardware(which is not hard considering Apple's pricerange). The only redeeming quality of Mac is the OS, and if the OS was available as a standalone I would totally use it. But as it is, Windows offers a lot more functionality and flexibility especially for the price.

*Hai-Etlik Aug 6, 2012

By any reasonable definition, "Macintosh" is just a brand of "PC" in much the same way that "Aspire", "Vaio", or "Inspiron" are.

Way back in the ancient past, Apple Macintosh computers had better graphics and sound than IBM's PC competitors. Since then "PC" has come to mean either anything that is distantly descended from the clones of the original IBM PC, which includes the modern Macintosh line, or any computer with a generally similar role regardless of specific architecture (Which includes any Macintosh computer).

Way back then, Macs had the better graphics hardware, so they ended up with the better graphics software being developed for them which persisted for a little while even when "PC"s caught up in hardware. But PCs and other platforms caught up long ago, and some have significantly exceeded Macintosh in graphics and media capabilities at times, most notably the Commodore Amiga, the BeBox, and SGI's graphics workstations.

The current "Macs are Better for Graphics" opinion is just an artifact of that initial advantage. There's really nothing to it any more and hasn't been for decades. It just keeps getting passed on and accepted.

If it were a matter artistic types of really wanting the best media computer, they'd be using some hypothetical modern descendant of the Amiga, BeBox, or Indigo. It's about being trendy instead, which is why Apple is the one that survived instead of Commodore, Be, and SGI.

~narutokunobessed Aug 6, 2012 Student General Artist

What I herd from people why Macs are better.

Certain Virus and Trojans that effect windows do not effect macs.
Screens by Mac, are built better then PCs. Its built well because the colors don't change at a certain angle. This can be annoying for alot users who are doing color related projects. But Mac users no problem.
I think the Mac is a bit better calibrated right?
Some people like the inteface design of the Mac. I kind of like that little toolbar for Mac.

I can't think of anything else, beside the stuff mentioned.

*obscureasmegan Aug 5, 2012 Student Digital Artist

One of the things I really like about Mac is the allocation of ram. On Windows, once you open a program the necessary ram is used automatically and not taken away until the program is shut down. On a Mac the ram is only used if the program is actively being used. If you minimize anything it effectively isn't open as far as the ram usage is concerned. This is why you can open literally your entire dock on a mac and never suffer a bit unless you are legitimately multitasking.

=MaskedGuardian Aug 6, 2012

Ooh, that is interesting!

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