Google or Apple ecosystem
Discussion
For the last few years, I haven't owned any personal computing devices, as both my desktop (Win 10), laptop (MacBook Pro) and phone (some Android thing) are provided by my employer. I do have an old Nokia for my personal phone, using it only for the odd text message here and there to friends.
My employer actively allows personal use on the devices, and they are completely unmanaged. They were box fresh from the manufacturer, so are in effect standalone devices first set up by me. However, my employer is changing IT support in January, and all the computers and phones will become managed - which I understand means anything I do on them can be seen by IT admin, that they can be remotely wiped and so on.
Whilst I don't do anything secretive on the devices, I don't really want to be sharing my holiday snaps or bank account details with the IT support team, so I'm looking to buy a new personal computer. I thought I'd use the opportunity to upgrade my ancient Nokia for a smartphone.
Given I'm not tied to any particular ecosystem, I'm struggling to decide whether to go all Google (Google Pixelbook Go and Pixel 4a phone at around £1,150 for both) or Apple (MacBook Air M1 and an iPhone SE at around £1,400 for both). At the moment, most of my photos and files are with Google, but as it's not too much of a headache to change I don't want to be limited by that.
My use is fairly basic; a bit of web-browsing, some very light weight spreadsheets/documents and some mild photo-editing of snaps I've taken.
So... Google, or Apple? What would be your preference?
My employer actively allows personal use on the devices, and they are completely unmanaged. They were box fresh from the manufacturer, so are in effect standalone devices first set up by me. However, my employer is changing IT support in January, and all the computers and phones will become managed - which I understand means anything I do on them can be seen by IT admin, that they can be remotely wiped and so on.
Whilst I don't do anything secretive on the devices, I don't really want to be sharing my holiday snaps or bank account details with the IT support team, so I'm looking to buy a new personal computer. I thought I'd use the opportunity to upgrade my ancient Nokia for a smartphone.
Given I'm not tied to any particular ecosystem, I'm struggling to decide whether to go all Google (Google Pixelbook Go and Pixel 4a phone at around £1,150 for both) or Apple (MacBook Air M1 and an iPhone SE at around £1,400 for both). At the moment, most of my photos and files are with Google, but as it's not too much of a headache to change I don't want to be limited by that.
My use is fairly basic; a bit of web-browsing, some very light weight spreadsheets/documents and some mild photo-editing of snaps I've taken.
So... Google, or Apple? What would be your preference?
Just don't do what I did.
Company mobile: iPhone
Company laptop: Windows
Personal mobile: Android
Personal laptop: Macbook Pro
Including Outlook email, iCloud email and Google Drive
For me I'm going to replace my personal android mobile to an iPhone and switch from paid Google drive storage to paid iCloud storage.
Company mobile: iPhone
Company laptop: Windows
Personal mobile: Android
Personal laptop: Macbook Pro
Including Outlook email, iCloud email and Google Drive
For me I'm going to replace my personal android mobile to an iPhone and switch from paid Google drive storage to paid iCloud storage.
Prohibiting said:
Just don't do what I did.
Company mobile: iPhone
Company laptop: Windows
Personal mobile: Android
Personal laptop: Macbook Pro
Including Outlook email, iCloud email and Google Drive
For me I'm going to replace my personal android mobile to an iPhone and switch from paid Google drive storage to paid iCloud storage.
I kind of feel a bit like that with my work devices - Windows, MacOS and Android! Company mobile: iPhone
Company laptop: Windows
Personal mobile: Android
Personal laptop: Macbook Pro
Including Outlook email, iCloud email and Google Drive
For me I'm going to replace my personal android mobile to an iPhone and switch from paid Google drive storage to paid iCloud storage.
It's a common problem, I moved away from company devices in around 2005 when they (rightly) wanted more control over the equipment they provided.
I have Apple stuff and it just does work - although I have lots of gadgets around the house and am happy playing with stuff - but for things you carry every day, I think Apple wins out even if you consider it to be at a premium. The M1 stuff looks like a giant step forward.
I have Apple stuff and it just does work - although I have lots of gadgets around the house and am happy playing with stuff - but for things you carry every day, I think Apple wins out even if you consider it to be at a premium. The M1 stuff looks like a giant step forward.
I think it all comes down to personal preference. People could post pros and cons for any platform from here to eternity.
Phones - I've run Nexus and Pixel devices since 2011. Also ran (side by side) iPhone 3GS, 4S, 6S, 7, and 8 (briefly). Can't be bothered with the iPhone anymore. Always some compromise hidden somewhere which gets in the way or slows you down in getting things done.
Computers - Have run Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS in the last 10 years. Settled on Chrome OS as the daily for work and personal stuff. Combined with a Pixel and setup right everything becomes seamless. Chrome OS is just convenient and fast, and "gets out of the way". I can just get on with whatever task is at hand without OS issues or notifications or maintenance.
The thing you have to ask yourself is how easy you might adapt to Chrome OS coming from traditional desktop OS environments.
Some people have trouble changing from long established habits/norms/expectations. Chrome OS is all about leveraging web apps and services, PWA's etc to get things done. If you're flexible you'll switch over easily. But others can find it tricky changing lifelong habits and ways of doing things.
For me I always like to keep options open, and if needs or circumstances change then it's nice to know I can retask a machine quickly and flip to another OS natively or within a VM. I've a slight concern with the Macs made available in recent years, as the introduction of the Titan security chip heralded restrictions on multi booting the machines. This has been furthered now by the introduction of the new M1 machines. The laptops and desktop Apple stuff is becoming like the iPhone and iPad. Once you've bought the device you're locked into that particular OS. And locked into the corresponding ecosystem, with negligible benefits. It'll be interesting to see how the new Macs fair out over the next couple of years, and whether they become more locked down, or retain a degree of flexibility.
Phones - I've run Nexus and Pixel devices since 2011. Also ran (side by side) iPhone 3GS, 4S, 6S, 7, and 8 (briefly). Can't be bothered with the iPhone anymore. Always some compromise hidden somewhere which gets in the way or slows you down in getting things done.
Computers - Have run Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS in the last 10 years. Settled on Chrome OS as the daily for work and personal stuff. Combined with a Pixel and setup right everything becomes seamless. Chrome OS is just convenient and fast, and "gets out of the way". I can just get on with whatever task is at hand without OS issues or notifications or maintenance.
The thing you have to ask yourself is how easy you might adapt to Chrome OS coming from traditional desktop OS environments.
Some people have trouble changing from long established habits/norms/expectations. Chrome OS is all about leveraging web apps and services, PWA's etc to get things done. If you're flexible you'll switch over easily. But others can find it tricky changing lifelong habits and ways of doing things.
For me I always like to keep options open, and if needs or circumstances change then it's nice to know I can retask a machine quickly and flip to another OS natively or within a VM. I've a slight concern with the Macs made available in recent years, as the introduction of the Titan security chip heralded restrictions on multi booting the machines. This has been furthered now by the introduction of the new M1 machines. The laptops and desktop Apple stuff is becoming like the iPhone and iPad. Once you've bought the device you're locked into that particular OS. And locked into the corresponding ecosystem, with negligible benefits. It'll be interesting to see how the new Macs fair out over the next couple of years, and whether they become more locked down, or retain a degree of flexibility.
Less than 10 years ago I was solid Google. Gmail, Calendar, Android, Reader, Drive, Photos, Music, Chromecasts, the lot, really. Until 2012 the only Apple device I had was an IPod Nano.
Bit by bit though, Google have pushed me away. Yes, there was a deliberate move on my part when I bought an iPhone 5 to replace a series of, frankly, disappointing Android devices, but most of the rest has either been Google chipping away at the advantages it once had, or Apple or others simply coming up with more compelling products.
Gmail. Still use this. No plans to change.
Calendar. Harder to justify as iOS does it well enough, and work is MS. I sync between them.
Android. Changed to IPhone 5 and have never looked back.
Reader. Google discontinued it. Now use Feedly.
Drive. Use it, but it’s promise of effectively unlimited storage (it used to increase every year, and you could get bonus storage by completing security checks etc) has pretty much gone. I now pay for 2TB iCloud as it works seamlessly with all the iPhones and iPads.
Photos. Now use Apple and iCloud.
Music. Google first removed my grandfathered rate when I changed to a family sub, and have now dropped it in favour of YouTube Music which is meh. Currently trying Apple Music and Spotify instead.
Chromecasts. They still work, although the decision to drop the Music is baffling. If I move to Apple Music then I guess I’ll replace them with Apple TV’s though.
Basically, if Apple One becomes available in my region then I’ll probably end up dumping everything Google except for Gmail, and if you’d said to me 10 years ago that I would do that, I wouldn’t have believed you.
I’ll be buying a Mac next In your situation I would be.
Bit by bit though, Google have pushed me away. Yes, there was a deliberate move on my part when I bought an iPhone 5 to replace a series of, frankly, disappointing Android devices, but most of the rest has either been Google chipping away at the advantages it once had, or Apple or others simply coming up with more compelling products.
Gmail. Still use this. No plans to change.
Calendar. Harder to justify as iOS does it well enough, and work is MS. I sync between them.
Android. Changed to IPhone 5 and have never looked back.
Reader. Google discontinued it. Now use Feedly.
Drive. Use it, but it’s promise of effectively unlimited storage (it used to increase every year, and you could get bonus storage by completing security checks etc) has pretty much gone. I now pay for 2TB iCloud as it works seamlessly with all the iPhones and iPads.
Photos. Now use Apple and iCloud.
Music. Google first removed my grandfathered rate when I changed to a family sub, and have now dropped it in favour of YouTube Music which is meh. Currently trying Apple Music and Spotify instead.
Chromecasts. They still work, although the decision to drop the Music is baffling. If I move to Apple Music then I guess I’ll replace them with Apple TV’s though.
Basically, if Apple One becomes available in my region then I’ll probably end up dumping everything Google except for Gmail, and if you’d said to me 10 years ago that I would do that, I wouldn’t have believed you.
I’ll be buying a Mac next
In your situation I would be. Edited by loudlashadjuster on Saturday 28th November 08:40
Corso Marche said:
I think it all comes down to personal preference. People could post pros and cons for any platform from here to eternity.
Nail on head IMO.I got my mum a Chromebook because I got myself one and just found it too limiting around things you just take for granted though this was a couple of years ago so things have hopefully improved.
Personally I use a Macbook and an iPhone and the integration between the two is nice but for online storage I'd prefer to use Google Drive as it ties in with Google Apps but that could just as easily push you to OneDrive.
Try them and just pick the one you like.
Google stuff works fine and is free. On the other hand their business model is to know all about you, based on continual analysis of what you are doing on those free Google products, and relentlessly push "relevant" adverts at you, which is where they earn the revenue that funds all that free stuff. Some people are comfortable with that, some prefer to pay Apple up front for what they are using.
Proper work laptop = Work supplied latop, windows 10 and allows VPN intranet access from home.
Own laptop (do some work on it) = 2013 MacBookPro, bought new in 2013 still runs fine. Have had x1 new battery and x2 chargers in 7 years.
Phones - Android.
The work laptop gets replaced every few years, and gets noticeably slower every year tills its replaced. My 2013 Apple laptop has a better screen than the 2019 work HP, loads quicker, and runs all the stuff I need.
When the home latop finally dies I'll replace it with another MacBookPro, hopefully I'll get 10 years use out of the current one first though
.
Own laptop (do some work on it) = 2013 MacBookPro, bought new in 2013 still runs fine. Have had x1 new battery and x2 chargers in 7 years.
Phones - Android.
The work laptop gets replaced every few years, and gets noticeably slower every year tills its replaced. My 2013 Apple laptop has a better screen than the 2019 work HP, loads quicker, and runs all the stuff I need.
When the home latop finally dies I'll replace it with another MacBookPro, hopefully I'll get 10 years use out of the current one first though
.Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 29th November 06:40
gangzoom said:
The work laptop gets replaced every few years, and gets noticeably slower every year tills its replaced. My 2013 Apple laptop has a better screen than the 2019 work HP, loads quicker, and runs all the stuff I need.
When the home latop finally dies I'll replace it with another MacBookPro, hopefully I'll get 10 years use out of the current one first though.
Same here. Brand new mid-range Dell work laptop (i5 / 16GB / SSD) is outperformed comprehensively by my 2013MBP.When the home latop finally dies I'll replace it with another MacBookPro, hopefully I'll get 10 years use out of the current one first though
.Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 29th November 06:40
I expect 10 years from a Mac, they’re built to last. Mine still has its original battery, although it’s down to about 4.5 hours on battery now.
Magnum 475 said:
gangzoom said:
The work laptop gets replaced every few years, and gets noticeably slower every year tills its replaced. My 2013 Apple laptop has a better screen than the 2019 work HP, loads quicker, and runs all the stuff I need.
When the home latop finally dies I'll replace it with another MacBookPro, hopefully I'll get 10 years use out of the current one first though.
Same here. Brand new mid-range Dell work laptop (i5 / 16GB / SSD) is outperformed comprehensively by my 2013MBP.When the home latop finally dies I'll replace it with another MacBookPro, hopefully I'll get 10 years use out of the current one first though
.Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 29th November 06:40
I expect 10 years from a Mac, they’re built to last. Mine still has its original battery, although it’s down to about 4.5 hours on battery now.
The success of iCloud and the Apple system did really kick Google into being a bit simpler to use, and it's a considerably better product than it was 10 or even 5 years ago.
I use Windows OS, Android phones, Hotmail and a Google account. Everything is pretty seemless accross the fleet.
I use Windows OS, Android phones, Hotmail and a Google account. Everything is pretty seemless accross the fleet.
From what I gather iCloud has become really good over the years, I moved away some time ago as they actively make it hard to use on non-apple devices, which is understandable of course.
I've got a paid google subscription which my entire family can benefit from, and we can have all sorts of devices. Mail, calendar, drive, photos, all work great on our Windows, MacOS, iPhone, Android, devices.
My son has got a chromebook now and it's a great bit of kit as well. My gaming computer is a Windows Desktop and had no plans to go Apple there. The Apple stuff is great stuff but you really need to be all in to benefit from it. Google does "ominplatform" so much better (again, by design).
I also have a couple of work-provided Microsoft accounts and I'd say they do the same. So definitely worth looking into.
Looking at this from the sideline, I think going Microsoft would be a great option, as you won't get the privacy concerns a google account can bring up and your entire family isn't limited to just iPhones and MacBooks.
I've got a paid google subscription which my entire family can benefit from, and we can have all sorts of devices. Mail, calendar, drive, photos, all work great on our Windows, MacOS, iPhone, Android, devices.
My son has got a chromebook now and it's a great bit of kit as well. My gaming computer is a Windows Desktop and had no plans to go Apple there. The Apple stuff is great stuff but you really need to be all in to benefit from it. Google does "ominplatform" so much better (again, by design).
I also have a couple of work-provided Microsoft accounts and I'd say they do the same. So definitely worth looking into.
Looking at this from the sideline, I think going Microsoft would be a great option, as you won't get the privacy concerns a google account can bring up and your entire family isn't limited to just iPhones and MacBooks.
Slightly off topic but comparing a company provisioned laptop to private Macbook is not really fair even with the least intrusive setup there will be a performance overhead, for example I have pretty high spec HP work laptop and Razerblade stealth personal machine (similar price/quality to Apple) on paper the machines should perform roughly the same outside of gaming the reality is very different particularly when it coms to startup/resume.
Anyway back on topic our household is firmly in the Google ecosystem, my wife has a strong preference for Samsung phones so.
3x Android phones
2 chromecasts
1 Nvidia shield android TV box
1 Android TV
3 Android tablets
2 personal Windows 10 laptops
1 corporate Windows 10 laptop
5x Google home / minis
Hue lights & various smart plugs linked to Google home
Google photos and paid storage (family plan) + Spotify + Netflix + HBO
Everything plays together well, especially switching content between devices and OS.
Previous party tricks like preheating car via google home voice commands or being able to stream security cameras to any screen in the house was nice.
Davie
Anyway back on topic our household is firmly in the Google ecosystem, my wife has a strong preference for Samsung phones so.
3x Android phones
2 chromecasts
1 Nvidia shield android TV box
1 Android TV
3 Android tablets
2 personal Windows 10 laptops
1 corporate Windows 10 laptop
5x Google home / minis
Hue lights & various smart plugs linked to Google home
Google photos and paid storage (family plan) + Spotify + Netflix + HBO
Everything plays together well, especially switching content between devices and OS.
Previous party tricks like preheating car via google home voice commands or being able to stream security cameras to any screen in the house was nice.
Davie
What car allows you to do that if I may ask?superstreek said:
Slightly off topic but comparing a company provisioned laptop to private Macbook is not really fair
This - I have pretty much the same MacBook Pro at home and for work. Home MacBook mean time to interactive is around 8 seconds. Work MacBook one minute 48 seconds. Encryption, security software, VPN all come at a costI run 365 across all my Windows and Apple devices and my wife and kids do the same, it’s only a few quid per month.
iTunes Match for all my old school music with an Apple Music family subscription.
All our purchased TV/Films are in Apple too, but we don’t subscribe to Apple TV, just Sky and Netflix.
Alexa runs my lighting, multiroom music, smart plugs and underfloor heating.
Dropbox has been backing up our photo’s hassle free for many years, but I also have iCloud Photo’s, OneDrive, Amazon, BT to do the same job.
So no one size fits all, they each do their own thing.
iTunes Match for all my old school music with an Apple Music family subscription.
All our purchased TV/Films are in Apple too, but we don’t subscribe to Apple TV, just Sky and Netflix.
Alexa runs my lighting, multiroom music, smart plugs and underfloor heating.
Dropbox has been backing up our photo’s hassle free for many years, but I also have iCloud Photo’s, OneDrive, Amazon, BT to do the same job.
So no one size fits all, they each do their own thing.
Edited by Coin-Slot on Monday 30th November 07:52
Coin-Slot said:
I run 365 across all my Windows and Apple devices and my wife and kids do the same, it’s only a few quid per month.
iTunes Match for all my old school music with an Apple Music family subscription.
All our purchased TV/Films are in Apple too, but we don’t subscribe to Apple TV, just Sky and Netflix.
Alexa runs my lighting, multiroom music, smart plugs and underfloor heating.
Dropbox has been backing up our photo’s hassle free for many years, but I also have iCloud Photo’s, OneDrive, Amazon, BT to do the same job.
So no one size fits all, they each do their own thing.
Interesting, any reason to run dropbox over using the provided OneDrive except for the fact you've been using it for years?iTunes Match for all my old school music with an Apple Music family subscription.
All our purchased TV/Films are in Apple too, but we don’t subscribe to Apple TV, just Sky and Netflix.
Alexa runs my lighting, multiroom music, smart plugs and underfloor heating.
Dropbox has been backing up our photo’s hassle free for many years, but I also have iCloud Photo’s, OneDrive, Amazon, BT to do the same job.
So no one size fits all, they each do their own thing.
Seems obvious to drop Dropbox and put it on onedrive, no?
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