• Local purveyor of Apple products, iStore, has seen the Mac installed base in major banks increase by 10 percent.
• This is said to be because decision makers are less concerned about upfront cost and more concerned with long-term sustainability.
• While Macs do have some benefits, PCs continue to offer more flexibility in choice and configuration.

If you’re looking at the laptop brands in a local fintech, bank, cybersecurity firm or large enterprises, you may see Apple’s iconic logo more frequently than you would have a year ago.

While Apple’s Macbooks occupy the upper echelons of laptop pricing, this has become less of a concern for businesses while total cost of ownership, total economic impact, employee experience and productivity are major concerns.

Apple trumps other PC makers in several areas. The tech coming out of Apple tends to have a longer lifespan and doesn’t slow down as much as an equivalent PC over the years. Apple’s products are also well supported, boast great battery life and perhaps most importantly, don’t require purchase of a separate operating system.

These and other perks have seen Apple becoming highly favoured by some local businesses says executive head of iStore Business, Sudesh Pillay.

“In major banks, for example, the Mac installed base has grown to around 10%, and indications are that this will double in the coming year,” the executive reports.

This is surprising when looking at the IDC’s reports for PC shipments in Q4 2023. During that quarter Apple’s shipments declined by 18.4 percent when compared to the same quarter in 2022.

According to Pillay, when looking at pricing, Apple wins out over PC except, we don’t believe that is the case.

A brand new Macbook Pro 16 inch M3 Max fully kitted out retails for R93 999 from iStore while a top-of-the-range workstation from Dell retails for R51 999. The M3 Max is said to be an excellent piece of silicon but then the same can be said for Intel’s 13th Gen Core chips. Price then is a poor metric to claim victory on.

However, if we look at something more reasonable, like a base Apple MacBook Pro M3, you would be hard-pressed to find a comparable PC for a similar price.

Macs also tend to last for longer. Our editor is still using a Mac he purchased in 2014 while I have had three PCs since 2015.

Even on a day-to-day basis, Macs tend to exhibit longer battery life and repairs are seldom required. Of course, when a repair is needed it’s often a costly endeavour that requires a trip to the iStore. PCs have the benefit of being able to be repaired and upgraded independently.

There’s also the security aspect of Mac. Apple’s walled garden has long been a point of contention for users and developers alike but there is no denying it’s a secure environment. Up until less than a decade ago, viruses and malware for Mac were unheard of.

These days Macs are targeted just as frequently as other users but the firm can move quickly to address vulnerabilities in its systems rather than waiting for vendors or manufacturers to test solutions.

What is clear is that more professionals are turning to Apple and enjoying the experience.

“Employee experience has become a top priority for organisations, and the technology employees use is a key enabler of a good employee experience. We have heard of employees hanging on to their Mac for six or seven years, because they’re afraid that if they hand them in, they won’t be issued with a Mac next time. Large enterprises were once autocratic around technology choices, now it’s all about enhancing the employee experience to keep staff happy and retain key skills,” says Pillay.

“Mac was once seen as a tool for creatives and executives. People assume that if you want to use Microsoft tools, you need a PC. However, these perceptions are changing fast and enterprises have realised that they can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint on a Mac just like on a PC. Mac has become the device of choice for knowledge workers, digital workers, developers and more,” the executive adds.

While it’s good news for Tim Apple et al. that its products are trumping PCs, the top three PC manufacturers hold a collective 39.9 percent of the market compared to Apple’s 5.7 percent. While there may be benefits to picking Apple, PC is still clearly the popular choice for the majority of users.