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Should You Use a Mac for Your Business? Guest Author Makes Case

Over the years, a misconception has arisen in some circles that PCs are better suited for business than Macs. However, this seems to be an antiquated theory that doesn’t actually stand up to the facts. Macs have a lot to offer for businesses that are willing to look at the facts and make the investment.

4 Reasons Businesses Should Choose Mac
For decades, the Windows PC has been a staple of the office. It’s been billed as the premier business solution, thanks in large part to its array of software and native programs. (The general public’s familiarity with the platform doesn’t hurt, either.)

But as Apple’s Mac computers have grown in popularity over the past decade and a half, a number of businesses have tested the waters and made a shift. For the most part, they’ve discovered that the Mac isn’t just a suitable alternative to the Windows-based PC – in many instances it’s far superior!

While it can take many years for long-held business beliefs and best practices to undergo significant evolution, we’re starting to see a small-scale diaspora from Windows to Mac. For those who have yet to consider making the change, here are a few of the business benefits of Macs to nudge you in the appropriate direction.

1) Less Expensive to Manage
Naturally, businesses are focused on dollars and cents. If it doesn’t make financial sense to make the switch to Macs, very few businesses will give it much consideration. Well, here’s your headline: Macs are three-times less expensive to manage than PCs.

When IBM decided it wanted to offer employees the option of using Macs in place of PCs, they originally anticipated that it would save them $270 per user over four years. But what they soon realized is that the figure is actually much closer to $535. For a company with thousands of users, that’s a significant number.

The lower cost of managing Macs has to do with numerous factors, including updates. Macs have to be updated 104 times fewer per year than a PC. There’s also the lower dependency on IT support. Just 3.5 percent of employees using a Mac will call the company help desk, compared to a whopping 40 percent of PC users. This has led to a 91 percent user satisfaction rate among IBM employees using Macs, which is an unheard of number in technology.

2) More Secure Out of the Box
“It still shocks me how much time and money IT organizations spend on securing Windows PCs, such as for incessant antivirus updates and frequent infection-cleanup efforts, for managing backups and encryption, and for dealing with dozens of often problematic fixes every month in the infamous Patch Tuesday releases,” says Galen Gruman, Executive Editor of InfoWorld.

One of the biggest advantages to using Macs is that they’re more secure out of the box. There are fewer viruses for Macs – though this will change as they become more popular – and they’re much cheaper to manage in terms of staying current with the latest security updates. (As Gruman notes, IT organizations spend roughly $2,000 to $2,300 per user per year to manage security on Windows PCs. While the exact number for Mac’s isn’t known, it’s significantly less.)

3) Better Resale Value
If you’ve ever owned a Windows PC in the past, then you know how quickly they can deteriorate over time. Once you hit the 12-18 month point, battery life drops off severely, the system slows down, and things start breaking. Not only does this necessitate costly repairs (and eventually replacement), but it kills the resale value. Macs, on the other hand, hold up over time and almost always retain their value – even after four or five years of use.

4) Backup Options are Superior
One of the scariest things for a business is losing data and information in a device crash, data theft, or power loss situation. While there are plenty of Windows-based solutions to help alleviate these pain points, Apple has amazing native backup options.

For one, there’s the Time Machine feature, which can be configured to automatically backup your computer every hour or day. It runs in the background and requires no manual action. But there are also the syncing features which allow users to seamlessly link up all of their Apple devices over the cloud – including iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs.

These are features that you might not realize you need until you’re in the moment, but they can save you when you’re in a serious bind and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Making the Switch to Mac
After reviewing the tangible benefits that Macs bring to the table, you might find it easy to decide that you want to shift. However, the actual process of migrating – especially on a large scale with many individual users – takes a lot of strategy, time, and energy. There are also some potential issues that you could encounter, depending on situational-specific factors in play.

For example, you have to make sure that the Mac operating system supports the apps you need. This will require you to take inventory of all your business software and analyze the Apple alternatives.

“The [Apple] version of a given app may not always offer the exact capabilities as the Windows version. In addition, things can get confusing when the product lineup for Windows is different than the one on the Mac,” tech blogger Paul Mah explains.

The switch from Windows to PC won’t be as dramatic for users who already own Apple products, like an iPhone or iPad. It uses the same basic interface and language, which will allow many of your business’ users to switch rather seamlessly. However, you should account for some friction and closely walk with your team until everything is squared away.

Related: Migration Assistant: The Easy Way to Move Your Data to a New Mac

Macs are typically more cost-effective, more secure, have better resale value, and offer business features that are superior to the average Windows PC. In other words, Macs are better for businesses than many people realize, and your team should consider making the switch.

Anna Johansson
the authorAnna Johansson
Contributing Author
Anna is a freelance writer, researcher, and business consultant. A columnist for Entrepreneur.com, Earth911.com, and more, Anna specializes in entrepreneurship, technology, and social media trends.
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3 Comments

  • I’ve been considering switching over to a Mac for my personal computer. I appreciate your advice to make sure that the Mac will run the apps and programs that you need. This is something that I hadn’t considered, but I’ll make sure to double check that!

  • I have owned my business for 31 years. Started with an Apple 2e with 2 5.xx floppy drives, applewrriter and VisiCalc, Then came Multiplan and later AppleWorks. When Mac came out I waited for color and then switched. All my AppleWorks files ported to ClarisWorks. Had a couple MAc Pro machines and am on my second 27” imac, a late 2015 with 2tb fusion drive and 32gigs memory. 5 OWC externals, a Canon scanner, HP color laser jet (qwikship toner) and a canon copier. Office 365, iWork 09, FileMaker Pro, Quickbooks. It just works.

  • I agree whole heartly with your comments. I have used Macs since 1985 and the cross platform ability has grown leaps and bounds.

    However, that being said some of the updates lately are not really all that great for the business user.