I’ve reviewed well over 300 laptops, a handful of displays, and a smattering of accessories. Naturally, I’ve gained an appreciation for great hardware design and construction, and I can pretty immediately get a sense of where a device stacks up. While several companies make great hardware, one stands apart. I’m talking about Apple, and I’m writing this after having reviewed the new Mac Studio, the MacBook Air 13 (M4), the MacBook Air 15 (M4), and the Apple Studio Display.
At the end of 2023, I wrote extensively about why I made the decision to switch to Mac after decades of Windows loyalty. I made that decision based in part on the outstanding power-performance ratio that Apple Silicon brings to laptops, — along with a growing frustration with Windows. Apple’s software isn’t nearly perfect, especially considering the company’s flawed rollout of Apple Intelligence. But since I’ve made the switch — which included migrating from an Android smartphone to an iPhone and incorporating an Apple Watch — I’ve been extremely happy. And reviewing so many Apple products at once just reinforced an impression that’s been growing on me for a while: nobody makes hardware that’s nearly as great.
It starts with the unboxing
It might seem just a little crazy, but I’m serious. To fully appreciate the sheer meticulous nature of Apple’s design, you have to start with the unboxing.
Since I started buying a bunch of Apple products a couple of years ago, and with receiving quite a selection of packages with my recent spate of reviews, I couldn’t help but notice not only how nicely Apple packages its products, but also how consistently. Every single Apple package I’ve opened, from the Apple Card credit card I signed up for to the Apple Studio Display, had exactly the same zip-pull tabs and overall easy-open design. And I mean that literally — getting to the Apple Card was basically the same as every other product. Who does that?
You have to enjoy a great deal of institutional control for every single department to use exactly the same packaging. Finance, mobile, laptops, desktops, monitors, accessories — opening one product is exactly like opening another. That means that even before you pull a product out of the box, you’re already conditioned to expect the same experience. And the experience immediately reinforces the idea that you made a great decision. I can confidently say that no other manufacturer comes close — their packaging can be sheer frustration, and it can vary widely from one product to another.
Consider the Studio Display. Often, unpacking and setting up a large display can be a real pain. Most often, you have to burrow through a Byzantine contraption to pull out the accessories and the stand, then carefully pry up the panel and set it somewhere to put everything together. You have a bunch of styrofoam to sort through and parts to unpack, and you have to be careful not to damage the glass as you wrestle it around. With the Studio Display, you unzip, lay the box down, swing open the sides, and the monitor is easily accessible and already assembled. Pick it up and set it on your desk, in one smooth motion. And then packing it back up is just as easy — something that’s sheer frustration with every other monitor I’ve reviewed.
Now, imagine that you’re also unboxing a Mac Studio. That box is designed exactly the same way, only smaller. Unzip it, swing open the sides, and easily lift it out. In all Apple products, the power cables are nicely arranged with the same kind of holder. It looks and feels great.
In my recent review process, I unboxed two Mac Studios, two MacBook Air laptops, a Studio Display, a Magic Keyboard, a Magic Trackpad, and a Magic Mouse, all in quick succession. I came away impressed by the almost obsessive attention to detail and how it felt a little like Christmas morning — mission accomplished, I’m sure. And when I need to box everything back up at some point, it will be just as easy. For anyone purchasing an Apple product, the unboxing process pulls them in via its simplicity and lack of hassle — there’s nothing to get in the way of enjoying the product.
The attention to detail continues inside
The point isn’t just that Apple creates a great unboxing experience, which is certainly true. Moreso, it’s that this kind of persistent consistency extends across its entire product line. Consider the Mac Studio and Studio Display pictured above. They closely match in their aesthetic, and it looks great. They’re both constructed of the same solid aluminum and the colors hint that they’re made for each other. And that makes sense, because someone purchasing a Mac Studio might very well want an excellent monitor that maintains the same minimalist aesthetic.
Both feel the same, as well. They’re not light devices, exactly, but they’re not egregiously heavy, either. But they’re dense, and to me, that density equates with solidity, which equates with quality. That’s an attribute that I’ve attributed to Apple MacBooks in my reviews. No, they’re not the lightest laptops you can buy, but they’re thin and solidly constructed and so in handling them you you — once again — feel like you got your money’s worth.
The example that comes most immediately to mind is the MacBook Air 13 that I’ve been using as my primary portable machine (when I’m not actively reviewing another laptop). I have some other thin-and-light laptops I can use, but none are so insanely thin and none feel so incredibly solid. Those laptops are lighter, yet somehow, the MacBook Air feels better balanced and easier to carry around, not only with the lid closed but also — and here, it’s obvious how closely Apple’s paying attention to how people use their laptops — with the lid open. Are Apple laptops necessarily more robust or longer lasting? Maybe not, I don’t really know. But my impression is that they are, and for Apple, that’s what matters the most when it comes time for someone to buy a laptop — or to buy the next one.
There are many individual details I could talk about, like how the Mac Studio remains amazingly silent no matter how hard you push it, while the MacBook Air somehow doesn’t turn into a toaster although it runs without a fan. There’s the lid that opens smoothly with one hand and –here’s Apple paying attention again — closes even more smoothly. There’s the cohesiveness in design between the various MacBook sizes and models, down even to the simple port cutouts, and the keyboards and touchpads are identical no matter which one you use. Even the notch is the same, even if many people just don’t like it very much.
The point is, all of these details, large and small, contribute to an overall experience that you might not even consciously notice. But, taken together, they’re what makes using an Apple product just different somehow. When you handle so many of them at once, it becomes immediately apparent.
What does all that mean for you?
I know I sound a lot like an Apple fan here, and that’s not at all my intention. After all, if I’m simply a fan of one company or another, then my reviews can’t be trusted. And as I mentioned in the introduction, Apple’s software has been a bit problematic lately. Apple Intelligence is a mess, macOS is stable as always but not always intuitive, and iPadOS is ridiculous in its inability to genuinely multitask with a fast M4 chipset and 16GB of RAM. So while Windows has been a hot mess for me lately, Apple hasn’t exactly knocked its software out of the park, either.
Rather, my point is that Apple’s relentless attention to detail in its hardware makes a meaningful difference in how I perceive its products — starting from when I first open the box. I would be lying if I said that didn’t impact my reviews, and really, it should. After all, people are looking for my recommendations as to which laptop they should buy, and there’s more to using a laptop than its speeds and feeds. Of course, Apple’s latest MacBooks excel in their performance and efficiency, as well. If the MacBook Air 13 (M4) wasn’t really fast and really long-lasting, I wouldn’t have given it a perfect score no matter how much I like its design.
Apple doesn’t do any of it for free, of course. Its products are more expensive — in some cases, a lot more expensive. The point of this entire piece is that at least in terms of its hardware, Apple has a knack for making you feel like you get what you pay for.
