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Comment by Impossible | Hacker News Reader

When I was at Facebook the majority of employees used Mac Book Pros for work (I was an exception because I worked on VR stuff which was Windows only). It seems like the majority of Silicon Valley big tech and unicorn startups have a large (if not majority) population of employees using Apple products for development. I understand that many employees prefer or need Linux or Windows, however.

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That seems to be the only places where MBPs are almost part of the dress code to work there. The HN community has a disproportional representation of such employment, and sometimes the Apple echo chamber shows up strongly because of it.

It even happened at Microsoft until the Surface program was finally given a proper go ahead by Nadella. A lot of former MBP users seem to love the Surfacebook, so they succeeded in making a functional yet veblen good in the same vein that a MBP is.

Apple's A12Z Under Rosetta Outperforms Microsoft's Native Arm-Based Surface Pro X:

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/06/29/apple-rosetta-2-a12z-be...

Yes, but how well does it perform against something that isn't what might be their slowest (but thinnest and most portable, but somehow not cheapest) model?

Apparently, a Surface with a Ryzen 4800U exists and is coming out really soon.

The comparison isn't realistic because Apple's acquisition of PA Semi was a brilliant move, and no one makes an ARM that is anywhere near that level of performance, not even Qualcomm. I agree with Apple's decision to put their ARM on the desktop as their answer to the Intel dilemma.

In this case, an ARM vs ARM comparison is not an apples to apples comparison, Apple does not license their design to anyone else, ergo, the only way to make a fair comparison is to use the best commonly available part, which currently, is Zen 2 parts.

I expect a Zen 2 to crush a 2 year old Apple ARM, but I also expect a future Apple desktop and laptop design to keep up with Zen 3. I actually hope Apple can win the fight, but I also wish Apple would license their CPU to other manufacturers to promote the general adoption of more architectures in this space.

Lol calling a MacBook a Veblen good? Oh my lord you're a trip.

"A veblen good is a good for which demand increases as the price increases, because of its exclusive nature and appeal as a status symbol." -- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/veblen-good.asp

I know what it is. That's why I'm laughing at you.

Amazon also has a disproportionate number of MacBooks even though we can choose either a MacBook or a Windows PC.

As far as Surface sells.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/10/24/editorial-why-mic...

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