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Do Graphic Designers Use Mac Or Pc?
We can all agree that the one tool most needed by graphic designers is a computer loaded with all the latest Adobe software and a few extras. Just as you start your search for the one tool you need, the age-old question is blowing up. Do you have a Mac or a PC?
There are plenty of reasons to choose either a Mac computer or a PC as a graphic designer. However, the vast majority of graphic designers choose Mac over PC because it’s widely used across the industry, it’s a simple operating system, and the amazing build quality that Apple produces. These are just a few reasons that 99.9 percent of graphic designers choose Mac over PC. In the rest of this article, we’re going to go into more detail on each of these reasons, and more so that you can decide whether to choose a Mac sounds like the right choice for you.
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Designers choose Mac instead of PC
The reason many designers gravitate to buy a Mac and look down on the industry if it’s mostly a matter of tradition, not substance. Most people who have been in the industry with 20 years or more of experience have a preference for Mac, because it has been the only option for a very long time, and it still remains in their minds. Apple has been good to them and good for their careers, and they know that it works, so they remain loyal.
Designing is not an easy or simple job. Even the simplest files take a huge chunk of the memory-making the PC go slower day by day. Now, that’s not what a designer certainly wants. So, if you are just starting or are a professional already, well, it seriously does not matter.
This culture has been handed down to their “disciples,” because they respect the experience of their mentors, and then their experience has become, and the cycle continues.
You also have to remember that, until recently, technology was a mystery to the people who used it. Most computer users, no matter how smart, didn’t have a clue as to how things work under the hood, many still don’t. They just know how to use them to get their work done.
Mac vs. PC In Graphic Design Today
Due to changes in how users understand and relate to technology, many graphic designers are now using Windows-based PCs to get their work done. I use both Mac and PC on my own and see very little difference in my ability to get my work done if both machines have similar hardware.
Part of the shift is that many designers are also gamers or video editors, and want to take advantage of their ability to customise their hardware and get more power at a price, something they can’t do easily with a Mac.
As a result, more designers are losing their bias towards Mac, having had some degree of freedom in choosing which components and hardware they use, and having more options based on their budgets.
Legitimate Reasons to Prefer a Mac: Of course, there are legitimate technical reasons why some people should choose a Mac for their workflow design. Here are a couple of them.
Use Thunderbolt 2 for large file transfers or 4K monitor connections, especially when using laptops
Integrate a workflow that uses other Apple devices such as iPad and iPhone.
You’re a Motion Graphic Designer who uses Apple Motion and Final Cut Pro in addition to your Adobe applications.
Preference of the operating system for usability and minor features.
Legitimate reasons for preferring a Windows PC:
Likewise, here are some important reasons why you might opt for a PC.
Windows Computers cost dramatically less for the same performance specifications, especially for laptops.
Access to Windows-only business software and productivity.
System compatibility with your business customers, especially if they are outside the creative services industry (90 percent Windows Users).
The ability to upgrade and customise hardware to meet specific needs.
In addition to designing, you’re doing high-end animation or video production and need to leverage multiple hard drives and graphics cards in your workflow.
Preference of the operating system for usability and minor features.
Mac History and Graphic Design
In my opinion, the bias towards using Macs today is based on the longstanding history and tradition of Graphic Designers using Macs. It has no technical basis (currently in terms of performance and hardware) since Apple moved to use third party components from Intel and other companies.
Adobe has gone on record via their Adobe Hardware Performance Whitepaper to point out that the performance of their software depends on the specifications, not the operating system. So there’s no real evidence for the old saying, “Adobe software works better on Mac.” Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator etc. were not designed to perform better due to OS preferences.
In the early days of Graphic Design and Digital Typography (early 1980s), the Apple Macintosh was the first computer to make Digital Typography possible. Susan Kare was a pioneer in the field.
This data transfer between the disc and the RAM is managed by a device that manages to write data to physical positions on the memory chip, and that it requires a certain amount of free space to operate. For each application you run, it would actively utilise some of the in-use memory capacity and use some of the remaining space as a standby memory, effectively unused space for future operations.
Adobe Photoshop had been born on the Mac
John and Thomas Knoll built the first version of Photoshop on a Macintosh computer over 25 years ago (1988) because it was essentially the only computer with a colour display and the ability to handle the programme they were building. It was released exclusively for Macs in 1990. (a Windows version followed over two years later). Knolls has set up Photoshop for two companies in Silicon Valley, Adobe and Apple… The rest of this is history.
It’s a matter of preference in the end.
At the end of the day, it is up to each person to choose the tools they feel will help them get their job done and be reliable. Quality tools are quality tools, irrespective of the brand.
Those of you who are photographers in your spare time may remember that there are similar debates between Canon and Nikon users, but at the end of the day you can’t tell whether a picture was shot on one or the other just by looking.
