Robin Harris, writing for ZDNet:
The Consumer Reports survey of 56,000 subscribers established, without a doubt, that MacBooks are more reliable than Windows machines. Is it because MacBooks cost more? I asked CR. Here’s what they said.
And:
If I were running Microsoft’s Windows customer sat group, I’d be on this like a dog on a bone. MS is only supplying the software, but their OEMs are killing the MS brand with reliability that is half of what Apple achieves.
Which has to be one of the reasons that Microsoft is getting into hardware like the Surface. They know what MacBook users like about their machines, and they know that their current OEMs are’t providing it.
Advice to Microsoft: take a close look at Tim Cook, supply chain guy extraordinaire. Apple insists on quality and – this is key – they get it.
There’s nothing like controlling the design and build of both the hardware and the software from top to bottom.
I’ve owned 6 or 7 Windows laptops. Every one of them broke (in a hardware way) and every one of them was cheaper to replace than fix. And recalling my feelings at the time, Microsoft got a black eye from me, right along with the OEM who made the laptop.
I know I keep saying it, but it’s nice to see how far CR’s come since its tunnel-visioned days of early-Mac reviews.
Those poor bastards in the comments are kind of angry at consumers.
Joanna Stern of the WSJ has been saying for years that Apple makes the best Windows laptop. It’s more than just long term reliability – things like the Apple trackpad just work better with Windows than Dell/HP/Lenovo/Toshiba/etc products.