Statistically speaking, the vast majority of computers never get any hardware upgrades whatsoever over their lifetimes. While we techies may think of upgrading as an essential thing, most people see a computer as a magic box and simply replace it once it no longer serves their needs. As such, it’s perfectly reasonable for the vast majority of computer models to not bother with upgradability, especially if giving up the upgradability allows for optimizations like reduced cost, thickness and weight, or improved performance (like Apple is getting by building RAM directly into the SoC).
thats why i said for kids and newcomers is ok, and if you dont think to upgrade your skillset (more serious and larger softwares) in foreseeable future during the machine's lifetime.
Utter nonsense.
The days when software was always teetering on the brink of not running are long over. Most computers today far, far exceed the minimum requirements (or even recommended requirements) for most software. It certainly is not the case that "more serious" software always has higher system requirements than more entry level stuff. Heck, the most hardcore professionals often use software that is more lightweight than the stuff for consumers. For example, Keil (the big ARM MCU IDE) is extremely lightweight. A ton of professional software was originally created long ago, with the core code originally designed for far, FAR less powerful systems. Even with new features tacked on, they don't come close to taxing a modern computer.
So "upgrading your skillset" certainly doesn't always (or even often) necessitate upgrading a computer.
In contrast, modern games are extremely demanding.
if they have the money, they can go for mac brand from the start. i cant name a single techies in my place that will touch a mac with 10' barge pole though. due to cost, most people will buy not a mac anyway and maxed out their hw later by going to itshop or if they have family who knows how when their os/sw got bloated. good luck doing that on a mac.
Maybe that's true in Malaysia; I know the relative prices between brands vary significantly around the world. Here in Switzerland, Macs are only a bit more expensive than similar PCs, and their significantly longer usable lifespans more than make it worthwhile, so it's quite common to see techies using them. USA is the same. (I'm an American in Switzerland so I have close ties to both countries.)
Can confirm. I haven't seen anything upgraded in any business for 15 years other than RAM and CPUs in servers
because for business, i havent heard the boss asked for upgrade, they just buy entirely new sets within 5-10 years time, most of the retired sets still have a good life in them and thats what we B40 grade will usually keep an ear to, i have one here dell brand that i got for free few years ago and i maxed out recently for kids usage (after they managed to render my install to an unbootable state), about 13yrs of hw age... if its an old mac, the rubbish is its rightful place (no hope for upgrade). for normal (esp techies) people, esp storage tech is rapidly changing, you can mark the transition between HDD -> SSD -> NVMe and recently 1TB -> 4TB HDD/SSD upgrade, i bet its within less than a 5 years time for each tech to reach the market.
another aspect is customization option during purchase, with normal PC, the range is basically limitless. dont have the know how? just ask your itshop to do it for you, just name your budget, what games you are going to play what engineering SWs will be in, how many hundreds GB of RAM or TBs of storage you want and you will be all set. you can even ask them to beat this brand or that brand at a fraction of price... 10 years later there is a new hardcore game/simulation that requires a new card, no worries, buy the new card and snap it in the PCIex slot of the old PC, mac? just buy the new book pro of that time i guess and you can put your old mac to a good rest. ymmv.
The average lifespan of PCs in business, which for many years was 2-3 years, has now crept up to 3-4 years due to the factors mentioned at the top of this reply. Macs in businesses typically are kept one year longer than PCs, so around 4-5 years now. Either way, 5-10 years is completely unrealistic.
As for comparing a
desktop PC to a Mac
laptop: very few PC laptops have upgradeable graphics cards. Laptops, regardless of platform, tend to have highly customized motherboards, and while the Mac has embraced fully-integrated, completely non-customizable/upgradeable motherboards, the PC world is going the same direction, just a few years later (as always...).
FWIW, I do still miss the days of upgradeable
desktop Macs. The current Mac Pro is upgradeable-ish, but nothing like how my 2008 Mac Pro is, in which all the drives and expansion cards have been upgraded many times over the years.