The downsides of switching from a MacBook to Windows
macOS and Windows both have their own advantages. If you're planning to move to Windows, make sure you know what you're giving up.
Apple's vertical integration allows the company to offer bespoke laptop hardware that works in tandem with its own software, creating a polished experience down the stack. This is often referred to as a walled garden — a beautiful prison. Windows laptop manufacturers, by contrast, have very little control over Windows itself, and must negotiate with parts makers from AMD to Nvidia when building a new laptop. That's a difference you'll almost certainly notice when switching, especially if you're on a budget.
Whereas even the budget MacBook Neo (our review) has an aluminum shell, lower-end Windows laptops are often made of plastic that bends and creaks. That said, you can find Windows laptops with premium hardware, and you might even prefer the unique designs available on that side of the fence. For instance, we've looked at the 2026 Dell XPS 13, which has an aluminum chassis to rival the MacBook Neo. Meanwhile, the newest Asus laptops, such as the Zenbook A16, have members of the tech press fawning over their custom "ceraluminum" material. And while rumors of an upcoming touchscreen MacBook have swirled as of this writing, Windows has offered plentiful tablet and 3-in-1 options for over a decade.
Because most Windows laptops still use x86 architecture, those models tend to have much worse battery life than MacBooks with Apple's ARM-based M-series silicon. However, Microsoft has made a renewed push for ARM-based Windows laptops. As a result, you can now find a number of laptops running chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek, which tend to compete more closely with MacBooks on battery life. The downside for Windows on ARM is software compatibility, as we'll discuss.
On the positive side, you have a far greater number of hardware options when shopping for a Windows laptop. You can get a slim ultrabook with an ARM processor that's perfect for work, or a tank of a gaming laptop for long sessions in the latest AAA titles. If you want to play a wide range of games, Windows is unavoidable. MacBooks are also limited on ports; even though the past several MacBooks Pro generations have added HDMI ports and SD card readers, Windows laptops generally offer a much more generous range of connectivity options. You can even opt for something like the excellent Framework Laptop 13 Pro, a modular machine with hot-swappable I/O and easy-to-upgrade internals.
Speaking of upgrades, they're another perk of Windows' ecosystem. MacBooks now use the M-series SoC, which solders the CPU, RAM and storage onto a single, non-upgradable module. In comparison, you can more easily find Windows laptops with replaceable RAM and storage.
Originally published on Engadget
