It seems every 3 years I need to replace the PC and that has accelerated when I added Photoshop, Lightroom, NIK etc.
If that is your main reason for switching over, I'm sad to say that's not a very good reason anymore. With laptops like their MacBook Air and their latest version of the Macbook Pro, they're starting to solder their components directly to the motherboard now. You can't even upgrade RAM or harddrives after the fact anymore. If either of those go, you're hosed and have to buy a whole new device if the failure falls outside your warranty period (or pay the hefty repair bill).
That's actually the reason why I'm switching
towards PCs again. I find that Apple hardware really only has a shelf life of about 3 years too and after that you have to evaluate whether or not you want to sell off your computer/laptop and still get enough resale value back to upgrade or keep it around until it dies completely. At least with PC hardware, you can just upgrade what you need when you need without having to start from scratch again. Don't get me wrong; I love OS X. As a *nix server administrator and developer, I'm big on using the command line so having the terminal included in the operating system is a big plus for me.
Also when you're comparing prices, you can pretty much build the equivalent or better PC at half the price of purchasing the Mac, and you have the flexibility of just upgrading specific components when your computer seems a little outdated. Two years ago I decided it was time to unload my iMac since it was starting to show its age. I wasn't sure if I was going to go with a new iMac or spend a little more and go with their Mac Pro desktop tower. The show stopper for me? Their processors on their "latest" computers were seriously outdated and this was even after the semi-yearly update. The iMac at the time was still coming with Core 2 Duo processors, and the Macbook Pros were coming with the i3 for the basic and mid range, and i5 for the upgraded whereas i5/i7 was the standard on PC based equivalents (and at a lower cost). And they still weren't using USB 3.0! I was finding that Apple computers were using components that were usually one or two generations behind the PC world and they were really dictating what goes into their machines and that was frustrating for me. So just for the heck of it, I spec'ed out how much it'd cost to build an up-to-date computer (still not top of the line!) and it'd cost me about $600, not including the monitor, to build something that was already faster, had twice the memory, and bigger harddrive than their $1500 equivalent option. So don't believe it when pro-Apple people tell you Apple components are better or their equipment is cutting edge; it's simply untrue.
Although I do have to give them credit for this Retina display people keep talking about. I haven't seen it yet, but I understand what it is and based on what I've heard it's pretty neat. However the downside is it's still in its infancy so a lot of things need to be ported over to take advantage of it. My understanding is things that are compatible with Retina already look amazing, but things that aren't yet look horrible. Sure, Apple didn't come up with the technology, but they're definitely making it more popular.
I'll also give Apple big credit for customer service. One of the problems with the Macbooks a few years ago was the material used was a really crappy plastic and they were prone to cracking and chipping along the edges. Apple had no problem replacing mine and my sisters even though our Macbooks were about 4 years old. Right after I got it back from them, my touchpad wouldn't click anymore. I noticed the battery had swelled up considerably making it impossible to click on the pad (and balance on the table). I was aware Apple had a huge recall a few years back about batteries made in 2006 being potentially defective and sure enough the battery was made in 2006. I made another trip to the Apple store that week and they gave me a brand new battery, even though after 4 years of usage, the swelling was likely due to just normal end of life on it. So after two trips to the Apple store, my 4 year old Macbook was almost brand new again with a brand new battery, new keyboard/restpad, and screen bezel for the cost of nothing
😀
