Edit: this thread was originally me praising my new Acer Predator Triton 17 X but then i actually used it to play and the keyboard got too hot to touch so i exchanged it for Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16
i subsequently deleted all of the posts about the Acer, which was 90% of the posts in this thread.
only remaining posts are about Macbook Pro so i renamed the thread accordingly.
it’s not a new thread - just a new name, because the original name about the Acer no longer applies.
I switched to OSX after WIn Vista around 2008, and I dont use win machines since then. OSX is just superior OS vs Win and the hardware <> software optimization that Apple offers > Win + even an excellently produced laptop … I run Macbook Pro m1 for main desktop w 3 monitors connected and just bought m3 air for lounging around house.
the new M3 Max MBP is probably the best laptop ever made, but what i have realized from trying apple several times in the past is you need to go all-in or not at all. you can’t have one foot in Apple and another in Windows / Android.
when i tried Apple in the past i would do things like dual boot with Windows or have windows app in Virtual environment etc. and it was just nothing but misery. I couldn’t give up on Windows so Mac OS was just extra unnecessary software for me since i was still keeping Windows and Windows had all of the software that i needed.
Now for anybody who can give up Windows and Android completely they will be able to enjoy tablets with twice the performance and laptops with twice the battery life compared to android and windows.
but that’s not me. i can’t take that leap. i have tried many times and i can’t.
there is always something on Windows i need that Mac doesn’t have. and Android integrates with windows much more seamlessly than IOS does.
i believe Apple has best smartwatch, tablet and notebook and their phone is at least as good as the best android phone … but they still don’t have some things that Windows and Android have …
they are weak in games, servers, rugged devices … and overall ecosystem is just smaller
and now with M series ARM chips Macs can’t even natively run Mac software written for the Intel Macs …
because Apple keeps switching CPU types to whatever is best at any given moment they cripple their software ecosystem, in addition to already limited hardware ecosystem … whereas Intel may not be that good but because Windows has been using it so consistently for so long they have a super mature software ecosystem, in addition to extremely large hardware ecosystem as well … pretty much every single hardware device supports windows from mice and keyboards to graphics cards etc … and almost every software title ( except ones made by Apple ) is available for Windows as well.
yes apple will always have the sleekest hardware and the tightest integration but to me a large and open ecosystem is more important …
you could argue Linux is more open than Windows but Linux is also much smaller …
as i am sure you know Microsoft market cap has surpassed apple … but this isn’t even a fair comparison because Apple doesn’t compete against MS, it competes against everybody … the combined market cap of Microsoft, Google and Nvidia is about 7 trillion versus 2.5 trillion for Apple …
i actually thought Apple would crush Microsoft when they switched to M1 chips because Windows was trying to switch to Arm too but kept failing while Apple just did it … instead the opposite happened when MS surpassed Apple market cap …
in the end Apple will always be a shiny gadget company while Microsoft and Google will be about building open and flexible platforms …
with Apple the sleekest gadget is taken for granted … but not much can be done about ecosystem weakness ( except for stuff like iPads )
with Windows / Android the ecosystem is taken for granted … and you can get excited whenever a shiny gadget comes along 
Yes i gave up gaming years back - thats the only thing I lack being within apple ecosystem. Otherwise you are absolutely right you need to be fully in to enjoy it, personally thats what Im doing apple watch/iphone/laptops etc and I like it and I think its actually superior in many aspects but if you game you need a windows box, and I also dont like android and prefer iphone - again matter of preference. Ill return to gaming once they have those games available using those apple glasses or occulus etc but for now not gonna bother w a windows box just to game