OS Updates have been free since 2013 and pretty much all software as well, except for services and pro stuff like Logic. So you got something wrong there.

Support for older hardware goes pretty far back, compared to Android (though that is getting better from what I read). At some point they just gotta let it go or it will hold back development. I don’t see why that’s such a big problem. You can still use everything and get security updates just not the latest features.

Bloatware, I don’t know what you’re comparing it with. Windows laptops are often filled with crap from the manufacturers and I hear Windows 11 even drowns you in it on a fresh install. Apple products come with all the basics and all of it is at least pretty good. They have a lot of extra software available to download but it won’t preinstall that or even nag you about it. And most of the time you can just delete even the main apps.

I’m all in on Apple hardware. I’ve got a Macbook Pro, iPad Air, iPhone, Watch, Homepod Mini and Apple TV. I started with Apple in 2010.

I used Windows before and until about 5 years ago for work. The later Windows versions became more and more confusing to me. For my work it is a horrible experience since you always have to go many extra steps to do anything (reason is that web development is mostly unix based). For gaming it is of course the best option but I lost interest in PC gaming and even back in XP times I used to customize Windows to look like OS X. But it was fine back then. I tinkered with it a lot and had fun times. But now I just want to be productive.

Why not Linux? Because I don’t want to tinker anymore for my main computers and I’m happy with what I have. I used it a few times on a Raspberry Pi and it’s not my thing.

Why not Android? For testing stuff at work I have an Android device and I hate everything about it. Also I would miss the ecosystem of iOS and interoperability with my other Apple devices.

The good:

I like the build quality and focus on details. Apple had a rough phase after Jobs passed and Jony Ive had too much power over the design. In that time it was very much true that Apple was all about form over function. That is not true anymore since he left.

Their main apps and services are kept fresh and improved so much that a lot of them even became my apps of choice for the category. I use Notes, Mail, Music, Podcasts (but I’m unsure about that one), Calendar and Safari. In other categories I prefer third party apps, like Things, 1Password.

You can feel pretty safe from malware or spyware because everything is sandboxed and access to user data is kept behind bars until explicitly allowed.

Resell value is pretty high even for older devices.

The bad:

Apple sometimes introduces some new service and then basically stops improving it. Siri is the best example here and it has become a laughing stock even inside the Apple fanbase. Homekit is another. It gets a few very tiny updates here and there but the only big ones were a visual overhaul of the Home app and the introduction to Matter, which so far had only little impact or even made it worse for some users (luckily not me).

Fancy names, yes it’s a bit weird, they want to brand everything.

Their presentations feel very cult-like and have lost their charm since Jobs is gone.

Repairs are expensive. I’m lucky so far that I never needed that .

I hate Apple Stores. They are crowded, boring and have less and less third party products available. Staff there is annoying but that’s true for any store these days.

To conclude, I like it, I don’t see the appeal in current alternatives.