Which is better for Graphic Design? Mac or PC?

Back to the typical platform wars, where everyone has their two cents.. Which is better Mac or PC? I know, I know.. We've all been there before. But, this is quite different.. I get many questions from other designers that are looking to get a new computer and they contemplate on which is going to be a better buy for them in the long run for Graphic Design? I'm going to overview everything with comparisons to a Mac and a PC of their benefits and dis-advantages to a average Graphic Designer.

Handling the Basics

When we're focusing on Graphic Design we come into many elements on what we need to do our job with what we have. Our main focus is finding the computer that will handle graphics, colors, software availability, type and of course ease of use.

Handling graphics and color is a huge role of any graphic designer (hopefully, every designer acknowledges that). Apple has a quite a long history with being involved in Graphic Design and have started to built themselves a reputation and therefore they have been motivated to improve the handling and colors for their users every model they come out with. If one had to come to conclusion at this second based on only these features, the decision would be absolutely a Mac over a PC in this scenario. However don't get me wrong, the same effects can actually be achieved over PC though with some extra tweaks/upgrades. Web Design can't come into play with this for us designers considering, both have access to same

Software Availability

While only concerning Graphic Design in software availability, there isn't much a difference between the two platforms. Mostly used applications for Graphic Designers are Adobe products such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator and Fireworks/Flash which are all supported on Mac and PC.

However, considering Mac is known as a 'designer' computer, the app store Apple provides actually has quite a selection for us Graphic Designers and even Web Developers. For example, there are lots of tools that allow you to measure things on your screen but xScope on OSX easily stands out as one of the best. The on screen rulers can measure items, grab the distance between two items, span multiple monitors and even measure rotation. It provides a lot more functionality than many of its competitors and web-tools.

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Multiple selections with apps like this above and even CSS3 generators, cross-browser testing and other functional yet efficient apps to make your day job even easier than it is.

So, I'm going to have to say Mac wins on this over PC for Software availability.

Display & Colors

Display and Colors are entirely vital with Graphic Design and comparing them to each other platform is definitely a hard thing to do considering options are limitless when it comes to that, you have an option to get more/less displays on both platforms.

The Apple Cinema displays they use for their desktops are not only sleek, immaculate and sturdy with a professional structure, the color and contrast ratio on them are just amazing stock. They run pricey, but in my opinion always worth the price. For PC, many companies also offer tons of different monitors and sizes with even the same specification you can get what the Apple cinema display has for cheaper. So it'll all merely depends on what's your budget and what you'd want.

Ease of Use

This one's going to be a easy one to determine and I hope everyone knows that as well too. I'm a big avid PC fan, builded multiple gaming and workstation rigs, I've used many linux distributions to every Windows.. So I know about ease of use when it comes to a user interface. Clearly, one of Apple's huge selling points are focused on how easy it is to use Mac OS with always new features that allow you to integrate applications and maximize for a clean workflow. Their OS is pure eye candy and it's almost something anyone can catch on to without worrying for third-party errors interfering with your OS or bloatware.

Although.. Microsoft has also stepped their game up dramatically and only continues to do so, however I would give the final edge to Apple for this one. I can't find a easier OS to use when it comes to the Mac.

Pricing

I think everyone knows the answer to this one too, PC's tend to always run a lot cheaper with the same hardware as what would be included in a iMac model. So if you're on a lower-end budget for Graphic Design, it sound's like the PC is your choice.

Conclusion

Coming to a ending, from everything I've used in the past years as a Graphic Designer from using a PC and a Mac, I'm actually going to have to go with the Mac on this for Multimedia occupations even as a hardcore PC fanboy. If you can afford it, it will offer everything you're looking for with not only ease of use but overall clean/sleek look of the Apple products. In my opinion as well, I've noticed clients always seemed more impressed to see Macs than PCs, they do in the end look more professional! So, there you have it!

Have a decent budget enough to get a Mac? Get it! If not start with a PC, they're great too!

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