I think it's utterly hilarious how worked up anti-Apple people get whenever this topic comes up in a gaming forum.

Once I would have agreed with you... that was about 12 years ago. The landscape today has been changed though. The gamechanger is devices. We're using computers much differently today than we were 5 years ago, let alone 12 years ago when Apple took that "hit" while Jobs wasn't with the company. The best thing that happened to Apple was the iPod, then the iPhone, and now the iPad. Let's look at who their real competitors are in this market. The alternatives are Blackberry/Playbook combinations yet RIM does not have a foothold in the PC market whatsoever, and their recent issues make me wonder how much of a future they are going to have. Then we have the Android market which while available across a large variety of devices there is very little in the way of standardization and quality control of Application development. A recent article boasts a whopping 60% of Android apps are riddled with Malware and it's largely the result of the lack of control over distribution into the marketplace combined with rapid influx into market making it very attractive target for malware developers. In essence, it's easy to code viruses for Windows and Android platforms, and is not so easy for Mac OSX and iOS platforms because Apple has a much stricter policy and process for releasing software. Apple is taking the integration of its products and is defining a new way that we use entertainment, and it combines the computer with devices such as iPods, iPads, iPhones, Routing devices, backup storage and lastly, a TV receiving device. They are idiot proof to set up so yes, even your grandmother can use them but they are also highly configurable which means even the die hard techie types will have fun finding new ways to automate their life. The days of cable are nearly over. People won't be using land-lines for much longer. We're entering a new age of communication and the reality is... whomever has the largest market share of integrating hardware is going to win this race. Apple has a pretty good foothold and if they play their cards right they could lead this race. Will they? I don't know... I'm not a fortune teller, but I think there's a good chance they'll give Google/Android/Windows a good run for their money. When there are enough Apple users out there, game developers will build for them. That is the ultimate question. Nobody is going to build anything for a niche market. Apple isn't as much of a Niche market anymore, and from watching user statistics daily in Analytics reports, I'd say it's safe to say it's gaining in popularity... not losing.

In 2008 I bought my last PC Laptop (a Dell Precision M4300) within 4 months of buying the early 2008 MacBook Pro model. The Dell actually cost 1200.00 more than the MacBook Pro did. These were the very early days of graphic cards in laptops capable of handling any kind of real graphic performance for certain professions and of course, gaming. The components and build were nearly identical. The Dell was touted to be designed for CAD Drawing/Architecture/CG professionals as a workstation computer, or as small scale business servers. The Mac is obviously geared at designers and video professionals. I used both computers to play the same MMOs at the time (EQ2, Age of Conan, WoW). The game that demonstrated the superiority of the Mac was AoC, which was completely unplayable on the Dell. It played fine on low settings on the Mac with no stutter. EQ2 at one time played fine on both machines, but eventually degraded in performance following patches and became completely unplayable in late 2009. Not even following a complete format/reinstall of the OS did the performance improve. Both computers had the same problems with the overheating GeForce card (known issue with the card), and both had to have the logic boards replaced (under warranty) as a result of said overheating. I recently traded in my MacBook pro and was awarded $750.00 as trade in value towards my current 2011 model. It was running beautifully and I would still be using it if I didn't require an updated model for the software I run for work. I couldn't even give the Dell away... it can't even stream a Netflix movie let alone do anything else other than checking emails and surfing the Net... and man it is one heavy brick! I asked the service guys at the little reseller shop as to why both computers ran so differently and they demonstrated the difference between the parts and more importantly... the design of the housing of parts inside both machines. The key observation I could make was in the design of where parts are placed. The Dell was fine when I bought it but over time the wear and tear on the components inside is what was likely causing my performance issues. While they were still functioning... I think it's safe to say that it was just barely. The MacBook Pro was still very solid inside, and all parts were operating like new. I take care of my computers but ordinary use subjects them to heat... and that can do a fair amount of damage on its own. Ultimately it comes down to which one can take a heavier beating and in my experience... Apple has won hands down. I'm not even going to talk about the other machines I've used... some of them don't even warrant mentioning. Let's just say I won't shop at Future Shop or Best Buy for a computer, nor at a local shop where a guy is building computers out of parts with brand names I've never heard of before. Dells aren't bad machines, I still have a i7 Desktop that performs really well. I gave it to my husband recently as I have no real need for one of each computer anymore, and he'll be playing the game on that. Dell and Apple have the best warranties in the business IMHO. Despite how a machine is made, the Warranty is important to me because I have made copious use of them in the past. Those two laptops alone were practically rebuilt from the inside out and without the Warranties on them... they'd have had to be replaced (ouch pocketbook). While I haven't had a Lenovo myself, I owned a Thinkpad a long time ago and my mother picked up a Lenovo for her home personal use. I looked at the specs of that Lenovo and I would have to say that the MacBook Pro model I'm running has higher specs than that particular model. I'm running an i7 processor versus the i5 in the Lenovo (which for the most part is the difference of having Hyperthreading... i5 does not). Both systems have the Intel HD Graphics 3000, but the MacBook Pro also has a dedicated HD Radeon 6750M 1GB which it switches to for heavier graphics processing (I can also choose to disable the Graphics 3000). The one thing the Lenovo has on me is the 128 SSD drive. I did swap out the generic 750GB 7200 RPM drive in my MBP for a hybrid SSD Momentus XT with 500 GB of memory. The purpose is that it front-loads applications that I use regularly into SSD memory which allows for faster access, while allowing for more storage space overall at a lesser cost than a full SSD drive. (I'd love to have a second SSD drive just for operating systems and applications though). Ultimately I use a Mac for everything now and Windows solely for games that aren't supported under Mac OS. I will never go back. I got tired of the bloatware Microsoft calls it's operating system. I was very fed up at the clunky PC applications that do everything else in our lives from Media serving to home applications to productivity software. Everything on Apple products just integrates better. Windows Media server experience has always been an exercise of sheer frustration and when combined with changing codec updates and the sheer volume of crapware and malware out there and I was done. To each his own... I joined this thread to advocate a SWTOR build of this game. I'm not out to convert anyone but since you asked... there you have it!

Yes I'm well aware of those stickers, and yes, they can be peeled off... very carefully. The cellophane wrappers are also very easily removed and can be carefully replaced on the product inside. I also know that those little round clear stickers can be carefully removed, and are sold by packaging companies. That said though, isn't it up to the individuals in your store to make the call as to whether the liquid damage was inflicted by the customer or that it was delivered that way? I know it sure is in our store, and Apple hasn't second-guessed our calls... and we're just a Reseller!

Tone can be inflected through the written word, and in your case, it has been highly negative throughout this entire thread. If you are looking to build validity and credibility by claiming you are what you say you are, you are losing that with your tone because it is so accusing and derogatory, and you aren't just attacking Apple, you're attacking your audience too. If you are in fact what you say you are, I get that people don't like their jobs and/or the companies they work for. I don't enjoy my day job all that much and working part time at an Apple Reseller is a fun job for me. I actually really enjoy it (most of the time). I'll say one thing though... despite how I feel about my day job, the last thing I do is make it my mission to go around and bash anything that has anything to do with what I do during the day. In fact if nothing else, I avoid topics about it rather than dive in feet first as you have done here. Ultimately, your behaviour in this thread makes you look more like a Troll than a credible source. Sorry

As an Apple "Genius", you should know that water damage isn't covered by Applecare. Some people are pretty good at repackaging product and making it appear that it was never unopened. Again, as an Apple "Genius", this is also something you should have seen more than a dozen times by now. To say Applecare is a scam because it doesn't cover liquid damage makes me think you are just a disgruntled idiot. I am amazed you still have a job with your attitude.

By the tone of your opening, I can already tell that you are posting purely to antagonize. Sorry that your lot in life is not to your liking.

I think the point of posting that particular Rig was to point out that Macs can be pretty impressive on the spec scale. That particular machine is intended for rendering video for motion pictures, and is about $16,000.00, not $20,000.00. Still, you could absolutely game on that machine, if you had a situation that justifies it (most of us don't). As for your $300.00 PC running SWTOR on medium settings. Enjoy!

Obviously you've never used an SSD, nor do you understand the purpose.

Far less than market value if you comparison shop for the base components and build one yourself. They aren't cheap components, but these machines aren't meant to be replaced once every 6 months to a year either.

+1 Would love to ditch Bootcamp, which I am currently only using for this game.

Admittedly, I work for an Apple reseller, which of course may make me biased but it also puts me in the know, like yourself. Our local Apple store sends a lot of upgrade business our way because we specialize in upgrades. You should see what you can do to these things with a few strategically planned upgrades. My next upgrade will be removing the Optical drive and putting in a dedicated SSD card to run OS's and Apps, then upgrading my 500 GB Momentus XT Hybrid SSD to the 750 GB model. I've got 8GB currently but plan to upgrade to 16 GB in the New Year.

Are you saying you wouldn't want to game on this particular Rig: -------------------------------------------------------------- Two 2.93GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” (12 cores) 64 GB (8 x 8 GB) RAID Config 1 512GB solid-state drive 512GB solid-state drive RAID Config 2 2TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive 2TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB 18x SuperDrive Quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express card -------------------------------------------------------------- I know I sure would!

That might have been the case 10 years ago, but things are rapidly changing. You might want to check out the benchmarks of the latest 15 inch and 17 inch MacBook Pros. Of course, the current Mac Pro is going to blow most PCs out of the water as well. It's the same hardware but superior quality components (opposed to most PC manufacturers) and and design of component placement. This thread is about requesting a native build for OSX, presumably Lion (w/o Rosetta). Considering that OSX is a much more lightweight and smoother running operating system than Windows, I imagine SWTOR would run like butter on Macs meeting the minimum hardware requirements. Of course those surpassing it will be amazing.

This has got to be the funniest pile of horsecrap I've read in a while. You're an iOS Developer? Really? I find that hard to believe if you have such a small opinion of Apple hardware. What do you program on... a G5? Were you gaming while running Windows through Parallels or something? LOL! That said, I've been gaming (MMOs primarily) on MacBook Pros since 2008, and I will never, ever go back to any build of a PC again. I've built my own PCs, I've owned Dells and Alienwares... never again. They just aren't built out of the same quality components as you will find in an Apple. Provided you buy a model that is Benchmarked for gaming, you are going to have a machine you can rely on for at least 3 years, probably more.