Macbook?

Hi all,

Apologize in advance if this is not the appropriate forum section for this thread.
I have a quick question that I was hoping some seasoned traders could help me with in regards with a laptop.
I am looking at buying a new laptop dedicated solely to the purpose of trading and journaling from. I am first investing in a new laptop over a stationary trade station as I am on the move a lot and I feel at this current time a high spec laptop would suit my needs for now.

I am new to trading and currently studying at a trading school in London. I had my eyes set on buying the new 15 inch macbook pro. However, I have been warned off by multiple people saying that mac are not good for traders as I’m going to have to use parallels to use most trading platforms. Seeing as a mac is quite a hefty chuck of change more than a top end windows laptop Im not sure wether it would actually be worth buying the mac if I’m just going to end up running windows on it?

Could anyone that has had experience with both windows/ mac give me any insight into this? Really need to get hold of this laptop ASAP but i just can’t make a decision on what to go for! Both laptops I have my eyes on are a lot of money and I’d hate to regret my decision.

Thanks!

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Exactly my perspective. I have (once, for a few weeks) used a Mac for trading (running Windows on it, using Parallels), but it wasn’t mine and I won’t be buying one any time soon.

Like you, I just can’t see the point of paying extra for a Mac, and then paying extra [U]again[/U] for special software to use on it just to make it think it’s a PC in the first place.

I can understand why someone who [I]already has[/I] a Mac might want to do this to avoid needing to buy another laptop/desktop, to start trading; I can understand why someone who needs to replace a computer and needs a Mac specifically for some other, non-trading-related reason, might want to do it; but I don’t see why anyone who doesn’t [U]need[/U] to do it would really want to.

And welcome to the forum. :cool:

Agree with lexys, Macs really aren’t worth the money for what it actualy is.

You could by a Mac but it’s way more complicated with it. You need to install an additional software which imitates the conditions of Windows so you can use or install a trading platform. This could slow down the system and eventually reflect on your execution speed and trading results. I guess it’s not such a good idea.

I didn’t even know that the likes of MT4 and MT5 had no versions for Mac. What you are describing is such an unnecessary hassle on top of paying more for a Mac than for a Windows-running laptop. Also, didn’t the Mac laptop batteries die after about an year or so?

mlawson71 check the article on the MQL5 site: MetaTrader 4 on Mac OS - MQL4 Articles and see how many steps are listed to make a simple install of MT4 on Mac. Looking at their own introduction “Apple products have become very popular” I am wondering why there isn’t a MT4 desktop version for Mac OS.
I only use iPhone and the MT4 mobile version is fine there. Never used Mac Laptop so don’t know anything specific about its battery life :slight_smile:

I think the way I see sometimes has to do with the names these companies have made for themselves. If you look at it carefully, there is really no significant difference between other brands of pc.
What we should look for in any pc is;
Accuracy
Power
Speed
Memory, among others.

I believe there used to be a significant difference in hardware power between Mac computers and ordinary desktops, which is why graphical design artists used to prefer Macs, but that difference is all but gone now. Not to mention that you don’t really need a computer a powerful computer to run trading platforms.

Since MT4 is slowly “dying” the hope is that at least for MT5 there will be a Desktop version for MAC OS. IMO more brokers will be forced to offer MT5 in the future as the closest substitution of MT4, that will generate more incomes for MetaQuotes so hopefully they invest in Mac version at some point…

I agree with the previous post, there should be created versions for MAC as well. It is a huge hassle to use additional software so you can install the platform and it is pointless. As Metaquotes took the decision to not develop the MT4 any more and to substitute it with MT5, I think they will launch a MAC version.

I think that you should try a windows one.

I recently had an issue with my MacBook where all of the data on the hard drive became corrupted.

I use a MacBook as had one all ready, but find some things are geared up better for windows

I have a MacBook Pro with the M1 Max but I use it for video editing and photo editing as well. Overpowered for trading alone.

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I was a mac head for a while. But now I just buy pc because I’m just surfing the net and not doing any music/video editing that requires a stronger laptop.

I have a $300 pc lenovo. Sure it has its drawbacks (recently crashed), but I fixed my biggest problem (losing files) by storing all my important files on a micro SD card.

I suggest a big screen over 30cm. You wanna see your charts comfortably.

Other than size, I suggest using a micro SD card for all important files. When your computer crashes, no big deal. All your files are on your card. Take it out, put it in a new computer or reset the same one, and you’re back where you left off.

I absolutely agree with this - for backups, but for the last 6 years I use a family subscription to Microsoft MS365 service that costs £85 per year for up to 5 family members, each of whom can logon with 5 simultaneous devices (PC, desktop, mobile - iOS or Android, tablet) and includes up to one terabyte of storage per user. That works out at 5p per day per user, or 1p per day per user per maximum device allowed per person. In your personal cloud space you store all docs on your PC. The day your PC dies, you just login from another one (even one in an internet cafe), and access all your files in the cloud. I’ve had up to seven devices accessing it at the same time including a iPhone, a Chromebook and four desktop PCs besides my laptop and the MS licence police did not restrict my access. Best value for money I ever paid. By comparison, my wife and I used to pay £100 per year each just for MS Outlook, which is now included in MS365 as is Microsoft Teams and more and more “stuff” gets added to it every year. It is over 10 years since I used any non-Microsoft security software too. McAfee and Norton go out of their way to want to blue screen you regularly.