As one of those people who believe Apple's hardware is overpriced, this story doesn't change my opinion on Apple's hardware.
I recognize the quality in Apple's devices but I believe the price point is way higher than the extra quality found in their products.
I've even recommended a MacBook to someone recently. Mainly for 2 reasons; their needs aligned with what the MacBook Pro would provide them with and they weren't the one paying for it.
I guess it comes down to how much you enjoy tearing your hair out fixing other peoples bugs or dealing with their crappy hardware.
I've used a 2010 MBA running OS X and Win 7 for the last 4 years. I max'ed out its specs back then and paid about $2k, including an Apple Care warranty which has since expired unused. I've had at least half a dozen Thinkpads before this, and none of them ever came close to surviving this long. My first Thinkpad was a 600, followed by a T20, etc. My last Thinkpad, a T410s, lasted less than 13 months before the LCD failed, same as a dozen others just like it around the office purchased around the same time. That's when I bought the MBA on my own dime.
Part of it is this MBA hit a sweet spot in the upgrade cycle where SSD/CPU/RAM has proven good enough to keep for 4 years, and really shows little signs of slowing for most workloads, and could keep going strong for several years longer.
But the physical hardware has held up astonishingly well. It's the most stable PC running Windows I've ever had. Thinking back on it... I don't think it has EVER blue screened, and I never reboot it except for critical updates.
The only gripe I have with the hardware is the Windows BootCamp driver for the combined mic/headphone jack doesn't switch the mic on when you plug in a proper headset, so it's stuck using the internal mic. But the built-in mic is so good, I've never bothered buying the $20 USB mic to workaround the issue.
It would be hard to tally the number of hours saved on NOT having to upgrade hardware, NOT having to replaced failed components, and NOT struggling with general driver instability and blue screens the last 4 years. This laptop has paid for itself many, many times over. Given the success I've had with the MBA, personally, when I do finally break down and buy another machine, it would be another MBA without a moments hesitation over Apple's 40% gross margin.
Not to mention putting together a collection of stories like this would give Apple fans a fallacious reference for why everyone should "just get a mac". Sorry, if a Mac doesn't fit my needs, I'm going to use a normal personal computer, not a walled garden. Doesn't matter how many obstacles I need to get through if I need a real personal computer, not someone else's ecosystem.
The first weeks are fine. But in time, you will find little things, that will annoy you. You will find things, that are fine in Linux or Windows, but not in OSX. (Like X apps not working, apps that assume some Linux-specific capability or API not available, differently behaving linker - if you are developer, etc.)
And I hope you don't live in Eastern Europe. The Apple service there is attrocious, even little things like exchanging your power supply can take 3 or 4 weeks. Try using your computer without one...
I recognize the quality in Apple's devices but I believe the price point is way higher than the extra quality found in their products.
I've even recommended a MacBook to someone recently. Mainly for 2 reasons; their needs aligned with what the MacBook Pro would provide them with and they weren't the one paying for it.