Most of my time, I’ve spent using Windows, like many others who grew up with it. Sometimes, people ask me how I became an Apple fan.

How it a started

I don’t remember the exact year, but back then, every cellphone maker had its own OS, and smartphones were becoming popular. At this moment I had a Nokia N97 Mini (Brown) with Linux as OS, this was a nice phone but for the time, not really my thing and I was looking for a replacement. But I didn’t know which one I had to choose. Maybe I will try an iPhone… next year I can change to something else if there is a better phone available. Hopefully Apple has fixed the troubles with the battery, so they don’t explode or something.

The iPhone 3 GS

This is where it all started for me. Normally, when you got a new phone, you’d spend the whole evening setting it up- choosing ringtones and getting everything in place. But after an hour I had all in placed and feel comfy with the phone…

After the iPhone 3 GS I never had another phone then an iPhone (private).

On my job I had a Nokia C2-01 and we upgraded to a smartphone as well… An AWESOME (sarcastic) Nokia Lumia Windows Phone! The navigation was great if you like unpaved roads and no matter which options you set… And if your boss was pissed because you missed an appointment? Check your date and time… of course… it was reset again.

Let’s forget that phone…

I don’t know exactly which iPhone I had now I use my private phone also for my work because the phone that I don’t want to call it by name anymore was off and laying in a drawer.

After a time, I decide to use my private number as my business number and a new one for private and I want to try something new and choose for my work a Samsung Galaxy S9… and let’s skip this phone either… After year there came an iPhone 8 available and from that moment, I had an iPhone for work and one for private.

My first Mac

In the period I was using the phone with Windows on it… I bought an old, leased MacBook (a white one from mid 2007) from my work and started using a Mac. So, I learned a lot of differences and to give support to users they use Macs.

After a year the first iMacs came back and for sale at work, so I bought one of those. It was an early 2009 with an Intel Core2Duo, a few months later I had an Intel i3 iMac, but the Core2Duo was much better…

The last iMac I had was from a college who a bought a new one, this was an Intel I5 and 27-inch. I think I had this iMac for about 2 year and sold it and because the Mac is not properly reset because it’s on the moment of writing this blog visible on mine Find My. (oops)… Unfortunately, I can’t remove it neither Apple can do it for me. But this iMac is a mid 2010 and still working daily!

After a period of using only Windows machines…

My laptop needed to be replaced, and I was torn between the new MacBook Air with an M1 chip and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3. At that moment the Surface laptop 4 was new so… I bought the Microsoft Surface laptop 3 with a big discount. After all the deal was good.

On my work there was an option to get a new laptop, and I decide to take the MacBook Air with the M1… Why didn’t I buy this one for myself? Maybe I had concern about the M1 and to take the step to a Mac again?

Anyway, I used the MacBook for work and private beside the Microsoft Surface laptop.

A year later I switched jobs and didn’t have a MacBook anymore. Luckly my Microsoft Surface laptop was there, but I missed the MacBook…

Recently I’ve bought the Apple MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro silicon and gave the Microsoft Surface laptop 3 to my wife.

Which phones I’ve used:

• iPhone 3 GS
• iPhone 4 S
• iPhone 5 S
• iPhone 6 S Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 8 (at work)
• iPhone SE (2nd gen.)
• iPhone X
• iPhone 11 (at work)
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro

Of course I have also other Apple products such as an iPad, Watch, TV’s and AirPods Pro.

What is it that I prefer about a Mac over Windows?

The Apple Ecosystem makes everything much more seamless. Here’s a simple example:

When I sit in my car, I use my AirPods Pro 2*. When I come home and start working on my MacBook, the connection switches automatically.

I take photos with my iPhone, and without doing anything, those photos are instantly available on my Mac.

*No, this isn’t illegal here. I use them in Adaptive mode to reduce the annoying sounds of my old car. This helps me focus better, and I do check my mirrors even more.

If you think I’m not an Apple fan?

Recently, I bought a Macintosh Classic II as a collector’s item. Soon, you’ll be able to find more details about it on my other website: Project 85 (in Dutch). Have you read the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson? I highly recommend it – it provides great insight into why things at Apple are so different.