Renting a Mac?

Enigmaman

I am on the point of migrating from Windows to Mac but because of 1 or 2 apps that I rely on (primarily speech to text and I gather Dragon NaturallySpeaking no longer exists for Mac), I would be interested in trying out iOS first.

A mix of home/home business use.

I see various services are offering Macs for rent. I was thinking of hiring a Mac for a week or 2 (probably a MacBook as it seems to be the cheapest option).

I notice there is even a Mac in the cloud rental service available. Initial investigations suggest this could be expensive and I would be better off sticking with my original idea of buying a refurbished Mac Mini.

Any experience ith renting Macs?

DullGreyGuy

Apple have a 14 day no questions asked return policy for in store purchases currently extended to 8th Jan at the moment... could avoid the cost and other potential risks with a rental?

Never tried using it to get a full refund but certainly bought a M2 Mac knowing I'd be returning it 2 weeks later for an M3 to bridge the gaps between old computer dying, needing a computer for work today and preferring the just to be announced newer model for the long term. 

Enigmaman

The 14 ay cooling off period is useful to know about.

coffeehound

I wonder if an Apple shop would let you try out the apps you want in the shop

zagubov

I'd try it out for a week or to and then think about buying one (second-hand can be fine).
They keep their value for a long time and most users are loath to change them. I'm on a 11-year old macbook and I'm not even running its highest version of the OS.
Be wary about upgrading to new software versions; they're often like downgrades and apple make it difficult to switch back to earlier better versions, so make sure you keep backing it up using Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner in case you upgrade too far one day.

Enigmaman

Changing tack a bit, I am wondering about the cost of software I might need. I have quite a few subscriptions to various Windows products.

e.g. (1) I will need Office 365 and already have a subscription. Can I use it across platforms?

(2) Backup. I have a paid subscription to Easeus Todo with Windows. is the native iOS option free and is it any good?
  
(3) Antivirus/Malwarebytes: Will I need antivirus and/or Malwarebytes? 

(4) VPN - I pay for a VPN right now. Does iOS offer a native option?

Desmond_Hume

Enigmaman said:

Changing tack a bit, I am wondering about the cost of software I might need. I have quite a few subscriptions to various Windows products.

e.g. (1) I will need Office 365 and already have a subscription. Can I use it across platforms?

(2) Backup. I have a paid subscription to Easeus Todo with Windows. is the native iOS option free and is it any good?
  
(3) Antivirus/Malwarebytes: Will I need antivirus and/or Malwarebytes? 

(4) VPN - I pay for a VPN right now. Does iOS offer a native option?

1 - Unsure about it crossing platforms.  Probably one for the O265 FAQ's.

2 - iOS has an inbuilt backup solution, TimeMachine, as mentioned earlier.

3 - Not required in my experience.

4 - No iOS native option but cannot see why your current sub would not work.

The suggestion above re. asking in an Apple Store about relying apps you have concerns about probably isn't a bad one.  The staff are typically very helpful, again in my experience.

wongataa

Note that iOS is the iPhone and iPad operating system.  It does not run on Mac computers.  The Mac operating system is called MacOS.

Desmond_Hume

wongataa said:

Note that iOS is the iPhone and iPad operating system.  It does not run on Mac computers.  The Mac operating system is called MacOS.

Indeed. That was a mistype by me without thinking properly 👍. 

DullGreyGuy

Enigmaman said:

Changing tack a bit, I am wondering about the cost of software I might need. I have quite a few subscriptions to various Windows products.

e.g. (1) I will need Office 365 and already have a subscription. Can I use it across platforms?

(2) Backup. I have a paid subscription to Easeus Todo with Windows. is the native iOS option free and is it any good?
  
(3) Antivirus/Malwarebytes: Will I need antivirus and/or Malwarebytes? 

(4) VPN - I pay for a VPN right now. Does iOS offer a native option?

1) M365 subscriptions are not OS specific so you can install on both MacOS and Windoze machines, you'll just have a cap on how many devices based on your chosen plan

2) Apple has a built in backup system called TimeMachine, just need somewhere to backup to. Is it good? not sure how you define good but on the exceptional rare occasions I've needed an accidentally deleted file etc its been easy to recover it 

3) Generally not unless you are particularly into downloading illegal content etc in which case it could be more prudent. For the average user just staying on top of security patches should be fine.

4) I'm guessing you mean MacOS? iOS is for phones. If you subscribe to iCloud+ (99p/month is the lowest tier) then you can use "private relay" which has some VPN like features but isn't a full VPN... only protects Safari and you can only chose between general location or own country (no option to appear as if in the US etc). The subscription also gives you the ability to create instant disposable email addresses (receive and send) that go to your normal inbox until you disable it. 

It's not a full VPN though and I use ExpressVPN when I need the full fat option but the basic apple one works for most day to day for me. 

Martin_the_Unjust

You can run windows virtually in a Mac which would allow you to run any of your must have windows specific programs.

https://www.howtogeek.com/869687/how-to-run-windows-on-a-mac/