I think since COVID I haven't seen an office that actively chooses those "SFF" PC's anymore, and those were as anaemic as laptops performance-wise... and weirdly: not much cheaper either.
Granted, I don't see a lot of offices, but everywhere that I have seen seems to be choosing docking stations or USB-C enabled displays (Dell has an excellent selection of those) and some kind of business laptop like a Precision or Elitebook.
Incidentally, those same screens are used for the staff who have Apple computers, and, largely, those are laptops too.
Desktops seem to be practically dead except for workstation-grade ones in the businesses I've been to.
Where the stationary work PC survives (I think): point of sale like desks that are half way between cash register (not personal at all) and notebook computer (each employee got their own). E.g. the computer feeding the screen at the hotel check-in counter. Not a big market relative to the number of systems existing because they aren't frequently replaced and when they are replaced, very cheaply, but the number existing is huge. And leaning to the PC side a lot, I think?
Workstation-grade, I'd say, is extremely limited and shrinking fast. Particularly outside of the tinkerer niche. Think "gamer", even if I suspect that actual gaming isn't half as big in that niche as marketing approaches would suggest. But in any case very much not-Apple.
I do Windows application development and the company I work for is all desktop machines. Some of the static analysis tools need a lot of RAM and CPU (I have 128 GB and a pretty new Threadripper with a lot of cores). There aren’t good laptop options for this type of development machine, at least not ones I’d like to use (ie minimal fan noise).
I would expect any call centre type operation would have desktops.
The employees would never work from home (outside of a pandemic) and work set hours.
So if desktops costs less, they will of course be used here since there is nothing to be gained from paying extra. Similarly, these users would not be using pricier Apple products.
Manufacturing plants, gas stations, mechanic shops, every single retail store, restaurants, movie theaters, bars, call centers, farms, police stations, prisons, libraries, etc. Basically everywhere my guy. The world isn't just dev shops.
What’s the point of using a laptop with a docking station? You still need an external keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc. Is the main reason to save money? Or is it because laptops are now more powerful than desktop PCs?
For example, do MacBook Airs paired with external monitors perform better than traditional PCs? If not, are people opting for MacBook Pros with docks instead? And if so, is a top-tier MacBook Pro with an external monitor and keyboard actually cheaper than a Mac Studio setup?
dijit|11 months ago
Granted, I don't see a lot of offices, but everywhere that I have seen seems to be choosing docking stations or USB-C enabled displays (Dell has an excellent selection of those) and some kind of business laptop like a Precision or Elitebook.
Incidentally, those same screens are used for the staff who have Apple computers, and, largely, those are laptops too.
Desktops seem to be practically dead except for workstation-grade ones in the businesses I've been to.
usrusr|11 months ago
Workstation-grade, I'd say, is extremely limited and shrinking fast. Particularly outside of the tinkerer niche. Think "gamer", even if I suspect that actual gaming isn't half as big in that niche as marketing approaches would suggest. But in any case very much not-Apple.
wil421|11 months ago
where-group-by|11 months ago
Any cubicle farms, like call centres.
University labs, Hospitals.
criddell|11 months ago
jonathanlydall|11 months ago
The employees would never work from home (outside of a pandemic) and work set hours.
So if desktops costs less, they will of course be used here since there is nothing to be gained from paying extra. Similarly, these users would not be using pricier Apple products.
bongodongobob|11 months ago
poisonborz|11 months ago
swat535|11 months ago
For example, do MacBook Airs paired with external monitors perform better than traditional PCs? If not, are people opting for MacBook Pros with docks instead? And if so, is a top-tier MacBook Pro with an external monitor and keyboard actually cheaper than a Mac Studio setup?