Wirecutter’s removal of MacBooks from the “best laptop” category effectively is the latest piece of evidence in a recent trend I’ve noticed in which reviewers inexplicably stopped comparing Wintel laptops to Apple’s MacBooks. compare
ArsTechnica review of the Surface Laptop Go 2 From this month to them Surface Book 2 review 2017. The current review only includes other Wintel laptops in the benchmarks while the review included from that year’s 2017 MacBook.
If memory works, including Macs in PC-PC comparisons was somewhat the norm just a few years ago. I can’t understand why some reviewers have stopped doing this recently. Is it because reviewers don’t think they can compare x86 and ARM laptops to some degree? Seems easy enough to me. Are they afraid that displaying MacBooks that outperform Wintel laptops will make the impression that they are in an Apple bag? I don’t see why. The facts are facts, and many people need or want to buy a Windows laptop regardless.
I can’t help but wonder if, in the minds of many reviewers, MacBooks they were PCs have long been using Intel, and so they stopped being computers once Apple switched to using their own silicon.
I’m pretty sure Wellborn was right the first time around: reviewers in ostensibly neutral posts fear repeating the obvious truth about x86 vs. Apple silicon – that Apple silicon easily wins in both performances. And the Efficiency – it will not be popular with a large segment of its audience. Apple Silicon is a very annoying fact for many computer enthusiasts who don’t like Macs, so they’ve gone into denial, such as Fox News scientists and Climate change. Simply. There is no other explanation for omitting MacBooks from comparisons like Ars Technica.