It wasn’t too long ago that I would always talk about Apple products negatively. However, reading Steve Jobs’ autobiography I began to understand a little more of what he was trying to achieve (even if I didn’t like the man himself). This, coupled with frustration at the way that hardware and software often don’t “gel” together, has lead me to appreciate a lot more the walled community that Apple has created – control over both elements has meant that they can ensure that everything just works.

Of course, I still hate the idea of non-removable batteries and a lot of other manufacturers of both phones, tablets and laptops are doing this.

Now, I own an iPod Touch (although mainly so that I had iOS available to me for product testing) and I’m thinking of buying a Macbook. Yes, really.

As a geek it will give me an opportunity to use a different operating system. Also, the current Macbook’s have features that would allow me to review a wider range of hardware for my site – Thunderbolt, USB3, etc. I can also test and review Mac hardware and software and, of course, think about iOS App development.

As I stated in a recent article, any laptop requirement would be for around 13″ display and an SSD. Both the Macbook Air and Pro are available in that screen size and an SSD is an optional extra for the Pro (default in the Air). With the Air you get portability and a higher screen resolution. With the Pro you get more power and an optical drive. However, the Pro is more expensive (by £189 – because the SSD in the Pro is an optional extra you have to buy via Apple and hence you have to pay full price).

But lets not forget some further important advantages of the Pro – it’s upgradable. Those things that I hate – can’t upgrade memory, change the battery, etc – are not the case with the 13″ Pro. And the Pro is as light as my 11.6″ Lenovo Edge. So, the Pro it will be. It’s still light but offers me the additional features, and expandability, that I want.

There are rumours of a Pro 13 Retina being released in the next few months but those Pro versions that have already been updated have lost their optical drive and have a non-changeable battery. I’m therefore not interested in that update and will stick with the current Pro 13.

Once I pluck up the courage to order, I’ll blog as soon as I receive it and report on my first experiences of using iOS and the Mac.

Now I just need to find a book to help me out with the OS X experience…