Hi all,

I am not sure if this is the correct forum for this question. If it is the wrong one please feel free to move the thread.

I have noticed on my travels and during encounters with many pilots that Mac computers seem to be the most popular. Is there a reason for this? Do Mac laptops run programs for pilots that PCs can't? Do pilots just like Mac laptops for their lightness and portability?

How about for going to aviation college? Do Macs or PCs rule at aviation schools?

I DO NOT want to start a Mac vs. PC war. I personally prefer PCs however, I understand why some prefer the Mac product. I am only interested in which system is best and/or most functional for pilots.

Thanks everyone!

What you are seeing are personal devices. I don't know a single airline that uses Apple laptops as EFB.
Windows devices or iOS tablets are far most prevalent for official use.

LAXintl wrote:

What you are seeing are personal devices. I don't know a single airline that uses Apple laptops as EFB.
Windows devices or iOS tablets are far most prevalent for official use.

Yes I am aware of this. I was just wondering if there is a reason pilots seem to prefer Mac even for personal use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All Air Canada pilots have Apple IPAD EFBs issued hence we all have one. My unscientific and unofficial observation on additional devices my colleagues carry is pretty much 50/50. The only program most pilots seem to need a personal device for is Netflix by sounds of it for their layover lol!

My company uses Ipad based EFBs and for phones we are issued with the Samsung Galaxy. By far the majority of pilots have non-Apple laptops. At the flying school, PC was mandatory, as none of the training programs would run on Apple systems.

kabq737 wrote:

LAXintl wrote:

What you are seeing are personal devices. I don't know a single airline that uses Apple laptops as EFB.
Windows devices or iOS tablets are far most prevalent for official use.

Yes I am aware of this. I was just wondering if there is a reason pilots seem to prefer Mac even for personal use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You do know pilots are just ordinary people, right? And you do know that Apple is expensive, so the majority of Apple buyers have a higher income and mostly a higher education.

Dutchy wrote:

kabq737 wrote:

LAXintl wrote:

What you are seeing are personal devices. I don't know a single airline that uses Apple laptops as EFB.
Windows devices or iOS tablets are far most prevalent for official use.

Yes I am aware of this. I was just wondering if there is a reason pilots seem to prefer Mac even for personal use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You do know pilots are just ordinary people, right? And you do know that Apple is expensive, so the majority of Apple buyers have a higher income and mostly a higher education.

And some of us have both a masters degree in economics and a pilot career. Beat that

By the way, salary for captains in most companies is beyond decent and FO salaries for major airlines and even several low cost airlines are not that bad either. I'm willing to bet that in both cases they are above median salaries in most if not all countries. So whatever you're insinuating that pilots somehow can't afford Apple products or that they have a shorter education than most is ridiculous.

Ah, we have a communication problem here. I meant to imply that Pilots (or FO's for that matter) have a better education and earn more than the average joe, that's why they are more likely to have Apple products than average, as all higher educated people with a higher income do.

Most have a shorter education though if they only got a CPL, not to say it is worse than a master, but it is shorter. I think in general a CPL is ranked as a Batchelor degree, but it is a career specific education so it is hard to judge

Dutchy wrote:

Ah, we have a communication problem here. I meant to imply that Pilots (or FO's for that matter) have a better education and earn more than the average joe, that's why they are more likely to have Apple products than average, as all higher educated people with a higher income do.

Most have a shorter education though if they only got a CPL, not to say it is worse than a master, but it is shorter. I think in general a CPL is ranked as a Batchelor degree, but it is a career specific education so it is hard to judge

True, a CPL is not comparable to a masters degree. Generally it's hard to compare a pilot career with a university degree I think.

In general I think a master's degree is a "proper" education whereas being a pilot has more to do with a mixed set of skills that you'll mostly learn by doing, but both are hard to obtain and get a succesful result at the same time.

My non-US centric observation is that for personal devices virtually all pilots I know have Windows PC not Mac products.

Anyhow, Apple marketshare is merely 6.8 percent globally (12.0 pct in US) as of Q1 2017, so I guess its to be expected that windows machines would far out number macs in population cross section.

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3676117

mercure1 wrote:

My non-US centric observation is that for personal devices virtually all pilots I know have Windows PC not Mac products.

Anyhow, Apple marketshare is merely 6.8 percent globally (12.0 pct in US) as of Q1 2017, so I guess its to be expected that windows machines would far out number macs in population cross section.

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3676117

That is the PC market, you are talking about. For mobile, it is about 1/3. https://www.netmarketshare.com/operatin ... pcustomd=1

For personal use, I have an old Toshiba laptop. For work I use a Panasonic toughbook which I highly recommend and an employer supplied iPad as an EFB.

My smartphone is an old windows nokia lumia which is slowly dying and I will replace it with an Apple option. Further down the line I will probably purchase an iPad. The work supplied iPad was my first hands-on experience with Apple products and I've become a fan of the cleaner and more efficient architecture. The kids have an ipad between them and the wife has one too which has allowed me to familiarize myself with it.

Dutchy wrote:

That is the PC market, you are talking about. For mobile, it is about 1/3. https://www.netmarketshare.com/operatin ... pcustomd=1

Well of course, this thread is about PC not at all about mobile devices.

mercure1 wrote:

Dutchy wrote:

That is the PC market, you are talking about. For mobile, it is about 1/3. https://www.netmarketshare.com/operatin ... pcustomd=1

Well of course, this thread is about PC not at all about mobile devices.

Ok, my bet.

787Driver wrote:

True, a CPL is not comparable to a masters degree. Generally it's hard to compare a pilot career with a university degree I think.

In general I think a master's degree is a "proper" education whereas being a pilot has more to do with a mixed set of skills that you'll mostly learn by doing, but both are hard to obtain and get a succesful result at the same time.

How about a captain with a US legacy who only has a high school diploma?

johns624 wrote:

787Driver wrote:

True, a CPL is not comparable to a masters degree. Generally it's hard to compare a pilot career with a university degree I think.

In general I think a master's degree is a "proper" education whereas being a pilot has more to do with a mixed set of skills that you'll mostly learn by doing, but both are hard to obtain and get a succesful result at the same time.

How about a captain with a US legacy who only has a high school diploma?

As far as I know, it's a requirement to have at least a bachelor's degree before you can apply for the major US airlines.

787Driver wrote:

[As far as I know, it's a requirement to have at least a bachelor's degree before you can apply for the major US airlines.

Not always. Northwest (at least) didn't have a college degree requirement. There are several (at least) Delta pilots who came over from NW who started out as HS diploma US Army warrant officer helicopter pilots. They actually have a much greater breadth of experience than most college educated ones.

johns624 wrote:

787Driver wrote:

[As far as I know, it's a requirement to have at least a bachelor's degree before you can apply for the major US airlines.

Not always. Northwest (at least) didn't have a college degree requirement. There are several (at least) Delta pilots who came over from NW who started out as HS diploma US Army warrant officer helicopter pilots. They actually have a much greater breadth of experience than most college educated ones.

I agree that you don't necessarily become a better pilot from having a college degree in a subject that has nothing to do with aviation in the first place. So I never understood this requirement by some US airlines. Instead they should have their own cadetship programmes and better initial screening of candidates. Or having other types of experience from the army can be very valuable as you said.

kabq737 wrote:

Yes I am aware of this. I was just wondering if there is a reason pilots seem to prefer Mac even for personal use.

Disposable income, simple as. Same reason *some* pilots drive BMW/Merc/Audi instead of KIA/Peugeot/Ford

Thanks for the replies everyone! It sounds as if the pilots I know are just Apple fanboys LOL!