Apple's hardware is excellent. That they don't have to make their software work with a gazillion permutations of CPU, graphics card, disk, BIOS, sound card, etc., makes their software less flakey. If flakey at all.
The software distinguishes Apple from the rest.
Microsoft Windows just blows. It's prone to viruses, and it just dogs as you use your computer more and more. NTFS is a terrible file system that dogs as the disk fills up. It's not Unix.
I would buy fast cheap hardware and run Ubuntu on it. Heaps better than windows, but lacking the variety of outright quality software.
Apple software is elegant, rich in features and function, robust, and 3rd party stuff is excellent. It is Unix.
And the way the Apple hardware is packaged is slick. Extraordinary battery life, highly portable, and every part chosen to work well vs. being cheap.
The only benefit to fast cheap hardware us to play games. Best off getting a PS4, which has standardized hardware and doesn't need perpetual virus scans.