I don’t believe you. My local Best Buy has 134 different laptop models in stock in the store.
Have you ever heard of Amazon prime? You really think they don’t have a suitable laptop they can deliver to you overnight or maybe even the same day?
And anyway, this is really only an argument for “whatever is most popular,” not “what is the best machine.” If some other brand besides Apple was the most popular laptop in the world that other brand would get this same treatment by you even if the computer sucked (which MacBook Pro did between 2016 and 2020)
Essentially you’re saying that Budweiser is the best beer because it’s the most available. If I run out of beer I can get it anywhere.
I do indeed think that there is unlikely to be a single professional model in a Best Buy - a Thinkpad, a professional-grade Dell without crapware preinstalled, a System76 or a Framework. The exception of course is actually a Mac, which you can buy there.
Amazon prime might get one to you next day, late in the day. That is wildly insufficient for a business trip. If you’re in a city where they will deliver same-day, you can probably also go to a Microcenter and get a low-spec Thinkpad off-the-shelf.
Beer is not a necessity when traveling for business (though I actually happen to be perfectly happy to drink Bud Light, Coors Banquet, or PBR just as readily as a Grisette, since I’m not a snob), but a functioning laptop is.
As for popularity - sure - making a good product makes it popular. I was in fact so happy with the Mac between 2016-18 that I bought a second so I would have the nice low travel keyboard and Touch Bar available indefinitely.
Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant, frankly.
Have you ever heard of Amazon prime? You really think they don’t have a suitable laptop they can deliver to you overnight or maybe even the same day?
And anyway, this is really only an argument for “whatever is most popular,” not “what is the best machine.” If some other brand besides Apple was the most popular laptop in the world that other brand would get this same treatment by you even if the computer sucked (which MacBook Pro did between 2016 and 2020)
Essentially you’re saying that Budweiser is the best beer because it’s the most available. If I run out of beer I can get it anywhere.