Why are Macbooks so ubiquitous in Science, if they are status symbols
Rest assured that there are reasons enough for using good quality hardware. Those of us who purchase a Mac do not do so because they are a "status symbol". We do so because they are the best tool for the job.


In many fields, using Windows is simply not an option. We need UNIX.
Linux is a good operating system, is free, and can be installed on a wide variety of hardware. However, Linux is nowhere near as refined as OS X in terms of its overall usability. We can often be much more productive on an OS X machine, and reserve Linux for use in virtual machines or on a powerful desktop when we need software stability or heavy-lifting power.
The other side of the coin is hardware. Until recently, there was very scarce competition in terms of hardware quality. Macs are built well, thin and light, and have long battery life – great for conferencing. Now, other manufacturers have caught up and are making hardware that is at least as good – but a high quality Thinkpad or Dell XPS is still just as pricey as a Mac. I repeat: comparably high quality Windows hardware is just as expensive as a Mac.


The money spent on a good machine pays for itself in productivity.