iOS works well when you want solid control over institutionally-owned devices. This generally works best when you play by Apple's rules and buy through them and use Apple School/Business Manager - so if you're going for a BYOD model, this probably isn't the way to do [it]. There is a wide variety of management tools, but bear the costs of each in mind.
Macs, macOS, and the appropriate Mac applications really shine in ease of use. Specifically, the system's media-handling features are excellent. The developer frameworks (libraries) are excellent and provide easy programmatic access to the operating system's features. macOS is very stable and is built on a solid foundation of a Unix kernel. The Swift programming language is very approachable, and macOS supports many scripting and programming languages, opening up a wide variety of coding libraries.
In all likelihood, common users will either already have experience with iOS on their iPhones, or will pick it up quickly. The UI is generally simple and mostly visual. Power users, on the other hand, may feel constrained by the inherent limitations built-in. Root access, terminal commands, and deep customization are not really to be found here.
I'm sure I'm biased. I've been using a Mac for 30+ yrs. I am significantly more productive on a Mac than on any other platform. It comes down to some personal preference and familiarity, but I just think the interface is more intuitive and streamlined
macOS tends to be very reliable, and Apple distributes updates as needed to patch known vulnerabilities or issues. It is very seldom that a macOS-based system is unavailable, and if that happens, the cloud-based storage and identity management support make it very easy to slot in a loaner machine while the user's primary machine is repaired.
The Apple Silicon hardware allows macOS to perform very well, with rapid response. Local processing for Apple Intelligence-related items is quite fast, and the response is impressively complete. Our experience with integrations to other enterprise systems is that the other system is usually the bottleneck in the process, rather than macOS.
Lots of help articles online for just about everything under the sun. I have never personally had to engage Apple's support team to comment on their helpfulness.
The software updates have a wide coverage for iPhone models and I love updating software for additional features and/or improved software stability. It has also genuine feel of the phones they offer. Easier to set up and use. It helps me do more productive tasks. If I have the latest phone model, I would have additional software advantages that are already included in my OS.
macOS is very easily deployed with central MDM/DDM management systems. There are several of these available to select, depending on the amount and type of deployment needed. We use Jamf Pro to support a "zero touch" deployment model, which makes it almost as easy to deploy 100 endpoints as 10 (other than delivery and unboxing).
