Anybody still buying MacBooks doesn't know what they are doing... A Lenovo Thinkpad would destroy it in every way imaginable, but marketing is more important that real world function
Reddit is so useful in that regard. So many niches with honest and detailed reviews that I usually don't buy something online without checking a relevant subreddit first.
What you are describing sounds a whole lot like the Prisoner's Dilemma. For the highest personal success we need to think about maximizing group benefit, rather than being completely self-interested. However, this is rarely the case when competition is involved.