In defense of hardware running Windows, the problem is the OS, not the hardware. A registry-based OS that is mostly legacy code is always going to degrade with use over time, and usually pretty rapidly. It’s why even Microsoft always recommended users periodically reinstall Windows. Unix/Linux kernel based OS can run on the same consumer grade hardware for decades without many detectable issues, if any.
Someone could say that there’s no Apple laptop that offers the same performance per dollar…
This is an age old battle between PCs and Apple products. I was around when Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were first making computers. You will never convince either to change. It’s a spiritual battle of good and evil 
All I know is that when I was building PCs on my dining room table in 1982, I was able to do that and write batch files and do fun stuff like that while Steve Job’s was playing prima donna.
I have been in the design build industry for 40 years and have had my pc laptops in the rain, snow and wind storms on construction sites and most al of them still run. I gave them to my kids over the years and were only stored i the closet because, who doesn’t like a new pc:) and they are deductible on my taxes!
And I can buy two of my laptops with quality intel chips for the price of one fru fru apple thing.
The battle continues
It used to be true, but if you want to get a laptop that performs as an M1 MacBook Air you’ll have to spend the same or more on a windows laptop. Anyways, I’m not here to convince anyone about “fru fru” MacBooks, just saying facts and experience for those who never had owned one and hate them.
I used a refurbished Surface Pro 3 I found for under $400US for 6 years without a hiccup. Windows based, which up until a year ago was all I ever used. Used it for client presentations, could cast my screen to wifi enabled TVs.
I design 150K square foot senior living buildings, including the terrain (3-10 acres). Wasn’t as powerful as my main desktop of course, but more than enough for SketchUp. While not strong enough to take on rendering video solo, I was able to slave it to the network rendering software I had and it would kick out several frames overnight, speeding up the overall process.
I’ve now used a Mac in a production office as well, and once the learning curve was dealt with and I eventually figured out the CTRL/ALT/MAC/Option key combos, there wasn’t much of a difference.
I now have an iPad Pro that I use for the presentation side of things. Mainly because of how light it is. The Surface had been given to my Grandkids. I haven’t built anything with the iPad, so I can’t speak to that.
I would suggest you look at refurbished iPads. They are great for doing demos to customers and making small changes.