I think they advise (/warn!? 
) you not to update the OS when you’ve got a Hackintosh - it’s the thing that put me off too.
Re AMD’s multicore CPUs (and talking about them for production servers) we had a thread about it here: AMD's new multicore CPUs (Ryzen, Naples) and I can’t remember whether it was that thread or another now, but someone (think it may have even been ODL) said they weren’t a good fit for the BEAM (I can’t remember why now - I might have even dreamt it! )
Re whether Mac’s are specifically built for programming or not, I don’t think any computers or OS’s are really - programming itself doesn’t need anything special (apart from maybe compatibility to some degree with production environment) - however, programmers need certain things and need them to be nice. Whether that’s being able to browse the web easily and safely/make notes/edit graphics/video or screencast production/email/and even seamless integration with our phones, etc i.e, we use them for more than just programming.
I like how intuitive and generally reliable Macs are, and how they make for a pleasant overall user experience.
Having said that, I wish a viable competitor would surface - one with all of Apple’s positives but none of their (increasingly unpalatable) negatives.
