Every Mac user has their Mac for different reasons. Maybe you like to use your Mac for school or work. Maybe you use it mainly to browse the internet, do some online retail therapy, or maybe you are a graphic designer. Whatever the case, these are things you need to consider when purchasing a new Mac. What might be the best for one person, might not meet your needs. What might be necessary for them, might be unnecessary and lavish for your everyday use. Before making your final decision, consider the following factors.
What to consider: Personal usage
Basic use
Are you someone who will mainly be using your mac for internet browsing, document creation, and other basic uses?
If this is the case, you do not need the top-of-the-line Mac currently on the market. If you want it and can afford it, go for it, but it isn't necessary. Save that money for another expense unless you really just want the best-of-the-best and have the need to splurge.
In this case consider the "bottom-of-the-line" (it's still a Mac, so you can't go wrong for basic use), because you don't need anything fancy! Here's what I suggest:
- Macbook Air (13-inch) with 256 GB of storage or more (depending on personal storage use). Super affordable, these laptops are sure to be perfect for basic use.
- iMac (24-inch) with 256 GB of storage or more (depending on personal storage use). You really can't go wrong here. If you need a bigger display for vision or accessibility purposes, go for the 27-inch iMac with 512 GB or storage or more.
- Mac Mini with 256 GB of storage or more (depending on personal storage use). With the Mac Mini, you do not get a monitor, so buying and choosing a monitor is another, separate hurdle with this Mac. However, Mac Minis are extremely affordable.
Mid-range use
Are you a student, work from home on your computer, or will be using your computer fairly diligently? Maybe you do some gaming?
If you are using it for gaming, document creation, the internet, some photo editing, and maybe more complex but not super techy uses, then consider going for a mid-range, more powerful Mac.
- Macbook Pro (13-inch) with 256 GB of storage or more (depending on personal storage use). This is a great machine. If you need a bigger display for vision or accessibility purposes, consider going for the 16-inch Macbook Pro with 512 GB of storage or more instead.
- iMac (24-inch) with 256 GB of storage or more. Shoot for the mid-range option with an 8-Core GPU. If you need a bigger display for vision or accessibility purposes, go for the 27-inch iMac with 512 GB or storage or more. If you game, consider adding additional RAM and choose the 16 GB RAM option before checking out if you are using Apple's website (you add it as an upgrade of this tech spec). The basic model comes with 8 GB, but I would recommend the 16 GB of RAM.
- Mac Mini with 256 GB of storage or more (depending on personal storage use) and add on the additional RAM by choosing the 16 GB RAM option before checkout if you are using Apple's website (you add it as an upgrade of this tech spec). Of course, this means purchasing a monitor separately, which is another job, but it's still a great and affordable option.
Note: some gaming or heavy-handed gaming might mean going for a Mac meant for more techy use. Not all gaming is the same. Not all games will run as well on a mid-range model as it will on a top-of-the-line Mac.
Techy use
Do you do graphic design, movie creation, web design, heavy-handed gaming, or any other more tech-heavy projects or work?
If you work in tech, I would scale up and get a mac that can handle what you will be using it for. Getting the bottom of the line Mac won't be the best decision for you. While all Macs are great machines, they aren't all meant for tech-heavy usage.
In this case, consider a Mac with more RAM (random-access memory), a more powerful processor, a GPU that can handle whatever fun, techy stuff you're doing, and more storage. I would recommend one of the following:
- Macbook Pro (16-inch) with 512GB storage or more (depending on personal storage use). Shooting for the 16-inch will help you work more seamlessly, having more RAM is crucial, and having more storage is a must). Trust me, you'll thank me later.
- iMac (27-inch) with 512GB storage or more (depending on personal storage use). I would recommend upgrading your RAM to 16 GB instead of the 8 GB given with the standard model 27-inch iMac if you are using Apple's website (you add it as an upgrade of this tech spec).
- Mac Pro. These are very expensive, but amazing machines. If you are considering buying this, you are probably someone who does not need this guide.