2024/2025 Mac Buying Guide

Hi, this is Gary with MacMost. Which is the right Mac for you?

In late 2024, early 2025, we can choose between eight primary Mac models. Of course there are variations on each one. You can divide them into 3 groups. Laptops, the All-In-One iMac, and Desktop Macs, like the Mac Mini, MacStudio and MacPro. If you're watching this chances are you are not in the market for a MacPro. They are really ultra high end Macs. You want to focus on these seven models right here. 

The first decision you want to make is whether or not you want to get yourself a portable laptop Mac. The laptops come with their own screen, their own built-in keyboard and trackpad and they've got a battery. You can take them with you wherever you go. Do you work in different places? Do you need to go between work and home?  Do you just like to take your Mac between rooms in your home, like your living room, your bedroom, the kitchen, wherever you want to work? If that's the case and you want something portable to handle all of that then you're probably looking at a MacBook. However, if you want a Mac that's going to sit on a desk and not typically move, then you want one of the Desktop Macs. 

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Now assuming that you've decided that a MacBook is right for you then you've got two primary models. The MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. But these can be divided further. For instance, the MacBook Air actually comes in two different sizes. A 13" model and a 15" model. The inches describe the diagonal size of the screen. So the smallest MacBook that Apple makes is the 13" MacBook Air. It's also the least powerful. You can actually get it with the M2 processor, which is Apple's processor from two years ago. It's a great processor and pretty powerful but you should keep in mind it's about two years old. Think about the fact that Apple usually supports Macs for about seven years in the future. So if you're starting off with a 2022 Mac, like the M2 MacBook Air, you may only be looking at five years where you get major system updates. So saving a few bucks just for that may actually cost you more in the long run. 

The M3 model is identical to the M2 model but it is a newer one, so it is going to last you longer, but all the other specs for it, like how many ports it has, how much it weighs, and things like that are the same. You can also get a larger screen MacBook Air. So this comes with a M3 processor so it basically has the same power as the smaller MacBook Air but a larger screen. So if a larger screen is important to you, either because you need one, maybe it is better for your eyes, or maybe you do work on apps that just require more screen space, like some video editing apps, some coding apps, things like that then you may want to consider this and its only disadvantage is that it is just a little bit larger and heavier so it is not as easy to carry. But it is only a small difference. 

Now the MacBook Pros just up a level in power. They are all using the M4 processors and, in fact, you can go beyond the base processors and go with the M4 Pro and M4 Max. This is when you want to really want to add a lot of power. Going from the base to  Pro and the Pro to Max they are big leaps in how much processing power you've got. This is reflected in the price. It definitely costs a lot more, it's a little bit heavier, it does come with a better camera capable of doing a lot of the cool new things Mac cameras do like using Center Stage to always keep you in the middle. It has more ports and when you go with the M4 Pro or M4 Max you actually get Thunderbolt 5 ports instead of Thunderbolt 4 ports. You also get an SD card port and a HDMI port for plugging into projectors, TV's in meeting rooms, classrooms and such. So, it is definitely more of a Pro level Mac. You can go from the 14" to the 16", so go to a much bigger screen. The biggest laptop screen Apple makes. This will significantly drive up the price. But if a big screen is important to you, and you want the big screen to be with you everywhere you go, then the 16" MacBook Pro is probably what you want as long as you can afford it. It's definitely significantly heavier than the 14" model as you would expect, but besides that it carries basically the same amount of power. You can get a pretty powerful 14" one if you don't need the screen size and it's the same as the 16" one. 

So let's take a look at the Desktop model. Of course you've got the iMac. The iMac is significantly different than the other two options in that, of course, the screen is built-in. So it comes with a screen. It also comes with a keyboard and a pointing device, mouse or a trackpad. So basically you get everything with one purchase. The price is fairly reasonable for that. The only real choice you've got to make is you can go up a level from 2 to 4 Thunderbolt ports if you need to connect a lot of devices to it. It's a great machine. But keep in mind that when it is time to upgrade to a new one, whether that's 5, 7, or 10 years in the future, you'll be buying a whole new screen there. The screen is part of the package. You can't use it later on for something else. 

So if you have an existing screen or you don't want to always have your screen tied to the computer itself, then you're probably better off going with either a MacMini or a MacStudio. So you can basically get the screen that you want to go with it and in the future when you upgrade your Mac you can keep that screen. That's a big difference. So the MacMini is fairly inexpensive because it doesn't come with a keyboard, pointing device and the screen. You can get it in either the M4 level, which is the same as the iMac. But you can also go to the M4 Pro. So go up a level in power. You're going to pay a lot more for that though. You also get a lot of ports on the Mac Mini. It's a really cool new design. It is pretty small. It is only 5" by 5" and 2" high. I

f you still need more power than what is in the MacMini the next step up is the Mac Studio. It comes with either the M2 Macs or M2 Ultra processor in it. So it is quite a bit more expensive. This is a professional Mac, no doubt about it. It comes with lots of different ports and one of the things about it is it hasn't been updated in a little while. June 2023 was the last time it was updated. We'll probably see an update in 2025 at some point. But since we're talking about the Macs and ultra-processors here, they still are extremely powerful. So one of the questions to ask yourself is whether you're using your Mac for personal use or professional use. So think about things like editing graphics in an app like, maybe, PhotoShop. Think about editing video in an app like Final Cut Pro. Or maybe coding in something like Xcode. Think about whether or not you do that, but also how often you do that. If it is every once in a while then you probably are fine with a personal Mac, like a MacBook Air or a MacMini, or an iMac. If it is something you do on a weekly basis or even a daily basis then you're probably going to want to look at a professional Mac, that's a MacBook Pro or a MacStudio.

Now once you've chosen your Mac model there are some variations you need to consider. You need to look at the processors that are available. You need to look at memory, and you need to look at storage. So, for processors that are available you want to look at what's available for your Mac. For instance, the widest range is with the MacBook Pro. You can see here you can get one with the M4 processor, the M4 Pro and the M4 Max. These are all going to be major upgrades in the power of your Mac. You can see here what you get. The M4 processors come with basically a 10 core CPU, whereas the M4 Pro is a 12 core CPU and the M4 Max is a 14 core CPU. But also look at the GPU's. For instance, 16 core GPU here in the M4 Pro and a 32 core GPU in the M4 Max. This is for graphics. If you're doing really intense work, like editing lots of video for instance, then you want to get as good a processor as you can afford. 

The next it comes down to memory. All the Macs come with 16 gigs of memory, which is fine for personal use. Remember it's not a hard limit. Your super fast SSD inside the Mac is going to be used for swap no matter how much memory you've got. So you can still do the things you need to do. You might just get slowed down if you're doing a lot of intense work. For personal use 16 gigs of RAM is great. If you're using it for professional use you may want to consider updating, depending upon how memory intensive the apps you use are. So you want to think about those apps. Think about how much memory they use, and whether or not you can afford to spend, say, $200 or $400 extra to go up steps in memory. 

Next is storage. Now some of the Macs, like the MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac Mini, start at 256 gigs of storage. I don't recommend anybody get that. You should go up a level to 512. The MacBook Pros here, like what I'm looking at, start at that level. 256 gigs to too little. Your system is going to use a bunch, memory swap is going to use a bunch, your apps are going to use a bunch, and you're going to end up with very little left. Even if now you don't think you use anything all it takes is one trip where you take a bunch of pictures or a video, or one video project you decide to work on and suddenly you don't have enough space on your internal drive and it is not easy to use external space for things because there are things like memory swap and iCloud caching that only work on the internal drive. Even if now 256 gigs may work for you, think about the fact you might own this Mac for five to ten years and during that time you could easily get to the point where that minimum amount of storage isn't enough. I say this because I've got seventeen years of helping people with their Macs. Over and over again I see people running into trouble because when they bought their last Mac they decided to go with minimum storage maybe thinking they would get an external drive and then they found out that there are a lot of disadvantages to that. So if you've got an extra $200 to spend, spend it on upgrading your SSD to the next level, not the 256 gigs. 

So one of the most important things when listening to people like me giving you advice on which Mac to buy, or listening to your friends or peers when they give you advice is that you have to make the decision yourself. You have to weigh your budget versus your needs and figure out which Mac is right for you. You've going to get friends that are going to tell you that you should get this Mac or that Mac. But they may be thinking more of about what is right for them, not particularly what is right for you. If you're making a big decision, like deciding between a MacBook or an iMac or a MacMini, I strongly suggest you actually see these in person. Go to your computer store nearby that has them in stock, go to an Apple Store. A lot of times people will change their minds completely once they actually get their hands on the device realizing that the iMac looks pretty cool or maybe they really do want a portable MacBook Air, it's a lot lighter and easier to carry than they thought, and so on. Don't make the decision without actually getting in front of these machines and trying them for yourself. 

So if you're deciding which Mac to buy right now I hope I've been able to help you with that. Thanks for watching.