There are three desktop form factors available: the iMac, the Mac mini, and the trash can-shaped Mac Pro. Today, while that's true for huge RAM footprints, the 2018 MacBook Pro models support a good amount of RAM. MacBooks and MacBook Pros did not support as much memory as the higher end desktop Macs, so if you needed RAM, you were forced to get a desktop. Until 2018, the other big reason to buy desktop machines was more memory. This makes a lot of sense because modern Mac notebooks can also be used as desktops, merely by adding a dock, a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

The vast majority of Mac buyers buy notebooks. Your first decision is going to be desktop vs. As such, you'll need to think hard on what you're going to need to do, not just today, but into the future.Īlso: Apple Mac mini (2018) review: The little Mac that could Desktop vs. You should expect that the Mac you're buying today will be in active use for at least three years, and possibly five and six years. They'll probably only go out of service when Apple stops issuing OS updates for them, and then relied upon applications also stop doing updates. Our fleet of older Mac minis are six and seven years old. Up until last month, my main machine was a still very functional four year old iMac. I gave away a ten year old iMac that was still running when I moved. Most Macs are also not upgradeable, so what you decide on now has to last you a long time. Apple also tends to charge a premium for incremental features like more RAM and more storage. There are also used Macs, and while I won't discuss them here, most of the configuration factors I'll be discussing apply to them as well.Ĭost is a big factor in Mac purchases because Macs can be so expensive.

New Macs range from $799 up to over $13,000.

There are a number of choice vectors you'll need to balance. In this article, we'll assume you've decided to get a Mac and are now trying to decide what, exactly, to buy.Īlso: Do you really need an eGPU with a 2018 Mac mini? That's a whole different debate and there are good answers for both approaches. This isn't about whether you should buy a Mac or a Windows machine. Let's get the whole platform choice issue out of the way first.

Dell devices aimed at work's new normal.

Motorola launches Motorola One 5G Ace at $399.

Lenovo launches ThinkPad X12 Detachable.

Acer launches Spin 514 Chromebook with AMD Ryzen 3000.

Asus decides ZenBooks need an automatically tilting second display.

Three trends CIOs should watch very closely.

What's hot and useful in the enterprise.

41 impressive questions to ask in a job interview

Which macbook is for me