Which Mac Should I Buy? Is There a "Right" One for Me?

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe; Catch a Tiger by its toe... With which Mac should I go?

This is very common question and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction. Obviously, there isn't the same answer for everyone, but hopefully there is a right Mac for you. If some terminology is confusing, check out our Mac Tech Specs Translated for Normal People article.

Let's begin by deciding between Laptop and Desktop and then move on to the pros and cons of each Mac with some best use cases. My advice is to get a laptop unless one or more of these reasons apply to you:

1. You can't foresee moving your Mac around the house or taking it somewhere.
2. You don't (and won't) have a wireless (Wi-Fi) internet connection.
3. You need more than 4GB of RAM.

The reason I suggest a laptop is that once you have one, all sorts of new uses for your Mac come into play. For instance, now you have a portable DVD player in the car or airplane for the kids. Some more: you can play music wherever you are in the house, you can show pictures to the family when you visit, and with another Mac, you have a new video baby monitor/spying device. But really, the thing I expect you will use it the most for is surfing the internet from the couch, Or the Kitchen. Or the patio.

One last thing to keep in mind with Macbooks and Macbook Pros is that you can always convert them to a desktop. It's trivial to attach a keyboard, mouse, display and extra hard drives to them and just use like a Mac Mini. You can even keep the screen open with another display to span your workspace over both screens.

Here are the things that I will take for granted. First is that every Mac can more or less do the same common things. They have the same software. Some will be faster and some have bigger screens, but you can get X, Y or Z done on them all. They can all plug into a big LCD display. They all have Intel chips and can run Windows. So the differences will be in what you do most with a Mac and what your budget is.

Now, lets take a look at each Mac family.

Macbook
Pros: Cheap(er), durable, most portable.
Cons: Smallest screen size, shared video memory, limited maximum RAM (2GB), smaller, slower hard drives.

It's a great fit for: Students, tight budgets, fans of the white or black finish


Macbook Pro
Pros: Nice big screens, separate video card, can use up to 4GB RAM.
Cons: Expensive! Smaller, slower hard drives.

It's a great fit for: Professionals (design, video, photography) who need mobility, mobile gamers, expense accounts.


Mac Mini
Pros: very small, cheapest Mac.
Cons: underpowered, small hard drive, you need to own or buy a keyboard, mouse and display.

It's a great fit for: test driving a Mac for the least money, odd uses like installing it in your dashboard or home entertainment center, switchers who own a great LCD display.


iMac
Pros: good value for dollar, extremely small footprint, top 3 iMacs have decent video.
Cons: limited internal expandability.

It's a great fit for: most desktop users, serial upgraders.


Mac Pro
Pros: crazy expandability. Up to 16GB RAM, 3 TB storage, 8 displays, fastest chips. It's ridiculous.
Cons: All that's going to cost you. It's big. No, it's really big. Still need to buy a display. Can get loud under duress.

It's a great fit for: businesses and researchers who depend on computing power, gamers, Photoshop jockeys, video editors, the rich.

OK, now let me sum up with some generalizations. The Macbook and iMac are good values. The Macbook Pro and Mac Pro are great when someone else is buying or computing powers your business. The Mac Mini… ehhh. Buy it if you have no other choice.

Did this overview help? Got something to add? Let us know in the comments below.

DIG DEEPER

Top Switching to Mac Questions - Which Mac Should I Buy? from Switching to Mac
Opinion: Which Mac should I buy? from Macworld
Take Control of Buying a Mac, an e-book
iMac Or Mac Pro, Which Desktop Mac Should You Buy? from Glen Wolsey
Which Mac are You? from Apple
Which Size MacBook Pro Should I Buy? at MacRumors
Mac Tech Specs Translated for Normal People

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Your Comments:

I think your con on Macbook might have something wrong. The hard drive speeds on the MB and MBP are both 5400. At least with the drives that come with them. Maybe I am missing something.

 Phil Reynolds
 07/13/2007  at  08:35 AM

Ok I am stupid disregard my previous post I thought you were comparing the MB to the MBP not to the desktops. You are right. Of course.

 Phil Reynolds
 07/13/2007  at  08:36 AM

BTW this article really made me feel confident about my choice to buy a MB. Thanks. I love this site.

 Phil Reynolds
 07/13/2007  at  09:44 AM

This is a very consumer friendly site. Keep up the good work!!

 Earl
 07/14/2007  at  03:41 AM

I wouldn't sell the Mac mini so short. For the vast majority of home users that are just using their computers for accessing the web and e-mail and dabbling in photos, music, and movies, the mini is an excellent choice especially if you already own a monitor. If you are purchasing a monitor, then you can't beat the value of an iMac. Just because the mini is at the bottom of the Apple product line doesn't mean it can't deliver the full Macintosh experience. While some people can afford to spend more, that doesn't mean they should. Don't discount the mini!

 James
 07/14/2007  at  06:03 AM

I think another reason against buying a Mac laptop is that if you don't have the best vision, they can be headache-inducing at best, impossible to see at worst. I don't want to get into a debate about "fuzzy fonts" but the fact is, if you have to wear reading glasses, you may have a hard time straining to see a MacBook set at standard resolution, which is the only resolution that really works. So, short of having ridiculous, giant icons for blind people, you're SOL.

 Hollywood Phony
 07/14/2007  at  12:56 PM

I think in Leopard(the new Mac OS X update that is coming this october) the fonts will scale accordingly to the resolution of the screen, so small fonts won't be a problem anymore.

 Xavier
 07/21/2007  at  01:38 PM

Mac Mini is awesome with 2 Gb of ram. It was my "switcher" Mac that led to my MacBook Pro. I still use my mini all the time from home.

 Pegasus
 08/15/2007  at  03:21 PM

This site has been a delight for me. I am cuurently evaluating the Macbook pro for a new business venture. I am a long time PC user and making the switch has taken a little review. I feel better equipped ( no pun intended) to make the Mac decision now, especially about purchases that can be made outside the Apple sales environment.

 LisaJane
 09/12/2008  at  08:26 AM

I am in total agreement with LisaJane. I have been an avid PC user all my life, and only rarely used a Mac. Going to college next year, I will need a laptop and was about to get a PC but since I am more on the creative side and going into design, everyone in the field has told me a Mac is the staple for this industry. Thanks for your reassuring information - I am now much more comfortable buying my first Mac now

 Rachel
 06/02/2009  at  10:18 AM

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