This video is sponsored by SkillShare.
It’s just about the end of March 2022, and it’s already been an exciting year for the
Mac, with Apple releasing an entire new product line into the Mac ecosystem, in the form of
the Mac Studio.
But, the Mac range is now pretty confusing, with a tonne of options, and more products
due to launch later on in the year.
So, in this video, I’m going to break down the range as it stands right now.
I’ll talk through each product line, explain what your buying options are and what you’re
getting for your money, and talk about things that you need to consider for each product
range, as well as discuss whether you should consider waiting for some items.
I’ll include timestamps in the video in case you want to jump to a particular section.
OK, let’s get into it.
Intel vs Apple Silicon
The first, important thing to point out is that you can broadly split the current Mac
lineup in two, Macs that have already made the transition to Apple silicon, and Macs
that haven’t.
If you’re not aware, Apple is moving away from Intel chips, and the entire lineup is
transitioning over to their own custom built Apple silicon, known currently as the M1 chips.
This transition was set to last 2 years, and started in November of 2020, and Apple are
pretty much there at this point.
Oh, and just to clarify in case you really don’t know much about the transition, all
software that’s compatible with Intel Macs will also be compatible with M1 Macs, either
because the developers will already have made their software natively compatible, or thanks
to Apple’s inclusion of Rosetta 2, essentially an emulator that bridges the transition from
Intel to M1
Checking on the Apple website today, there are only a few models remaining in the lineup
where you can choose an Intel Mac.
You’ve got the Mac Pros, which we’ll talk about separately in a moment, but beyond that,
you can still buy an Intel Mac Mini, although I’m just going to go ahead and say that,
unless you specifically need this Intel Mac Mini, do not buy this.
It costs more than either of the currently available M1 Mac Minis, and will be outperformed
by both of them in every meaningful way.
I can only assume that Apple are perhaps keeping this for people who wish to use them for server
builds, or they’ve got a lot of Intel chips that they’re wanting to use up, but I wouldn’t
expect this to remain in the lineup for much longer.
The Mac Pro lineup is the only other computer in the Mac range right now that still uses
Intel chips, and it’s a tricky one.
Starting at £5,500, and configurable all the way up to £51,699, it’s the absolute
behemoth of the Apple range, but the clue is in the name, it’s a pro computer aimed
solely at professional users. 99.9% of people are simply not going to ever find real value
in this computer, and if you’re a photographer, or a video editor, or a music producer, there
are simply better Apple silicon computers available to you right now, for a fraction
of the cost.
If you’ve got tens of thousands in your budget, and you need the kind of blistering
performance that an Intel Mac Pro would provide, then go for it, although I’ll be honest,
I can’t help but feel that you’d be able to spec out a PC that could match, or possibly
even beat one of these, for less money.
Mouse and keyboard and display sold separately of course, so yeah, that’s the Intel side
of this video covered.
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Apple Silicon
So, we’ll assume then that we’re staying firmly in the world of Apple silicon, what
are our options?
Well thankfully, you have lots to cover most budgets.
Let’s start with the most obvious question.
Do you want a laptop or a desktop computer?
This used to be a trickier question, laptops used to be the less powerful versions of desktop
computers, but Apple silicon has really changed all of that, in general, an M1 Max Macbook
Pro is going to run pretty much as well as an M1 Max Studio for example.
The question now I think is more around your budget, and how you plan on using the computer.
For example, do you need or desire portability?
If yes, you need a laptop, either as your sole computer, or alongside a desktop Mac.
That’s what I do, I run my entire business on an M1 Pro Macbook Pro, which is connected
to an external display, giving me the best of both worlds.
I’m working at my desk in my office most of the time, but if I’m traveling, or even
if I just want a change of scenery from my office, I just disconnect the computer and
take it with me.
However, you’re going to pay a premium for that portability.
If we look at the base model M1 Max Mac Studio, you can purchase it for £2,000.
That’s getting you the 10 core CPU, the 24 core GPU, 32gb of Ram and a 512gb SSD.
If we build the same computer in a 14 inch Macbook Pro configuration, the cost is £2,800,
so £800 for a Mini LED display, keyboard and trackpad and the portability of a laptop.
But of course, you don’t need to get drawn into the trap of buying more power than you
need, and this is where I’m going to break the video out into laptop and desktop, and
look at each type of computer separately, as you’ve got loads of options, regardless
of which you choose.
Laptops
Starting with laptops, right now there are two laptop offerings from Apple, which sounds
really straightforward, but bear with me.
You can buy a Macbook Air, or a Macbook Pro.
The Air is actually pretty easy, it’s the smallest and the cheapest laptop that Apple
offer, and is the gateway laptop for the M1 range.
For £999, you can buy a 13 inch M1 Macbook Air with 8 CPU cores, 7 GPU cores, 8GB of
RAM and a 256gb SSD.
It is starting to look a little dated now when compared to other Mac laptops, the display
in particular is both dull and lacks the amazing Pro Motion when compared with the new MacBook
Pros, but that’s also why you can buy this computer and have change from £1000.
I had one prior to upgrading to my M1 Pro Macbook Pro, and it was fantastic, and more
than capable for consumer to low-end professional tasks like 4K video editing, music production,
photoshop etc.
The battery life on the M1 Macbook Airs is fantastic, and when connected to a display,
even a 6K Pro Display XDR like this, it runs like a dream.
The drawbacks, other than the somewhat dated design and display, is the lack of ports that
comes with the M1 Macs, you only get 2 Thunderbolt ports, and you’ll need to keep one of those
free for power supply or charging, so if you want to use numerous ports or attachments,
you’re going to need to consider some kind of dock, adding to your cost.
Also, at the absolute bottom end, that 256gb SSD is going to fill up pretty quickly, I
really do wish Apple would stop making 256gb computers, and whilst you could spend a couple
of hundred pounds to upgrade it, you’d be as well off jumping to the next model up,
gaining both a 512gb SSD and an extra GPU core.
The Macbook Pro range is more difficult, because Apple insist on still selling the 13 inch
M1 model.
In my opinion, this computer made sense for the first year of Apple’s silicon transition,
where they were just chucking M1 chips in old hardware, but with the new Macbook Pros
on the market, and the M1 Air covering the budget end of the range, I don’t really
understand why this computer exists.
It’s essentially a more expensive Macbook Air, in that the M1 chip can be pushed a bit
harder here than on the Air, but only marginally.
The display is a tiny bit brighter, but it still looks tired, and it’s still limited
to the 2 thunderbolt ports.
Don’t get me wrong, if the Macbook Air didn’t exist, I’d be pushing this as the budget
option for people looking for a new Mac laptop, but the Macbook Air does exist, it’s cheaper,
and does pretty much everything that this does.
There is talk of an M2 Macbook Air launching either summer of autumn of this year, which
is expected to see a full redesign, but if you’re after a budget Mac laptop right now,
avoid the Macbook Pro and buy as much Air as you can afford.
Then you’ve got the recently released Macbook Pros, which come in a 14 and 16 inch variation,
and thankfully, the only difference between the two is the size of the screen and therefore
the size of the laptop, you can spec both out as much or as little as you like, so if
you’re like me and you’d always choose the smaller laptop, you can still do that
and spec all the way up if you wish.
The cheapest M1 Pro Macbook Pro, this one, costs £1899, but when fully specced with
a Max chip, 64gb of Ram and an 8tb SSD, that jumps to £5799.
If you’re looking to purchase one, and the base model isn’t enough for you, it’s
really just a case of sitting with the configurator tool and adding or removing things until you
find what you need.
Fundamentally, the M1 Pro and Max chips are all about power, and the more CPU and GPU
cores you add, the more power you can chuck at tasks that use the CPU or the GPU.
Like I mentioned earlier, I had the M1 Macbook Air, and that could handle 4K video editing
comfortably.
This handles it better, and I’m assuming that the further up the range you go, the
better your experience will get, but at a cost.
It’s also worth pointing out that you not only get a redesigned Mac here, but 3 thunderbolt
ports, a Magsafe charging port, a card reader and HDMI port, and a phenomenal XDR display
complete with Pro Motion, so whilst you’re spending some £800 more here than you are
on the M1 Macbook Air, you do get a lot for your extra money, even on the base model.
In terms of whether or not I’d recommend buying one of these right now, absolutely.
There’s talk of Apple launching M2 Pro and M2 Max Macbook Pros later this year, but they’ll
be a spec bump in terms of performance, nothing more, there certainly isn’t going to be
any kind of external redesign or anything like that.
So, those are your laptop options, from £999, all the way up to £6,000, with plenty of
price points inbetween.
Desktop
If you’re looking for a Mac for your office, and you’ve already got a display, mouse
and keyboard, you’ve also got plenty of Mac options available.
At the budget end is the Mac Mini, this was one of the three initial computers that Apple
launched with M1 chips some 18 months ago, and it remains incredible value, and the cheapest
entry point for the M1 range in terms of computers.
You can get an M1 chip with an 8 core CPU, an 8 core GPU, so 1 more GPU core than the
base Macbook Air, 8gb of RAM and 256gb SSD for £700, which is phenomenal value.
Yes, you’re going to need a mouse, keyboard and display, but with the Mac Mini having
both Thunderbolt ports and an HDMI out, you’ve got no end of display options to choose from.
You also get ethernet and 2 USB A ports, plus keep in mind, you’ve got a separate power
supply, so those two thunderbolt ports can both be constantly used for peripherals.
No card reader, but with the money you save buying this, you could always opt for a thunderbolt
dock, which would open up a load of connectivity.
What you don’t get here is much room to spec up.
Yes, you can pay to increase the ram and the SSD, but there’s no M1 Pro or Max option
here at the moment.
There’s rumours of that coming in the future, and those rumours are even more likely now
that Apple have released the Mac Studio, I could at least imagine an M1 or M2 Pro Mac
Mini launching, but as ever with Apple, nothing is official until it happens.
If you need a Mac desktop and you’re on a budget, I would recommend the M1 Mac Mini,
even now, with a rumoured redesign just around the corner, I still think it’s amazing value,
but do keep in mind that there is likely to be a new version coming soon, so if you’d
rather wait, then wait.
Next up is a product that I almost put into it’s own category, the M1 iMac. Apple have
now stopped selling all Intel iMacs, so if you want a desktop Mac complete with a screen,
for now at least, this is the computer for you.
You’re getting a very well reviewed 24 inch display, you can choose from a range of colours,
you’re getting a mouse and keyboard included in the box, plus all of the power of the M1
Macs.
Price wise you start at £1,249, and for that you’re getting essentially the M1 Macbook
Air base model inside of an iMac chassis.
You’re also getting more connectivity options, thanks to some configurations having additional
USB C ports and a gigabit ethernet.
Same problem as the M1 Mac Mini, you don’t have a huge amount of options when it comes
to speccing up, you can go as high as 16g of ram and 2tb of storage, but you’re still
restricted to the M1 chip.
There isn’t a pro version of the imac right now, but with the success of this computer
and the recent launch of the Mac Studio, it has to be coming, probably with an M1 Pro
or Max configuration, maybe even an M1 Ultra.
I would say that if you’ve been seriously considering the Mac Mini, but you’d prefer
to skip the hassle of buying an external display, mouse and keyboard, go for the cheapest iMac
that you can.
That M1 chip is still super powerful, and you really do get a lot of computer for your
money.
So, that finally brings us to Apple’s latest beast, the Mac Studio.
The easiest way to think of the Mac Studio is like a Pro Mac Mini, although rumour has
it that Apple called this the Studio because they may well be planning on creating a pro
Mac Mini, that would sit somewhere between the current Mac Mini and this.
The Mac Studio skips the M1 and the M1 Pro chips, and jumps right in at an M1 Max chip,
offering you 10 CPU cores, 24 GPU cores, 32gb of RAM and a 512gb SSD for an actually very
reasonable when you think about it £2000.
You’re also getting front facing USB C ports and a conveniently accessible card reader,
4 thunderbolt ports on the rear, 2 USB A ports, HDMI and a 10gb ethernet, so if you own an
external display, mouse and keyboard, and the Mac Mini just isn’t quite enough for
you, this is the way to go.
If you double the price, you can literally double everything, Apple have created the
M1 Ultra by fusing two M1 Max chips together.
So that’s 20 CPU cores, 48 GPU cores, a 32 core neural engine, the only M1 computer
that I’m aware of to have this, and a media engine that’s twice as fast as the media
engine on the M1 Max.
In the M1 range of computers, right now, this is as good as it gets, you simply can’t
get any more powerful than this at the moment, not until Apple update their Mac Pros with
M1 chips, and I’d expect those computers to be eye-wateringly expensive, perhaps not
to the level of the Intel Mac Pros, but still very expensive.
Consider that if you go all out with a Mac Studio and put everything in it, that’s
still 8 grand, so a new M1 Mac Pro that still costs tens of thousands of pounds is, in my
opinion, still very likely.
So there you go, that’s all of the Macs right now, the current state of play when
it comes to the Mac lineup, covering budgets from £1000, all the way up to just shy of
£10,000.
And remember, Apple have more planned for this year, with rumours of an iMac Pro, new
Macbook Pros, a new Macbook Air, a refreshed Mac Mini and of course the Mac Pro, and logic
would dictate, a system wide refresh to the M2 chip at some point.
What do you think, are you in the market for a new Mac any time soon?
If yes, what are you thinking?
Drop me a comment, and let’s talk about it.
And as ever, if you found this video useful, do please consider leaving me a like, and
subscribing to my channel for more content like this in the future.
See you on the next video.