Buying your first Mac can be bewildering, but we’re here to help. We bring you a guide to the current Mac models that includes: the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. We look at their strengths and weaknesses and outline their expansion options. With our assistance, you can find the right Mac model for you. Mac mini Apple’s smallest desktop Mac enjoyed a major refit in 2018, but is this small form factor Mac right for you? The Mac mini is the cheapest of Apple’s Mac range, however, it’s sold without a keyboard, mouse or monitor; you have to supply these yourself. The current Mac mini, which comes in space grey, has processors with up to six cores and faster graphics, providing a significant performance increase. You can opt for up to 2TB of storage, with fast solid-state drives used across the entire Mac mini range, or for even more graphical power, you can add an external graphics processor (eGPU), using the Mac mini’s USB-C ports. One of the best things about the Mac mini is, because of its small size, it’s extremely portable. If you have a monitor, keyboard and mouse set up both at home and in the office, you can take your Mac mini with you and use the same computer at work and at home. They make great under-the-TV media centres too, especially if you add a portable optical drive and a Bluetooth handheld keyboard. Install a media server, software suite, such as Kodi or Plex and you’re ready to go. Suitability. Those on a budget or who are pressed for space. Also, if you already have a monitor, keyboard and controller, the Mac mini is all you need. iMac Apple’s popular desktop Mac goes from strength to strength. It’s a computer and a monitor, all in one unit. It’s the perfect Mac for the home too. The iMac is ideal for home or home office use and with the computer, hard-drive and screen, all in one unit, you only have one thing to plug in. Available in 21-inch or 27-inch versions, all but the cheapest iMac, have amazing 4K or 5K displays for incredible clarity. The iMac’s only drawback is it’s definitely not suitable if you need to transport it from A to B regularly, but apart from that, it’s great. Current-generation iMacs are equipped with seventh-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors alongside the latest high-performance graphics and all but the very cheapest iMac boast a Retina screen, which is so high a resolution you can’t identify individual pixels at normal viewing distance, along with a Fusion Drive. Unlike ordinary hard drives, a Fusion Drive offers solid state storage for the files you use the most, including the Mac’s system files and a large hard-drive for everything else. This means it’s very fast and boots up really quickly. It’s worth bearing in mind that the iMac hasn’t been refreshed in a long while so, if you plan to buy one, it might be worth waiting for the next model, which is sure to come along soon. Suitability. The iMac is ideal for the home and small office user. Unless you need an incredibly powerful computer, there’s bound to be an iMac that’s ideal for your requirements. MacBook Air The 2018 refresh brought a host of new features to the MacBook Air, without making it any less lightweight and portable. It’s also Apple’s cheapest notebook. The newest MacBook Air is available in three finishes: space grey, gold and silver. It now features a Retina screen and the display glass reaches from edge to edge, omitting the bezel. This allows for a screen size of 13.3 inches, without making the notebook itself any larger and this is, of course, over an inch larger than the MacBook’s 12-inch screen. Like the MacBook, the MacBook Air is built for portability rather than power. Its processor is only 1.6GHz, which is slow by today’s Mac standards, but it weighs just 1.25kg. Its battery lasts for up to 12 hours on a single charge, so if you’re likely to spend long periods away from your charger, the Air is definitely worth considering and like all the current Apple notebook range, it has versatile USB-C ports for connectivity. If you use your MacBook Air at home as well as away, you can set up a dock (sold separately) and connect a monitor, printer, external hard drives and more, just by plugging in a single USB-C lead. Suitability. All-day battery life and lightweight portability. A great choice for those who carry their notebook around a lot. MacBook It’s a great looking machine but is Apple’s latest notebook the right Mac for you? On a power-to-price ratio, Apple’s MacBook range is a weak performer, but you can’t fault it for style; this slimline, 12-inch notebook is the last word in fashion. It has a great, new battery design that keeps it going all day and comes in a choice of three colours; Space grey, gold and silver. It’s also the thinnest, lightest Mac notebook yet, so if you’re out and about all day, at 0.9kg it won’t weigh you down while its ten-hour battery life lets you go a full day on a single charge. MacBook is fanless and runs near-silently. It can hold up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of solid state storage, though it’s impossible to upgrade these things after you’ve bought it; make sure you get enough when you order. It has a 12-inch Retina display too, so everything looks really rich and vibrant and its redesigned keyboard is a joy to use. Despite – or maybe because of – its lightness and portability, the MacBook is not as powerful as the other Mac notebooks therefore, If you need a lot of processing and graphical power, it might not be the Mac for you. Suitability. The MacBook isn’t the most powerful Mac on the market, but it’s incredibly stylish and portable. It’s great for those on the move. MacBook Pro
The most powerful Mac in Apple’s notebook range. The MacBook Pro is Apple’s high-end notebook model. Although higher priced than the MacBook and MacBook Air, it does pack more processing power. It’s available in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes and the higher-end models also include the new Touch Bar. The MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar replaces the function keys found on other Mac notebooks and its functions differ according to what you’re doing at the time. For example, if you’re using Messages, the Touch Bar offers emoticons to add to your message, while In Photos, it allows you to scroll through your snaps. It even has a Touch ID reader, so you can open your MacBook Pro with your fingerprint. The MacBook Pro is a powerful beast with excellent graphical capabilities, but if you want even more power, you can add an external graphics processor (eGPU); just the thing for rendering large images or processing video, it’s quiet too and has hi-fidelity sound. Although not as light as other Mac notebooks, at 1.37kg for the 13-inch model and 1.83kg for the 15-inch notebook, it’s not bulky either and you can expect up to ten hours of power on a single charge. Suitability. Users who need a powerful, yet portable, Mac. Larger memory capability. The MacBook Pro is fast enough for most graphics, video and music software. Visit here for iphone buying guide 2018
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |