It’s now a given that the notebook market is experiencing a very unique period. In recent years, the advent of ARM platforms has significantly shaken things up and revealed a picture in which the name of a brand that, until 5-6 years ago, was relegated to a very small share stands out. We’re obviously talking about Apple, which, since introducing its first solutions featuring Apple Silicon chips , has seen its market share steadily grow, especially in the segment starting at €800 and up. In this segment, the Cupertino company records a market share that starts at 80% and rises with the price . If we include all price ranges, the market share drops (below €700 is still almost exclusively Windows territory), but Apple still remains the market leader with a share of just over 20% in a sector that, by 2025, will exceed 600,000 units.
All this to say that interest in Apple solutions has significantly increased, and that nowadays, considering the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs, the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, the various chipset configurations, and the presence of models from different generations on the market, finding the MacBook best suited to your needs can become a significant challenge. In this article, we will try to clarify the situation and offer some purchasing advice based on broad user categories, hoping to provide something useful for those who, right now, are unsure about which MacBook to buy.
WHICH MAC SHOULD I BUY?
Let’s start by saying that, as always, the first question to ask is related to the use you’ll be making of the MacBook you’re purchasing; and in this sense, there’s a category of users who have always required maximum performance. These are obviously professionals who work with Metal for graphics/3D, or with enormous LLM models, or even those who edit high-resolution RAW videos. For these users, a very powerful GPU and, above all, plenty of unified memory to support all the operations listed above are essential. In this case, the best option is obviously the top of the line, which, at the moment, is a MacBook Pro M4 Max configured with 128GB of unified memory.
Yes, I know, we’re talking about a product with a truly high price tag; for the “maximum” version, it can exceed €8,000, but even if you limit yourself to a 1TB SSD, it’s still over €6,000. These are extremely high figures, but for professionals, this should be considered an investment that allows them to produce more efficiently and, very likely, complete jobs more quickly and therefore generate higher revenue. Obviously, this is the pinnacle of the Pro offering; from there, you can scale down to the M4 Pro solutions if you feel you don’t need that much power. And if you’re interested in a little more power for working with AI locally, then you should also consider the more recent MacBook Pro 14 with Apple Silicon M5.
TOP CONFIGURATION WITH M1 MAX
If you’re a professional, don’t want to spend a lot, but above all need a large amount of unified memory and a good GPU, then the best solution might be to look in the world of refurbished products and could be a MacBook Pro M1 Max, in the 14-inch model. Even by purchasing from reliable sites, such as Okamac, it is in fact possible to find this model with a whopping 64 GB of unified memory at a price that doesn’t stray too far from 1500/1600 euros.
OKAMAC LINK FOR MACBOOK PRO M1 MAX 14″
For this price, which is certainly not excessive if you are a professional who has to work with this machine, you take home a product equipped with a platform that is still very valid in terms of performance and equipped with a unified amount of memory that allows you to easily manage any type of “RAM intensive” application.
MACBOOK AIR M4 FOR EVERYONE
Moving on to what we might call more normal needs, we undoubtedly find the latest 13-inch MacBook Air M4 , which, in the version with 16 GB of unified memory and 256 GB of storage, is now permanently available online at a price of around €900. And I’ll tell you honestly, if you don’t have any particular needs or preferences that force you to buy a Windows solution, at this price it’s probably the best product you can buy in terms of performance-to-power ratio.
The available processing power is more than enough to meet the needs of 90% of “standard” users. Browsing, multitasking, word processing, programming, video editing, and basic photo editing are all fully supported by this product’s hardware. It’s also a perfect solution if you’re looking to replace your traditional home desktop with a device that doesn’t restrict you to desk-based use.
REFURBISHED IF YOUR BUDGET IS LIMITED
Okay, but what if my budget is even tighter and I’m limited to spending no more than €500-600? Well, in this case, we’re back to looking at refurbished models. M1 or M2 MacBook Airs are easily available for around these prices or a little more. The only recommendation in this case, if you’re within your budget, is to look for a solution with 16 GB of unified memory. While 8 GB of unified memory might have been sufficient in 2020, these days it’s starting to feel like a very tight amount.
But be careful: if you’re not in a hurry, the smartest decision might be to wait a few more months. From various rumors that have appeared online in recent weeks and months, it seems that Apple intends to launch a new “affordable” MacBook in the near future, aimed at challenging Chromebooks’ dominance in the education sector, especially in the United States. This alleged new solution could be equipped with the A18/A19 Pro chip and cost around $499. After taxes and various adjustments, it could therefore arrive in Italy for around €600; a significant coup for the entire market segment currently untapped by the new model.
MAC MINI INSTEAD OF THE FIXED ONE
And finally, a solution we call “bonus” and also intended for those who want to replace their home desktop but, this time, still maintain a fixed solution. In this case, there is no better solution than the Mac Mini M4 . Super compact—so much so that you could even carry it from home to the office—yet still capable of meeting the demands and needs of the vast majority of users in terms of computing power.