- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 2,073
- Reaction score
- 68
- Points
- 48
- Location
- Ithaca NY
- Your Mac's Specs
- 13 inch alMacBook 2GHz C2D 4G DDR3, 1.25GHz G4 eMac
As requested. I figure since I sold computers for a long time, I'm probably a fairly decent candidate for pairing people to computers. Feel free to expand upon this or offer suggestions.
This is a general overview of Apple's current (as of December 1, 2010) computer line up, attempting to fit each computer to each segment of the consumer market.
The Desktops
Mac Mini - The Mac Mini is a great computer for family if you will have relatively few users (only upgradeable to 4GB of RAM) who will be mostly using the computer for web browsing, email, word processing, light 3D gaming, photo organization and light editing. It also makes a very nice home theatre PC with the addition of an HDMI port, or a desktop for a single user for those previously stated purposes. The mini is also more than capable of handling some light audio and video editing with programs like garage band, iMovie, or even adobe CS5.
iMac - Compared to the Mini, you pay more to get the iMac. You also get a whole lot more with the iMac. The medium to high end dedicated video cards in the iMac paired with the new hyperthreading intel core processors combine to give you a whole lot of power starting at $1200. If you're looking for a very powerful home desktop computer, the iMac is a great choice. Expandable to 16GB of RAM no matter which version you get, you know that the iMac is set for the future. If you plan on having a powerful computer but don't plan on using any professional audio or video software, the quad core i5 and i7 models may be overkill for your needs, but if you're tempted by the power, you will by no means be let down.
Mac Pro - This is some serious computer. This is what the professionals use for rendering audio and video. If you are not a professional customer and are just a consumer looking at this computer, it is probably because you have a lot of extra money to spend and you want to get the absolute best computer money can currently buy you. This computer is complete overkill for 99.99999% of all consumers. Expandable to 32GB of RAM, available with up to two 6-core Xeon processors at 2.93GHz pre-turbo boost with hyperthreading enabled, these computers will pretty much obliterate any task you set them with. The lower end models may appeal to potential iMac customers who want further ability to expand their machine in the future and/or more ports. To borrow a line from Ferris Bueller, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."
The Portables
MacBook - A good student/home use portable. The battery life is excellent, the processor plenty powerful enough. This is basically a portable Mac mini paired with a screen. To recap, this is meant for people who will be using the computer for web browsing, email, word processing, light 3D gaming, photo organization and light audio/video editing. Some people will be turned off by the lack of a hyperthreading capable chip (the Core 2 Duo is merely a 64 bit chip, no hyperthreading like the newer i3), but the inclusion of the OpenCL ready nvidia 320m graphics chip (the reason for sticking with the core 2 over the i3 is a feud between intel and nvidia over licensing the bus to use an integrated graphics chip on the newer i3) more than makes up for this loss. The 320m provides another 48 pipelines ready to computer information via the OpenCL API that developers will take advantage of more and more. You can bet your butt that Apple will be coding much of Lion to take advantage of OpenCL!
MacBook Pro - If you are a student of audio/video editing, this is the computer for you. It's a portable machine and capable of most tasks. The higher end intel core i5 and i7 CPUs are hyperthreading capable and you will notice the difference while using professional software like Final Cut, Premiere, or Protools/Logic. If you need a slightly more powerful portable, pick up the 13 inch pro. The aluminum enclosure alone is worth the extra cash over the regular MacBook in this user's opinion.
Also a good pick up if you've got a main computer for your professional production, but want to pick up a portable unit as well.
13 inch is a good size and capable of most high end computing tasks, 15 inch is a lot more powerful and gives you faster cpu options, 17 inch is just ridiculously big and gives you the same cpu options as the 15 inch.
MacBook Air - great computer if you're looking mainly for something for internet access and some light word processing/spreadsheet type stuff, but need it to be ultraportable. Great second computer or primary computer if you're an extremely light user.
the iPad - A great pickup as a satellite computer geared mainly at media consumption rather than creation. This tablet is super handy and fast for looking things up on the web, running other great mobile apps, and a plethora of things, but it should not be considered as a main computer. Ever. At least not until things really get an overhaul in terms of media creation. This would be a great replacement for a netbook if you intend not to try and use a netbook as a cheap main computer (as much of the netbook consumer segment does) but as a supplementary device meant to deliver a light weight ultraportable internet browsing experience. Another perk of the iPad is the number of sweet games readily available. It's fairly expensive as far as a portable gaming device goes, but it's a nice benefit. Try gaming on a netbook, even with nvidia ion graphics!
This is a general overview of Apple's current (as of December 1, 2010) computer line up, attempting to fit each computer to each segment of the consumer market.
The Desktops
Mac Mini - The Mac Mini is a great computer for family if you will have relatively few users (only upgradeable to 4GB of RAM) who will be mostly using the computer for web browsing, email, word processing, light 3D gaming, photo organization and light editing. It also makes a very nice home theatre PC with the addition of an HDMI port, or a desktop for a single user for those previously stated purposes. The mini is also more than capable of handling some light audio and video editing with programs like garage band, iMovie, or even adobe CS5.
iMac - Compared to the Mini, you pay more to get the iMac. You also get a whole lot more with the iMac. The medium to high end dedicated video cards in the iMac paired with the new hyperthreading intel core processors combine to give you a whole lot of power starting at $1200. If you're looking for a very powerful home desktop computer, the iMac is a great choice. Expandable to 16GB of RAM no matter which version you get, you know that the iMac is set for the future. If you plan on having a powerful computer but don't plan on using any professional audio or video software, the quad core i5 and i7 models may be overkill for your needs, but if you're tempted by the power, you will by no means be let down.
Mac Pro - This is some serious computer. This is what the professionals use for rendering audio and video. If you are not a professional customer and are just a consumer looking at this computer, it is probably because you have a lot of extra money to spend and you want to get the absolute best computer money can currently buy you. This computer is complete overkill for 99.99999% of all consumers. Expandable to 32GB of RAM, available with up to two 6-core Xeon processors at 2.93GHz pre-turbo boost with hyperthreading enabled, these computers will pretty much obliterate any task you set them with. The lower end models may appeal to potential iMac customers who want further ability to expand their machine in the future and/or more ports. To borrow a line from Ferris Bueller, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."
The Portables
MacBook - A good student/home use portable. The battery life is excellent, the processor plenty powerful enough. This is basically a portable Mac mini paired with a screen. To recap, this is meant for people who will be using the computer for web browsing, email, word processing, light 3D gaming, photo organization and light audio/video editing. Some people will be turned off by the lack of a hyperthreading capable chip (the Core 2 Duo is merely a 64 bit chip, no hyperthreading like the newer i3), but the inclusion of the OpenCL ready nvidia 320m graphics chip (the reason for sticking with the core 2 over the i3 is a feud between intel and nvidia over licensing the bus to use an integrated graphics chip on the newer i3) more than makes up for this loss. The 320m provides another 48 pipelines ready to computer information via the OpenCL API that developers will take advantage of more and more. You can bet your butt that Apple will be coding much of Lion to take advantage of OpenCL!
MacBook Pro - If you are a student of audio/video editing, this is the computer for you. It's a portable machine and capable of most tasks. The higher end intel core i5 and i7 CPUs are hyperthreading capable and you will notice the difference while using professional software like Final Cut, Premiere, or Protools/Logic. If you need a slightly more powerful portable, pick up the 13 inch pro. The aluminum enclosure alone is worth the extra cash over the regular MacBook in this user's opinion.
Also a good pick up if you've got a main computer for your professional production, but want to pick up a portable unit as well.
13 inch is a good size and capable of most high end computing tasks, 15 inch is a lot more powerful and gives you faster cpu options, 17 inch is just ridiculously big and gives you the same cpu options as the 15 inch.
MacBook Air - great computer if you're looking mainly for something for internet access and some light word processing/spreadsheet type stuff, but need it to be ultraportable. Great second computer or primary computer if you're an extremely light user.
the iPad - A great pickup as a satellite computer geared mainly at media consumption rather than creation. This tablet is super handy and fast for looking things up on the web, running other great mobile apps, and a plethora of things, but it should not be considered as a main computer. Ever. At least not until things really get an overhaul in terms of media creation. This would be a great replacement for a netbook if you intend not to try and use a netbook as a cheap main computer (as much of the netbook consumer segment does) but as a supplementary device meant to deliver a light weight ultraportable internet browsing experience. Another perk of the iPad is the number of sweet games readily available. It's fairly expensive as far as a portable gaming device goes, but it's a nice benefit. Try gaming on a netbook, even with nvidia ion graphics!