There probably isn’t a single person in the world who hasn’t heard of Apple. No, not the forbidden fruit from Heaven, but the forbidden fruit of classy design and a superior product. Founded back in ’76 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, the company started as a small computer developer and vendor. Various crazy things occurred during its development as a corporation, including the ousting of Jobs himself and Wayne selling his 30% part of the company for $800, which today would be worth $100 billion or so. At any rate, it’s pretty clear: Apple is today’s world’s highest ranked IT company regarding revenue and total assets, as well as second by some employees. It’s also second after Samsung in mobile phone manufacturing. And, most importantly, it achieved all these features with an incredibly small number of products. So small, in fact, that the abovementioned Samsung releases in one year probably more models than Apple did since its first phone. The same goes with computers: while other companies like Lenovo, Asus, Acer, or HP offer an immense amount of goodies to satisfy the needs of every section of the market, Apple brings to the table exactly seven laptops. In fact, if we consider every single product Apple offers, including iMacs, iPhones, iPads and whatnot, we get an amazing 30 products. Kinda like how many Dell has in two series of laptops.
At any rate, we understand why you want to purchase an Apple laptop. They are extremely reliable, catch no viruses worth mentioning, rarely have bugs, if ever, and benefit from amazing customer support for all models. We’ve made a list of Apple products and what you may want to purchase them for. Unlike other lists we’ve made, this is pretty much an exhaustive list; after all, there are only a few products. Here’s what Apple offers and what we think of their offer:
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1. Best deal: MacBook Pro 13”2016
In spite of not having the innovative TouchBar some other models feature, we think that this little one is the best when it comes to price vs. functionality. It’s undoubtedly an improved design compared to the last MacBook Pro 13”, as it is overall 23” smaller and 17” thinner, as well as 200g lighter. It’s also louder, with improved speakers and very precise speaker design, as well as more accurate lines.
The base model comes with a dual-core Intel I5, 2.0GHz, with Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz. Just like most Apple computers, it doesn’t have a discrete graphics card, instead relying on the Intel Iris Graphics 540, a high-end integrated video chip that can apparently handle games like Overwatch on medium or low settings (not that Overwatch would be compatible anyway). It also has a 256GB SSD, which you can increase up to 1TB for some extra money, as well as the best battery life of all MacBook models, over 10 hours of continuous web browsing.
2. Best for power users: MacBook Pro 15” 2016
If you’re planning to do some serious graphics design, Photoshop, multitasking, high-resolution video editing, and other similar things, then we suggest you get this Apple powerhouse. While the absence of an SD card slot still plagues these computers, the new TouchBar seems to enjoy a well-deserved success. Accessing the interface of various apps has never been easier, and many reviewers found that the TouchBar saves plenty of time and nerves in the long run.
The model we’re thinking of features a quad-core, 2.6GHz Intel i7, with Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz. It has 16GB DDR4 RAM @2133MHz, as well as a 256GB SSD. All in all, it’s everything you need if you want to play in AutoCAD while watching 5 YouTube videos at the same time and calculating the 5 billionth decimal of pi.
3. Best budget: MacBook Air 13”
We’re going to consider the MacBook Air 13 an affordable option. Not that it’s cheap compared to other brands. It is, however, exquisitely slim and light, at only 1.35 kg and 3 to 17mm, with the established beautiful design by which anyone can recognize an Apple laptop.
This budget MacBook has, for the basic model, a dual-core, 1.6GHz i5, up to 2.7GHz Turbo, coupled with the integrated video chip Intel HD Graphics 6000, 8GB RAM, and 128GB SSD. Unlike other newer models, it also has USB 3.0 Type A ports besides the Thunderbolt Type C.
4. Most Portable: MacBook 12”
While our #3 is one of the slimmest and lightest, this particular model is THE slimmest, smallest, and lightest laptop Apple could produce. It’s also a bit more expensive than the MacBook Air, for the basic model, but that’s another story. The point is, this laptop is not bigger or heavier than the average textbook, and we also believe that it’s a lot prettier.
The 12” basic model is only 3.5-13mm thick and weighs no more than 920 grams, which is pretty impressive even for a 12-inch laptop. It has a QHD IPS Retina display, powered by an integrated video chip Intel HD 515. It has an Intel Core m3, 1.1.GHz, Turbo Boost up to 2.2GHz, 8GB LPDDR3 @1866MHz, and a 256GB SSD. As far as connectivity goes, it has Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, a Thunderbolt Type C and a 3.5mm audio combo.
In fact, the number one great thing about Apple products is that they work. Not simply “work,” but work constantly, work consistently, work almost bug-free and virus-free, work simply and intuitively and provide an amazing user experience. The number zero great thing about Apple is that’s supremely pretty. In fact, the Apple design is arguably the best among all computer and phone brands. Arguably. We love Samsung too, almost as much. At any rate, there’s not one critic saying that the consecrated MacBook design is not aesthetic, although there are many who say it’s outdated (and, honestly, we incline to think the same – it hasn’t been updated in a couple of years). Anyway, the point is that Apple laptops are slim, light, generally beautiful, pretty resistant, and they work exactly as you want them to work. The ports are great, but also a double-edged sword. While the reversible USB 3.1 Type C is amazingly fast and will probably become world standard in a few years, there are currently too few things that use it, so you’ll have to buy adapters and such.
What’s the problem then? Well, obviously for anyone who knows Apple (i.e. literally everyone), the price is an issue. Of course, we get it, there are only a few select models, designed carefully and all that, but they’re generously overpriced. In fact, you can get an Asus just as good for $1000 less… which is quite a lot. There’s also the fact that they’re not designed for things like gaming. At all. In fact, you can rarely find computer games compatible with MacOS and, even if there were, there’s not a single MacBook or iMac that is gaming-oriented. This means a large share of the market is lost, to begin with, not to mention the millions of people who don’t buy a computer simply because it’s too expensive. Speaking of price and compatibility, there’s also a third related issue: compatible hardware and software. In general, Apple products are only compatible with other Apple products, which means you’ll have to buy more Apple products in order to use some Apple products. Which means more money for Apple and less for you, basically, as both the compatible accessories and apps are generally expensive.
