Which Mac should you buy? MacBook Buyer’s Guide 2015

Since I’m a Mac user and I’ve reviewed many Apple products I decided to make a Mac Buyer’s Guide video to help you decide which MacBook would be the best for you.

3 MacBook Models
MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro

MacBook

  • Brand new; available in April 2015; Base model starts at $1299
  • 1st MacBook to be available in silver, gold, and space gray (like iPads and iPhones)
  • 12” IPS Retina display with 3 million pixels
  • Intel Core M mobile processor
  • 8GB of RAM and at least 256GB of flash storage

 The MacBook is for you if you

  • Love having the newest Apple features (Force Touch Trackpad and new butterfly mechanism keyboard)
  • Care about looks more than performance (sexy; Retina display; colors)
  • Want something ultra portable & mobile; Apple’s thinnest & lightest laptop (2 lbs & 9 hours battery life)
  • Running basic applications like web browsing, email, productivity software, and nothing too CPU intensive (has a mobile processor)
  • Don’t use USB drives or other external devices often such as SD cards, cameras, charging phone/tablet, connecting to a monitor (has only 1 USB-C port for charging/input/output)
  • Don’t Skype/FaceTime much and don’t need to record HD videos with the webcam (only 480p)
  • Want something that resembles an iPad
  • Most of your digital life is all wireless and on the cloud
  • Have the budget for it (expensive for what you get)

MacBook Air

  • Comes in 2 sizes: 11” starting at $899 and 13” starting at $999
  • Does not have an IPS Retina display
  • 4GB of RAM (can be upgraded to 8GB) and 128GB flash storage (can be upgraded to 256GB)
  • 5th-generation Intel Core i5 dual-core processor (can be upgraded to i7)

MacBook Air is for you if you

  • Want a small, lightweight and thin laptop
  • Are always on the go (great for students and travelers)
  • Don’t mind having a non-HD display
  • Care about battery life more than anything (13″ gets up to 12 hours; longest battery life of any Apple laptop)
  • Run typical everyday applications and even do some light photo/video editing
  • Still need access to Thunderbolt & USB ports and an HD webcam (720p)

MacBook Pro Retina

  • Comes in 2 sizes: 13″ starting at $1299 or 15″ starting at $1999
  • Both models have IPS Retina displays (13″ has over 4 million pixels; 15″ has over 5 million pixels)
  • 13″ comes with 8GB RAM (can be upgraded to 16); 15″ comes with 16GB RAM standard
  • 13″ has 128GB flash storage (can be upgraded to 256GB or 512GB); 15″ comes with 256GB flash storage (can be upgraded to 512GB)
  • 13″ comes with 5h-gen Core i5 dual-core processor (can be upgraded to i7)
  • 15″ comes with 4th-gen Core i7 quad-core processor

MacBook Pro is for you if you

  • Want the best performance and fastest speed out of all the Apple laptops
  • Run CPU-intensive or graphics-intensive applications such as gaming, HD video editing, 3D modeling, CAD, virtual machines, Photoshop
  • Don’t mind having a heavier laptop compared to the other MacBook models
  • Want a desktop replacement
  • Need as many ports as possible (HDMI, Thunderbolt, USB, SD)

13″ or 15?

Get the 13″ if you want long battery life, the new Force Touch Trackpad, and fastest read/write SSD speed.

Get the 15″ if you want the bigger display and the best processor/graphics performance.