Buying your first Mac? Read this.
Thinking
about a Mac for a loved one this holiday season? He or she (or you) is very
lucky. But if this is the first time you’ve looked at buying a Macintosh
computer, there are few things you might want to consider before you decide
what to get. While the Apple shopping experience is supposed to be a simple and
streamlined process, understanding the Mac as a product and knowing a little
about Apple’s marketing will make you a more knowledgeable -- and in the end
happier -- Mac customer.
This
is an in-depth guide to buying your first Mac. You’ll learn about Apple
philosophy, product cycles, price points, the different product lines offered
today and how to pick the right Mac for you.
Joining the “cult” of Mac
Welcome
to your first experience as a fanboy -- or fangirl. It’s time to join the cult.
Okay, so those labels – rhetoric from PC-only users – may be outdated. However,
it might be a good idea to know what it means to own a Mac, from then – to now.
Owning
a Mac is essential to some people (audio and video professionals like record
producers, film editors or graphic designers) where the reliability of
Macintosh is irreplaceable. But to everyone else, the Mac is really a luxury
item. There are machines that will do almost everything you need for much
cheaper, but when it comes down to it, many are inferior and more frustrating
to use. It’s like this: some people will use a car – any car – to get from point
A to point B, while others like to ride in style and be comfortable each time
he or she hops in the driver seat. The same goes for your choice of computer.
The Macintosh is like the Cadillac of the computer world, and it’s definitely a
fancy ride.
However,
just as any minority group is usually ridiculed for being different (fill in
whatever stereotype you wish), so too were Mac users, especially in the late
90s to early 2000s. While Apple struggled with business models and flirted with
bankruptcy, a closely-knit group of evangelists helped keep Apple afloat. Being
the underdog, those who had adopted the Mac in a Windows world were perceived
as being cult-like for their die-hard fascination with the product and what it
represented. The marketing slogan then, “Think Different,” really drove the
idea of belonging to a creative elite -- of belonging to a family.
The
Mac today, however, isn’t as much a statement as it is just a really good
computer. It works in our complicated, incompatible tech world now more than it
ever has. For the most part, people that try a Mac stick with it, fulfilling
the prophecy “once you go Mac, you never go back.” Sure, Mac or iPhone users
might get the occasional “fanboy” slander every now and then from a disgruntled
PC user (which is ridiculous, because most Mac users also use PCs), but those allegations
are just about dead. The Macintosh base is extremely large, and Apple as a
company is not the underdog anymore. In fact, as of this writing, Apple’s stock
market valuation sets them as the most valuable technology company in the world
– even above Microsoft.
There’s
a reason for this, a reason that Apple has overcome incredible odds and pretty
much taken over the tech world in terms of both mind share and the stock market.
It has everything to do with the philosophy that drives the products they make.
Apple philosophy 101
Simplicity,
ease of use, design, aesthetics, quality… These are terms usually associated
with Apple products. While other manufacturers sell based on miscellaneous
features and spec sheets, what sets Apple apart is emphasis on great design and
aesthetics, build quality, exceptional core functionality and the user
experience. Initially, they leave out arguably essential features. This was no
more apparent than with the release of the iPhone, which at launch had no 3G
networking, a horrible camera, no multitasking, no Flash, no MMS, and others. It
still is missing a few wanted features (at least from those in the industry
whose job it is to report and complain about Apple).
Steve
Jobs has said that his company is product-driven; they want to make the best
products in the world – not the best selling or best value, but the best. They
are as much a lifestyle company as they are a technology company. They preach
originality and design, all the while sometimes outright refuting what is
popular or accepted as standard practice in the industry altogether. If it
doesn’t align with Apple’s (or Steve Job’s) vision of the future, nobody can tell
it (or him) otherwise.
Apple
does not follow trends. They set trends. They don’t look to monetize what’s
popular, but would rather tear down and rethink what’s already popular. Look at
the iPod. Look at the iPhone. Look at the iPad. Hell, look at the Mac when it
was introduced. Apple has been intentionally altering the way we look at tech
by essentially creating new markets and categories of devices, and advancing
the state of the art.
I
think it’s a case study for any business student.
However,
part of big A’s philosophy takes buying into a relatively closed system. Apple
wants you to live in Apple land. While doing what they will to be compatible
with the outside world, Apple wants you to live, work and play in their
sandbox. They make the hardware. They make the software, the operating system,
and they want you to come buy it at one of their retail stores. And they want
you to buy your music and media from iTunes, which is joined at the hip with
the iPod or iPhone, which is then joined at the other hip with the AppStore and
MobileMe… Each product is its own realm of exclusivity.
From
this mindset of control comes the idea of user experience. They oversee these
aspects of the experience, because they want it to be a good one. The notion of
control might seem ominous, but it isn’t inherently bad. There’s a reason why
over and over again, Apple ranks the highest among all PC manufacturers in
customer satisfaction (link). For the average consumer, every step of buying
and using a Mac has been considered and designed.
To
contrast, Microsoft creates and markets the Windows software but relies on PC
manufacturers and retail outlets to oversee everything else. This is good for
wide selection and competitive prices, but it also creates much more room for
the consumer to receive an inferior product or service. And it also provides
for a much larger disconnect between the company and the user. For some, this
strict philosophy means little hardware customization and choice, which makes
the Mac less attractive for business and IT markets, or for those who
continually upgrade their systems, such as PC gamers.
If
you’re interested, I would suggest learning a little Apple history. A few good
documentaries on the subject (yes, there are many; it’s an interesting story)
are MacHeads, Welcome to Macintosh, Pirates of Silicon Valley, or even
Objectified, a documentary on design and aesthetics in everyday life.
What is a Mac?
“Mac”
is short for a model of Macintosh computer. It’s a name that has stuck with the
product line since the original Macintosh 128k was introduced in 1984. Every
product from then on, if it ran the Macintosh OS, was considered a Mac, though
the different products in the Mac family had other sub-names like PowerBook or
PowerMac.
A
Mac, at its core, has little to do with the changing hardware designs from year
to year. What makes a Mac a Mac is the operating system it runs: OS X. For the
average consumer, there is nothing better. It has an intuitive interface, great
overall design, is aesthetically pleasing, and is built to be easy to use,
secure and reliable. Snow Leopard is the name given to the current iteration of
OS X, and it’s an amazing product. It comes with the iLife suite of
applications, such as iPhoto, a photo managing application, iMovie for creating
and editing movies, GarageBand and others, all of which make the Mac incredibly
capable right out of the box.
The
Mac is big in the home, education and creative professional markets. Whichever
you hail from, know that there is at least a place for a Mac at your home. And
depending on where you work, the Mac is quickly finding a place among the
corporate world dominated by Windows PCs.
The right one for you
You’ve
probably already got an idea of what you want. Say you need something mobile.
Of course, then you’d choose a laptop. Say, then you need something light and
capable of handling lots of open windows and word processing programs for
productivity. Then you could choose the MacBook or the MacBook Air. Say, but
then you also have some graphics-heavy applications you like to run like 3D
games. Then you’d probably be better off getting the regular MacBook, because
the GPU (graphics processing unit) in that device is a bit speedier.
Here’s
a break down of the 2010 holiday season lineup:
Portables:
MacBook
– Apple’s mainstream consumer notebook. It fits most use cases and can even
handle a few intense 3D games like Half-Life 2. The 13.3-inch screen may be
perfect for most people, however, for the video editor or music producer might
need a little more screen real estate and possibly even more power.
MacBook
Pro – the professional line of notebooks from Apple. While the “Pro”
declaration used to apply only to the notebooks with screen sizes 15 inches and
over, Apple now has made their previous 13-inch aluminum MacBook a MacBook Pro
by adding more RAM, a larger hard drive, and putting FireWire back on the
product. This line of computer is capable of much more than any of its mobile
offerings. The 15 and 17-inch models contain either one of Intel’s i5 or i7
dual-core processors, both of which are extremely powerful. They all currently
use NVidia’s GeForce 320M or 330M GPUs, and are quite capable of the most
demanding video editing tasks. The laptops won’t blaze through HD gaming quite
like a desktop can, but all can play just about anything, given you adjust
game’s graphic settings accordingly. Perfect for the college student, mobile
photographer, traveling musician or DJ.
MacBook
Air – this was made for two main reasons: 1) to give traveling businessmen and
women and super-light, easily portable yet powerful machine, and 2) to show off
how thin Apple can make stuff. They’re considerably more expensive for than that
of their larger and more powerful brethren, but as said before, with Apple you
pay for unique design. And the MacBook Air is definitely unique. It fell under
the “Who the hell would use this?” category by critics who didn’t quite
understand what Apple was trying to accomplish here. It wasn’t made to be
incredibly practical. Instead, Apple figured out how to make super, super thin
laptops, and they had to bring it to market first before anybody else. That
simple.
Desktop:
Mac
mini – There are lot of folks that still ponder the fate of Apple’s
least-expensive Mac offering. Over the past few years, there was some talk that
Apple might discontinue the mini, but with relatively consistent updates, those
rumors have been settled. Especially with it’s most recently design change. The
most drastic evolution of the product since its inception, the Mac mini is
super tiny and flat and silver and pretty. Though larger in diameter than the
previous model, the precision with which Apple can cram so much in such a tiny
space is mind-boggling. It’s a wonderful product and a great addition to the
Mac lineup. With the Mac mini, the lineup feels complete. Add the fact that no
other PC manufacturer really has anything compelling in this form factor, then
you might say Apple has the market on this one, but I haven’t seen any market
studies directed at this category. There are a few nettop (netbook-desktop)
boxes on the market, most notably Dell’s Inspiron Zino HD, but nothing out
there shines like the inconceivably tiny yet powerful (enough) box that Apple
makes. Many use the mini as a home theater media repository and DVD player, or
for internet-based media services like Netflix. They come equipped with an HDMI
port, so it’ll hook right up to your flat panel display.
iMac
– this is the consumer desktop Mac. It takes on the all-in-one design. That
means that the computer is built into the display, or maybe the display is
built into the computer. Either way, it’s good. The iMac is a gorgeous device,
and it takes the lead in the industry for all-in-ones. That’s mostly because it
has a much more competitive edge as far as prices go compared to others. Most
PC manufactures thrive on cheaper boxes that ship with separate displays. If
you’re thinking about an iMac, just remember that it’s not easily upgradable.
You can add extra RAM, and that’s about it. It doesn’t take much to dig into
the system and upgrade the hard drive, but I’d leave that to a professional.
Mac
Pro – I saved the best for last. This computer is the Mac-daddy (pun intended)
of the Mac line. It’s the superbeast among desktop workstations. Starting at
$2500 for the box alone, it’s quite an investment, but if you’re able to
pony-up that amount of money, you’ll be glad you did. Of course, this assumes
you don’t need to be mobile with your computing goals. And I’d say it assumes
you are going to be doing a lot of CPU and GPU-intensive tasks like video
editing or serious gaming. It also assumes you just need a lot of expansion and
a bunch of I/O options to get done what you need done. If not, then I’d
probably recommend an iMac, but then again there are those who want the biggest
and the baddest. One thing that the Mac Pro has going for it compared to other
PC workstations is, again, extraordinary design. If you were to take a good
look inside that big beautiful metal box, you’ll witness a perfect balance of
seemingly crammed components yet perfect accessibility. Everything just kind of
pops out if you need to replace or add something to the system. And when you
close it back up, the whole thing screams power and confidence. Overall, the
design of the Mac Pro is nearly unchanged the past five to six years, but it
also hasn’t lost any of it’s initial luster. That’s saying a lot.
How and when to buy
So,
how do you buy a Mac? Well, there’s no easy way to plop a thousand bucks or two
on a checkout counter, but there is an informed way, and that’ll make sense
real soon.
The
first Mac I purchased was a black MacBook, fall of 2007. Having no idea about
how Apple marketed and released new products, just a week out of its new
packaging, my new laptop was obsolete; Apple had released an updated version
that also included the brand-new operating system OS X Leopard. The one I had
purchased still had OS X Tiger on it. Flustered and appalled, I ran back to the
store, explained my situation and pleaded for an exchange. Luckily, the
reseller was empathetic, and I was able to get the newer one a few weeks later.
The moral of the story? Know Apple product cycles as well as you can. It’s not
an exact science, but based on the patterns of past releases, accompanied with
the never-ending rumor mill on the Internet, you can gauge fairly well when
it’s about time for Apple to refresh the old stuff and bring in the hot new,
spicy Apple pies (sorry for the blatantly horrible pun).
Want
to know if it’s a good time to buy a new MacBook? Check some of the dedicated
Apple news websites. MacWorld, MacRumors, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, or even
Engadget, Gizmodo, and All Things D (from The Wall Street Journal) always have
their ear to Cupertino. In fact, every technology oriented website and media
group reports on everything Apple, because even if Apple announced something
ridiculous like a battery charger it would be news (wait, they already did
that, and it was).
Here’s
a great reference from MacRumors; it’s their buyer’s guide, listing all the
current main Apple product lines and past releases. From there you can get a
sense as to when the best time might be to purchase.
Most
often, MacBooks and MacBook Pros and iMacs get refreshed twice a year, but the
MacBook Air and the Mac Pro is somewhat harder to pinpoint. Recently the Mac
Pro was updated in July, before that was March of 2009. But those looking to
buy a Mac Pro would probably not have time to wait for release dates; they’ve
got stuff to accomplish, so it’s less an issue. Chances are the MacBook and
MacBook Pros will be updated soon. They too have seen a slow-down in update
cycles, having only been refreshed once earlier this year. But, I wouldn’t let
that keep you from getting one if you’ve been eyeing one for this holiday
season. Those laptops are still high-class and won’t be obsolete for quite a
while.
The
iPhone is really predictable, by this point. Every summer since the original
iPhone, Apple has release another one. So, if you want an iPhone 4, get one.
Don’t let anyone hold you back.
The
iPad, however, is a different story, and the most interesting debate of all. No
one knows the iPad’s product cycle yet. They’ve only release one, so we have
nothing yet to judge as reference. It was announced January of this year, but
released finally in April. Of course, the struggle is whether or not to spend
money on the iPad that will quickly be replaced soon or not. Apple sure knows
how to play their cards, because they know the demand is still strong for these
things. There’s no need thus far to make a new one. Though I’d say this: if
you’ve got kids screaming for an iPad this Christmas, by all means shut ‘em up
with one of these things, and if it turns out that new iPads come out in
January, never let them know it. You can wait for yours, if you have the
patience, that is.
Now,
I’d rather not blindly speculate on when Apple might release a new iPad, but
there are a few things that you might consider: For one, it’s quite certain
among tech-gurus that a new version will come out sometime early next year.
That means January, April or somewhere in between.
