With the arrival of the M3 and M4 chips, Apple has renewed its Mac lineup in 2024, offering a wide range of options for all needs and budgets. This guide will help you navigate the different MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini models to find the one that’s best for you.
Choosing a portable or desktop Mac?
The choice between a portable and desktop Mac depends mainly on your mobility and power needs. MacBooks offer great versatility, allowing you to work anywhere, while desktop Macs like the Mac mini or Mac Studio generally offer more ports and better cooling. However, with the arrival of Apple Silicon chips, the performance difference between portable and stationary models has been significantly reduced.
A Mac + iPad configuration is possible
Why choose when you can take everything? A desktop Mac and iPad setup offers a versatile, cost-effective solution for those looking to combine power and mobility. The Mac mini M4, with its excellent value for money starting at €699, can be combined with an iPad to create a complete ecosystem. This combination provides the power of a desktop for demanding tasks and the portability of a tablet for working on the go. Everything will depend on your activities (if you write a lot on the keyboard it is obvious that a MacBook is more natural) and the operating system you prefer.
Take advantage of the Apple ecosystem as much as you can. Although iPadOS isn’t as rich as MacOS, the two operating systems work great together. Continuity, Sidecar to use the iPad as an external iCloud display… The iPad can act as an extension of the Mac which will increase your productivity. And there’s more to life than work: the iPad is a great mobile entertainment machine and you can use its touch screen to play games or draw with a Pencil. This is a choice to consider.
Mac mini M4: undoubtedly the best Mac
The Mac mini M4, launched at the end of 2024, stands out as the best value for money in the Apple range. With a starting price of €699, it offers impressive performance thanks to its M4 chip with 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. Its compact design of 13 cm side makes it even more discreet than its predecessors. It is also configurable with an M4 Pro chip for even greater performance and longevity. Plus, the Mac mini is incredibly versatile since you plug in the peripherals you want. This way, you are not stuck with a specific (and very expensive) screen and can improve your setup over time.
Despite its small format, the Mac mini M4 makes no compromises on connectivity, offering USB-C Thunderbolt, Ethernet, HDMI ports and a headphone jack. It is ideal for teleworkers and creatives looking for a powerful and versatile machine. This Mac mini can do everything: video and photo editing, video gaming, productivity… However, the upgrade options (RAM, storage) remain expensive, potentially doubling the base price. However, the standard configuration with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage suits the majority of users, especially since it is possible to add a relatively inexpensive and fast external SSD.
iMac M4: attractive format for family use
The iMac M4, with its elegant design and 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, is the ultimate all-in-one Mac, ideal for family or home use. Although its price is relatively high, it offers a turnkey solution that avoids setup hassles. Its power, thanks to the M4 chip, is excellent for most daily and creative tasks – although we regret that the chip is slightly limited on the cheapest model.
However, the iMac has notable limitations: a limited number of ports, almost zero scalability, and performance that may be insufficient for intensive professional tasks since there is no M4 Pro version. Despite these drawbacks, the iMac remains an attractive option for those looking for a good-looking, easy-to-use, high-performance computer for family use, but it is not recommended for users needing a highly customizable or dedicated machine. to heavy productivity.
MacBook Air M3: powerful, light and low price
The MacBook Air is often the gateway to the Mac universe and for good reason: it is the least expensive of Apple’s laptops and it is no less capable than the others. The MacBook Air M3, launched in March 2024, stands out as Apple’s best entry-level laptop. Featuring the M3 chip engraved in 3 nanometers, it offers impressive performance, even outperforming the M1 Pro chip of 2021 in certain benchmarks. The new model also introduces Wi-Fi 6E, support for two external displays when closed, and improved anti-fingerprint treatment.
Available in 13″ and 15″ versions, the MacBook Air M3 is distinguished by an exceptional battery life of 18 hours announced and increased performance thanks to the M3 chip. It features a faster entry-level SSD, with two 128GB NAND chips giving it higher speeds than the M2 model. The MacBook Air M3 thus represents excellent value for money despite having limited storage and RAM by default, although it now starts at 16 GB of RAM.
Although the M2 model remains available at a lower price (and often on sale), the M3 offers significant improvements that make it the ideal choice for most users, unless you find a great deal on the M2. We also do not recommend the 15-inch version which, with a similar configuration, is almost the same price as the just released MacBook Pro M4. Unless, once again, you take advantage of an exceptional promotion or 256 GB of storage is enough for you.
MacBook Pro M4
The MacBook Pro M4 comes in three processor versions: M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max, each offering performance levels tailored to the needs of professionals. The base version has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, while the Pro and Max versions can go up to 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores. Battery life has also been improved, now reaching 24 hours of video playback, two hours more than the previous generation.
One of the major new features is the integration of Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Pro and M4 Max models, doubling transfer speeds compared to Thunderbolt 4. The screen has also been improved with a nano-textured coating option which Significantly reduces glare, going from 25% to just 9% reflected light. The audio part remains exceptional with its four woofers and two tweeters, offering impressive sound quality for a laptop
The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at 1,899 euros with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD, while the 16-inch version starts at 2,899 euros. The most powerful model, equipped with the M4 Max with 128 GB of RAM and 8 TB of SSD, can reach 8549 euros but that’s another sphere. These prices clearly position the MacBook Pro M4 as a high-end professional tool, aimed at creatives and demanding developers who need significant computing power in a portable format. If you want the best laptop on the market, the MacBook Pro M4 is the one to choose.
Mac Studio and Mac Pro: wait until 2025
Despite their impressive performance upon release, the Mac Studio and Mac Pro equipped with M2 Ultra chips are no longer recommended in 2024-2025. New M4 chips, including the M4 Pro and M4 Max, now outperform these high-end models in terms of performance. The Mac mini M4 Pro, for example, offers comparable performance to the Mac Studio M2 Ultra for a significantly lower price of $1,649.
Benchmarks show that the M4 Max chip in the new MacBook Pros achieves 85% of the performance of the M2 Ultra’s 76-core GPU, with almost half as many cores. In addition, the high price of the Mac Studio (from €4,799) and the Mac Pro is no longer justified in the face of the performance and value for money of the new models equipped with M4 chips. It is therefore preferable to opt for a MacBook Pro M4 or a Mac mini M4 Pro, which offer equivalent or greater power at a much lower cost.
So wait until 2025 with the new M4 Ultra to offer you the best performance from Apple in Macs.
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