With back-to-school season in the air, you might be looking to stock up on a new Mac for college. But doing so can be a confusing affair, with many different models and configurations to choose from, and you can waste a lot of time trying to work out what’s best for your needs.
To skip all the bother, just give our guide a read. We’ve put together everything you need to know, from which Mac is best for you to how to get those all-important student discounts. You’ll be kitted out and ready to go before you know it.
How to choose the right specs for your Mac
When you buy a Mac, there are a few specifications you need to choose, including the chip, memory and storage. You’ll also need to pick a color and, with some Macs, extra options like the display coating and power adapter.
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The first three factors — chip, memory and storage — are the most important, and the ones where there’s the most to learn.
We’ll start with the chip, which determines how powerful your MacBook is. More powerful and more recent chips will generally be better, and the higher the chip’s number, the more recent the generation it belongs to.
The chip usually comes in a few different tiers. There’s the baseline option, such as the M5, M4, M3 and so on, then Pro chips like the M5 Pro, M4 Pro and M3 Pro. Then there are Max chips, including the M5 Max and M4 Max. The most powerful level is the Ultra, and it’s limited to desktop Macs like the Mac Studio. The latest version there is the M3 Ultra.
Apple’s chips combine CPU, GPU and memory onto a single system on a chip (SoC). The CPU and GPU will have their own core counts, and the more cores you get, the better able the chip is to handle difficult workloads.
So, which do you need? The baseline chips will be more than enough for essay writing and basic research. On the other hand, you might want a Pro or even Max chip if you’re doing anything that involves complex apps, data processing or graphics work.
As for memory, this is built into the SoC, but you can increase or decrease it separately from the chip selection when configuring your Mac (although it’s worth noting that some memory amounts require upgrading to a more powerful chip). More memory helps speed up multitasking and is also useful for demanding workloads.
The amount of storage you choose depends on how long you want to keep the Mac, how much of a digital hoarder you are, and the type of things you’ll be storing. Run lots of large apps or work with high-resolution video files? You’ll need lots of storage.
Here, it’s best to err on the side of caution, as it’s very difficult (although not impossible) to upgrade your storage once you’ve bought your Mac. While it can be done, it’s not for the faint of heart.
One alternative is to plug in an external storage drive to give yourself extra space. This isn’t optimal, though, as it’s one more thing to carry around, and if it becomes accidentally disconnected, you could suffer data loss.
Make sure to regularly back up your Mac, either using an app like Time Machine or with a cloud service like Backblaze.
How to get Apple’s student discount
Apple has a special education store for students, teachers and more. Here, there are various savings available, depending on the product. For example, the MacBook Neo is priced at $599, down from the regular $699 price (bringing it back to the price it had when it launched, before Apple’s recent price rises).
Apple says that student discounts are available to “current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and homeschool teachers of all grade levels.” You’ll need to verify your student status, which you can do online or at an Apple Store.
Student savings can be had on more than just Macs. In total, the discounts apply to:
- Mac
- iPad and select accessories
- Apple Watch
- Displays
- AppleCare+ for Mac
- AppleCare+ for iPad
- AppleCare+ for Display
Apple says to look out for the mortarboard icon, which indicates a product bought through the education store is discounted.
You get all the same perks as if you were to buy through Apple’s regular store. You can pick components and colors, trade in an old device, personalize your device with engraved monograms and emojis, pay in full or over time, and more.
The three best Macs for back to school
Here, we’ve picked three Macs that we recommend the most for students. All three are Apple laptops, which will be perfect for carrying to lectures and around campus. Note that if you don’t have many lecture hours or are studying from home, you might want to consider the Mac mini, which starts at $699 in Apple’s education store. It’s a brilliant computer with an affordable price tag, but as it requires an external display, it’s not ideal for lectures and seminars.
MacBook Neo
The MacBook Neo is the perfect option for students on a budget. The default model comes with 256GB of storage, an Apple A18 Pro chip and 8GB of memory. It costs $599 from Apple’s education store, marking a saving of $100 over the regular price.
If your school or college work mostly involves writing essays and researching online, the MacBook Neo is exactly what you need and will be able to handle everything you do. The only question is whether you should upgrade to 512GB of storage — doing so also adds a Touch ID button to the keyboard, which is a handy way to log in and verify purchases.
MacBook Air
Stepping up, a solid mid-range option would be the 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 chip. You can choose between M5 chips featuring an eight-core GPU or a 10-core GPU, but we’d stick to the former — if you need more graphical power, the MacBook Pro will be a better option, which we’ll come to later.
Next, you can choose between 16GB, 24GB and 32GB of memory. The option you choose here depends on your workloads, but generally 16GB will be enough for most students. Again, if you need more, go for the MacBook Pro.
As for storage, the entry-level M5 chip is locked to 512GB of storage. To get more, you’ll need to upgrade to the higher-end M5 chip, which ups the price. Consider how much storage you need before making this move — if you have an existing computer, see how much you’re using with that. Bear in mind that you can’t change the internal storage after purchase, so if in doubt, opt for more.
Finally, there’s the matter of the charger. The M5 MacBook Air comes with a 40W charger that can handle loads up to 60W. If you want fast charging, which Apple says can power your laptop up to 50% in about 30 minutes, you’ll need the 70W option. This adds $20 to the cost.
MacBook Pro
For the most demanding student workloads, you’ll want to look at the MacBook Pro. Our recommendation is to start with the 14-inch model with M5 Pro chip. Skip the nano-texture display for now — it’s a nice addition, but unnecessary for students on a budget.
Do upgrade to the M5 Pro chip, however, or the M5 Max if you know you’ll be doing really heavy work that requires a lot of computing power. Unlike the MacBook Neo and MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro has built-in fans that mean it has a far superior cooling system that is much better equipped for demanding jobs. With that at your disposal, you can pick a beefy chip if you need it.
With the M5 Pro, your choices for memory are 24GB or 48GB. The former should be enough for most, but if you’re unsure, step up to the higher amount. While there are other options, including 36GB, 64GB and 128GB, these require swapping the M5 Pro for an M5 Max and paying a much higher price.
The configuration we’ve picked so far comes with 1TB of storage included, which is enough for most people. That said, anyone working with large photos and videos, high-grade apps or machine-learning models will likely need more space.
Finally, there’s the issue of the charger. The default option is 70W, which isn’t enough for fast charging (the MacBook Pro uses much more power than the MacBook Air, where 70W is enough for fast charging). Seeing as the 96W upgrade costs just $20 more and enables both fast charging (empty to 50% in about 30 minutes) and High Power Mode, we think it’s worth it.
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