#6 CORE MAC PRO VS 8 CORE UPGRADE#

13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020): Ditto on this one.

MacBook Air (M1, 2020): You'll find the same options as those above on the MacBook Air.

If 1TB is too expensive, you should, at least, go for 512GB. You'll probably never need that much, but having it will make you feel better. If you can afford it, we recommend going for 1TB.

24-inch iMac (2021): The newest iMac comes with either 256GB or 512GB of built-in SSD storage and can be upgraded to up to 2TB of SSD storage.

Cloud storage and external hard drives are cheaper than ever. However, don't be downhearted if you can't afford storage upgrades. So whatever you can afford when you purchase your new Mac, you should buy.

#6 CORE MAC PRO VS 8 CORE UPGRADE#

Though cloud-based services have freed up computing storage, computer capacity is the one place where an upgrade comes recommended.

The M1 Max model starts with 32GB of RAM you can increase this to 64GB for another $400. The bumps in price are similar to those on the smaller MacBook Pro.

16-inch MacBook Pro (2021): For the M1 Pro models, you'll find 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of unified RAM.

Unfortunately, the 64GB option isn't available on the least expensive model. You can increase to 32GB for another $400 or 64GB for an extra $800.

14-inch MacBook Pro (2021): The entry-level model starts at 16GB of unified RAM.

The Mac mini also offers 8GB or 16GB of unified RAM.

13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020): The smaller of the two Mac laptop powerhouses starts with 8GB, and you can upgrade to 16GB for $200.

MacBook Air (M1, 2020): Apple's ultra-light laptops come with 8 GB of RAM, but you can upgrade to up to 16GB for $200 more.

The more RAM you have, the faster your apps run when your machine gets overworked. If you plan on running a lot of processor-heavy apps at the same time, you're going to want to spend that extra money.

24-inch iMac (2021): The newest M1-based Mac on the market offers 8GB of unified memory or, for an additional $200, 16GB.

The M1 Pro and M1 Max offer more options. The Apple M1 SoC comes standard with 8GB of unified memory on the current models, although you can increase this to 16GB. Modern Macs are more memory efficient than ever but if you want to work with many files and a lot of big files at that, RAM can still make your experience smoother. The more memory your Mac has, the bigger the images and videos you can work with, the more apps you can keep open, and generally, the better performance you'll get. Each offers various options for RAM and storage as well. The M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max aren't just different with CPU/GPU. And yet, most users won't need (or want to pay for) the M1 Max. More CPU and GPU means faster and more efficient systems. The best M1 Pro version comes for $200 extra the jump from the entry-level M1 Pro version to the M1 Max option is $1,000. On models with an M1 Max, you get a 10-Core CPU, 32-Core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

16-inch MacBook Pro (2021): On models with an M1 Pro, the choices are 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine OR 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

You'll pay $500 extra for the 10-core version.

14-inch MacBook Pro (2021): The M1 Pro comes with an 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine OR 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

Things get more interesting on the 2021 MacBook Pro models, which gives you a few more choices:

Mac mini (2020): Also one option: Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020): One option: Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

There's a $250 upcharge for the 8-core GPU version.

MacBook Air (M1, 2020): Ditto here: 8-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores, 7- or 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

You'll pay an extra $200 for the 8-core GPU version.

24-inch iMac (2021): The SoC comes with an 8-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores, 7- or 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

There's one choice of SoC on the models below - the Apple M1. Other Apple silicon models come with one choice option, the M1, or, in the case of the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021), the M1 Pro. To date, only the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) offers a choice of Apple silicon (M1 Pro or M1 Max). Instead, you can choose the Apple silicon version (when possible), then select the RAM and storage. You can no longer, for example, select the computer's central processing unit or CPU. With the shift toward Apple silicon, there are different choices one can make on the consumer side.

6 core mac pro vs 8 core