Not everyone needs or wants the portability a Mac laptop has to offer. For everyone else, Apple makes desktop models, ranging in price from Apple's cheapest system to its most expensive. They run a wide gamut of performance and ability, so let's take a look and see what might be best for you.
Current Mac models and their prices
The Mac desktop line is split into three categories. On the low end there's the Mac mini, a tiny, unassuming desktop computer. Next there's the gorgeous iMac, an all-in-one system than integrates the entire computer into the display. And at the high end, there's the Mac Pro - this diminutive black turbine isn't out yet as we posted this comparison, but it's worth bringing up because despite its small stature, it looms large on the horizon for its coming impact on the Mac market.
The Mac desktop line is split into three categories. On the low end there's the Mac mini, a tiny, unassuming desktop computer. Next there's the gorgeous iMac, an all-in-one system than integrates the entire computer into the display. And at the high end, there's the Mac Pro - this diminutive black turbine isn't out yet as we posted this comparison, but it's worth bringing up because despite its small stature, it looms large on the horizon for its coming impact on the Mac market.
The Mac desktop line is split into three categories. On the low end there's the Mac mini, a tiny, unassuming desktop computer. Next there's the gorgeous iMac, an all-in-one system than integrates the entire computer into the display. And at the high end, there's the Mac Pro - this diminutive black turbine isn't out yet as we posted this comparison, but it's worth bringing up because despite its small stature, it looms large on the horizon for its coming impact on the Mac market.
The Mac Pro is coming in December. Up until earlier this year, the Mac Pro was a cyclopean aluminum tower with a cheese grater front, an exterior industrial design that dated back almost a decade, to the PowerPC era and the Power Mac G5. But Apple's completely reinvented the Mac Pro for 2013.
The new Mac Pro will be available in two configurations - a quad-core system clocked at 3.7 GHz, equipped with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of flash storage for $2,999. Another $1,000 will net you a 3.5 GHz six-core system equipped with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB flash storage.
All new Macs include OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" preinstalled. New Macs also get free iLife '13 and iWork '13 apps.
Who should get a Mac mini?
The Mac mini is an ideal first Mac for someone just switching over to the Mac platform, who's anxious to get their feet wet but may be held back by the perception of the Mac as an expensive computer. It's great if you're on a budget, especially if you have a display, keyboard and mouse from another computer - Mac or PC - that you can recycle.
It's a terrific home computer - I have three kids, and I was able to get each of their own. They use them for talking online with friends, playing games, doing schoolwork and working on projects - everything from science reports to multimedia presentations.
What's more, the Mac mini is a great small workgroup server in a corporate environment, or for small to medium sized businesses that want to take e-mail, web service, file sharing and other capabilities in house rather than paying for an external option or cloud service.
Having said all that, the Mac mini is getting long in the tooth - it's squarely last year's technology, working with slower Wi-Fi and pokier graphics. If Apple's history with the Mac mini is any indication, it should get a refresh in the next few months, with Haswell processors and other refinements, to keep it in check with every other consumer Mac. So if you need a Mac mini today, get one - but if you can wait a bit, your patience may be well-rewarded.
Who should get an iMac?
The iMac is an elegant workstation that's equally versatile in the home or office. Many iMacs perform double duty as a personal computer and as a movie or video viewing system for a bedroom or den, in place of a television. It's a gorgeous machine that's well balanced to do a little bit of everything - from running office productivity software to the latest games.
But there's a lot of power under the hood. The iMac's beefy processor and great graphics make it an ideal content creation workstation, suitable for everything from magazine page layout to music creation, video editing and effects rendering, and more.
I do have some misgivings about the 21.5-inch model's lack of user-accessible RAM - putting more RAM in a computer can help extend its useful life and will enable particularly aggressive apps to run faster. Having said that, 8 GB is more than enough overhead for now.
Who should get a Mac Pro?
Time is money. And the Mac Pro is optimized to save you time. If you're in an endeavor where you are sitting around waiting for your computer to do something - whether it's color-correcting an hour of high-definition video or calculating genetic variance - the Mac Pro may be a good system for you to own.
Of course, that presumes that you can wait for one. The Mac Pro isn't expected to ship until December, and Apple isn't yet taking pre-orders. But we can look at the spec pages and drool.
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