Mac users -- advice please

What are you needing to do with it? The people at the Apple Store can do a good job of matching you to the right machine if you tell them what you want to do. The Air will be a lot lighter if you need to take it places, the Pro (what I have) is heavier. Get the absolute most memory and the fastest processor you can afford, you won't regret that for a second. Mine is older and secondhand (it was MIL's, I inherited it) so I didn't pick it out but it's still going strong after 7 years! You can use any mouse, I personally don't like the Apple ones.

I don't believe there are ever any decent discounts on Apple products. I originally got a "special deal" where I could get the Macbook on a 3 year interest free deal, but it meant that I had to include all these extras that ended up costing an extra $1500 - more than the damn Macbook! I cancelled that the next day and just paid for it outright.

I bought a Macbook Air for DD in November and every person here said not to bother getting Applecare - it was going to cost over $500 for 3 years!!! More than a third the cost of the laptop. No doubt it's cheaper in the US though.

dd1 and I have Mac book pros and dd3 has a Mac air. We all have whatever base models had at the time we bought them and have no issues with space.ifmone were to die (had it 4 years with heavy usage so far) I'd get the air next time. I was worried about not having a cd drive but you really don't need it. Dd has been fine without it. Why would you need a mouse? We all just use the track pad. Apple care was great for me as a first time user and dd1 had her power cord get runined and got sent a new one no charge - it was over $80 if she had to replace. We paid $300 for AppleCare- so about 100 per year. They've helped me over the phone PST my three years, too, but I don't know if that's a normal experience. We love apple.

I have a MacBook Pro that I bought in 2011 and it's still running perfectly. I have a regular wireless mouse and that works great wit a Mac.

Get a Mac, you will not be disappointed!

ETA: I recommend buying a refurbished model thru the apple website. 

I just purchased a new MacBook Pro last month. This is my third Mac - 1st MacBook Pro lasted 6 years, my iMac desktop is 6 years old and still good, but it was time for a new toy. The advice to max out the RAM (most important) and hard drive what you can afford is very good-it will "future proof" your computer and it will last you a long time. I got the 13" MacBook Pro with a 512 GB hard drive, 16 GB RAM and 2.9 GHz processor and I expect it to last me at last 5-6 years before I notice that it's slowing down. I don't think I'll miss having a hard drive, but if I do, there are some good ones available for $30 or so. I didn't get a mouse and I don't think I'll need one - the new touchpads are awesome! If I were to get a mouse, I'd get another Logitech wireless one because I don't really love the Mac mouse.

I did not upgrade to the 3.1GHz processor because all the research I did said that I would not notice the difference in speed unless I was using some very intense programs or doing some heavy photo editing.  That was $200 saved.

I like the new hard drives they are using because they are super fast. Solid state drives are great if you are going to be traveling a lot with the laptop, but I don't think they're a necessary expense if you are primarily using the laptop at home. I got the 512 GB hard drive because I had used approx. 280 GB on my iMac and I wanted to have everything on my computer and not keep anything on an external drive. I also feel that programs and photographs are only going to keep getting bigger in "size", but I couldn't see myself ever using a TB of space.

Do not get the Mac Book Pro I - it's not well rated and they will stop supporting/selling it soon.

If you really want to geek out over the info (and I believe they have a quiz to match you to the perfect mac), check out Mac Rumors here: MacBook Rumors

I looked at a MacBook Air, but I just didn't care enough about the weight difference and I wanted the connection port options that came with the MacBook Pro.

I buy my computers (and iPods when we had them and iPads) from the Apple Store directly and I have had Apple Care on all of them.  I haven't used it on the smaller items, but my iMac had a faulty video card that died 33 days after I bought the computer and they gave me a new computer when I went in to the store to have it repaired.  Two years later the hard drive failed and it was repaired in 2 days with a bigger hard drive.  I have used the phone services several times.  I have always been very happy to pay that insurance because I am super happy with the service that I get with it.  $249 for three years is worth it just for my peace of mind.

Anything other than the "basic" set up for a computer has to be ordered so there's no walking into an Apple Store and picking up a computer with a 512GB hard drive and 16GB of RAM, so just know that there won't be the fun of "instant" gratification.

I also saved 15% on my computer by purchasing a refurbished one (this is my 3rd refurbished Apple product) from the Apple website.  I would definitely recommend that option if you don't mind waiting a bit for your computer.  It seems that mine is the most popular set up and it took me a couple weeks to get one before they sold out.  I have found that they update the refurbished section on Mondays and Fridays and I stalked it a lot.  I had mine shipped to my house, but you can definitely have it shipped to the Apple Store and have the help you set it up when you pick it up.

These are expensive machines, but I really believe they are so worth it because of the longevity and the lack of virus issues that plague PCs.

I love my Macs - a lot - and wish you luck in your decision!  

I have a MacBook Pro...love it!! Get Apple Care with whatever you purchase. I have a wireless mouse but rarely use it.

Get the what you can afford! You won't regret it at all. I too have been Apple since they started. The growth and ease of their product has been very exciting journey!

Applecare will give you all the support you will need besides us Refupeas!

If you have any, and I mean any issues with whatever you purchase call them. They will track your problems. They are wonderful people to help you learn what is on your Mac.

I'm pretty sure my Mac did this when I first got it. Go into the mouse settings and I think there's a choice to change it. 

I am another Mac lover. I will never go back. I have a MacBook Pro as well as an iMac.

Yes, this. You can change the settings so all the buttons and the scroll wheel will do what you want. I think I have an ancient Logitech mouse on my desktop Mac and some cheapie Microsoft mobile ones for my laptops.

I've had my 15" MacBook Pro Retina for just over 2 years, and I absolutely love it. I use it for work (which is why I went with the 15" rather than the 13"), and have never regretted getting it. The only thing I would change is that I would have ordered it with more memory, because on the retina versions, you can't add it after the fact. It's never been a problem - just a minor inconvenience when I was also running Windows on it for a while for work. But even then, I made some changes to memory management, and it was fine. 

We got DD a 13" MacBook Air last year, and she loves that as well. It's smaller (duh) and lighter than mine, but is just as fantastic.


What is PCIe based flash storage? It appears that all the laptops have flash storage but the 13 inch MacBood Pro I has the option of a hard drive or solid state drive instead. Which is better?  Go with the solid state drive. It's more expensive, but a better choice over all. 

Is 512 gb (or less) enough storage?  Mine is only 250 gb. But I store NO files on it, only programs. (Well, and the backups to my iPhone's pictures, but I also have those on an external drive.) I store all of my files either on our external hard drive (personal files) or on the cloud (work files). 

Which model/specs do you have and what are the pros/cons?  MBP 15" Retina, late 2013. As I said, I absolutely love it. It runs the same way today as it did out of the box, and everyone I know who has one older than mine says the same thing. The only (minor) cons that I have are around how Microsoft Office for Mac is developed. (I need to use it for work, otherwise, I'd probably look for another option.) Some of the features that I used a lot in the Windows version aren't available on the Mac version. If I really wanted to, I could run it on the Windows side of my Mac (I still have VMware Fusion/Windows 8.1 installed, but try to avoid it like the plague). But it's not that much of a big deal. Everything else about it is a big ole PRO. I especially love the display. It is SUPER sharp and the colors are spot on. Perfect for editing photos or anything else!

What accessories do you love?  I don't have any accessories for it. 

Would I need an Apple mouse or can I use any mouse?  I use a Logitech wireless (USB) mouse, same one as I used with a Windows PC before. Never had a problem with it. 

I assume there aren't sales/discounts on them.  There are student and teacher discounts. (Of course, I totally forgot about that when we bought DD hers...) 

The more tips/advice, the better. Go for it! You won't regret it.  

You can fix that in System Preferences >> Mouse.  Check/Uncheck the "Scroll direction: natural" box.

This did the trick!  Thank you @pinkshirley crazy4scraps monklady123 basket1lady


michellegb Mine said scroll direction natural.  Once I unchecked that it worked like it should.