What will you use your Mac for?
Pick a use to see what Apple and app makers say it needs, and how every Mac measures up.
- Video editing8 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Photo editing8 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Music production8 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- App development5 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Apple Intelligence & Siri AI11 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Gaming5 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Everyday, school & office11 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Several monitors10 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Running Windows11 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
- Running AI models on your Mac2 of 12 current models are Comfortable or better
How we decide
Each use has up to three levels: Works, Comfortable and Heavy use. Comfortable and Heavy use each add their own conditions to the Works conditions, and a model gets the highest level whose conditions it meets.
"Apple says" and "The app's maker says" mark requirements that Apple or the app's maker publishes. "Our rule of thumb (not Apple's)" marks our own suggestion, used where nobody publishes a figure.
Memory and storage are judged on the standard configuration. When ordering more memory or storage would reach a higher level, we add a "configurable" note.
When a spec is not published by Apple or not in our data, we say "Can't confirm" instead of guessing, and the condition does not count as met.
App and system requirements change with new versions. The date at the bottom of each page shows when we last checked them.
- Heavy use:
- Meets the minimum and the conditions for big projects or heavy daily use.
- Comfortable:
- Meets the minimum and the conditions for everyday use without waiting around.
- Works:
- Meets the minimum conditions: the apps and features for this run.
- Can't confirm:
- A spec the minimum needs is not published by Apple or not in our data, so we do not count it as met.
- Not enough:
- Misses at least one of the minimum conditions.