First off, if you are buying a mac for the first time, or even a new mac – I highly recommend making a personal shopping appointment at your local Apple store. Personal shopping appointments are FREE and give you uninterrupted, unlimited time with an Apple Genius. I spent 1.5 hours with mine yesterday, learning all about what the best options for me are.

I walked in knowing what I wanted to look at: MacBook Pro, the new 27″ iMac, and a Mac Pro with 30″ Cinema screen. I knew that my average photo file size is 10MB out of camera, and that I wanted to try to be as cost-effective as possible with my laptop (since I was replacing one only 2 years old) and get the best machine for photography for my desktop.

Armed with this information, Mohan, my personal shopper and part-time photographer, took me through all the specs of the computers. I wrote down everything I could, so I could share it with all of you. Let’s go through the list of what specs and features  your new Mac will be offering you:

Processor: This is the crazy-looking number thing that looks like this: 2.66GHz. Contrary to what you might think, the processor is not as important to us as other parts of the computer. In most cases, you should be fine with the processor that comes standard with the Mac you are buying. No need to upgrade this. Really. If you are doing Hollywood-style video editing or hard-core music editing, then you want to upgrade your processor. Photography? Stick with the status quo.

RAM: This is one of the important ones. You want to get as much of this as you can reasonably afford. You *can* upgrade this later, just how much depends on the Mac you are buying. RAM is expensive straight from the Apple store, so you may want to install more later yourself, if you are so technically inclined. I am not, so I just buy it upfront from them. RAM is also called Memory, so look for something around 4GB in a laptop, and 8GB is nice in a desktop. Photoshop runs just ducky at 4GB though and 16GB is pretty much overkill, so you needn’t spend that extra 1.5K to get it.

Graphics Card: Another important one for photographers. This is super pricey to upgrade later, so when deciding between two similar machines, go for the one with the better graphics card.

Hard Drive: This helps with overall performance, but size is up to you. It’s basically for storage, and with cameras these days creating bigger and bigger files, you are best to get as big a hard drive as you can. Remember though, that you can also use external hard drives for storage, so if your budget won’t allow the 2TB Serial ATA Drive now, don’t worry. You need to keep your hard drive less than 70% full for optimal performance.

The Extras: Chances are that you use a Wacom tablet and don’t need to worry about the mouse. The new keyboards that are shipping with the new iMacs have NO NUMERIC KEYPADS, so if you rely on that keypad for your Photoshop shortcuts, stick with the old Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, not the new fancy wireless one. You can get a number of software titles pre-installed on your new Mac, it’s pretty much personal preference. Right now I use iWork, and FileMaker, so I don’t need those pre-installed. I now do fusion slideshows for my clients though (photo+video) and have been editing them in iMovie. I’ll be moving up to Final Cut Express 4 for my new machine.

Apple Care: This is a must. Don’t question it, don’t doubt it. It just is. It protects you for three years if something happens, and trust me, you want that protection. Macs aren’t cheap computers, and you want to protect your investment. Apple Care is more expensive for notebooks, around $400. You need this. Don’t think you don’t. Awesome photographer Angela Calderon gave me this little tip to save money, she buys her Apple Care on Ebay. It’s completely up and up, and often half the price. She stresses that you need to make sure you find a reputable seller though, one with lots of great feedback.

What Mac to get? I need a laptop and a desktop. I like to do any non-editing biz work on my MacBook Pro. In bed. Watching TV. For my main editing computer, I have a 3 year old iMac. I know a lot of photographers who work on iMacs, and a lot who work on Mac Pros. (which are different than MacBook Pros. MacBooks are the notebooks, or “laptops” and Mac Pros are the towers. They do NOT come with a monitor, it’s the tower only)

Some questions you want to consider are how often you like to upgrade. Personally, I like to have the newest stuff. I just like it. My 24″ iMac is being replaced this year for the new 27″ iMac. I was considering the Mac Pro, but it just didn’t make financial sense to me, with tower and monitor it would cost me at LEAST double the price of the iMac. Most of the power of Mac Pros is lost on photographers. Photoshop just isn’t as labor-intensive as a lot of video editing and music editing software. The Mac Pro is designed for use as a server, with more power than Photoshop alone can ever take advantage of. The 30″ Cinema Screen that I was considering is 3 years old. Is anything in Apple-land 3 years old? It’s massive and gorgeous, but it’s older technology. It’s using LCD technology when virtually everything else in the Apple store is using LED.

What may worry you: Glossy screens. If you look around an Apple Store, you will see a whole lot of gloss. Most photogs will tell you that glossy is your enemy. It is, and it isn’t. Glossy is no good outside. If you use your laptop a lot outdoors, stay away from the gloss. The other problem with gloss, is that it makes things look a little TOO darn good. The blacks are deeper, the colors richer and this may give you a bit of trouble calibrating. You can pay extra on the MacBook Pro to get a matte screen. The new iMacs though are ALL glossy, no choice about it. However, the new screens have something called IPS Technology which means your screen will look great from any angle – which is music to my ears. The new 27″ iMac actually has better-than-HD resolution, which is just absolutely amazing to see. So don’t be too afraid of the glossy screens. Apple is the leader in computers for photographers, graphic artists, video editors, etc. If they didn’t think what they were doing was the BEST choice for these people, do you think they would do it?

Another worry may be transferring over your info from computer to computer. If you are going from Mac to Mac, there is a nifty program included free on all Macs called Migration Assistant. It helps you transfer everything from one comp to another. Easy peasy! If you are going from PC to Mac, it can be a little daunting. Apple has something called One to One, and for $99, you have a one year membership that includes transferring ALL your files from your PC to Mac, training, and help with personal projects. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

Final tips: Ask your Apple store about their business partner program. Once registered, all your Apple purchases are logged, and after you reach a certain amount, you are eligible for a discount! There is also Apple Care Pro for businesses which is $99 a year. If something happens to your computer, you can get an appointment with a Genius, even if they are all booked up, and you are moved to the head of the line for repairs. Could be well worth the $99 if your livelihood is on the line.

All in all, the Apple store is a pretty fun and straightforward place. It’s especially great if you make a personal shopping appointment. If you don’t have an Apple store nearby, hopefully some of this info has helped you, or will in the future. Not every photographer uses a Mac, and I’m not saying Mac is better than PC (but it is, just like Coke is better than Pepsi, lol) but if you have been curious about Macs and what computer(s) to buy, you have some extra knowledge to help you make your decision. Happy shopping!

PS – My choice of the iMac over the Mac Pro is what works best for me, because I like to change things up sooner rather than later, and the iMac is cute and fairly inexpensive. Plenty of somewhat-decent people have Mac Pros – for example, Danna has one! LOL The Mac Pro is a kickass machine that is well-worth the price. It’s up to you to decide if you need it.