Buying a new Mac is an investment. Whether you’re purchasing an iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or the newest MacBook, you probably already know these are top of the line computers. But, you also know they’re expensive.

This is why it’s beneficial to know the best way to spend your money when you buy a Mac.

In this article, we highlight some things to think about when purchasing your new Mac computer so you can make the best buying decisions.

Shop for a Discount

You can often find discounts on Macs, especially if you’re shopping somewhere other than an Apple store.

Apple authorized resellers often have the best discounts on Macs. Be careful when shopping online, though, and make sure the website is reputable and an authorized Apple reseller.

If you are a student, teacher or some other education staff, you can save up to $200 on Macs when you purchase them through the Apple Education Store. You’ll also enjoy free shipping.

Worth noting is that you will need to have proof to receive the education discount.

The best time to purchase a Mac from the Education Store is during the summer. Apple is known to run back-to-school promotions offering Apple Store gift cards in addition to the education discount.

Another way to save money on your Mac purchase is to buy a certified, refurbished model or a previous year’s version. You can always find last year’s models at a cheaper price than the newest models.

Consider the RAM

How much RAM do you really need? That’s a good question and one that can only be answered according to your usage needs.

You RAM (random-access memory) is the storage that makes it possible for your Mac to grab data very quickly and in random order. Most people associate RAM with their computer’s memory system.

For example, if you are a gamer, video or graphics editor, or music editor, you need a Mac with a lot of RAM. Normal users can get away with 4GB of RAM, but heavy users need to push at least 8GB and preferably 16GB.

One way to save money on RAM is to install it yourself. This can be cheaper than getting it from Apple if you know what you’re doing. Also, please note that you can’t add RAM yourself to all Mac models, so do your RAM research before your purchase. This way you’ll know if it’s possible to add the RAM yourself.

Note the Hard Drive

When thinking about the best way to spend your money, research how much hard drive space you need.

It can be cheaper to buy a separate hard drive than upgrading your Mac’s hard drive when you first make your purchase.

The Cloud is something to be considered here as well. It used to be that running out of hard drive space was a catastrophe. This isn’t true anymore with the many Cloud-based storage solutions. You can probably save some money with a smaller hard drive if you store your files in the Cloud.

Buy at the Right Time

Is there a better time of year to buy a Mac? The same can be true for Macs as iPhones – when the new models come out, the previous versions drop in price.

Before you purchase a new Mac, check out the MacRumors Buyers Guide. The site lets you know if you should buy now with words such as caution, neutral, buy now and don’t buy. They determine the status based on the anticipated release dates of new models.

This is especially helpful if you want to save money, and you don’t care about the absolute newest model. Since Apple isn’t too secretive about release dates, you can decide if you want to buy now for a good deal or wait.

Final Thoughts

A new Mac is a long-term investment. You don’t want to be stuck with a model you don’t like.

With multiple Mac models to choose from, consider portability, power, speed, storage, screen size and your expansion needs when purchasing your new computer. Do you want the Mac Mini, a notebook/laptop or the granddaddy and powerhouse, the iMac?

These are all considerations when thinking about the best way to spend your money when you buy a Mac.

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