Whether or not you’re making the soar into the Apple ecosystem or updating from an older machine, choosing up a brand new Mac will be a good way to supercharge your productiveness. How do you resolve which kind of Mac is best for you? With so many choices to select from, in addition to several types of Macs, discovering one that matches your setup and delivers every little thing you want will be tough.
In case you’re going to select up a brand new Mac, then going with a desktop Mac can have some distinct benefits over Apple’s transportable MacBook choices. Don’t get us flawed, all of those machines are completely able to doing what you want them to do, however there are some locations the place the desktop Macs shine brighter than the MacBooks. As such, listed here are 5 nice causes to decide on a desktop Mac over a MacBook the following time you improve.
Ports and expandability
One of many largest advantages of shopping for a desktop Mac over a MacBook is that desktop Macs are inclined to have extra choices expandability. Whereas the most recent MacBook Professionals have extra ports than they’ve had in a few years—three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, HDMI, and an SDXC card slot—it’s nonetheless a far cry from what you get with the Mac mini (two USB-A ports) and Mac Studio (as much as six Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports), and even the 24-inch iMac has two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and two USB 3 ports. An additional port won’t seem to be a lot, but it surely permits you to join much more exterior gadgets—laborious drives, keyboards, and different belongings you may want in your day by day work—with out hubs and dongles.
Nonetheless, the times of tinkering with desktops are over. Even of you get a Mac mini or Mac Studio, Apple silicon Macs don’t enable for user-installable inner upgrades, desktop or laptop computer. The RAM is built-in with the processor, so should you suppose you want extra RAM than the usual configuration, customise your order on the level of buy. The identical goes for the SSD for file storage, although with extra ports you possibly can simply add exterior storage.

The one Mac that Apple at present sells with straightforward user-upgradable parts is the Mac Professional. This laptop, nevertheless, is designed with high-end professionals in thoughts, and so they’re expensive machines. Additionally, it’s one in every of two Mac fashions left that also use Intel processors. It’s potential that Apple will difficulty a brand new Mac Professional this 12 months with its personal silicon that shall be consumer upgradeable, but it surely may also be simply as locked up because the Mac Studio.
Deliver your personal show
One other massive perk for desktop Macs is the flexibility they provide with completely different shows. Sure it’s true that you would be able to join a show to a MacBook, however you’re additionally paying the next value for the show that’s constructed into it, which is able to greater than doubtless be closed when linked to an exterior show. In case you’re going to be parked at a desk more often than not or need the flexibleness of a a number of show setup, a desktop Mac is well the smarter selection.
Simply be sure to know what you want. Apple’s reminding Intel Macs and Mac Studio can energy greater than two shows, however Apple silicon Macs are completely different: the M1 Mac mini is restricted to a complete of two shows (one through Thunderbolt and one other utilizing HDMI). The 24-inch iMac can add a second show through Thunderbolt. Nonetheless, that’s greater than Apple’s M1 laptops–the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Professional–which might solely join one further show, making it troublesome to run a correct multi-display setup, and also you’ll must drop $1,999 or extra on a 14- or 16-inch MacBook Professional for as much as 4 exterior shows to utilizing the Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) and HDMI ports..
So if you’d like one of the best worth in your multi-display setup, select a desktop Mac and store round for an excellent exterior show.
Essentially the most velocity
One of many essential causes you may select to go along with a desktop Mac over a MacBook is Apple’s M1 Extremely processor. That is the quickest, strongest chip that Apple has designed so far, and it’s solely obtainable on the $3,999 Mac Studio.
Don’t get us flawed, the MacBook Professionals supply insanely good efficiency, particularly on the newer fashions, however they don’t supply the M1 Extremely, which makes Apple’s desktop Macs the corporate’s strongest ever. And due to the M1 Extremely’s cooling necessities, it might by no means make it to a laptop computer.

Apple’s top-of-the-line M1 Extremely System on a Chip is at present solely obtainable within the $3,999 Mac Studio desktop laptop.
Willis Lai/Foundry
Design that matches anyplace
Whereas MacBooks will be extraordinarily transportable, they won’t all the time match immediately into the type and house you’ve in your workplace, one other space that desktop Macs can shine. Whereas Apple has a few of the extra basic-looking designs like that of the Mac mini or Mac Studio, the 24-inch iMac provides Apple customers a number of colour choices to select from. Which means you possibly can select a pc that matches your workplace’s colour scheme with out having to accept the extra minimalistic silvery colour of a normal MacBook.
As a result of there are smaller choices just like the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, yow will discover a robust laptop that blends proper into your workplace house, even should you don’t have a variety of room in your desk. That permits you to maximize your desk house with out shedding a variety of it to your laptop.

Apple designed the iMac so it’ll look good nearly anyplace in your house.
The most effective worth
MacBooks will be exceptionally expensive, particularly should you’re going for the extra highly effective fashions. However you don’t must accept breaking the financial institution to get a fantastic Mac laptop. As an alternative, there are a number of pricing choices obtainable for a number of of the completely different desktop Macs on the market. For example, the brand new Mac Studio prices the identical value as a few of the extra highly effective MacBook Professionals, however you’re getting extra energy, extra ports, and extra options.
Additional, the 24-inch iMac which Apple launched with the M1 processors begins out at simply $1,299, an excellent deal cheaper than the newer MacBook Professionals with smaller shows. Or you possibly can pair a 24-inch 4K show with a Mac mini for even much less. Macs aren’t low-cost, however with the correct mixture of desktop and show, you may get an entire lot of laptop without having to bust your funds shopping for a dear MacBook Professional.