I am tired of the same post 17 times a day so I am gonna try and make a very easy and short buying guide for most people.

Intel Macs:

• Just don’t !

M1 Air 8GB

• high school students

• people who just browse the internet and edit documents

• my grand mother

If you are one of the above with money to spare you can get the M2/M3 8GB.

M1/2/3 Air 16GB

• best for most people

• don’t get only if you plan to run extended loads (ML, video editing etc.)

M1/2/3 Pro 16/18GB

• probably all the computer you’ll ever need

• you need this if you run any extended loads, an Air wont cut it. Extended loads means more than 10 minutes!

M1/2/3 Pro 32/36GB

• go for the base Max

M1/2/3 Max 32+ GB

• if you need it you know it and it’ll probably still not be enough

• if you need actual GPU power don’t consider anything else

• if you buy for future proofing go for M1/2/3 air 16GB, and get a new one in 3 years instead of keeping an aging computer for 6-7 years

Between the M1/2/3 variants there are two notable differences. M3 Air connects to 2 screens, while M1 and M2 only to one external.

M1 Pro and M2 Pro have the same CPU as the equivalent M1 Max and M2 Max, while in the M3’s the M3 Max has more cores in the CPU than the M3 Pro.

Other than that it all depends on your budget for which gen you’ll go for. M1 to M3 you might notice a small difference. 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, no noticeable difference.

Not sure which Mac to buy? No worries! Proceed with the steps above and get exactly what you’re looking for heading into this summer. When utilized correctly, this guide can cut up to 98% of repeated posts on this page!