Use the Budget Mac tool to grasp OSX concepts.
Use the Budget Mac tool to grasp OSX concepts.
For your budget, appealing Apple hardware choices will be limited. Macs retain their worth better than other PCs, which benefits sellers yet reduces the number of attractive deals for buyers. This piece covers Apple hardware longevity and suggests caution with Skylake or earlier models. If you need macOS 12 support, it could be phased out in September. Based on your needs, here are three viable paths: 1. Use a VPS through Mac Stadium or AWS for a few months. 2. Consider an older Mac Mini—likely dual-core and possibly retired for macOS 13. 3. Try a Hackintosh VM; it won’t be perfect but will help you gauge your interest before investing in a new Mac Mini.
The most affordable refurbished Mac from Apple remains significantly higher than the budget I have, making it unlikely to be a viable choice.
It seems the $300 budget wasn't considered. Could you confirm if this is correct? Also, it appears there may be limited choices since the upcoming macOS could end up being far from the Apple Silicon transition timeline, possibly making macOS 13 unavailable for Intel-based machines.
You should already know Mac OS. Purchasing an older Mac isn't practical with the latest M1 chips. Consider a basic model featuring M1.
The quote suggests that no current budget items can satisfy all needs unless a significant discount is available for used M1 products.
If Apple introduces a Mac Pro built with their own chip this year, I won’t expect macOS 13 to instantly stop working on Intel systems. The company hasn’t released a clear schedule for ending support for Intel hardware, but I heard Tim Cook mentioned they intend to keep supporting and updating macOS for Intel Macs for the foreseeable future. Their WWDC 20 comments were vague, yet they seemed confident about making changes when the time was right.