So my Christmas and Birthday Wish List and Revised Fitness Wish List, are all focused on the fitness end, though the Christmas list does feature a gaming laptop, that laptop is near $4k. While the Macs here can’t run the games at the same level, they can most all do at least Zwift really well, stream really well, and edit videos, and the like well enough to really well. I put some of the items here on a Apple Mac Wish List via Amazon, as I don’t think there’s a way to put them on a Wish List at the local Apple store at Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, the closes store to me, and while there are other Apple stores in the Pittsburgh area, that’s just the easiest to get to, but moot as you can’t just wish list at stores. Now, most of the desire for a Mac is a combination of wanting to stream Zwift, and other content creation. A good Mac Mini, MacBook Air/Pro, would go a long way towards that. So to that end, here is the list.

With none of these does one need Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro, as for video editing I’d be using DaVinci Resolve, where the free version does more than enough that I’d ever need it for, though the Studio version is only $295 which is a huge deal, just a tad more than Adobe Premier Pro costs each year… a year…, and Apple’s own Creator Studio suite, which includes Final Cut Pro, at $129 a year. Apple Care Plus should be included in all cases, or better yet Apple Care One, which would cover the iPhone and the Mac, and anything else. A couple of iPads are mentioned in order here, and generally more expensive than the Macs that I’d prefer over them, but put them on the list as they are somewhat related. That said, as the main purpose is streaming, the iPads don’t work as well as one of the MacBooks or Mini.

At the ultra cheap end is the MacBook Neo. These start at about $600, though I think those entry level ones are sold out at most locations. This is sort of bare bones, and the biggest limiting factor is the memory is only 8 GB. The storage of 256 GB is a bit too small, so the ideal starting point would be the 512 GB model, which is another $100. But again, the memory limit is the problem with the Neo. That said, the Neo is the laptop I’d recommend to most people, say parents, and the like. Especially over cheaper Windows laptops, and Chromebooks. It is a great machine at a great price. But, for what I want to do, it is a tad under powered. It’d run Zwift okay, and might stream it at the same time, but, it’ll run into limits, especially with video editing.

Really an iPad Air might be next, and while those start at about $600, once you get the 13″ version, up the storage to 512 GB, add Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard, you are at $1547, which is more expensive than the Mac Mini below, heck is more expensive than the MacBook Air, and getting close to MacBook Pro levels. The keyboard is a must, and really, if one is using an iPad Air or Pro, then the Pencil Pro is really needed too.

Mac Mini is next. These start at about $800 (the cheaper $600 models are no longer available). These likely will be updated to the M5 versions either this June/July or near the fall. There is an M4 and an M4 Pro version, for what I’d be using it for, the regular M4 is fine (or regular M5 version once that’s available). It comes in both 16 GB and 24 GB RAM versions. 16 GB is okay, but 24 GB is MUCH preferred, more for video editing reasons. For storage, the 512 GB is okay, and indeed the price Apple charges for their storage, makes it better to get an external drive, and use that… and there are plenty of options that direction. 1 GB Ethernet is okay, but as I’d be uploading, the 10 GB Ethernet might be better for only $100. Like the M4, 24 GB RAM, 512 GB storage, and 10 GB Ethernet comes to be only $1099, which is amazingly cheap for what one gets. Even upgrading that to 1 TB storage is only $1299, which again is ultra cheap for what you get. I’ve got a wireless keyboard and mouse I can use, and probably would use that on the TV (though really at that point one probably would want a better TV like the ones on the Christmas/Birthday list above mentioned in the $600-800 range).

Moving out of Mac again, and going back to iPad, the iPad Pro would be about here on want list. These start at $999, but again, going to 13″, 512 GB, standard glass (the nano is only available at the 1TB and higher, and the iPad Pro is one of the only cases where I’d say it is worth it), Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard, both of which are as needed here as they are with the iPad Air, at least keyboard in both cases, you are now at $1977, which is even more expensive than the most wanted MacBook Pro below.

Next up is the MacBook Air. These have the M5 chips, so a bit more advanced. The 13″ would be okay, but 15″ would be preferred. Either CPU. Again, 24 GB RAM would be preferred, again, mostly for editing reasons, though 16 GB would be okay, the 24 GB version does require the better CPU. And just like the Mini, the storage would be the same 512 GB okay, Upping it to 24 GB RAM, and 1 TB storage brings the Air to $1499. At which point, the MacBook Pro starts looking better.

The MacBook Pro is the dream machine. These, are likely to get an M6 before the end of the year, but for now they use the M5. These start at $1699, so not much more than the Air above. The 14″ display is plenty in this case. Standard display, no reason to go nano-texture, in fact the standard is preferred. Basic M5 is plenty, not to say one would say no to a better one like the Pro or Max, but for my use cases, the regular one is plenty. Zero reason to stick to 16 GB RAM here, upgrade to the 24 GB for the extra $200. It already comes with 1 TB of storage at that point. At this point it is $1899, and well worth the $400 over the Air, as it is more stable for longer.

If one was really generous, then the Apple Studio Display XDR would be a nice bonus. It’s in insane $3299, and likely overkill for whatever level of video editing I’m ever likely to achieve (there’s a non XDR version that is half the price, this article talks about the difference between the two, comes down more to faster refresh, more dimming zones, and far more accurate color, color and HDR being it’s main things). But hey, wish list. And to really justify this, the MacBook Pro above really should be upgraded to one with the M5 Pro or better yet M5 Max, the more GPU cores the better, and may as well go 16″. The 48 GB or RAM is probably more than enough, though again, the more the better, same with the SSD, the 2 TB is probably okay, but again, more the better. Lol. Though honestly, external storage would likely be used, so not as useful as the RAM end. Heck, at that point, one almost better upgrade to the Studio version of DaVinci. I drool at the idea of a MacBook Pro with M5 Max with the 40 core GPU, let alone being able to pair that with a near professional level display like the Apple Studio Display XDR.