Advice needed on which Mac to purchase in this year 2022 or early 2023

[Aletta7]

I do not have anyone to assist me.  I need to purchase a MAC laptop so that I may learn how to use Adobe Illustrator. From speaking with different shops, I am sitting with a list of MAC laptops, and don't know which one to go for which would be good for a number of years. The one that seems to come up a lot is MacBook Air 13" M2 10 CPU/512GB with 16GB RAM.

Then I hear that the MacBook Pro is better etc. 

My budget allows for  about 1,100. to spend. I am going to use Adobe Illustrator, plus Canva plus the normal emails, documents etc.

I would greatly appreciate your guidance.

[S_Gans]

Hi. It's hard to future-proof within the budget you mention. Right now, the model you mention would be great (but already above your budget). Thing is, you may want to check what you mean by "a number of years". And, how you feel about performance.

Right now, the recommended RAM for Illustrator is 16GB. As time moves on, these apps seem to always want better GPU and RAM, so buying at the minimum now will work, but it will eventually time out. Nobody knows how long that is.

That being said - I was comfortable with performance hits, so my previous computer served me well for 10 years (with upgrades). In 2020, I bought a new iMac, with an INTEL processor, not the M1 or M2 (granted, the M1 was pretty new, then). Personally, for the money, I am just gambling with how long it'll be before Adobe decides to drop support for the older chips.

The biggest benefit of the Pro vs the Air is the ability to upgrade the RAM. That might help you for future-proofing - but it'll cost you more now.

Hope this helps, a little...

[Aletta7]

Hi, thanks so much I appreciate your reply. I could not for the life of me find out how to edit my post! I typed in error €1100 instead of 2100+. I will then rather look at the Pro. thank you. Whilst I have your attention, may I ask which is the best and most economical way of gaining knowledge/understanding/know-how on learning Adobe Illustrator? Is it in Ai itself or places like Skillshare etc.?

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[davescm · Accepted solution]

Everyone learns differently, some choose to take a course with direct teaching from a tutor.

For those who prefer to follow online, LinkedIn Learning has some very good structured videos on Adobe Illustrator.

There is also the 'Classroom in a Book' https://www.adobepress.com/store/adobe-illustrator-classroom-in-a-book-2022-release-9780137622153

Whichever route you choose - practise on subjects and projects that interest you. That way learning is more enjoyable and less of a chore 🙂

Dave

[Aletta7]

Hi Dave, thank you so much for the detailed info - I will go through it all and see which resonates with me. It's all new to me and I'm thankful that people like you and Monika are here to assist.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

The most economical way would be to work through the documentation. You are already paying for it with your subscription. In case you are just beginning to use any vector application, I would start with the first page and then learn about the workspace and what everything is called (important when asking for help) and where everything is located. https://helpx.adobe.com/support/illustrator.html

The documentation also has video and sample files.

You can also join the challenges on Behance for free if you prefer the hands-on approach. I would still recommend taking a look at the documentation for the workspace and such: https://www.behance.net/challenge/illustrator 

And then: what Dave said.

[Aletta7]

Hi Monika, Thank you very much for the helpful info. I will have a look at it all and see which to go with. Yes, just starting out. Have to learn from scratch.

[Monika Gause]

Good luck learning Illustrator!

And I hope you will discover many exciting things along the way. This application is sooooo fascinating.