[Digital Today reporter Jinju Hong] As the new semester approaches and demand for laptops rises among university students, criteria for choosing Apple Mac products is drawing renewed attention. An analysis says the right choice differs between MacBook Neo, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro depending on usage and budget. It said buyers should carefully compare chip performance, memory and storage.

Tech outlet TechRadar on Aug. 5 (local time) cited the chip, memory and storage as the most important factors in buying a Mac for students. It also presented recommended products by type of work.

Apple silicon-based Macs integrate the CPU, GPU and memory into a single system-on-a-chip (SoC) design. As a result, the type of chip installed, the number of cores and the memory configuration are key factors that determine real-world performance, rather than the product name alone.

If basic academic tasks such as writing documents, taking online classes and web browsing are the focus, an entry-level chip is sufficient. It said a higher-tier chip is needed if there is a lot of high-performance work such as data analysis, video editing or graphics tasks.

MacBook Neo was cited as the cheapest student Mac. The education store price starts at $599, and the base model has 256 GB of storage, an A18 Pro chip and 8 GB of memory. It was rated as offering sufficient performance for typical campus life such as writing essays, online research and web-based learning. It also noted that increasing storage to 512 GB adds a Touch ID button, a factor to consider when buying.

For most students, the 13-inch MacBook Air based on the M5 chip was presented as the safest choice. MacBook Air offers 8-core GPU and 10-core GPU options, but it said the 8-core GPU is sufficient for typical document work, programming and light content creation.

Memory can be chosen from 16 GB, 24 GB and 32 GB. It said most students would not come up short with a 16 GB configuration.

It said storage in particular should be decided carefully at the purchase stage because upgrading a MacBook's internal storage after purchase is effectively difficult. If handling high-resolution video files or large programs frequently, choosing larger storage is advantageous. It noted external SSDs can make up for limited space, but portability declines and connection problems can reduce data access.

For students needing high-performance work, the 14-inch MacBook Pro paired with the M5 Pro was recommended. Unlike the MacBook Neo and MacBook Air, MacBook Pro has a built-in cooling fan, making it advantageous for maintaining performance during long high-load tasks. For compute-intensive work such as large-scale code compilation, 3D work or video editing, the M5 Pro can be considered. If professional work is needed, the M5 Max model was also presented as an option.

Charger options also affect the actual user experience. The M5 MacBook Air comes with a standard 40-watt charger, but choosing a 70-watt charger enables fast charging that can charge the battery to 50 percent in about 30 minutes. The additional cost is $20.

MacBook Pro cannot use fast charging with the standard 70-watt charger. It said switching to a 96-watt charger is needed to charge to 50 percent within about 30 minutes and use high-power mode.

Student discounts are also a way to reduce the price burden. Apple provides discount benefits through its education store for university students, prospective students, parents, faculty and staff, and homeschool teachers. Student status verification is required during purchase. Discounts apply not only to Macs but also to some accessories and services, and trade-ins and installment purchases can also be chosen.

For students who do not necessarily need a laptop, desktop Macs are also an option. Mac mini starts at $699 on the education store and is suitable for students who mainly study at home or use a fixed work environment. It said it is not suitable for university students who move between classrooms and libraries because a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse are needed and portability is low.

Ultimately, criteria for choosing a student Mac differ depending on budget and type of work. The analysis said MacBook Neo suits light academic use, MacBook Air fits as a general-purpose laptop for varied tasks, and MacBook Pro is suitable for high-performance work such as video editing or development.

With Apple product prices rising, it said a sensible buying strategy is to consider memory and storage, charging options and education discounts together rather than simply choosing the latest model.