Marko Zivkovic
Apple's website was recently updated to include an all-new Help Me Choose quiz, created to help potential customers find the Mac best suited for their needs and within their budget.
Through a variety of questions, the quiz gives users the option to select exactly what their Mac will be used for, where it will be used, and with which accessories. The quiz considers all of this information and uses it to suggest the ideal Mac computer.
Users can select whether they use their Mac for work, school, entertainment, or hobbies. For each selected category, the quiz will present follow-up questions with more specific information on what the computer will be used for.
A student might answer that they use their computer for online classes or creative software, while creative types can say that they use their Mac for photo or video editing. Apple's quiz also lets users select multiple use cases, indicating that they need a computer for their studies, work, and entertainment - all in one device.
Apple's questions also focus on peripherals and device portability, and they give users the option to specify which types of accessories they intend to use with their Mac and where they plan on using it. Some users might use their Mac in a fixed position, such as a desk, while others may need a laptop.
The quiz also features different budget options ranging from $1000 to over $3500. Once the potential customer has answered all the questions, Apple's algorithms will suggest their ideal Mac computer.
Apple's quiz will generate varied suggestions, meaning that it doesn't try to up-sell or force base model configurations onto users. For students, the quiz is likely to recommend MacBook Air models or high-end MacBook Pro configurations for users who require a computer that can handle processor-intensive tasks.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
Malcolm Owen
4 Comments
Not bad. I answered all of the questions as accurately as I could and all of the suggestions made sense to me. They will hopefully add more questions related to things like single user vs multiple user, expected service life, upgradeability, screen expandability, etc. Definitely a good starting point for anyone not familiar with Apple's current product lines. It may even be useful for someone getting ready to head out to the Apple Store. They would be prepared to ask questions about why the suggested products were recommended so they can go deeper with the Apple Store staff.
I could see this same feature being made available for iPad purchasing criteria.
I ran it here in Australia via the US site (I couldn’t find it on the /au website) and it got close to my current option, somewhat higher-end than what I’d chosen. The quiz results popped up a Mac Studio M2 Max with a small SSD, or an M2 MacBook Pro. My current choice is a tricked-up M3 or preferably M4 Mac mini, but as neither of those is currently available and the M3 is rumoured never to appear, it’s all somewhat moot. I found it interesting that my and Apple’s choices were reasonably close.
I like that they actually ask you what you do when you checked "for work" / "for school" options