Buy smart – only buy what you need
Another way to cut the cost of your purchase is to be realistic about what you need (rather than want) from your next Mac. At the same time, don’t strip back the specification so much that your Mac feels obsolete within months and you get buyer’s remorse. Think about what you need from your Mac (such as high-end video editing or gaming, or more everyday tasks) and spec accordingly.
The key is to focus on those components you can’t upgrade: the processor, memory and, obviously, the type of Mac itself. Later, you can add a second external drive (and even make it your boot device as we show on p64), switch to a different display and plug in a hub to gain additional ports.