# ForYourBuck

> US Mac finder: click what you need, get the config that buys the most machine per dollar this week. New and Apple Certified Refurbished only. USD, English. No chatbot.

Canonical host is https://foryourbuck.com. https://mac.foryourbuck.com serves the same app. Rankings use a curated YAML catalog and a dated price snapshot, not a live scrape of Apple or Amazon. Score is hard filters, then `100 × fit² / √price`. Headless Mini/Studio picks add $299 for a display unless the query is “I have a monitor.” GPU Neural Accelerators (M5+, one per GPU core) matter for time-to-first-token; token generation tracks memory bandwidth; model fit is unified RAM. The 16-core Apple Neural Engine is not a floor.

Query state lives in the URL, for example `/?use=ai,code&body=has_monitor&ram=48`. Do not invent chat, third-party used listings, or Intel/Mac Pro SKUs.

## Finder
- [Mac finder](https://foryourbuck.com): Click need-chips. Ranked US configs for this week’s snapshot, new and Apple Certified Refurbished.

## Rankings
- [Best bang for your buck MacBook Air](https://foryourbuck.com/best-macbook-air): The MacBook Air configs that buy the most machine per dollar this week, new and Apple Certified Refurbished.
- [Best bang for your buck MacBook Pro](https://foryourbuck.com/best-macbook-pro): Which MacBook Pro actually earns the Pro price this week — M5, M5 Pro, or a certified-refurb M4 Pro.
- [Best bang for your buck Mac mini](https://foryourbuck.com/best-mac-mini): Mac mini picks if you already have a monitor — including why the 256GB base config is usually a trap.
- [Best bang for your buck Mac under $800](https://foryourbuck.com/best-mac-under-800): What is actually buyable under $800 in the US this week, mostly Apple Certified Refurbished.
- [Best bang for your buck Mac under $1,500](https://foryourbuck.com/best-mac-under-1500): The mid band where a 24GB Air, a Mini plus display, or a certified-refurb Pro actually compete.
- [Best bang for your buck refurbished Mac](https://foryourbuck.com/best-refurbished-mac): Apple Certified Refurbished Macs in stock this week, ranked for value, not leftover inventory.
- [Best bang for your buck Mac for video editing](https://foryourbuck.com/best-mac-for-video-editing): Macs that cut 4K without wasting money on a Max you will not feed, ranked on this week’s US prices.
- [Best bang for your buck Mac for local AI](https://foryourbuck.com/best-mac-for-ai): Local LLM Macs ranked for unified memory first. RAM is the product; the chip name is the footnote.
- [MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro](https://foryourbuck.com/macbook-air-vs-macbook-pro): When the Air is the value pick and when HDMI, thermals, and GPU make the Pro cheaper in the long run.

## Articles
- [Articles](https://foryourbuck.com/articles): Machine notes: what a chip generation actually changed, with the video when it helps.
- [MacBook Air M5: Apple sealed the cracks, then widened the one in the price](https://foryourbuck.com/articles/macbook-air-m5-five-generations): Five Airs, same chassis, a real SSD and a real local-AI jump, plus $200 more than last year's launch.

## Policy
- [How we score](https://foryourbuck.com/methodology): Hard filters, then score = 100 × fit² / √price. Dated snapshots. No chatbot.
- [Disclosure](https://foryourbuck.com/disclosure): Affiliate commissions, Apple trademarks, dated US prices. Independent of Apple.

## Optional

- [Full markdown](https://foryourbuck.com/llms-full.txt): methodology, ranking copy, and every article in one file
- [XML sitemap](https://foryourbuck.com/sitemap.xml): all indexable HTML URLs
- [Apple MLX on M5](https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/exploring-llms-mlx-m5): why GPU Neural Accelerators, not ANE core count, still matter in scoring