Jamf today announced the results of an independent survey on higher ed students’ device preference. The survey from market research firm Vanson Bourne, commissioned by Jamf, found that two-thirds (67%) of students today say they are more likely to choose or stay at an organization that offers them a choice in work computer – and 71% of students either use or would like to use Mac if upfront cost were not a consideration.
In today’s hiring climate, organizations need to employ every strategy they can to attract and retain top talent from colleges and universities.
Across the board, Mac users have strong feelings toward the brand. When asked why they chose Mac, students cited multiple reasons, including ease of use (59%), reliability (57%), durability (48%) and synchronization with other devices (49%). The only dominant driver for PC users in picking their device was price (51%).
However, 43% of students using a PC agree that Mac provides the greatest value, despite having a higher initial price point. Mac users overwhelmingly understand the value of Mac over PC and 80% believe Mac offers a better value. Mac users also feel especially loyal to their device – 83% of students using Mac want to continue using a Mac when entering the workforce.
“Employers are looking for top talent in a competitive job market. Providing workers with the tools they know and love is a key way to attract, retain and empower them to be their most productive,” said Dean Hager, CEO, Jamf, in a statement. “The next generation of job seekers wants their tech to just work so that they can focus on their job. They see Mac as more modern, intuitive and reliable – and would like to continue to use it as they launch their careers.”
Summary of Key Findings
• 71% of students prefer Mac. 40% currently use a Mac and 60% use a PC. However, 51% of PC-owning students would prefer to use a Mac if cost were not a consideration.
• 83% of students who use a Mac for education purposes prefer to continue using a Mac when entering the workforce.
• Almost eight in 10 (78%) think it’s important for an employer to offer employee choice.
• 67% of students, regardless of which computer they own, agree they are more likely to choose and stay at an organization that offers them a choice in work computer.
• 43% of students using a PC agree that Mac provides the greatest value.
• 80% of Mac users believe Mac has better value.
• In addition to liking the brand, Mac users see Mac as more intuitive (58%), longer lasting (50%), more secure (43%) and encouraging of productivity (40%).
To access a copy of the report, visit here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, this bodes very well for the Mac’s future in education, in the enterprise, and in the home!
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This only bodes well if Apple can create products in the right price range. A MacBook Air under $1000 would be a good start.
Correct. Apple needs an entry level laptop and entry level desktop which use standard HDs or allows the use of off-the-shelf SSDs.
1 TB HD should be the minimum storage for normal computing.
$1500 should be the high end for an average computer for students or just an average family computer
Most people don’t need bleeding edge SSDs. A fusion drive, or standard SATA interface SSD will be plenty fast.
Most people (students or otherwise) won’t/can’t spend >$2000 for a computer just to get a 1TB HD.
Classic example is the Mac mini. Entry price is $800 which is not awesome, but not horrible. But to get a 1TB SSD (non-user replaceable) costs another $800. That is RIDICULOUS for an entry level computer, and it doesn’t even include a mouse and KB, nor a dedicated GPU.
Who is the target audience for such a computer? It is underpowered for pros (no GPU) and overpriced for average users. It sacrifices power, affordability, and upgradability on the altar of compactness, even though compactness is relatively unimportant in a desktop machine.
If Apple wants to capture the education market with Macs (not just iPads), then they must offer entry level models which use standard components so that the prices are at least somewhat competitive. Go ahead and make your halo devices which use bleeding edge tech and bleeding edge prices, but throw average folk a bone or two as well.
FizzyPanda is correct. Price makes a huge difference. Students aren’t generally laying out their own cash. It’s the parents.
Its not merely price as a factor, but also getting a proper survey done: the place where this one appears to be flawed is that it failed to be symmetrical, for there’s no evidence that it also asked:
“Using a Mac, but prefer something else (PC)”.
Without that datapoint, you don’t actually have a preference survey.
Mac user since 1988, nothing would make me happier than to have Macs in all the schools for all the logical reasons that we can all come up with.
Having said that as an employee of a school system, price really is the driver, and the prime reason for the budget issues that most schools face are unfunded or poorly funded federally mandated programs.
Another big driver is replacement cost due to damage, no parents cannot be forced to pay the bill, much as we want that.
15 years experience makes me warn that I am not going to pay to much attention to counter arguments, it wont be productive.
Yep. Schools have to take the lowest price in bids for equipment.
Agreed that price is a major concern that Cookie apparently is too oblivious to rectify. Once upon a time, the MacBook was an affordable plastic notebook and the MacBook Air was an ultralight executive Mac with limited features. Now both are executive ultralights with prices to match. There is no entry-level laptop. There is no workstation, there is no server, there is no mid range tower.
The other major problem is that Apple is practically nowhere to be found in higher education. In field after field, Apple has been left in the dust. Cookie hired fashionistas to drive design of Macs. Well, Cook, this is what computing stations look like in cutting edge labs across the world:
As anyone with a brain can see, thinness isn’t even remotely important to scientists, researchers, medical, pharma, bio, engineering, etc field experts. They would like a reliable keyboard and some legacy ports and .. the deal breaker: MAC NATIVE SOFTWARE.
Why buy a Mac when you just have to pay a massive fashion premium, deal with a shitty keyboard, and run Bootcamp to do many key processes required in school and the real world?
On the other hand, Macs look nice in front of the professional bloggers at Starbucks. That’s the core user group Cook has focused on for the last decade.
It’s so important that Apple plays a big part in this market even if it’s at the cost of their margins.
If kids grow up and use Apple products both at home and in education they have a greater chance of becoming life long customers and that’s priceless.
Macbooks are very popular among young people. They prefer the Apple technique over any other. But besides this, they need to study well. The presence of a fashionable device does not affect the quality of training. MacBook users and PC users use the pro-papers.com .